Author: Layne Rodney

Every winter I decide not to have a garden. The animals are usually upset with that decision. After all they are the usual beneficiaries of my garden.

Each spring I get weak and start the garden again. I bought two tomato plants and got two tomatoes only.

My raspberry plants were stripped of raspberries before they were even ripe.

I had picked up sunflower seeds from the Stamford Library. I thought I would plant them in a pot and wrap them tightly with wire to protect them. No luck. They did not do well.

Finally, I planted one sunflower seed in my barrel.

Here is the result. I think it is beautiful.

I don’t say this lightly as 90% of my travels around Stamford and Connecticut are done by walking, bus or train.

I can be anywhere in Stamford by walking and using the bus in thirty to fifty minutes from my house which is located close to the AITE School off High Ridge Road

I often go to Westport, CT.  Using the walking, bus, train combination it will take me one hour to get to the Westport train station. Then I have the walking time to get to my destination. The journey to Westport and back will usually take three to four hours.

I have the time to walk and take mass transit. How many people in Connecticut have that much time to use mass transit?

The other issue is that the majority of towns in Connecticut are not served by train services.

If I want to go to Moosup, CT the only way is to drive. I have been to Moosup and it is located in the eastern part of Connecticut almost in Rhode Island truly the middle of nowhere.

I have a friend in Bedford Hills, NY.  I could take the bus downtown, take the White Plains bus to the White Plains Train Station and then take the train to Bedford Hills. Or I can drive and be there in less than 30 minutes.

The reality is that you need a car to travel around Connecticut. We are lucky that a significant part of our workforce can take mass transit. Not everyone is able to take the train.

We certainly need to improve mass transit. We also need to improve the road system. I would like to see the state expand the Danbury Train line and speed it up. At this point it takes over an hour to go from Danbury to Stamford on a direct train. I would rather see money go to that line than spend it on a high-speed train to Boston. I would also like to fix the two on-ramps that force you to stop at the Long Ridge Entrance to the Merritt Parkway. With the amount of traffic, it is dangerous for car drivers to have to stop.

One last thought. I had to take a person to JFK airport on a Friday afternoon.  I told them I would go by train as I didn’t want to spend four hours in traffic. I had to drive, that was a day of heavy rain and Metro North was flooded out the only option was driving.

We still need cars.

I have not posted content for a while because I have been busy.

The reason I have been busy is because I am running for State Representative in the 144^th district in Stamford, CT.

I am very excited to be running for State Representative. I feel that we need more people involved in the political process and that includes me.

The 144^th district runs from the Merritt Parkway down to Broad Street. It also includes High Ridge Road and Long Ridge Road. My grandson is drawing an exact map of the district I should have it soon to post.

I am looking forward to an interesting campaign. I will be posting about the campaign for the next couple of months.

Stamford is always a work in progress.  There are always buildings going up, roads being fixed. You name it, work is always going on.

The other day I was walking around the Bartlett Arboretum, and I discovered this work in progress.

It is beautiful.  I talked to the artist, and he had been working a couple of days on it.  Hopefully by the end of the week it should be done.

Bartlett Arboretum is a great place to visit. Make it a twofer. Start at the Stamford Nature Museum and walk the path to the Arboretum.

I have been taking the train to New Haven quite often in the last month. It takes about an hour. The train ride alternates between city, industrial and nature.

Today’s trip showed me another sign that spring is here. Looking at the salt marshes in Westport. I spotted my first egret. The egrets have returned. The nice thing about egrets is, they are easy to spot with their feathers being all white.  They inhabit the marsh lands of the Connecticut coast walking in the marsh and fishing. Today I saw at least ten egrets.

There are lots of other birds in the marshes. You can also look for osprey nests. You will also be able to see herons looking for food.

New Haven is a great destination for a day trip. There is a lot to do, and IKEA is an easy walk from the train station.

The Scream Continued

Recently I wrote about the artwork “The Scream” by Edvard Munch. When I researched the painting, I learned that the artist had been walking on the boardwalk in the late afternoon. The sky was dark red. It felt the red of the sky brought out the terror in him, thus the scream.

Earlier this week I traveled to upstate New York to see the eclipse. Of course, the sky was clouded over. I did get one glimpse of the sun just before totality. Then darkness suddenly descended upon us.

I knew what was happening. My logical side of the brain said this is great. My other side of the brain wanted to scream “repent – the end is coming”. Luckily the darkness only lasted two minutes. Then it was daylight swiftly again.

All I could think is how did people in the past react when they saw an eclipse and did not know what is happening.

The birds in the area started singing when the darkness descended upon us. They were as confused as we were.

This is a picture of the shadow of the moon crossing over us. Even though, it was overcast, being there for the totality was an experience I will never forget.

The other day we had a Nor’easter.  Rain and very strong wind most of the day.  That was the problem. Between the rain it was okay to go out walking.

When the deluge and wind came, I was lucky I was inside the house.

Whoever owned this umbrella was not. I took this picture the day after. It looks like the umbrella was blown out of the hand suddenly.

I do feel sorry for the umbrella and the person. They would have gotten soaked immediately and the umbrella certainly suffered a quick death.