Author Archives: Ron Haines

I took the mountain route up from Florida to Connecticut this year because I wanted to visit some friends in north Georgia.  That took me onto I-81 and through Abingdon VA, site of a magical rainbow show when I first … Continue reading →

I am very happy I own a car that will not let me lock it when the keys are inside of it.  It not only refuses to lock.  It beeps at me…thrice! Color me lucky I guess, but I can … Continue reading →

Ramadan, the nineth month of the Islamic calendar, is a fasting period for Muslims, from dawn to dusk.  This year it will end tomorrow. It lasts twenty-nine to thirty days, from one sighting of the crescent moon to the next. I’m … Continue reading →

Welcome to a compilation of several of my recent Sweet Spots. Cousins The first is a recent visit to Fort Myers, FL, to touch base with my snowbird cousin, Peggy Peterson and her husband Roger.  Joining us were my brother … Continue reading →

I watched the end of an era last weekend and didn’t even know it. It was the final Park Road Parade in West Hartford, CT, after 25 years.  I don’t make going to parades a habit, except for July 4 … Continue reading →

I drove through Northampton, Massachusetts, the other day on my way up to Ogontz in New Hampshire and came across a pair of cannabis dispensaries located just blocks from each other. The photos below tell you where this is going: Each … Continue reading →

My delightfully foggy paddle on the Swift River in Belchertown, Massachusetts, began with a downpour that started right when I drove into the launch site parking lot and ended fifteen minutes later. It added enough mugginess and cloudiness to the … Continue reading →

I don’t do historical tours very often, but when I do I make sure I go to genuine places.  This one’s from a road trip in 2015 that took me through Long Lake, New York.

I ran across two more giant elephants on the drive up to Connecticut this spring.  They decorate the front of a fireworks outlet located in a former gas station in Hardeeville, SC.  The pump islands are still there and the … Continue reading →

My northeast paddling season is suddenly getting busy.  Today I did a couple of small bodies of water, Lake Beseck and Black Pond, both in the Middlefield-Meriden area of Connecticut, about an hour south of Hartford. Beseck is well populated … Continue reading →