throwback thursday: moon shots

This photo was taken by my dad, with his 35mm camera attached to his telescope in the late '60s, early '70s. He actually made his telescope himself, even grinding the mirrors.

These photos were taken by me four years ago, by holding my iPhone up to my telescope's (25mm) lens.

miss you, dad

The old man passed away ... can it be ... twenty-one years ago today? Yikes. Still miss his laugh, his enthusiasms, his endless love of the New York Yankees, and even all his annoying old fart-ness-es. Here are a few shots of dad in action. The first one taken by my mom on their honeymoon in Nassau, Bahamas, and the rest while he was on the job, as a reporter. He could very often be found with a camera in hand, or a pencil or pen, in search of a story. Miss you, pop.

happy birthday, pop

My dad may have been the quiet, studious one in the family, but when it came time to take a group photo, he was usually the biggest goofball. Can you spot him?

Here he's just a baby, and in danger of sliding off the settee.

Copping a studly pose on the beach.

As he got older he was usually behind the camera, but at my uncle's house he got corralled into a group photo on the front stoop

One of my favorite photos of him, taken by my mom, while they honeymooned in Nassau.

mom and dad at the beach

My dad was not known for going to the beach, except in the evening to do a little surf-casting. But there was apparently a time when he thought it would be the perfect place to take a certain young lady ...

happy dad's day

it's hard to believe ...

... that the old man has been gone twenty years. Yikes. I really miss him, his laugh.

Dad, my brother, and me, on the boat to Mystic, CT.

On the beach, Spring Lake, NJ — a pastel by my mom — of my dad, my brother, and me.

Photo of the moon taken by my dad, with a telescope he built himself — including mirrors he polished.

december 7

My dad had just turned 16 less than two weeks before December 7, 1941. At 17 he enlisted in the Coast Guard and was a radarman second class on a destroyer escort for the rest of the war.

Posing on the ship with an unidentified friend

Visiting home (Belmar, N.J.) on leave

happy birthday dad

happy father's day

I still miss the old man ...

Here he is in front of his parents' house in Belmar, Jersey Shore

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• Matisse in Belmar, NJ (culturechoc2010.wordpress.com)