 At Meteor Crater in Winslow AZ |
This website has traditionally been focused on my hobby of astro-photography and various astronomy related topics, placing items of note out on the Web mostly for friends and family. However, being an amateur astronomer in Upstate New York is a little like being a deep-sea-fishing enthusiast in Iowa. In New York, clouds, clouds and more clouds. And then a clear night, but a full Moon, or wind out the wazoo, or humidity you could swim in, or temperatures approaching -20oF. Although my website will continue to include items about astronomy, I've decided to add pretty much anything that I find interesting and perhaps worth sharing.
About me? Not much to tell. Born and raised in Southeastern Pennsylvania. After high school I worked a variety of jobs eventually training and working as a CNC machinist in Reading, PA. During that time I pursued getting my private pilot's license in 1982 and started taking engineering classes at the local Berks County Campus of Penn State. In 1987 I graduated from Penn State's main campus in State College, PA with a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering. From there I started a 30-year engineering career working mostly as a systems engineer and software programmer on diverse projects involving flight simulators, orbital dynamics and industrial machine software.
 August 2017 Eclipse with Alicia at Sitrin |
Along the way I met my wife Alicia to whom I was happily married for 25 years until her passing in 2018.
Over the years I've had a lot of interests and hobbies. I've always been an astronomy enthusiast, an avid tennis player, owned and flew a small plane for several years, and learned a little about playing cello from my wife. Through her I gained a greater appreciation of the beautiful music that makes up the classical repertoire and always looked forward to attending her many concerts. I also enjoyed helping my wife pursue her gardening passion and seeing her enthusiasm for growing traditional and out of the ordinary vegatables. Blue potatoes, who would have thought?
Life has its ups and downs but overall mine's been an enriching life, one that found great love and although the plan was to enjoy retirement together with my wife, I must sadly enter retirement and tend to downsizing on my own. Smaller interests and endeavors will now take center stage. But these too can be meaningful. One only has to look.