Having been born in 1962, and liking and listening to music from the early sixties onward, I thought it might be fun to attempt a listing of my favorite albums each year since birth.

The initial post for this series of ideas began on December 26th, 2023.  You can look it up....

This time, I present my "Top Albums released in 1969, #101 through #110" 

... from that incredible Year in Music 1969!

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101. Iron Butterfly Ball

102. Grateful Dead Live/Dead

103. Joni Mitchell Clouds

104. Linda Ronstadt Hand Sown ... Home Grown

105. Pink Floyd More

106. Rare Earth Get Ready

107. Tim Hardin Suite for Susan Moore and Damion

108. Traffic Last Exit

109. Temptations Cloud Nine

110. Temptations Puzzle People

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Annual Eye Exam, passed once again!

Walking Plan:

                            2 x 1.50-miles, Total 3.00-miles.

Non Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #24 for 2026...

"Devil Red"

Written by Joe Lansdale, Published 2011.

It is the ninth novel in Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series.

Walking Plan:

                            3 x 1.00-miles, Total 3.00-miles.

It's been a while since we last watched the X-Files.

Originally, we watched the series live, as it was broadcasts, beginning in 1993.  Episodes were broadcast on Fridays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time for the series' first three seasons; the following six seasons aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.  

This was must-see TV for us during these nine-years.

When JC was old enough, we revisited the series, watching on dvd. This would have begun somewhere about 2005, or slightly later by a year or two (at the most).

Since we completed that second run of viewing, X-Files has only really existed in our memories, with the exception of the two later seasons running January 24, 2016 to February 22, 2016 and January 3, 2018 to March 21, 2018.  These were Season's 10 and 11.

So, with some TV-Time available for the upcoming months, and nothing new really drawing us in, what better opportunity than revisiting old friends Scully, Mulder, Skinner, Cigarette Smoking Man, the Lone Gunman "Byers, Frohike, and Langly", Doggett and Reyes.

I will keep a log of episodes watched and progress, as we journey through over 200 episodes!  

September 28th thru October 4th:

Overall / Season                    Title                                     Original Release Date            

• Episode 4.08 (81)          Tunguska                                          November 24,1996
• Episode 4.09 (82)          Terma                                                 December 1, 1996

Walking Plan:

                            2.00-Mile Hike at Granville Reservoir;  A Return to the Woods!

"High Points" along trails during September, 2026... 

• Blueberry Hill, Phelon Forest (NEFF), Granville, MA (a repeat, yes)

• Phelon Memorial Forest in Granville, two trailheads on North Lane take you to the summit of Blueberry Hill with long views to Russell, Sweetman Mountain, Mount Tom and the Holyoke Range. Perched up above Cobble Mountain Reservoir the trails here are spectacular for bird watching and is a popular hawk watch destination. More than 1,000 acres are conserved by the New England Forestry Foundation. 

• The property’s 1,487-foot summit allows visitors to see into five different states on clear days, and it becomes an even more awe-inspiring spot during seasonal raptor migrations, when birders and field biologists settle into the hillside to count birds and watch a wonder of the natural world unfurl. Hawks like the Broad-winged Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Red-tailed Hawk make up the bulk of the hill’s sightings, and birders on the hill once counted 2,406 migratory Broad-winged Hawks on a single day.

Walking Plan:

                            1 x 2.50-miles, 1x 1.00-miles, Total 3.50-miles.

Having been born in 1962, and liking and listening to music from the early sixties onward, I thought it might be fun to attempt a listing of my favorite albums each year since birth.

The initial post for this series of ideas began on December 26th, 2023.  You can look it up....

This time, I present my "Top Albums released in 1969, #91 through #100" 

... from that incredible Year in Music 1969!

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91. Humble Pie Town and Country

92. Jack Bruce Songs for a Tailor

93. Pink Floyd         Ummagumma

94. Savoy Brown         A Step Further

95. The Byrds Ballad of Easy Rider

96. The Byrds Dr. Byrds & Mr. Hyde

97. Creedence Clearwater Revival Willy and the Poor Boys

98. Cream Goodbye

99. Quicksilver Messenger Service Shady Grove

100. Canned Heat Hallelujah

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Walking Plan:

                            1 x 1.50-miles, 2 x 1.00-miles, Total 3.50-miles.

From the Marathon Archives...

Hartford Marathon

October 1, 1994 - Hartford, Connecticut

Ran through the 1st Hartford Marathon today in ~3:16:00.  My father ran the 5km, my Mom and DL came along to cheer us on.  The finish-time is only six-minutes off a Boston Qualifying Time for my age divsion (sub 3:10).  I feel confident going forward I can reach the qualifying standard.

Walking Plan:

                            1 x 2.10-miles, 1 x 1.00-miles, Total 3.10-miles.

From the Archives:

On this day in 2012 I completed my 9th Nipmuck Marathon today, as well as my 49th overall marathon.

I finished in a respectable 4:46:30, good for 28th place overall.

Walking Plan:

                            3 x 1.00-miles, Total 3.00-miles.

Robin Trower at the Academy of Music in Northampton! 

DL purchased seats early, and we ended up in the Front Row Center!

Setlist:

Too Rolling Stoned (Bridge of Sighs)

Live Your Time (Shine)

Distant Places of the Heart (Seven Moons)

Somebody Calling (In City Dreams)

It's Not Time (Shine)

One Go Round (Come and Find Me)

Day of the Eagle (Bridge of Sighs)

Bridge of Sighs (Bridge of Sighs)

No More Worlds to Conquer (No More Worlds to Conquer)

Daydream (Twice Removed from Yesterday)

Little Bit of Sympathy (Bridge of Sighs)

Encore:

The Razor’s Edge (No More Worlds to Conquer)

Birdsong (No More Worlds to Conquer)

Walking Plan:

                            1 x 2.10-miles, 1 x 1.00-miles, Total 3.10-miles.

Non Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #23 for 2026...

"The Tales of Dunk and Egg #1-3, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"

Written by George R.R. Martin, Published 2015.

Tales of Dunk and Egg, also known as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is a series of fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, set in the world of his A Song of Ice and Fire novels. They follow the adventures of "Dunk" (Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight) and "Egg" (Prince Aegon Targaryen, the future King Aegon V), some 90 years before the events of the novels.

Three novellas have been published — The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003), and The Mystery Knight (2010) — and Martin has stated his intention to continue the series.

Walking Plan:

                            1 x 1.00-miles, 1.00-miles (Heavy Rain All Day).

It's been a while since we last watched the X-Files.

Originally, we watched the series live, as it was broadcasts, beginning in 1993.  Episodes were broadcast on Fridays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time for the series' first three seasons; the following six seasons aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm Eastern Time.  

This was must-see TV for us during these nine-years.

When JC was old enough, we revisited the series, watching on dvd. This would have begun somewhere about 2005, or slightly later by a year or two (at the most).

Since we completed that second run of viewing, X-Files has only really existed in our memories, with the exception of the two later seasons running January 24, 2016 to February 22, 2016 and January 3, 2018 to March 21, 2018.  These were Season's 10 and 11.

So, with some TV-Time available for the upcoming months, and nothing new really drawing us in, what better opportunity than revisiting old friends Scully, Mulder, Skinner, Cigarette Smoking Man, the Lone Gunman "Byers, Frohike, and Langly", Doggett and Reyes.

I will keep a log of episodes watched and progress, as we journey through over 200 episodes!  

September 20th thru September 27th:

Overall / Season                    Title                                     Original Release Date       

• Episode 4.02 (75)          Home                                                       October 11, 1996
• Episode 4.03 (76)          Teliko                                                        October 18, 1996
• Episode 4.04 (77)          Unruhe                                                     October 27, 1996
• Episode 4.05 (78)          The Field Where I Died                            November 3, 1996
• Episode 4.06 (79)          Sanguinarium                                           November 10, 1996
• Episode 4.07 (80)          Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man      November 17, 1996

Walking Plan:

2 x 1.50-miles, 3.00-miles.

From the Archives....

September 26th, 2020 - The New England Trail

Bear Hole, McLean & Whiting Street Reservoir Marathon

I completed my 61st Marathon today in 6:00-hours (5:49:23 moving and 9:37 stopped).

The route began a little after 7 a.m. in Bear Hole Reservoir, and once connected to the New England Trail (Metacomet) I also passed McLean Reservoir and the Whiting Street Reservoir for a gps measured 24.3-miles.  Google Earth listed the total ascent at 4195', with a likewise total descent.

It was in the low sixties for temperature at the start, but very high humidity (80%+).  Once the sun came out the temperature hit 80-degrees.

I felt very good throughout the run, but my feet and legs were sore for the last hour from the multitude of rocks that exist along much of this trail.

Mist and Fog off Snake Peak

Mist and Fog off Snake Peak

Mist and Fog on White Pine Needles

Mist and Fog on one of East Mountain's Peaks

Firetower

Balanced Rock

Balanced Rock

Balanced Rock

Mist and Fog on Peak

Finally, clearing skies (looking east toward Holyoke)

Clearing Skies (looking east toward Holyoke)

Snake Peak and Snake Pond

Walking Plan:

                            3 x 1.0-Miles, Total of 3.00-Miles.

In Memory...  

Rest in Peace Dusty
(August 28, 1986 - September 25, 2000).

"Dusty" at Old Sturbridge Village, 1998

DL brought Dusty home at Christmas 1986, when we lived at Old Mill Pond in Arlington, Texas.  He was a cocker-spaniel, and a really great dog.

Once we made the move to Connecticut in 1989, we began hiking and backpacking.  Dusty loved the trail, and camping out in a tent.  As a spaniel, he also loved water, and even in December's winters, if the water was open, he was going in.

We began running in Shenipsit State Forest around 1992, after building up with the years of hiking.  We ran on the Metacomet three or four days a week, right up to a week before his passing.

I have been extremely lucky with the dogs I've had.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of them.  As I still ramble through the woods, I encounter hints and reminders constantly.  Those first explorations throughout Connecticut and Western Massachusetts were with Dusty,.  

Rest easy, boy.

For Today:  2-Week Check Up with Surgeon regarding Hip Replacement.  All looks very good.

Walking Plan:

                            1 x 2.20-miles, 2.20-miles total.