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We are two honey bees who are very much in love. Beate and I are both on disability pensions due to workplace injury to her back in 1988 in Beate's case, and from Multilpe Myeloma (bone marrow cancer) from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam in my case. Our physical capabilities are limited but we are mobile and able to travel and see and do things - providing we stay within our physical limitations. My physical limitations are dictated by the current state of my myeloma. I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 1998 but I am still ticking along thanks to very expert and caring treatment at the Syracuse Medical Facility, Syracuse, New York - and I intend on ticking right along for quite some more time. That's why I got my pocket watch repaired and in good order, don't you know??? It keeps good time and tells us when we get there and when it is time to leave, among many other things.
Although we are physically limited (Beate's back stiffens up after four or five hours, and I physically tire (and my back also aches) after the same time period - so we are well 'matched' in that aspect. During those four or five hours we are able to get out and enjoy all of the wonderful places and great natural beauty of Southern Ontario and Upstate New York. On April 30, 2004 we took delivery of a new Ford Freestar van - so we are 'good to go' just about anywhere we choose to go - providing we stay in our daily limits and don't push the 'driving to get there' strain. If we can do it - I am sure many people with similar disabilities can do so. It does no good to sit around the house and talk and daydream about various places one would wish to visit. If you have the means and can physically manage - GET OUT AND TRY TO MAKE THOSE DREAMS REALITY! Beate and I have both found that sitting around the house all the time is no good in many areas for our general health, and getting out and seeing and doing things adds to our happiness as well as our health providing we don't push ourselves too hard. Beate immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1977 and has lived in the Cornwall, Ontario area since. I spent most of my adult life in the US Air Force (just short of 26 years) - all but two of those years in Europe or Southeast Asia - then retired and worked for a large English Water Company testing their new IBM main frame billing system for five years. I finally returned to the USA in 1996 to Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was born and raised till I joined the Air Force at age eighteen. I met Beate on the Internet in October, 1999 and have been with her in Southern Ontario since. Cornwall is right across the bridge from Massena, New York, a 20 minute drive away. Our favorite casino is also just east of Massena, NY, another 20 minutes drive. The winters in our area are long and cold, with snow, snow and more snow. The summers are milder in this area, and some summers are plagued with lots of rain. (Sounds like at home in England, where I spend a good majority of my adult life). The above are what many would consider the 'down side' of living in our area. In defense of the snow, snow and more snow - there is often a beauty and majesty snow brings to the landscape. Also, I will be very quick to point out that lots of people pay big bucks to visit this area - upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, etc - for the skiing and other winter sports. Best be sure many families on both sides of the border own snowmobiles and get upset if it doesn't snow enough to enjoy them. The summers where the area is plagued with lots of rain - well - what can I say? The ducks and wild fowl like the rain, and one doesn't melt when one gets rained on - does one??? Beate reckons about every four years produces a rainy, unpredictable summer. It doesn't rain all day long - it stops and starts. If it is sunny, sunny, sunny days and hot temperatures, perhaps you will be disappointed with our area - if you visit it during one of the rainy summers. But if beautiful natural wonders and clean fresh air are your thing... then this area is comparable with anywhere else in the world - during all of the four seasons (and the Autumn foliage is STUNNING!!!) My dear sisters and the rest of my family in Cincinnati, Ohio know I will NEVER move away from this area, and they accept that, but we go down and visit them periodically and are always calling them - so we stay in touch. I recently got myself a digital camera, which makes putting photos on the Internet easy and simple. I am in the process of learning how to properly use the camera and hopefully my photos will improve. The purpose of these pages is to share with whomever is interested, our local travels and explorations in our area. If these pages grow as I wish them to, I will purchase another web site and domain name to support them. In the short term I am placing these pages in a separate directory of our main web site, Our New Beehive. I experiment extensively on our main web site, and some think it is a very weird site. Guess it takes all sorts, doesn't it? But the 'weirdness' some people feel about our site is our love of bees and my love of my dolly, Molly. I NEVER TRAVEL ANYWHERE WITHOUT HER. The reason for doing so is fully explained on our main page. I also have a weird sense of humor - but you got to understand I am a retired GI - AND I have also spent a LONG time in England. I will try my best to keep my 'weird' humor from creeping into these pages as I view it inappropriate. What I WILL be trying my utmost to share... and perhaps impart some of our enthusiasm for the area where we live. I would suggest you return often to this 'main' page and check the menus at the top of all of these pages for updates - there WILL be regular updates - for I love to write - and especially to combine my writing with graphics or photos.
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