05.18.26 Biggest (recent) day of our adult lives....

     Well, May 18, 1998, my son Sean was born so on this day I have to acknowledge how proud I am of him and glad to be his Dad. He was born at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. All went well, until he popped out with a nuchal cord, or umbilical cord wrapped around his neck a few times. Luckily it went well and he was and is all good. 

     But May 18th, 2026, BIG day. It's the day the house gets visited by the prospective buyers and their home inspector. I've already given them the skinny on the house, the good, the bad, and the ugly. But now it'll come from a neutral professional. And I'm scared shitless. But the truth is, they want to house, badly, the only question is are there to many things for them to do. So, they'll either stay, or move along looking for their first home. That'll kill me.

     This weekend was murder. We ran around tightening up this, replacing that, and cleaning out the dreaded basement. It's 100 years old, and you can just imagine the dungeon like appearance and feeling you'd get if you went down the stairs. One of my to-do things, that the future owners saw and were a little taken aback by, was the snakelike maze of electrical wires 

that were just hanging around so to speak. So, with the breakers off, all but one, we made short, no pun intended, work of it, and soon had them loaded into the dumpster. 

     I did find a nice 6-foot lightweight ladder that I'll bring up to the Vineyard in a few weeks. No more humping that heavy fiberglass one around, this one is a dream to carry. It was also getting rid of old college refrigerators, turnout gear from the old firehouse days, and my bin of 

old newspaper clippings from when I worked as a photographer. That was tough to go through and load up into the dumpster. But I did have fun remembering some of the assignments that I covered for newspapers from around New Jersey and New York City. Here's some that stick out,

Governor Corzine's accident, I was the only one to get an image out that evening, that was for the Associated Press,

My only NY Post cover, a funeral director who sold body parts. Of course, in NY Post style, one of the later covers called this guy and his creepy friends, "Ghoul and the Gang", 

Four columns, in color, and above the fold, in The NY Times Metro Section. That was a fire in Sea Bright on Ocean Ave, I think it was -50 degrees that day,

A Jersey Journal homicide that I climbed the roof fire escape, in my pajamas, to get the Birds Eye view. That was in Jersey City,

A Red Bank Register photo of a ride I took with Gloria Nelson when she got the first car phone in Monmouth County back in 1986,

And a photo that The NY Times picked up from Getty Images of a shot I got, interestingly enough, of the Delaware River in Trenton,

And my first published spot news image from April 1986 of a guy who got hit by a car while on his motorcycle, that one was special.

     There were a hundred or so more but, it's time to downsize and go, and they all went. I didn't save one. I had a hard time doing that, but who really cares? Theresa? The kids? The maybe grandkids one day? Later, and into the container it went. Sad, but that's how it goes.

     The other thing that stung was 'The Tank". The bigger one went with the last dumpster and now the smaller one will meet it's demise. I had so much fun with them over the last four years and put a ton of fish into them. It was a great way to photograph them and give them a chance to catch their breath before their release. 

     But it is now sitting on top of the "Coming Soon" sale that I put out a few weeks back. So, will I have to make up a new sign after tomorrow? That would totally deflate me if I did. I am done. Tired. Spent. And have no more skill or will to do anything else around the house. If it goes through and we have a signed contract then there's a house down in Sun City we'll buy sight unseen if they accept our sale contingency. We trust our realtor, she said, "This is a good house for you guys. I can see you in this one". So it could be Game, Set, Match. Fingers crossed. I'm going to plant St. Joseph in the ground in the morning. "Dear Saint Joseph.....", just please come through.

05.15.26 I'll catch you up on the Vineyard...

     Thought I'd treat myself to some fly fishing yesterday. You know, to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Well, forget it. With so much going on and my mind all over the place it was anything but relaxing. I had a hard time walking, wading, casting, and managing my line. I chose to pick pockets but with the trees and bushes in full bloom just about every other cast had me snagged. 

      I got word that Delaware Joe has been on the bass. One day it's one and done the next a dozen or so. That gave me hope that I'd bring one to hand for my first fish of 2026. But the river is low and the fish, and whatever bait is around, isn't pushed up to the sides like I like, so it was less then exciting. I like big and off color water, not gin clear on sunny days.

     I hung in there for just about two hours, losing ground on getting things done around the house, before packing it in. With an upcoming visit from a home inspector and future owners there was better time well spent. So, I'm packing the Delaware River in for good for 2026. 2025 was a banner year, the best for me in my eight years out here. Maybe next year I'll hit when I come back home for a visit, most likely crashing at someone's house, maybe even the one we are selling. We're getting along that good with the couple who's buying it, hopefully.

     2026 has been a banner year for the striped bass fishermen around New Jersey, both spin and fly alike. And it hasn't just been a boat fishery this year. Sandy Hook has been fishing extremely well, like it used to. If you're willing to take that walk it has been productive. Fish to 50 inches have been caught within casting distance off the sand, and out front from Monmouth to Cape May Counties, has been good as those post spawn fish from the Delaware and Chesapeake move north. So hopefully I'll meet up with them on the Vineyard in just a little less than a month from now. I've already teased out a closing date, which can't be from June 12th through the 22nd. 

     Each morning, starting around 4 am, Theresa and I sit down and search for our next home. It's not easy finding a house, especially from a distance. But it's all part of it. Not only is finding one difficult but moving on one with limited funds until the closing is challenging as well. We'll need the right seller to get it and work with us. What is a strength is that we're cash buyers, so once that contract is all signed and a go then we should be good, even if we only have $85 to put down until the closing.  

05.13.26 Have an estate sale...sell a house...

     We're not counting our chickens before they hatch but things are progressing nicely, we hope. Josh and Chandler noticed out bootleg "Coming Soon" sale in front of the house and 

reached out to Theresa. They stopped by twice during the estate sale this past weekend and fell in love with the house, even during the chaos. They said they would let us know and they did just that. Price agreed. "As is", but they want to do a home inspection, which of course makes sense. I went through everything right and wrong with the house letting them know the home inspector will eviscerate this 100 year old house. They get it, and they want it. I hope for them, and us, things go forward. There is something knowing your house is going to good people. We feel we did a good job during our 8 years here and did the house and property well. Now it's time to pass the baton over to the next owners. 

     But before their evening visit with their parents I had the pleasure of attending the Capital Health Nursing School pinning ceremony. Like so many before it's nice to sit back and watch the class now all smiles and ready to begin their careers in nursing. 

     Tomorrow is the Essex County College pinning ceremony and it comes with a mixed emotions. I am so happy and proud of them as well. It was this class, the first the college had with over a hundred students at the start, that I had for their entire first year before I left. The class voted me to be their commencement speaker, only to have the faculty oppose their choice. When I heard this I was deflated, and hoped the class fought, not for me, for themselves. It was their choice. It is their pinning. Oh well for democracy. Vetoing a speaker is unheard of, but I'm not surprised. I was looking forward to addressing the class, in fact, I had already had my speech completed and ready to roll. Ironically, almost to the day, I addressed my own graduating class as class president in May of 1996. That was 30 years ago. 

     So I'll spend the day instead running around finishing up projects that need to be done before the sale goes through. A few broken windows, some outlets that are hanging out of their boxes by a thread, and of course scanning the yard for sticks and weeds. But as I do that I will be with the Class of 2026 in spirit, some of those kids I really enjoyed teaching, and becoming friends with. 

     And of course with the timeline of the sale shortening we have been working with our realtor down there about some potential houses. Trying to buy a house 750 away isn't easy and having a realtor you trust is key. We have seen other houses we liked and thought they could be the one but we weren't ready. 

But the above house may meet our needs. It's a good size, has a good kitchen and flow, we like the location inside Sun City. It has a much coveted den or office, which I have begged for to be my "Man Cave". We'll see how that goes. I know I'm gonna need a space to call my own, otherwise we will surely kill each other at some point. We also really dig the lanai out back. 

     We know things could come to a halt at any moment and as Yogi said, "It ain't over till it's over", but, with fingers crossed and Jesus taking the wheel maybe this will all go down as planned after all. No matter what happens and when, I'm still going to Martha's Vineyard with the two Joe's and Brad on June 13th, selling a buying a house or not. 

05.12.26 PHW Bob Popovic's auction is up and running...

      Project Healing Waters is holding the Bob Popovic's Memorial Auction through May 16th. It's a chance to own a piece of Bob and support and organization who mission is "Healing America's Veterans through the therapeutic art of fly fishing". 

     The auction includes Bob's Billy Pate and Tabor reels to Beast Fleyes and other flies that Bob tied. Some of them, if you remember, I photographed when I visited Bob's Attic back in January. You can see that HERE If you haven't seen it, or want to see it again below is the slide show I made during that visit in January 2025. 

     So if you like go and take a visit, HERE, to see the items offered at auction. Boy do I miss that guy. With just about a month before I join my friends up at the Vineyard I'll surely be thinking of him and my other friends who made the journey up there every spring. 

05.11.26 A picture that's worth 1,000 words....

     I'll give you 100 guesses as to what's going on in the above picture. If you guessed that my Mom likes to dumpster dive then you got it wrong. If you guessed that my mom doesn't trust what her son threw out into the dumpster then you were correct. That's Mom just double checking what stuff of hers I loaded up into the dumpster. It was a long, long weekend, but one that needed to happen. 

     This weekend was the final estate sale. What was planned as a two day event wound up turning into three. While I was ready to shut it down on Saturday afternoon, out of respect for Mother's Day, my Mom suggested we just "keep it open" on Sunday to see what happens. Well, if you open the doors they will come, and they did. 

     Having an estate sale is a daunting task. First you have to get your house ready for it, and then you have to figure out what's going to be sold. That entailed emptying out the basement and attic, still a ton of stuff still up there, and staging things to be sold. We started out outside but then dodged the rain so then just about everything had to dragged inside. Green painters tape was used to tape off rooms we didn't want to have people searching though, but that didn't stop anyone. At one point I was mowing the grass, more on that later, and my Mom came out screaming, "Someone's giving Theresa a hard time". This was classic. I should have got a picture.

     So a guy, nice guy in the end, is looking for jewelry. Theresa is nuts when it comes to hiding her jewelry. So she keeps it all tucked under her stuff in her underwear drawer. So during her patrol between the first and second floor she finds this guy in her dresser with her underwear tossed on top and her jewelry laid out. He had a scale and a loop and was doing what estate sale-jewelry guys do, they hunt for treasures. By the time I got up there she had him empty his pockets on the bed to make sure he hadn't lifted anything. The guy was petrified and explained over and over that's what people do during estate sales, basically dig for treasures, and yes, even into the drawers of your drawers. In the end they were besties and he dropped a lot of money on jewelry she didn't want anymore. It was funny, but it took a while to settle everyone down. 

      Over the course of three days we unloaded everything we could. From "We're not budging" to "Just take them all". My truck sold. The bedroom sets gone. Pictures gone. Tools gone. Kitchen table outta here. We sold things we think we never would, but in the end felt good that the load was lessened. Theresa even let her "Pinocchio Plant" go. 

     I always hated that plant. Sold. Now what to do with what's left. The Vietnam Veteran's will be coming today to take what's not going to the local church thrift store or doesn't wind up in the dumpster, under my Mom's watchful eye of course. 

     Mom drove up from Florida for her 80th birthday and Mother's Day and wound up breaking her hump instead. At now 80 she was a beast, and her idea of running through Sunday proved to be golden. We made thousands, with the truck sale being the big ticket item. The only bummer of the weekend was either Theresa or I misplaced, or someone lifted, $2,100 from the till. I hope it shows up, or the person who took it was in desperate need. I don't have time to ponder over it. Move on, and move ahead. 

     But the highlight of the weekend was having, what I think, were the next owners of the house over for two visits. A nice young couple who were have been in the hunt for an old house, in this price range, in this location. They have been battling the multiple listing, overbidding, and cash offer competition that exists out there today. I basically told them, here she is, here's the good, the bad, and the ugly, here's the price with no games. If they want it it's theirs. Otherwise it goes to MLS and a realtor and the bidding wars and games would begin. We'll see where that goes. But I now feel the work we have ahead is getting ready to move out, not to get it ready for the market.  

     And why not have some fly fishing content on this, once was, a fly fishing blog. After we shut down Friday I snuck down to the river. It was just about mid-incoming tide and there wasn't much water around. I made a ton of casts and wasn't feeling it. Low water. No bait. And no cormorants fishing for herring. I made my way to some rocks that would look like a good place for a fish to lie in wait, if the bait and water was up.

     So I made a cast between and just above the rocks and let whatever current there was carry my herring fly down. As soon as it passed the rocks a huge swirl and then chase went down. There was a good fish there, in water no more than two feet deep. I rested that spot for about five minutes before repeating and the next ambush was with more intent on eating, but I never had a chance to set the hook. So for the spring 20206 season that is my fish that got away story. Still none to hand but a good and much needed two-hour session to pause for a bit. 

     There's no time to rest now. Mom's heading back to Florida tomorrow. Theresa has a full week's work and I have to get ready for next Monday when the mental health semester that I'm teaching begins. It'll be lecture, labs, and clinical for four weeks, with afternoons and evenings spent finishing up those things I told the kids I'd do before we sell. I think we're getting close to getting close. 

     Of course the hunt for a house down there will continue. I must have hit on the Zillow site 1,000 times since January, now it seems like we should really be zeroing in on a potential home. But there's a ton of people from around the country looking at sun City as well, as I've joined a few social media groups on Facebook. They have their eyes and hearts set on doing them same thing we are. The only difference now, with the price that we think we can get for out house, is that we can bump up the price range search a bit which gives us a home that's a little bigger and more updated. It's all going down as anticipated, but there's still a ton more to do. 

 

05.09.26 Looks like it's "All Aboard" at the station....

      I wouldn't say the train has left the station, just yet, but the conductor has yelled "All aboard" to those waiting to board and head south. I can tell you moving is a daunting task. And really it's not the actual move but it's the preparation in doing so. As of late I've seen my parents go through it, and my siblings as well. My one sister moved down the street and my sister around the corner. My Mom picked up and headed to Florida, alone and with no one down in the Sunshine State. My Dad and step-Mother moved from a big house to a smaller one a town away. For us it'll be an 800 mile move down to South Carolina. While the steam from the engine, if I was talking about an old steam engine, is filling the air as the train awaits departure, I know there's more ahead to do to pull this off. But it's looking like all systems go, for now. 

     We ordered the last dumpster to fill with stuff that's not getting donated, sold, or making the trip south. The trains are gone. This weekend is the last estate sale. And I found yet another, "This is my last vehicle". While lugging a bunch of stuff outside yesterday before the arrival of the yard salers I asked my neighbor if I could load up her drive way with out three vehicles. Then I thought, "Why not keep the truck here and just trow a "For Sale" sign up on the windshield?. 

     The truck had been on FBM for about a day at that point and what might happen? Well, I had to take a break from the estate sale to head to DMV to register the Suburban I got a call from Theresa? "A guy here wants your truck", she said, "Tell him I'm on my way", I answered. And after about a 10-minute sales pitch the hands were shook and it was sold. I got $3,000 for it, a couple of hundred more than what  bought her for.

     I bought her in 2023 and she has had many "new" looks since I had her. First, there was the cap that I picked up down near Atlantic City for $75 bucks. Then there was getting rid of the rusted bed and the construction of the wooden bed that totally changed 

the look and function of the truck. I didn't do it alone and had the help of my father and brother who made it happen. In between there was a new transfer case, which I did solo, newer tires that Theresa and I drove to Maryland to pick up, things here and there in between daily trips to Newark for work, Cape May for fun, and of course to Martha's Vineyard. 

     It was during last year's trip that I brought up the "SS Archer" to fish Menemsha Pond. It was during that trip that I realized the "boat" belonged on the Vineyard, and my friend Abe made that happen. She also make many tows of the jet boat to the Delaware River and countless trips to the recycling center with leaves and brush and to pick up mulch. So needless to say she has served me well and will continue to do s, I hope, for the new owner who owns a small landscaping company. 

 
     So it was time to say good-bye and Theresa and I delivered her last night to her new owner. One more check on the long list of things to do. And like many other things I've done I couldn't do them alone. I have to give a shout out to my Mother, just a few days into her 80th year, who came up from Florida to celebrate her birthday and Mother's Day. She's been a beast since she 

got here. She had to clean out her portion of the attic and the rooms she lived in before heading to Florida just about four years ago. I asked what she wanted to do for Mother's Day and she said it in one word, "Sleep". She fell asleep on the job yesterday during a break in the action. 

     Sorry for the pic Mom but it really tells it all in one image. It is a testament to how hard you worked and have always been there for me in the 1,000 different things I've dragged you through in my life. It's fitting that tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm lucky to have had you as a Mom and there with me during every step of my life. 

      So when I was at DMV yesterday they asked if I wanted to transfer my plates or just get new ones. well after years of having "AVANGLR" on the front and back of a probable half a dozen vehicles it was time to say good-bye to the personalized plates. 

Now I'm just another "X79- YAN" guy driving around New Jersey. Hopefully by year's end I have South Carolina plates on the Suburban and will be tooling around the Lowcountry. But, there's still a ton to do. There has been a ton of interest in the house and yesterday a girl made an all-cash offer which was lower than we are listing at. Today a young couple who have been sweating us to get in here will stop by so we'll see how that goes during a probably rainy day two and final sale at the house. Next week my last semester begins at Capital Health so I have to change outfits from my daily workwear backs to the scrubs and lab coat. I just hope I can wear scrubs at the Trenton Psychiatric Hospital because I don't even know where my clothes are these days. 

     And before breakfast on Mother's Day tomorrow I will take some time and hit the river, you know, to go fishing. I have low expectations but I need to get out there. I'm sure by now you're done with reading my daily diary of the big move. But, truth be told, life, and this blog, is more than just fly fishing. well, actually, this is all part of it. Things change with fishing year to year, as we've seen this year and I'll talk about this week. So my ebb and flow of fishing this year is a testament to how life gets in the way of things that are near and dear to our hearts. But my eyes are on the big picture, and the start of another new chapter in my life. Boy, does my book have a lot of chapters in it. 

05.07.26 Oops, I did it again.....but...

     So I guess I just can't help myself. I swore, and Theresa said she would never let me, buy yet another battle tank that's a bucket of bolts, and full of rust. While it may seem impulsive, sell trains yesterday buy a new truck today, that's what I did. But I think, yet again, it was a good buy.

     While I had my sights on a GMC Yukon Denali a Suburban was a close second. So in between sanding and painting I spent a lot of time in the wee hours searching FBM for just that. I also looked on line to see what a newer model of anything would run. Well, above is just one example. An eleven year old vehicle with 122,000 miles for just under $14,000. And truth be told those Chevy and GMC in years 2002-2004 are my favorite. And then I found her. 

    What got me was two things, one owner, and 120,000 miles. Could that be true? Yes it was. It was freshly listed so I jumped on Messenger and set up a meeting. With an asking price of $4,999 could it be a good one?

     So yesterday Theresa and I drove to the Battleground Country Club to check her out. Needless to say the original owners were great. This was the family truckster that was used for local use and an occasional trip. For the last bunch of years it stayed put to be used as a Bog-Out vehicle if the world was to go to shit. Well with Covid over, and I guess the world in a better place, and with the kids grown and gone it was time for them to sell it. And I was the perfect buyer. 

     Newer tires, zero rust underneath, and an impeccable interior. The only two things were an ABS light that comes on intermittently and a finish that looks like they drove through an acid rain storm. If you were looking for pretty only then this would not be your go to. But if you were looking for a tank of a truck that was all good on the inside, one mechanic serviced it for 20 years, but a little rough around the face them she would be a taker. And we took her. I emptied the 35 hundies from my pocket and Theresa figured out Zelle with the sellers for another G-note. 

     So I would be into her for $4,500 and then a much needed paint job. So I looked at Maaco figuring they could do a quickie for about a grand and get her looking good. When I told my parents about it my Dad said, "I know a guy", and this just may wind up being a Godsend. His "guy" wouldn't be doing a half-ass scrape and paint type of Maaco job. So I felt relieved and really excited what she will look like all gussied up. 

     So I put on the plates and called for insurance coverage and drove her home. I gave her a quick power washing and a detail and washed the windows. This is going to be a perfect ride. It can tow the boat, hold all my fishing gear, and even be big enough if I need to escape the smaller home we plan on moving to. I'm sure things will come up, like what's with the ABS light, and things now unseen. But I'm happy.  

     So for now I have two Chevys in the driveway. The truck sits on FBM and I've already got a ton of questions from mostly annoying "Hi, is this available?" people. I'm thinking this will go by the weekend, but I thought the same with the trains. She needs an oil change but that'll have to wait because I can't get sidetracked from getting the house ready. And those rims...put getting those redone on my Christmas wish list. I love when an older truck has good rims. DMV in the morning to register and then inspection in a week or so. Hopefully it'll pass. 

     And yesterday was my Mom's 80th birthday. Had a bunch of the fan damily out for dinner and it was good food, drink, and laughs. It's crazy how fast life goes, not that I remember when she was born, which was in 1946. But for me in 1968, and Theresa in 1966, and even my first born in 1996. There's no doubt when they say live each day like it's your last and you can't take it with you. Soon it'll all be over, and they'll be taking you out of your house feet first.