A walk in the park

Janes Island State Park

"I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air." ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

 This is a beautiful time to visit Jane's Island State Park. I photographed these people through the office window. They were enjoying a stroll along the Little Annemessex River.

Janes Island State Park

"The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness." ~ Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)



I recently dropped in on my friend at Janes Island State Park in Crisfield. Phoebe is an extremely talented gal with the art brush and Adobe Photo. She also has all the equipment to design and print custom tee shirts.

Janes Island State Park recently planted some flowers around their sign to beautify the area. Phoebe entered a contest for Maryland parks and she photo shopped what the sign would look like when the flowers bloomed. She won $2,500 for the park with her talent. Way to go, Phoebe!

While I was visiting Phoebe, I walked around the park and took a few photos.

You can go primitive, bring your motor home, or rent one of several cozy cabins. There is also a huge beautiful two story cabin for rent for large parties. Kayaks are available for rent, and there is a nice playground for the kids.

I ran into this lady in the office. She had tons of photos from her many trips from New Jersey to Janes Island Park each year, and was happy to show them to me. She said she has been coming to the park since she was a young girl.

I captured these handsome young men pulling up to the dock to take a break from patrolling our bay.

Bring you fishing poles!

I need to get the photo that Phoebe photo shopped to put with this. Instant flowers are my kind of flowers.

This is a tee shirt Phoebe made me using one of my photos. On the back she has a crab holding a camera. Thanks, Phoebe. No thanks to the person who took my photo. A little off on the lighting, eh? Tee looks great, though.

Crisfield, Maryland. Small, But Briming with Talent.

I wish I had time on my hands to do nothing but run around town highlighting all of the creative people who live in Crisfield. I have so many people on my list, and eventually, I want to cover everyone. The people that I do cover are people that I randomly run into. When I have time, I make the most of the opportunity. Anyone who wants to be featured should contact me. You know what they say about the "squeaky wheel."

Today, I am featuring Patrick Costello. He is a wonderful musician, and both he and his dad play the banjo like angels playing harps.

I don't have time to go into all the details but you can Google or YouTube "Patrick Costello+Crisfield+banjos" and come up with numerous web sites. You can also get picking lessons at YouTube.

To make a very long story shot, Patrick started losing his hearing when he was young. Now that is a story unto itself. He lived in Philly at the time, and he would skip high school and ride the subway to town to play his guitar on the streets. One day, he met a old blues musician on the subway, and that was the start of his story.

Patrick has written books about playing the banjo and also sells them through his websites. Every third Saturday, anyone in our area who wants to learn how to pick, is welcome to free lessons at a local church. I am going to be there this month for photos and picking lessons.

Patrick and his dad also hold a musicians retreat every year at Janes Island State park in Crisfield. They have people come for all over the world. This year, I had a little time to squeeze in a few photos.

This is Patrick, on right, teaching someone how to play the guitar.

Patrick has his hand cupped around his ear in order to better hear the student. Sadly, his hearing has become worse. But the good news is he having an operation in a few weeks, and hopefully he will be able to hear again.

The operation, which will be performed at Johns Hopkins, is very expensive, but part of it was made possible by his many students who sent money to help out. And folks, no one set out a donation jar. He is such a sweet person, people insisted on helping.











The 3 day retreat also allows students and professionals to pick and play on their own schedule.

Below are some random photos I took. As you can see, people bring multiple instruments.







And there is always time for a little R&R:



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Below is the main building at Janes State Park where the event was held.



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These 2 photos are what jogged my memory. I had actually taken the retreat photos a few weeks ago. I saw Pat Costello at a recent street fest showing this cute little kid how to play a banjo. He was intrigued.




Good luck with your operation, Patrick!