The latest septuagenarian

Time marches on. I’m in the northern territory of my 70s and my younger cousins are catching up. The latest member of our Septuagenarian Gang is my cousin Chris Poltrack. He celebrated his birthday this week complete with balloons and fanfare.

Master of my domain

Speaking of milestones and anniversaries, I started my online journey when I registered the poltrack.net domain in 2007. Having a domain has allowed me to maintain this website and a Google workspace. There is a cost but property on the internet is affordable.

Analog Photography

I took this photo when we traveled to Maine to Visit Jim and Jane Russo in Augusta. We traveled to the coast to scramble over the rocks. At the time I was unaware of the name of this lighthouse. Only years later with the benefit of Google was I able to identify it as Pemaquid Lighthouse in New Harbor, Maine.

As with the case of film photography, I don’t know when this was taken. Probably in the summer sometime in the mid 1980s.

Photo of the week

Love is in the air. A male turkey was strutting around impressing the ladies.

No cats allowed

We had a nice lunch at the Hilltop Cafe in Wilton, NH. It is literally on a hilltop at a working farm.

I was very happy with my healthy choice of a Rice bowl with roasted vegetables, black beans, avocado, chicken topped with Tali sauce, This is something I will attempt to make at home.

I noticed this sign inside the cafe

When we left I was greeted by a very friendly calico cat, He/She was waiting by the front door hoping for an opportunity to join the diners.

Signs of Spring

Crocus and Helleborus have made their appearance. Finally some color in the landscape.

Helleborus is a favorite of mine. They are deer-proof and bloom early in the season. Sometimes they beat the crocus. They come in several pastel colors with glossy green foliage.

Signs of Spring (Inside)

The orchids know that Spring has arrived. One of the Phalaenopsis has blossomed and another has buds.

Passages

Ginny and I attended a memorial luncheon for Harry “Butch” Cotterly on Saturday, April 1st. He died on March 7, 2023. Two months earlier, his friend John Weber had picked him up at the assisted living facility for a seafood dinner of oysters and lobster in New Ipswich, NH. Butch had asked me to write something about him after he passed, so I asked several questions about his early life as a performer of magic and how it evolved into the Pyroman performance.

This is what I wrote:

On a warm evening in New Ipswich, a lone figure climbs onto a platform at a summer party. He is wearing a fireproof Nomex suit and a motorcycle helmet. Affixed to the helmet and his suit are fireworks. The platform is surrounded with mortars loaded with aerial shells. A harness of wires runs from the charges to a control panel. The party music stops and an announcer introduces PYROMAN.

Suddenly sparks shoot from the helmet, the arms and knees, Pyroman turns around and a pinwheel throws sparks in all directions. Behind the stage the sky is filled with bursts of color and sound. It was quite the sight to see.

Harry “Butch”  Cotterly was Pyroman, he was also Harry the Clown and a good friend. He loved to perform and the summer parties hosted by his longtime friend John Weber afforded him an appreciative audience. Pyroman evolved from earlier performances with fireworks such as riding a bicycle through a wall of fire.

Before the pyrotechnics, Harry performed elaborate magic routines such as recreating a David Copperfield illusion in which a motorcycle appears in an empty box. Harry worked as a caretaker and handyman for Ed Morrill in New Ipswich. He also was a pyrotechnician for Atlas Advanced Pyrotechnics in Jaffrey, NH where he learned how to perfect his craft. After each performance he would evaluate what effects worked and which needed improvement.

When I spoke with him shortly before his passing he mentioned that he had the idea of setting up a wrestling match between himself as his alter-ego Pyroman and Lobsterman, a professional wrestler. He even went as far to contact Lobsterman. Harry will be missed by his friends and family. He was truly a unique individual.

March 2023

Pryoman