Happy Holidays

Jerry Jelinek - photograph by Norm Jelinek

Happy Holidays!!!!

Hope your holidays are going well and you are enjoying the warmth of family and friends during this special time of year. 

Speaking of special, check out the cute little guy above.  That is me around 1968 or so.  My dad was the enthusiastic photographer for the family.   I have inherited literally thousands of slides, negatives and prints from the family photography collection.   The above has always been one of my personal favorites.   Captures the innocence of youth along with my trusty companion (St. Nicholas).   Come to think of it, I still have that same feeling of wonder this time of year. 

Speaking of wonder, recently I have been visiting the 'north pole'.   This is a display area as part of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad Polar Expreess holiday train rides.   A hugely successful tradition around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park near me.    Literally tens of thousands of holiday delighted people ride the train to hear the story of the Polar Express along with riding by the north pole as part of the train ride.   Just check out of the wonder of this mother and son as they share the rider through the north pole. 

There are literally thousands of volunteers that share the holiday spriit both on the train and at the north pole helping to greet the riders.


This past weekend, we setup a LARGE group shot to showcase the volunteers at the North Pole.   

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I'll leave you during this holiday time with a special note from one of my favorite authors:

Rachel Carson - excerpt from a letter written to Dorothy Freeman - 12/11/1953

"Christmas brings most of all a sense of rather starry wonder - from the wonder of the first one that still shines through the years, to the miracle of friendship and of the warmth and joy that fill the human hearts when it experiences that rare and beautiful thing, a sense of perfect communication with another. And so tonight I want to say thank you for those precious gifts of friendship and love and understanding, that cannot be bought and could never be replaced."

Love,

Jerry

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad

My latest photographic project is teaming up the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad with the Cuyahoga Valley Photographic Society.  

From September 2012 through September 2013, the photo society is photographing all aspects of the scenic railroad. 

The railroad runs through the Cuyahga Valley National Park and provides access to the park through the vintage tracks the cut through the valley floor. 

I got the idea of trying to capture more of the people and equipment that make up the heart of the scenic railroad.   Through the permission of the scenic railroad, I have been fortunate to gain access to the maintenance yard along with meeting and learning about the hundreds of volunteers and handful of salaried employees of the railroad.

The photographic project is still in its infancy, but already is rewarding me with unique ideas that I wouldn't have thought of capturing.

You can see my ongoing image galleries at my smugmug site:

Fitzwater Maintenance Yard

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad