A Spot of Red #WordlessWednesday

The leaves are blowing away but yesterday was a gorgeous day, with unseasonable high temperatures.  I was able to get out and take this picture of a tree up against evergreens.

A spot of red.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for her #WordlessWednesday.

Print or Digital?

 It's Election Day in the United States, and it's been going on for so long, and has been talked about so much, that we are all exhausted.

But today, I am asking for your vote on - Print or Digital?

Yesterday, I got an issue of a magazine my spouse and I happen to like - Birds and Blooms Extra. We love it especially to read at our leisure.  It's heavy with photograph. We had just extended our subscription for two years because their price was going to go up.  No problem there.

But there was this on top of the cover:

IMPORTANT MESSAGE. "Birds and Blooms EXTRA is going digital. We are pivoting the format of Birds and Bloms EXTRA magazine from print arriving in-home to digital arriving in your inbox as of the upcoming February 2025 issue...but rest assured the digital issue will contain all the same content you have come to love!" (they will also extend our subscription by one issue.)

Oh no.

The last thing we want is still another digital read.

They did offer a phone number for questions or to cancel and receive a refund.

We are seriously thinking of cancelling.

So, my voting question to you, my readers, is this?

Would you accept the digital subscription (no idea this would happen when we extended our subscription for two years recently)?  Or would you vote to cancel?

It won't influence my decision.  I'm just curious.

Print or digital?

Cry Freedom #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for music!

Today I am joining up with other Music Moves Me bloggers. We are a group of music loving bloggers who blog about music each Sunday or Monday (or even later in the week). If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only-meaning at least one music video, please! Otherwise, your post may be labeled "No Music".)   

Our head host is Xmas Dolly, and our co-hosts are Cathy from Curious as a Cathy, joined by the knowledgeable Stacy of Stacy Uncorked and, last but not least, me.

Every other week, we have a theme.  On alternate weeks, we can blog on any music theme we want. This week's theme is "Pick a song(s) that has to do with your country.  Examples: songs about presidents, pursuit of happiness, liberty, national pride, etc."

First up, from the movie Selma, here are Common and John Legend with the award winning song Glory, from 2014.  Freedom is not guaranteed.  It must be cherished and fought for.

Perhaps one of the best songs written about freedom is Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom Flashing.

I have never known what it is like to live in a dictatorship, but, over the course of my life, I have met various people who have. Most came from Europe; one came from a country occupied by Japan.  I will never forgot what they told me and I am not necessarily going to pick songs representing my country, the United States.  To honor those still living under the thumb of dictators, here are the Scorpions and their 1991 masterpiece Winds of Change.

Presidents?   Here is  Abraham, Martin and John, a tribute to President Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy, all taken from us too soon.

Finally, from 2016, a song by Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar.  This is being used this year in a Presidential campaign, but I am posting this in the spirit of the song's original meaning as a civil rights hymn.  Here is "Freedom".

And that's a wrap!

If you live in the United States and haven't yet voted, tomorrow is your last chance.  Exercise your right to vote - it was hard fought and won.  If you have or will vote, thank you! 

See you again next week for another episode of Music Moves Me.

October Long Park Shadows #ShadowshotSunday

Taken October 17 at a local park.

Showcasing the long shadows of October, now that it's November.

Remember when the trees had leaves?

What a weird reflection.  See the disk with the white circle in the middle touching the ground?  Maybe it's a miniature flying saucer.  Or, a dirty lens.

Enjoy the memories of October.   We had a run of clear skies, and it was a great time for shadow photography. 

Now, the gloom of November settles in even as the leaves fall onto my lawn, and I join Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventures for #ShadowshotSunday.

How to Make Voting Creepy

Thursday, Halloween, was the day for chills and ghost stories, but sometimes things that come in the mail are even more creepy.

Wednesday, my spouse and I received a "Voting Report Card" from an outfit called the Center for Voting Information.  It read, in part:

"Dear AM:

Public records indicate that you are eligible to vote in the coming election....Remember, who you vote for is private, but whether or not you voted is public record."

It then gave me a chart, contrasting my voting record (i.e. if I had voted in that year's general election), with two of my neighbors, with their addresses and names redacted, for the years 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2022.

And then for the chills.

It continued "We will be reviewing these records after the election to determine whether or not you joined your neighbors in voting." (italics are mine).

And then what?   Is this a veiled threat, given the political climate we in the United States are in?  Aren't many of us exhausted or fearful already?

Who are these Center for Voter Information people, anyway? I invite you to research that online if you are interested.  I did.

I went online.  I'm not the only person who has received mailings from this Center for Voting Information and I'm not alone in feeling this particular mailing was creepy or even vaguely threatening.

So.  It is true that voter registration records are public, at least in New York State.  I can easily determine if I am on the registration rolls and find out my polling place.  If I voted by absentee ballot, I can find out its status.  And, I can see if I am registered as a Republican or a Democrat.

My actual vote is private. Our democracy depends on that privacy.  I have the right to vote along party lines, or I can cross that line and vote for the other side.  Voting is a civic duty, and I am well aware that, as a woman, many fought for my right to vote.  In fact, at the time my mother was born, she had no right to vote.  I am well aware of that, too.  I don't need a mailing to tell me that.

Oh, and about that list of neighbors and if they voted.  I have the grand total of, I believe, one neighbor on my block who was living there in 2016.  For that matter, on my block, there is only one family besides us who was living here in 2022. One neighbor died earlier this year.  Most other houses are rentals and there is a constant turnover of tenants.

Do I even care if my neighbors voted?   (For the record, my spouse and I early voted in this year's election, and, once again, it's no one's business how we voted.)

So, about that "we will be reviewing these records....":  For what purpose?   Learning how to better influence my vote?  Retribution?  Who are you to review my voting records.

That really does creep me out. 

Center for Voting Information, just stop it.

 But, despite all this confusion....

 

Vote as if your freedom depends on it, my fellow Americans.

Because, one day, it might.

And that's what is truly creepy.

Last Day of Summer #SkywatchFriday

I'm calling yesterday the last day of summer because it was the last day of an incredible streak of mild weather where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.

But it's November 1, and Daylight Saving Time ends on Sunday.  I'm not ready to face reality.

So instead, I'm sitting outside on October 31 and writing this post.

Sky earlier on October 31.

In a local park.

A reflection photo.
 

In a year of yellow trees, be red.

But yellow is nice, too.

One more before I go, taken October 31.  The winds are blowing and the leaves are coming down fast.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Oh Boo Hoo It's Halloween

I don't know if I've shared Halloween memories from my childhood but, if not, here goes:

My childhood was in the late 50's and early 60's.  I grew up in an apartment building in New York City, and we would come home from elementary school, change into our costumes, and trick or treat in our building.  We didn't have to brave the cold. 

I can still remember the joy of chocolate and lollipops (especially Tootsie Roll lollipops), and the disappointment of candy corn. 

Fun fact, did you know that candy corn was originally called "chicken feed" and was marketed for Christmas?  No, neither did I until earlier this year.

It's a fascinating candy but I still won't eat it.

Now, contrast that with today.  Today we are expected to reach a record high in the 70's F. (about 23C), kind of scary in its own way.

But I'm not sure how many children will come to our door.  They've probably had their fill of trunk or treats and business Halloween parades. 

How about some Halloweeny type photos?  First, for those who like the scary.

A decorated house.

A bucket of skulls from our local Scarecrow contest.

I feel like this sometimes.

Finally, one for those who don't want to be frightened.

Tomorrow, some sky and foliage photos.