Memorial Day GI Love Story

This Memorial Day, I'd like to write about an incident back in March when spouse and I were touring the Rural Telephone Museum in the small town of Leslie, Georgia.

Along with us, the only other visitors were a church group.  The museum guide (you can only visit with the guided tour) was showing us an old time switchboard and demonstrated how the operators would "plug in" calls.

Among the church members were an elderly husband and wife.  The husband mentioned that his wife had been a telephone operator....and then began to tell us the story of how they met.

Simply stated, he was a GI in post war Occupied Japan and his wife was a telephone operator at the historic Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.  They met, and the rest was history.  He looked at her as he was telling this story and the love these two had for each other was so obvious....and touching.

I wondered how it was like to move half a world away to be with the one you love.  That's what this former telephone operator had done.  What kind of life had she led?  Did they have children?  Had life been good to them?

Memorial Day is the day we honor our war dead.  That day in Georgia, I saw an amazing love story that was still ongoing.  Today, although Memorial Day was originally designed to honor Civil War dead, we honor the aging members of the Greatest Generation and other generations.

I hope this man and woman, joined half a world away, have more happy years ahead of them.

Facebook for All Generations?

Spouse and I are at his Mom's house right now.  After a nice dinner, one of her neighbors came over for dessert.

We got to talking about Facebook.  It's funny how at first my mother in law and the neighbor both (both are senior citizens - one in her 70's and one in her 80's) don't want to have much to do with Facebook.  But they were interested in looking at my account.  And then I started to get the requests....

Look up this person, look up that person....it turned into a fun evening.

We had quite an experience with the son of a former neighbor of theirs.  We knew he had gone to Hollywood and been in a couple of movies.  Using the Internet Movie Database we found out this former neighbor boy had done both movies and TV.  Moving on to You Tube, we were able to see several clips of him in action.  Finally, a search revealed he had opened up a couple of restaurants out on the West Coast, although he ended up selling them.

However, we never did find him on Facebook.  Nor did we find several other people.

Just about then, we looked out the window and one of my spouses' cousins was walking up the driveway.  She lives in another state but had come by to see her grandmother and help her plant.  She is my friend on Facebook.  So I teased my mother in law and said after she left, I would post a status update.

We had a great visit and after she left, I did post a status update.  A few minutes later my mother in law came over and I showed her the post on Facebook.

I still don't think my mother in law is ready for Facebook, but I think she will be curious to see what our other relatives will think of the post.

Adventures in Handicapped Travel

In July we are going to be taking my mother in law to a wedding on the Jersey Shore.

My mother in law needs some assistance physically; she walks with a cane.  it would have been helpful for her to have grab bars (for shower, toileting, etc.)

Our first adventure came in booking a motel room.  there was a block of rooms for the wedding.  However, when we attempted to book a room, we were told that a "wheelchair" room would not be available at the block rate.  We would have to pay a higher rate.  Nor could they guarantee that we would get a first floor room.  I am assuming this place had elevators but again....I have a feeling I had better get up to speed quickly on this type of thing.  We didn't need a wheelchair room per se, but I thought it would have features that would have made her stay easier.

Looks like I am going to have to learn a lot about this topic-quickly.  I've already contacted someone who used to be in the travel field to see if she can give me some direction.

She Ain't No Ant of Mine

Two weeks in a row.

We use large outdoor pots for some of our annuals.

Last week spouse started to prepare one of the pots.  He dug in....and brought out a wad of ants.  Ants with wings, ants carrying little white things.  They were crawling all over him.

He had struck an ants nest.  Luckily they were small, non aggressive ants.

This had never happened, in all our years of using pots.

This week....do I learn?  No.  I dig into another pot.  Brought out a wad of ants.  Ants who were not happy.  Ants who were all over me, dazed and confused.  But a couple regained their composure enough quickly enough to bite me.   I have a couple of bumps to prove it.  Ouch.

Somewhere there is a "wanted" poster in a couple of relocated ant nests, with our pictures on them.

It's not a good thought.

Tired Sunday

Today: transplanting, planting, repotting house plants.  Spouse doing all the "heavy lifting", thank heavens I have him.  I never could have done it with out him.


I still have a couple of bee balm plants to put out.  And some impatiens I got from Burpees.  Very high quality mail order plants, by the way.

Tomorrow, spouse will take tomato and pepper plants to our community garden-just in time for temperatures to start hitting the 90's.

Summer has come (probably).

As for me: I have to investigate one of those "benches" I used to see elderly people gardening with.  I think I need something like that between my back and my knee.  Both of which, incidentally, are not thanking me this evening.

Meantime, I never did do any of the organizational work I wanted to do for the caretaking log, etc. for my mother in law.

I looked up back when I did some gathering of information and - I am so embarrased to see when the last time I updated things was, I won't even mention it.  Well, I know some of the information is the same.

Some of it has changed a lot, some in a very interesting way.  So where have I been? 

At least this caretaking isn't an emergency situation-yet.  Another "thank heavens" for that.

Sigh. Not enough hours in the day.

The Big Day of Gardening

Today, while my back yelled at me, we had our annual Gardening Day.

Set up a couple of hanging baskets;
Planted impatiens in front planters;
Watered a bunch of transplants spouse set;
Helped (mostly by looking) my spouse plant tomatoes in an Earthbox in the back.

As for spouse-he did a lot of transplanting.  Out went an Alternathera "party time", a gizzard plant, the variegated basil I wrote about last week, a "Cape Mallow" Anisodontea x hypomandarum plant, and some perennials including a foam flower plant, a lenten rose (which we fell in love with when visiting Asheville).  And, he switched the position of our compost bin. 

Tomorrow, in between preparing a caretaking care log and trying to prepare for our visit to our mother in law's next week, we will do some more back yard work. We have heirloom snapdragons to plant, also heirloom nasturtiums and a bunch of "normal" annuals.

Meanwhile, the "early spring" continues.  We have bearded iris and rhododendron blooming - they started several days ago.  These are plants that normally don't come out until the beginning of June.  Also, in the wild arena, what I think is dame's rocket is blooming and I've never seen it bloom in May before.

Querying More than the Hive Mind - True or Hoax?

I got this from a very unlikely source, but one that has proved trustworthy for me before.  I haven't ever followed Metafilter but maybe I will now.  I read this with total disbelief turning to tears.  (Warning, the link has very adult content).  I don't know if this was really true, but it had a (temporary, anyway) happy ending and...if I find out anything more I will let this blog know.

What a strange species we are.  The best and the worst of us, all in one Internet thread.  If it's true.

There's a part of me, though, wondering if this is a hoax.  We can only wait and see.

Vote, vote for Miss Rheingold...I mean, for Asheville, NC Beer

Asheville, NC, population around 75,000. has 8 microbreweries (if memory serves). We bought a small case from one back from our visit the end of March, and have been enjoying the beer.  We hope to go back one day and enjoy some more.  Late March isn't the time to visit but that was when we were in the area.

For now we will have to be content with voting in this contest.

Haven't been to Portland, OR (the current leader) in years and years...hmmm, maybe after we go back to Asheville...(sigh, life is too short.)

San Francisco Movie

This video link has probably been emailed to everyone in the United States by now, but I have to express my pleasure that I was one of the recipients.  It is an approximately 7 minute video taken from a San Francisco streetcar in either 1905 or 1906.  Some accounts claim it was taken 4 days before the San Francisco earthquake.  After some research, the evidence seems to support the 1906 date.

Sadly, the studio that shot this was destroyed in the San Francisco earthquake.  The aftermath is powerfully described in the above link.  It led indirectly to the suicide of one of the brothers whose studio shot this film in 1908.

I can't get over it.  I can watch the film over and over again.

Not so much the modern version of this trip.  Of course, the fascinating thing about the modern version (apparently filmed in 2005) on You Tube is that the tower the streetcar was heading towards is still there.  In fact, it is 112 years old.

History.  You can write about it but when it is on film it is somehow more real.

May Showers Bring - Mail Order Plants

It was rainy almost all day today, with highs in the 50's.

It remains warmer in Fairbanks, and they are almost at their 19 hour day to boot.  Well, I guessd we had our spring last month.  But maybe not, it is supposed to get warm again by the end of the week.

Today our plants came from Burpees - Basil Cardinal and Impatien Rose Parade mix.  Burpeees, once again, did a really nice job in packaging, and once they get oer looking a tiny bit wilty, (and it warms up) we will be putting them out.

They sure look a heck of a lot better than the tomatoes that came from Totally Tomatoes.

We should be getting one more package, from the wonderful Seed Savers Exchange.  We got an email from them yesterday, so they should be coming soon.

We bought another Earthbox for our back yard, which doesn't have much land in full sun but some patio area.  It will be our second Earthbox.  This will be our third year using one, and they are fantastic.

Rain rain, it's nice now, but pretty soon, we hope you go away.

Eternal Reefs

As an anthropology major in college, I realize not all religious traditions would "recognize" something like this as being a valid way to deal with death.  But I saw this on a TV program the other day, and it got me to thinking.

To quote from the FAQ on their website,

"An Eternal Reefs Memorial Reef is a designed reef of cast concrete that can include the cremated remains of a loved one. These Memorial Reefs create new marine habitats for fish and other forms of sea life."

The most wonderful thing from my point of view is that you are able to participate in this.  On the show, I saw a widow and her young son remembering their husband/father.

This service is available for pets, also.  Or, you can be "cast" with the remains of your pet(s).  Or other human loved ones (deceased, of course).

You can even pre-plan.  (important note, I have no personal knowledge of this company, or this service, and can not endorse.  I am just passing this along as something of interest.)

We don't like to think of death, but as we grow older....well, those thoughts come more and more.

The Ithaca Plant Sale 2010

How does Ithaca, with less population than our area, do it?

Yesterday was "Super Saturday".  Week two of their library book sale (supposed to be the 3rd largest in the country) and the annual Ithaca plant sale.

We went to both and then treated ourselves to Purity Ice Cream.

The book sale, of course, I have blogged about before.  Nothing special, this time around.  When my spouse's glares became too obvious, I left.  My "big prize" was a November 1965 issue of an Australian version of "Better Homes and Gardens".  Bet even my son will sneak a peek at it.

Now, as to the plant sale-I've never quite seen anything like it.  We almost didn't see any of it, as parking was almost non existent with all the vehicular traffic.  Of course, that is the fun of Ithaca, good luck getting around in traffic!  Note for next year:  TCAT, how about some shuttle buses?  (maybe you had them-will have to check that out.)

It was my first plant sale; somehow we just never were there at the right time. Won't be my last if I can help it, even if that means missing the first weekend of the book sale.

I even ended up not going to a fundraising walk I had planned to participate in, somewhat due to my back, and also fundraising fatigue.  (I won't bore you with my Relay for Life adventures, at least not yet.).  So shame on me.  And now, back to the Plant Sale.

Try to envision, in a large park, 40 some vendors gathered.  Organic plants, heritage plants, native plants, "regular gardening" plants, Master gardening plants.  Plants, plants...well, you get the picture.  There was a common theme here.  Booth after booth contained plants you would never find in this area (plus the usual regular suspects).  For example:


Pesto Perpetuo Basil.  We grew this two years ago and had to get mail order.  Tricolored leaves, wonderful flavor.

Black Rainbow tomato.  No link for this.  Can't find it online!  This should be interesting, if the Late Blight doesn't come back and get it.

There were other plants we decided to forego.  If we had purchased all the heirloom tomatoes that interested us, we would have had to file for bankrupcy.

Ah, Ithaca.  You would be a wonderful place to retire to-if we could afford you.







 

Caregiving 101

I've watched friends and relatives go through caring for their aging parents.  I've heard their stories.  I even have a friend who is a caretaker for an ailing husband.  You'd think I'd be prepared now that it is my turn.

Not.  I guess you never are.

In one way I am fortunate.  My parents both died when I was young.  So I can devote myself more to thinking about my mother in law.  However, I am still a member of the "sandwich" generation.

The other way in which I am fortunate is that my mother in law's problems are physical in nature.  Her mind is still active and sharp (I sometimes wish mine was as sharp.)  At this point in time anyway, senility is not an issue.

However I am beginning this journey as a long-distance caregiver.  Again, I am not in the shoes of a former co-worker, for example, who was caring for her mother in Chicago.  Now talk about stress.  But still, 150 miles is 150 miles.

I will post some of the things I learn about from time to time-if anything this blog will be a record of what I am doing and should be doing.  Call it "caregiver 101". Like so many before me, we must blaze our own trail.

I hope we have support - and even luck- in doing this.

Wish spouse and I luck!

American Idol Please Listen

Today, I took the survey on the American Idol website.

I used to really enjoy American Idol.  I started watching it towards the end of Season 2.  At one time it was "fun and exciting"  I tuned in religiously.

Not any more.

I think, judging from that survey I took, that American Idol knows they are tanking (should I use the expression "jumped the shark"?).  I'm glad I had the opportunity to help them to figure it out.

It was an interesting survey.  Major changes must be in the air.  Why else would they be asking questions about if Paula Abdul should return? (yes.  Her loopiness was entertaining and she really cared about the contestants).  Also, they suspiciously asked a lot of questions about Ellen DeGeneres.  Let's put it that way.  I love Ellen as queen of her own show.  But: she has never fit in on American Idol.  I think, in a way, that she tries too hard.  Maybe she feels extra pressure to prove herself.  But her strengths really don't show in that venue.  She's a totally different person, a naturally funny person being as unfunny as you can get,  and there isn't anything to love.

And then there are the contestants this year.  Except for Crystal Bowersox....zzzzzz.  Lame. (sorry, guys.  You are way outclassed.)

The music.  Double ugh.  OK, I don't know very much about Lady Gaga.  But why bring on a performer who you know may be shocking and then substantially edit her?  What was the point of that?

I'm almost ready for them to bring back William Hung.  Or even....heaven forbid....Bikini Girl.

If I could redo American Idol?
1.  Bring back three judges, and please let one of them be Paula.
2.  No more musical instruments.  It is distracting.  This is a singing contest, not a "singing along with your guitar or keyboard" contest.
3.  Just a random comment, this needs to be more friendly to alternate styles of music.  I find it interesting that (as far as I know) the most commercially successful alumni of this pop contest are...a mega country music star, a Broadway star singer and a rock star.   I'll leave it to the music experts to figure that one out.
4.  When they replace Simon-please don't bring on another Brit.  The "nasty Brit" judge is such a cliche now. (an entertaining cliche-but a cliche).  I think they should make Adam Lambert a judge but well, that's me.

Anyway....if you care about the future of American Idol-now is your change to REALLY vote.

Happy Mothers Day to two Special Moms in Heaven

Happy Mothers Day, Mom.  I have not seen you since 1965, when a medical condition suddenly removed you from my life.  But I think of you daily, and there is a hole in my heart that will never be totally repaired.

I never knew, until I was a mother (sounds so much like a cliche but it isn't) what this all meant.  I didn't have a template for mothering when I became one; I had to find my own way-as so many "motherless daughters" do.

There was a website for mothers such as myself, although it seems right now to be undergoing "remodeling".

The other Mom in heaven was an aunt who was like a second Mom to me in many ways until her untimely death almost seven years ago.  She loved her children and grandchildren, and made room for me in her life.  What I loved about her the most was her ability to relate to young people.  On the last full day of her life, although she was in her late 70's, she played ping-pong with my son.  And, she loved watching SpongeBob Square Pants and listening to the music of a different generation.

She adapted.  Her heart was young, and so was her mind.

I hope I can be like that when I get to her age.

Happy Birthday, Katniss Everdeen

May 8 (of some year in the future) is the birthday of Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the books The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, both by Suzanne Collins.

I usually don't pick up young adult books, but for some reason (last year) The Hunger Games caught my eye.  I could barely put it down.

It's hard to do dystopian literature really well.  Suzanne Collins did it, turning The Hunger Games into not only good future history but excellent satire of where certain trends in our society could end up.

Catching Fire, if anything, is darker.  Much darker.

This, combined with a love triangle.  What is there not to love?  (Incidentally, many young fans of these books seem to be into the "Twilight" books too....which I haven't read yet. Guess both have love triangles.)  It appears that many fans obsess over the love angle.  I see the satire and the darkness of a very dark future country called Panem. I love the Latin/Roman references (including how many Capitol residents have Roman names-Cinna, Caesar Flickerman, Octavia, Flavius, and so forth ), and references to mythology. (Crete, tributes, etc.). 

I am counting the days to Mockingjay, the last book in the triology.  I want to see if Suzanne Collins can pull "it" off, meaning an ending that makes sense and lives up to the first two books.  Please, let it be good.

Counting the days to August 24, when Mockingjay is released.

(and, please, don't make The Hunger Games into a movie.)  No, wait, they didn't listen.  They are making one.  They say Suzanne Collins is involved - please, I just don't want this transformed into some kind of lame romance.  This book doesn't deserve that type of treatment.)

Onward to August 24.

This Years "Fun in Gardening Experiments"

Successes:  Last year I blogged about purchasing a cardamon plant.  I put it in my office, and it has thrived.  And thrived. I could repot it and it would get 10 feet tall if I let it.  I can't, so I have let it fill up the pot.  Now I have to think about what to do next.

A small impatien plant I purchased didn't do well in the office and got spindly, but it has been blooming all winter on my windowsill.

Failures:  I managed to knock off the last dendrobium orchard plant I had from previous years; all I have left now is the one I bought at an orchard show recently.  I am going to try "weighing" the plants to know when to water (I suspect I overwatered, and they won't forgive that).

So, onto this year.

Two weeks I purchased a new petunia called Supertunia "Pretty Much Picasso". These have pink flowers with an edging of green.  I'm a sucker for bicolored flowers and variegated foliage.  This one is going in one of the few sunny places I can put a hanging basket.

Too bad about my love for variegated foliage.  Plants with such foliage have disappointed me at times for their lack of vigor.

Today, at a local gardening center I bought the following:

A variegated petunia called Purple Frost.  I can't find anything on the Internet about this, so it is an absolute gamble.  Variegated foliage, so I expect it won't be as vigorous as other "wave" type petunias.  Pink flowers.

Miniature Hisbiscus (Anisodontea x hypomandarum) "ht 3ft." "Dark Salmon pink flowers mid-spring thru fall".
This will be an outside plant, to die with the frost.


And, finally, a Strawflower called "Dreamtime".  
I have never grown strawflowers, amazing as I dabbled years and years ago in drying flowers.  Maybe I will try to find the time to do that (drying) again.

With the nasty weather forecast I won't be able to make up the pots like I had planned to, but I'll have something to do after work this week.  Or next.

Easy to make a gardenin' mama happy.

The Earliest Spring Ever, about to Collide with Winter

The day before Mother's Day.  May 8.
Lilacs, dogwoods and azaleas are in full bloom.  Some of our irises (which normally don't bloom until the end of May) have bud spikes up and some are starting to open.

This is a bit early for us.  I remember back in 1995, visiting Iowa City for a cousin's wedding.  She picked the early May date (May 6, to be exact) because the lilacs, her favorite flower, would be in bloom.  She missed the mark a tiny bit but I was absolutely amazed to see redbuds and other much later trees for us in bloom there.

Meanwhile this year....redbuds are long gone.

The last of the tulips are saying "goodbye", probably being ripped apart in the wind.  And I do mean wind.  This afternoon the winds could possibly gust to 45 mph.  Rain shower chances increasing.  Snow showers after midnight.  I don't think it is going to go below freezing but....brrrrrr.

Unbelievable.

Ithaca Friends of the Library Book Sale

I won't be there tomorrow when it opens at 8am, but it is time for the awesome Friends of the Library book sale in Ithaca.

I can't go tomorrow, and Sunday the weather is supposed to be awful.  (hint, a trip to Ithaca would have made a wonderful Mothers Day gift.)

Next Saturday I have a commitment, too.  But maybe next Sunday.

Meanwhile, tomorrow, I hope to visit some local gardening places even though the timing may be bad.  Spring, spring, please don't go away.  Don't say you are going to turn back into winter on Sunday!

Change Is Sometimes Good

Sorry, I'm not going to allow comments anymore.

Looks like you can't disable blog comment posting readily. I have made it as restrictive as possible, because I got another one of those annoying comments with "bad" links enclosed.  How they are targeting me I don't know, but I can't waste any more of a valuable life on this.

Life is too short for this.  For my steady readers, or legitimate readers, I apologize.

Musings on the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival Part 1

I have been remiss about posting on the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival.  I promise I will get some pictures up here.  But...

Some things I didn't know when I visited the Macon Cherry Blossom festival.  I need to explain here that Macon, Georgia has seen better days.  So much better that I had fears of going there - because I read things about how high crime it was, about how people were in danger just going to a place called the Okmulgee Indian Mounds, which are a couple of miles from downtown.

So why did I go?  It was memories of a stop on the edge of Macon in 2006 during a trip to Florida, and all the friendly people I ran into.  Of walking into a Wal-Mart at 10pm and seeing the people there (it was NOT a "People of Wal-Mart" type experience.  But it was quite interesting.). Of eating some of the best BBQ this side of Heaven.  And then, when I got home, reading about the cherry blossom festival and saying "one day I am going to see that!"

And the fact that a family member has been to Macon many times (on business) and had favorable things to say about it.

I overcame my fears and we went, and we had a good time.  Maybe it was safer because of it being festival time. (from some things I saw, I suspect this was the case.)

Would I have enjoyed it more (or less) knowing how much danger elements of the festival may be in?  And, will I ever return?  To both I have to say "I really don't know."  But, Macon has inserted itself under my skin.  Georgia, 6 weeks later, is definitely still on my mind.

Why?  Because Binghamton could learn from them.  Binghamton must learn, if it doesn't want to be washed up on the shores of history.

We Won an Orchard-thank you Edy's!

Thanks to Edy's Ice Cream, our local food pantry (CHOW) has won an orchard.  We ended up #1 in the voting.

The best part is....your community can do this, too, through this contest.

CHOW was going to purchase an orchard anyway, on land where houses used to stand until our 2006 floods.  Now they don't have to spend money on it, leaving other uses for the money.

Now CHOW's clients (in a few years anyway) will be able to enjoy fresh fruit.

Time for a ray of sunshine here in the cloudy Triple Cities.

Asheville BBQ

Asheville, I am not done with you yet.  It's time to talk some more about its food.

President Obama recently did something we were unable to do during our recent visit to Asheville, NC-eat in a BBQ restaurant called 12 Bones.

May I greatly suggest two things if you ever decide to visit Asheville?  (besides taking a GPS). 

1.  Don't visit on Mondays.
2.  Remember that some of the best restaurants are open only for lunch.

I read about 12 Bones when I was in Asheville, but by then my laptop was broken and the internet connection where we were staying (in their public computer, anyway) was worse than dial-up.

We ate instead in a place called Ed Boudreaux’s BBQ in downtown Asheville.  We lucked into parking right across the street (which, in downtown Asheville, is no mean feat).

I am told this is definitely not your usual North Carolina BBQ place. (for one thing, it was open at night when we stopped by.)  Late at night, things, (we are told) really start to get going.    However, we did not go for the live entertainment and we, in fact, left before it was scheduled to begin.  After all, we had to try to make our way back to our motel on the mobius strip of Asheville interstates.

The one thing I enjoyed was the BBQ Sauce bar.  It featured both vinegar based and mustard based BBQ sauces, of various heat intensities.  As I recall, there were 12 different sauces to try. 

I've read this place is more of a tourist place.  If so, I was a tourist, and I enjoyed the BBQ.

But in Asheville the food is so great, I must return.  So I hope I can visit 12 Bones one day. 

Should I Disable Commenting?

I know I have a couple of friends who read this blog.  Otherwise, it is meant more as an online journal than anything that will ever make Bloggers of Note, or gain 3000 followers.  If I had that many followers I would probably crumble under the pressure of writing to an audience.  Better not to be well known.

Except that, I have apparently become well known to one subset of population, automatic (or other) spambots who attempt to post comments with links to not so nice websites in the middle, or in the end.  Luckily at this point in time it is easy enough to find the links and reject the comment.   A lot of the attempts have some elements in common (which I won't mention) so they are very easy to spot. (that's all I will say on the matter.) But those are the only comments I am getting anymore.  There aren't a lot, but it is getting to be once a week or more and it is a pain to reject them.

So I am thinking of disabling commenting.

Let's see when I get that next spam comment.  If it is in the next week, I may just do it.

The Boulevard of Broken Trees, Revisited

Yesterday spouse and I went down to Long Island for a very quick visit.  We have transitioned, in the last 6 weeks, from a major nor'easter to a spring which has amazed everyone in its potency and earliness.

And now, it is time for summer.  April showers have ended.  It's time for May....heat.

Where I live, it got up to 87 degrees yesterday.  It was actually a little cooler out on "The Island" (as people in New York call it).  The azaleas were in full bloom.  So was a tree with upright purplish flowers (not a lilac, these were trees) which we saw a lot along the road.  I wish I could have stayed longer.

On the Cross Island expressway in Queens, there is a lovely walking/bicycle trail that parallels the expressway for part of its journey to the Throggs Neck bridge.  People were out in droves, enjoying the hot weather.

On the Boulevard of Broken Trees (the Sprain Brook Parkway in Westchester County) leaves hide much of the damage of the March storm but it is still very evident.

Let's hope we don't get severe weather today, on our way home.  My sympathies go out to the people in Mississippi and Arkansas who have felt the lash of severe weather in the past week.  I used to live in Arkansas, so I have "been there".  Luckily I never had to "do that".

And we missed, by several hours and a few miles, the incident last night in Times Square.  May my family in New York City cope with this latest fear.