It's Spring At Last - And That's No April Fool

Starting tomorrow, I participate in two challenges  - the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (where, on consecutive days in April, our blog posts start with A, then B, then...you get the idea - with Sundays, except tomorrow, off) and the Ultimate Blog Challenge (30 posts in 30 days).

One of the few things I don't like about the Blogging from A to Z Challenge is that spring rushes by so quickly, and I have to try to squeeze it in in between my theme posts (Florida - Outside the Theme Parks).

Spring made a brief appearance in the Binghamton, New York area today.  The sun decided to come out for a guest appearance, before disappearing again for another week of gloomy weather - even some snow in the forecast, maybe.

Crocuses, on the Vestal Rail trail.

Snow runoff.

And, in my back yard, a Lenten Rose blooms, just in time for Easter.

The Canadian Geese are reestablishing themselves (not a recent picture, but I felt this post needed some geese. And some green.).

Speaking of Easter, the farm markets are reopening.  Oh spring, yes, we missed you, too.

And to all my readers of the Christian faith, may Easter bring you love, bring you happiness, and bring you the wonder of (for us in the Northern Hemisphere) renewal.

Join me tomorrow for the start of the #AtoZChallenge.

Fleeting Blue Sky #SkywatchFriday

Look fast, because the blue skies in these photos from Monday are long gone, not to be seen again for a week or more.

Here, pure blue skies and the water of the Susquehanna River near to where it joins with the Chenango River in downtown Binghamton, New York.

The historic Washington Street Bridge over the Susquehanna.

And a final look into the distance, and hills still white with snow.

Join Yogi and the other sky-watching bloggers of #SkywatchFriday, where, each Friday, we watch the sky and share our sky photos.

Will you join us?

In April, I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, but I still hope to post in Skywatch each Friday. 

Spring is Here Give a Cheer

Taken March 26 on the West side of Binghamton, New York.

Crocuses.

There was even a bee on the second set of crocuses but they were too far away.  iPhone digital zoom doesn't work too well.

Spring at last.  Spring at last....although these aren't my crocuses.  (No sign of mine yet).

There is still some snow in my yard but it is melting daily.

The birds are singing now, as I blog this.

Spring.

Mr. and Mrs. Duck #WordlessWednesday

A sunny Monday (two days ago).

My "guest photographer" contributes this picture of Mr. and Mrs. Duck sunning themselves steps from the busy sidewalks of downtown Binghamton, New York.

Join the bloggers at #WordlessWednesday.

Passover PUdding

It's time for me, a person not known for her cooking skills, to entertain her readers with my cooking adventures.  And, I need all my energy for next month's Blogging from A to Z Challenge, so I may be featuring more reruns this week.  Anyway, here's a blog post from two years ago:

Back in the 1960's, when I was growing up, I had to take a subject called "home economics" (home ec, for short).  Meanwhile, boys got shop classes. Although I failed home ec (and I wasn't the only one - see the comment from fellow blogger Sue McPeak in another post)  - yes, I really did fail it, but I took home some nice recipes from the cooking part of the course.  One was for homemade grape jelly (Yes!  I learned to make homemade jelly in New York City). Another treasured recipe was for homemade chocolate pudding.

Now, with my need to increase my calcium intake through food, I've discovered non dairy nut milks, and puddings have become one of my favorite desserts.

Interestingly, I've found that the nut milks (almond, and cashew) don't work well with commercial instant puddings.  The puddings don't thicken.  Nut milks do work with commercial cooked puddings, so I've learned to make the cooked puddings. 

There's just one problem this coming week.

For those of the Jewish faith, next week is Passover, an eight day observance when various foods (many grains, legumes, and a number of other foods) are fully or partially banned from our tables. One banned food is corn and items made from corn.  So commercial pudding is out for me.  True, there is commercial Passover pudding mix, but the one time I had it - I'm not trying it again.

It's time for homemade pudding. 

Um...not so fast.  One of the key ingredients of home made pudding is cornstarch.  Time for research!

After some Internet searching and an experiment, I came up with this recipe.  The recipe needs to be perfected, but it's a good start.

The original recipe used almond milk, coconut sugar (which I didn't have in the house), vanilla extract (what I had in the house contained corn syrup, another no-no) and cocoa powder.  I had both regular Hershey's cocoa and something called black cocoa.  I decided to use the black cocoa to intensify the flavor.  Finally, the recipe used cornstarch.  I decided to use Kosher for Passover potato starch.  Based on my spouse's cooking experience, I decided to use less potato starch than the cornstarch called for, as potato starch has greater thickening quantities.

So, drum roll, I present to you, my dear readers, something you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy:

Homemade Non Dairy Chocolate Pudding (Makes 4 servings) (sorry, metric readers; you are on your own)

Ingredients
2 cups almond or cashew Milk (I used cashew)
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon cane sugar
4 tablespoons black or regular cocoa (both should work fine)
3 1/2 tablespoons potato starch (or 4 tablespoons cornstarch) either will work
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I didn't use but I think it was needed)

Method
Place almond milk, sugar, cocoa powder, potato or cornstarch, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over low heat.   Stir together until thick and smooth.  Take off heat and immediately pour into 4 small serving bowls.  Let cool.  I served it with raspberries on top.

This is what the mix looked like before I stirred it.  The black cocoa, which is an ultra-Dutched cocoa (all the acid has been neutralized) is dark.  You can use it here instead of regular cocoa, but do not use it in any recipe that needs acidity, such as a recipe using baking soda.

And that's it! 

The completed pudding

When I make it again, I will use a tiny bit more thickening agent, as it seemed a tad bit watery, but that was my only complaint.  If you make it, I invite your comments

Billy Joel's Places #MusicMovesMe

Today, on Music Moves Me, Ellen of "15 and Meowing" set the theme as our Spotlight Dancer.  Her theme:  Names of Places (Cities, States, places you go to...)".

But before we get to the music, what is #MusicMovesMe, and who are the 4Mers who participate?

The Head 4M'er is XmasDolly.  Her co-4Mers are:  Callie of JAmerican Spice, (who is gone temporarily due to a death in her husband's family) and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   And last but certainly not least, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.

Let's rock n'roll with place name songs!

I didn't intend to write this post as a tribute to legendary singer-songwriter Billy Joel, but my husband immediately suggested "Zanzibar" and then the rest of the songs rolled out of my memory.

 Some of Billy Joel's songs center around bar life - one of these is Zanzibar.  It's both the name of a bar where Billy Joel will be, and an island off the coast of Zanzibar.

Next, Billy Joel again, with the song Vienna. Billy Joel ranked this #5 on an appearance on the Steven Colbert Show.

Goodnight Saigon, arguably, may be the best song that Billy Joel ever wrote.  As you can guess, Goodnight Saigon (Saigon has been called Ho Chi Minh City since 1976) is about the American experience in the Vietnam War, the defining war of my generation.  I can not listen to this song without crying - crying for the two boys who I grew up next door to who served there (they survived) and the family who moved into that apartment after that family left (the husband was a Vietnam vet), my husband's cousin, who was exposed to Agent Orange, a former boss (who served two tours there and had volunteered for both tours) and everyone, civilian or military, Vietnamese or of another nationality, who was touched in any way by that war.

I will finish with a song performed live at Shea Stadium in New York City by Billy Joel, Miami 2017 (I've Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway).  This was part of a special two day concert given by Joel in 2008, when Shea Stadium, the home of the baseball New York Mets for over 40 years, closed its stadium doors.

But wait!  I was kidding.  I'm not finishing yet!  Here's one more, a special treat for Tony Bennett fans: Billy Joel and Tony Bennett performing, at Shea Stadium "New York State of Mind".

Join us through the linky if you have music to share, and visit places through music today.

Next Monday, I will be participating in "B" day in the Blogging From A to Z Challenge.  My theme: Florida Outside the Theme Parks, and I have a musical Floridian experience for you.  "B" there or "B" square! 

Spring Returns

Here, in the Binghamton area of the Southern Tier of upstate New York, we have spring at last.

Sort of.

One of my two Lenten roses

As the snow melts, the backyard is revealed.   These pictures were taken on the first full day of spring.

Daffodils (these are over 30 years old) come up.

What may be the only camilla in upstate New York, my poor April Rose, which doesn't look happy.  I wonder if it is going to make it after trying for three years.

It snowed a little bit this morning, and the forecast is for more snow showers through the day. Soon, it should  be above freezing.

At least we aren't getting what they got yesterday in Iowa.

Still, winter is slow releasing its grip.  But, release it will, and I'll be there to record it.

Sustainable Saturday - Marching for Their Lives

Our generation failed our young people.  But now, the generation who was barely old enough to walk (or not even born yet) when the school shooting at Columbine High School near Littleton, CO happened in April of 1999, are old enough to march, sophisticated enough to use social media like the native users they are, and getting old enough to vote, are grabbing the reins from the adults who were supposed to protect them, and taking action.

I only hope that the marches taking place today all over the world take on momentum, and lead to change.  Real change.

My late childhood best friend was a teacher.  One of my cousins is a teacher in Orlando, Florida.  At any moment, they could have been called upon to put their lives on the line.  My cousin in Orlando still could.

And the students who survived the shooting? They have returned to school, and every day, sit in classrooms where there are empty desks.  And, for some, they have a different teacher, because their original teacher didn't survive to finish the school year.

They cry "Never Again".  May they (and we) have the courage to finally make change happen.

Today, I am breaking tradition. Every April 3, I rerun my very first blog post, which was taken from an email I wrote to people the evening of April 3, 2009, a day where 14 died (including the shooter) and four were injured in an adult education class blocks from where I work in Binghamton, New York. As of February this was the 13th worst mass shooting in American history.

My heart breaks each time I hear of another shooting, as I've seen what it does to a community, and to our country.

This year, I thought it was a better idea to rerun the post today than wait until April 3.

Memorial to those who died in Binghamton April 3, 2009

Today, I rerun the post in honor of all those who march today.

My First Blog Post after the Mass Shooting in Binghamton, New York.

It was so weird coming home from work and seeing all of this on CNN.

I normally walk for exercise with a co-worker, and we usually leave for our walk around noon. We had nasty weather ready to come in and we decided to go to lunch early-about 10:55. We stepped out the door and it was already starting to rain. So we decided instead to walk down Court Street to Boscov's [a department store located in downtown Binghamton],

In approaching Boscovs, we saw a bunch of flashing lights further west, looking like they were parked in front of DSS. Wondering what was going on, we went into Boscovs and left about 11:15. As soon as we walk out the door we notice a NYS trooper (it was not a Binghamton policeman, which was odd) setting out flares and they are starting to block Court St. off. There are a lot more flashing lights down the street. We start walking back east and there are two men, one talking on a cell phone - we hear "thank you for the update", we ask the men what is going on and the cell phone person says there was a shooting at the American Civic Association and hostages have been taken. And there was a gunman with a high powered rifle....

Now during all this there are NO SIRENS. And another thing we notice very quickly, there are no Binghamton High students on the street. This is their lunchtime and there should have been a lot of students walking on Court St. In fact it is eerily....quiet.

Immediately we know being on that street isn't a very good idea, we start walking fast/jogging back. We get to our office building and the doors are locked! The lobby security guard lets us in and updates us-about the same information the man with the cell phone had told us. I get back to my department and the administrative assistant tells me they were so worried about me: our HR department had sent an email about 10 minutes before telling of the shooting and asking that no one leave the building.

At this point it is about 11:30 am.

People who know police are trying to call to get more information. The rest of us are on the newspaper website, pressconnects.com. Rumors are flying quickly like a really bad game of telephone. Binghamton High School is on lockdown, but a number of them are Twittering with the pressconnects site is carrying their tweets. A lot of it was inane (to put it mildly) but there are nuggets here and there . The gunman was a Vietnamese male in his early 20's. [this turned out not to be accurate] There are about "60 hostages", some in a boiler room, about 15 hiding in a closet. A nursing home near the Civic Association was on lockdown, the neighborhood was being evacuated.
Before noon come the first rumors of serious injuries or worse, someone Twitters that he works at Wilson Hospital and "the police have just called in 2 trauma codes."

Still no sirens.

The woman who sits next to me at work lives not that far from the Civic Association. She was supposed to leave for the day at 1pm. She takes the long way home, coming near Wilson Hospital . She calls when she gets home and says the "highway is jammed with ambulances [at the exit for Wilson]". When she approached her neighborhood [near the Civic Association] there is another group of ambulances going down the street.

At that point we knew something was very very bad. Our media was reporting no deaths, but someone in contact with a "reliable source" reported 4 dead.

Then the twitterers at Binghamton High start talking about snipers on roofs, where they are, etc. with other people twittering back "don't give out this information!"

Then we start hearing helicopters. Needless to say, everyone was so nervous we had no idea if a gunman was ready to start running through the streets, or what the SWAT teams were up to. And so many of us were sick at heart, knowing of these innocents suffering so close to where we were. We knew about the critically wounded receptionist. You go to work one day and....

About 2:30 pm I hear a siren, the very first one.

A coworker gets hold of a police acquaintance on the phone and finds out there are "13 dead, 10 of them were shot execution style".

Sadly the part about the 13 innocent dead was correct.

Later that evening, a report that the shooter was identified, and the rest is public record.

The phone calls, the emails, from family/friends followed, wanting to make sure I was OK. Some of them knew I worked in downtown Binghamton. Special support came to me from those who live in New York City, some of them witnesses of 9/11. I thank them all for thinking of me.

In the past week there have been many memorials, many things written about the 13 innocents who died at the Civic Association that day, and the shooter. Today I walked to Confluence Park, where a memorial service was held earlier today, and saw the tulips planted there, one for each of the dead. I understand that the Mayor of Binghamton wept at the ceremony.

The spotlight has moved from Binghamton to other, fresher news. The news vans with their satellite antennas have left, but the flowers and memorials in front of the building remain. Our community will recover. 

I never thought it would take another nine years......

Contrails - #SkywatchFriday

March 19, near Binghamton, New York.

I don't know why, but airplane contrails have been so noticeable this week.

I took these pictures in the early morning as the sun was rising.  Moments later, these contrails, pink with the sunrise, had mostly dissipated.

Time for the sunrise.

Join Yogi and other watchers of the sky each Friday at #SkywatchFriday.

Frosted Forest #ThursdayTreeLove

A frosted forest in downtown Binghamton, New York?

March 13, 2018

Snow makes everything look so magical, although millions of people in the northeastern United States don't think their fourth nor'easter this month is magical at all.

They call it other things.

Join Parul and other tree loving bloggers for #ThursdayTreeLove, held every second and fourth Thursday of each month.

Funny Obituaries

Recently, an obituary published in our local paper (the Binghamton Press-Sun Bulletin) had people talking about a retired teacher's life - and the funny obituary written about him.

Yes, it started out and ended with digs at our current President, but even if you are a total Trump supporter, the rest of this obit is still well worth reading.  (Just skip the first and last paragraphs).

This follows in a small but perhaps growing tradition of funny obituaries. 

This brings me to a question some may think strange: have you written your obituary yet? 

I haven't.

Years ago, I worked with someone who went back to college, and had to take an English course.  Her first class assignment: "write your obituary".  This assignment made her think, and think hard, about what she had accomplished in life, and the direction in which she wanted to go next.

What she wrote was interesting.

You should try it sometime, she told me.

I haven't tried it yet.

Nor have I ever written anyone's obituary.  But sooner or later, many of us are called upon to do just that.

Will we do the person justice?  Will we write a good tribute?


What about you?   Have you ever written an obituary?

The First Day of Spring

Just thought I would share some favorite activities we have here in the Binghamton, New York area on the first day of spring.

Picnicking.

Drinking from the water fountain.

Nope, not today.

Got any comments? Drop me a line!

(Pictures, except the last one, taken over the weekend by my guest photographer.)

Sunshine #AtoZThemeReveal #MusicMovesMe

Today, on #MusicMovesMe, it is a "Freebie Day" - we can blog about anything musical we want.

Today is also the Blogging from A to Z Challenge "Theme Reveal Day".

But first - who are the 4Mers, or the Music Moves Me folks?

The Head 4M'er is XmasDolly.  Her co-4Mers are:  Callie of JAmerican Spice, and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   And last but certainly not least, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.


I'm not the only 4Mer who is going to do A to Z - I probably won't be doing music (except for the April 2 post) but please check out all the participating 4Mers and other A to Zers during April.

And now, drum roll.

A musical hint.

Anita Bryant was the spokesperson for..well, Florida orange juice.  But before that, she had several hits, including this song "Paper Roses".

But why am I blogging about Anita Bryant?  Because, to many who grew up in the 1960's, she was one of the public faces of Florida.  (I am not getting into the controversy of her political views. We are strictly orange juice here today.)

Florida is a state that so many associate with theme parks.  The Disney properties.  Universal.  But maybe not much of anything else.  Oh yes.  There are those who call it "(the deity)'s Waiting Room" for all the seniors who move there, or snowbird there.

But before theme parks existed, there was citrus.  And sunshine.

There was KC and the Sunshine Band, a Florida group that still tours.  Their first album was all instrumental, including this 1974 (live) rendition of "Rock Your Baby".  I saw them perform at Disney World in 1975, when Disney World was mainly....Disney World.  And Orlando wasn't a megapolis jammed up with traffic and construction.

But I digress.

There was what many (including myself) call "Old Florida".  And, for the month of April, Florida is what I am going to bring you (for the most part).

I want to bring you the Florida many tourists don't see if they don't venture out of Orlando Theme Park World.  I want to bring you the Florida I grew to love during my time of living in the Sunshine State (1974-1976) and the Florida that still exists, if you take the time to seek it out.  And even some of the best of modern Florida, because it's out there. 

This past January, my spouse and I visited Florida, and we want to share some of our experiences.

 "Florida-Outside the Theme Parks" will be my theme for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

I wasn't going to do the Challenge, but my spouse (believe it or not) talked me into it.  If I complete it, it will be my fourth time.

Because that Florida sunshine tree is calling, and I can't wait to see what my fellow A to Zers have in mind.

The Last Hurrah of Winter?

These pictures taken in the Johnson City, New York area on Wednesday.

I hope that these are the last (relatively) fresh snow pictures I send you this year, because we are so ready for spring here.

It was time for the snow to pile on bushes.

The remains of last year's herb garden.

Hard to believe that, in a month, this planter might have pansies in it.

In late May, this rhodie will be in bloom.

And there will be no more monstrous snow fingers.

It got into the 40's yesterday, so there is hope.

Spring arrives on Tuesday, but not in this yard.

Happy St. Patrick's Saturday

A couple of green memories today.

First: I've been crocheting for almost 50 years now.  I don't do as much as I used to, for various reasons,  but I still crochet some, mainly when I am on the road, since my loving spouse does the driving.

I haven't really blogged much about it much, but crochet has been a treasured part of my life.

My Mom wanted to teach me to crochet but rheumatoid arthritis robbed her of her ability to do any needlework by the time I was old enough for her to teach me. Instead, a high school friend taught me, and I've never looked back.

Although my Mom didn't teach me, I still feel a link to my Mom whenever I pick up a hook.

I wanted to share a couple of the projects today. These are both projects I worked on 27 years ago.

I got the afghan pattern from a magazine that no longer exists.

I have no idea where I got the pattern for the Christmas stocking.  But there is a special reason why the stocking has shamrocks on it.

Today, I will be celebrating a special day in my family with a party, including someone's favorite dish - a spinach feta pie. 

My second "green" memory takes me back more than 30 years ago when my spouse and I "homesteaded" in Northwest Arkansas.

On March 17, we would already have been preparing our garden plots.  Seeds would have been ordered, and received. We would have been preparing to plant peas, kale, collards, and spinach.  Our mail-ordered baby chicks would have been in their pen inside our cabin near the wood stove, entertaining us with their antics and growing every day.

Seed potatoes would have gone into the ground on March 17.  Planting potatoes on St. Patrick's Day was a tradition there.

Actually taken on March 13, 2018 but we still hve snow on the ground

But this is what St. Patrick's Day means here in upstate New York.   No green here, except under a blanket of snow.

Still, I'm not complaining.

May the luck of the Irish be with you today, if you celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Blue Winter #SkywatchFriday

Because of the switching of time to Eastern Daylight Time, I found myself commuting to work, once again, near sunrise.

By the time I started my commute on Monday, it was snowing pretty good, and it was also the blue hour.

I took these pictures with my iPhone SE in downtown Binghamton, New York.

I loved the way these pictures came out.

Here is a picture of one of the main streets of downtown with a better view of the sky.  It had not yet turned the white of an active snow sky.

This will be the last winter SkywatchFriday until December, but I have a sinking feeling next week's photos will still have snow in them.

Join Yogi and other bloggers who watch the sky each Friday at #SkywatchFriday.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day March 2018 - Let it Snow

In the Binghamton, New York area (zone 5b), we haven't gotten the blizzards of further east, but we have snow, nevertheless.

One of my spouse's raised beds tells the story of what it looks like outside.

But inside - it's another story.

Usually, I am scrounging through the house on a March GBBD, praying for something - anything - to be in bloom.

Not this year, and I'm so happy.

My forced hyacinth.

My Thanksgiving cactus (cactii?) have burst into bloom again, near a potbound moth orchid that has a few buds on it.

A Mother's Day gift from my son is in its second overwintering in his former bedroom.

Last month, I showed you some of the red poinsettias I managed to rebloom - this month it's the white one's turn.

And two of the red ones (note, at the very bottom, the leaves with spots of white are from this year's plant) - I can't believe I was actually able to get several from last year to rebloom.

A begonia I overwintered.

And finally, a coleus waits patiently for the time I can plant these rooted cuttings outside.

I can't believe I have so much to offer my readers.  Thank you for visiting!

In another week it's spring.  Until then, why don't you join Carol at May Dream Gardens and the other garden bloggers who participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day every 15th of the month?

Winter Wonders - Pi Day 2018

In the American method of day numbering, today is 3-14:  March 14.  Or, the first three digits of the mathematical value "Pi".

Today we celebrate Pi Day, in honor of the number representing the radio of the circumference of a circle to its radius.  Pi is an infinite number - it goes on indefinitely, but, not only that, it is a non repeating decimal.  No pattern to Pi has ever been found.  This website shows Pi computed to 100,000. digits.

To several decimal points:  3.14159265358979323846....

Some pizza chains have specials on Pi Day to celebrate pizza pie.

Other institutions serve pie.  Why not? It's a circle!

Pi day even has a website devoted to it.

Here is the history of Pi. 

Today, to celebrate Pi Day, two pie recipe posts from my blog.  Enjoy!

Pizza Rustica.

Torta Pasqualina (grass pie). 

Do you plan to celebrate Pi Day?  Do you have a favorite pie you are baking today?  Or, will you be working with children to teach them about mathematics?

Winter Wonders - The Tracks of Our Tears

We are lucky.  All we've received overnight is perhaps 1 to 2 inches of snow.

The eastern part of the Northeast United States is under blizzard warnings.   We aren't.
But still, we long for spring.  Who wouldn't?

These are the tracks of our tears.  Or, more to be exact, the tracks of pigeons in downtown Binghamton, New York on a dusting of fresh snow this past Friday.

We can also get something called graupel, which may derive from a German word for "pearl barley" or a slavic word "krupa", meaning the same thing (according to a Google search).  But no, I won't call it "snowpoop".

We are under a winter weather advisory here in Binghamton.  But at least trees aren't in bloom here, as they are in parts of North Carolina, which may also be getting this snow.  And there are all the people who lost this power for days last week, and those who got flooded.

Again, we are the lucky ones.

Tomorrow, normally my "Winter Wonders", I am going to blog about "Pi Day".   So, my Winter Wonders post is a day early.

Please, winter, could this be the end?  Kindly check the calendar, and advise.

Sincerely yours
Millions of people.

Coloring Your World - #MusicMovesMe

Today, on Music Moves Me, we are asked to COLOR our readers with song.

But first - who are the 4Mers, or the Music Moves Me folks?

The Head 4M'er is XmasDolly.  Her co-4Mers are:  Callie of JAmerican Spice, and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   And last but certainly not least, Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.
Each week we have a theme (unless it is a freebie week, during which we can blog about anything musical) 

So, let's get going!

How about some color in our world?  From the Chicago "Chicago II" album, "Colour my World" featuring the late Terry Kath.

True Colors by Cyndi Lauper, brings hope in hard times.

Yellow Brick Road by one of my favorite performers, Elton John.  I don't go to many concerts (I am not a fan of crowds and loud, echoing music) but I could have wished to have gone to one of his.

Yellow Submarine by the Beatles - a fun song and video.

Speaking of fun videos, the Rolling Stones "She's a Rainbow" from 1967 provides us with a psychedelic vibe.  (The Stones made several other "color" hits, including "Brown Sugar" and "Paint It, Black".

The incomparable Elvis Presley covered a song "Blue Suede Shoes", written in 1955 by Carl Perkins.  Instead of their versions, I am featuring another cover, performed by Buddy Holly.

Soundgarden's (and Audioslave's) Chris Cornell performs Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun".

Finally, a small deviation from the theme - this song is without color in the title or lyrics but the group has a color word in it,.  Hence, "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  This is one song I can't help singing along with, although the lyrics themselves represent the suffering of a former drug user and recollections of the depths he sunk into trying to get a heroin fix in a Los Angeles Park.

What a colorful world we have....

Mid March Farmers Market

Winter farmer's market, Binghamton, New York, March 10.

You can still find some late fall crops from last year - apples, garlic, parsnips, carrots, and potatoes.

But joining them are items like local honey, meats, and dairy products.

And, in the past year, one vendor has started to sell mushrooms.  These are a most delicious addition to mushroom lovers like me and my spouse - so fresh, and so good.

This reminds us that we are negligent in doing our seed inventory, and preparing for the gardening season ahead.  We are downsizing - only getting one community garden plot instead of two. 

Yes, a local farmers market can remind us of our own garden, slumbering under a blanket of snow.

We've ordered our onions (will probably get our seeds locally this year) and dream of the warming days ahead.