Upstate NY, on the edge of the snowbelt. Long winters. Lots of snow. Ice. Clouds. Gloom. That's our trademark winter.
But not this year.
And not only that but during the winter here, birds don't sing. Maybe they don't have too much to sing about. Maybe they are too busy trying to stay warm.
But last week, right after sunrise, I heard the screeches of a peregrine falcon echoing through downtown Binghamton. (A pair lives on top of our 10 story Security Mutual building.) And this morning - I heard birdsong near the Broome County courthouse.
Tonight, about 1/2 hour before sunset, I was exercise walking on the West side of Binghamton and saw and heard a bunch of sparrows chirping away in some vines.
Normally, we don't hear birdsong here until perhaps the second week of February. It doesn't seem to be related to temperature - we've had "heat" waves in January (a brief break between the normal snows of December and the normal snows of February and March) and the birds don't sing while the snow is melting. Although today, we did tie our record high, 54 degrees. (12 degrees Celsius).
What does this mean?
Many people are afraid there is going to be a huge "payback". Personally I think it is going to come on February 29.
We'll see. Cheep cheep!
Are birds where you live singing? Have you even had a winter?
And with this burst of birdsong, I finish the Ultimate Blog Challenge.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Disaster Tourism?
Yesterday, I saw a segment on The Weather Channel that discussed a controversy concerning the Joplin tornado of last year.
The Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) was offering, to quote the Weather Channel account, maps
"... which combine facts on the tornado, points of twister-related interest and images of destruction." The maps were "being made available at welcome centers and hotel front desks."
People are quite torn about this, needless to say.
I went to the Joplin CVB website and if they are still doing this, it isn't readily apparent from the website. There are some pretty neat stories about Joplin, however, including one featuring Bonnie and Clyde.
As someone who lives in a neighborhood of upstate NY that suffered damage (for some homes, so extensive the houses are being condemned) from a flood back in September, I totally oppose it. Why?
There's a difference between people going out to disasters (and trust me, there are a lot of these people out there) to gawk and an entity actually promoting it. Even the unofficial gawkers are not truly welcome. But to make it into an official industry?
I can speak from experience on this. It is no fun watching people flock to your neighborhood (as happened during a lessor flood in 2006 that the 2011 flood eclipsed), park, stare, take pictures, look at you like you are a specimen in the zoo, and even get in the way of people genuinely trying to help. I guess the only thing that saved us this time from the zoo treatment while the flood was at its peak was the fact that our neighborhood was unreachable this time unless you came by boat. Or helicopter. One major road was under 8 feet of water. People who evacuated couldn't get in. People who stayed were left to their own devices.
Slowly the recovery started, But when, in October, the local paper announced a "commemorative book" with a front cover picture of what looked like an aerial shot of my neighborhood under water, the trauma came right back.
Thank heavens our town and county haven't decided to make us and other stricken neighborhoods such as Castle Gardens, the Southside of Binghamton, Twin Orchards, and the Town of Owego, into tourist attractions.
And our trauma is not at all like the trauma of the people of Joplin who were in the path of the tornado. Their homes, their lives, gone in an instant of terror. No chance to escape. Survival or death, in some cases, was totally random. That does not do wonders for you emotionally.
And now these people are an official tourist attraction? When many of them haven't even rebuilt their lives yet? Now people can come and officially stare at what should be privately shared with others who shared their experience?
I know there is another side to it - I suppose the hope that disaster tourists will bring in money that Joplin can use for the rebuilding.
But I'm sorry. To me, it just doesn't seem right.
Don't exploit those whose lives that tornado touched.
The Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) was offering, to quote the Weather Channel account, maps
"... which combine facts on the tornado, points of twister-related interest and images of destruction." The maps were "being made available at welcome centers and hotel front desks."
People are quite torn about this, needless to say.
I went to the Joplin CVB website and if they are still doing this, it isn't readily apparent from the website. There are some pretty neat stories about Joplin, however, including one featuring Bonnie and Clyde.
As someone who lives in a neighborhood of upstate NY that suffered damage (for some homes, so extensive the houses are being condemned) from a flood back in September, I totally oppose it. Why?
There's a difference between people going out to disasters (and trust me, there are a lot of these people out there) to gawk and an entity actually promoting it. Even the unofficial gawkers are not truly welcome. But to make it into an official industry?
I can speak from experience on this. It is no fun watching people flock to your neighborhood (as happened during a lessor flood in 2006 that the 2011 flood eclipsed), park, stare, take pictures, look at you like you are a specimen in the zoo, and even get in the way of people genuinely trying to help. I guess the only thing that saved us this time from the zoo treatment while the flood was at its peak was the fact that our neighborhood was unreachable this time unless you came by boat. Or helicopter. One major road was under 8 feet of water. People who evacuated couldn't get in. People who stayed were left to their own devices.
Slowly the recovery started, But when, in October, the local paper announced a "commemorative book" with a front cover picture of what looked like an aerial shot of my neighborhood under water, the trauma came right back.
Thank heavens our town and county haven't decided to make us and other stricken neighborhoods such as Castle Gardens, the Southside of Binghamton, Twin Orchards, and the Town of Owego, into tourist attractions.
And our trauma is not at all like the trauma of the people of Joplin who were in the path of the tornado. Their homes, their lives, gone in an instant of terror. No chance to escape. Survival or death, in some cases, was totally random. That does not do wonders for you emotionally.
And now these people are an official tourist attraction? When many of them haven't even rebuilt their lives yet? Now people can come and officially stare at what should be privately shared with others who shared their experience?
I know there is another side to it - I suppose the hope that disaster tourists will bring in money that Joplin can use for the rebuilding.
But I'm sorry. To me, it just doesn't seem right.
Don't exploit those whose lives that tornado touched.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Civil War Sunday -The Amazing Secret of Sherwood Forest
No, the amazing secret of Sherwood Forest doesn't have anything to do with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although it would have been interesting to watch them fight in the Civil War, dressed in their bright green clothes and using their longbows and clubs to fight....well, I don't know if they would have sided with the Union or the Confederates. But Friar Tuck would have been quite the sight.
No, I am talking about Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Virginia, which is suddenly (I suspect) going to become a whole lot more popular as a tourist destination than it has been - all because of an 83 year old gentleman who lives there. His name is Harrison Tyler, and he happens to be the grandson of President John Tyler, a U.S. President who served from 1841 to 1845.
John Tyler was born in 1790. In other words, a man born in 1790 has two living grandsons.
To put this in perspective, Jane Garfield, the granddaughter of President James Garfield (who was a Major General for the Union in the Civil War), is 99 years old. Garfield was President 40 years after Tyler. (Garfield was also the second president of the United States to be assassinated-he died just before his 50th birthday. The first President to be assassinated, of course, was Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. President during the Civil War.)
It's one heck of a story, this grandson, and has taken the Internet by storm in the past week, just after we passed the 150th anniversary of John Tyler's death in 1862.
So, putting Harrison Tyler aside, what is so fascinating about President John Tyler?
Although John Tyler's administration is interesting from an aspect of studying pre Civil War history, his actions after states started to secede is what holds fascination for me.
A Peace Conference was held in February 1861 to reach a compromise and enable the Union to continue. It was hoped a settlement could be reached before Lincoln took office in March of 1861. (unlike today, Presidents in that era took office on March 4 and not January 20). John Tyler came from his home at Sherwood Forest Plantation to attend.
John Tyler, sent by his native Virginia, was the head of this conference. It did not succeed, although a Constitutional amendment was proposed.
After the failure of the Peace Conference, Tyler sided with the Confederacy, and was a delegate from Virginia to the Provisional Confederate Congress. When elections to the First Confederate Congress were held in 1861, Tyler was elected to their Congress but died before he took office.
He is buried in Richmond, VA near the grave of President James Monroe. As he was in rebellion his death was not officially mourned by the Union. On the other hand, the Confederacy declared him a hero. A grand funeral was held in his honor.
This is a fascinating story indeed, and I hope to visit Sherwood Forest Plantation one day. And who knows, if my tour group is big enough, and has enough pretty women, maybe Harrison Tyler will be our tour guide.
No, I am talking about Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Virginia, which is suddenly (I suspect) going to become a whole lot more popular as a tourist destination than it has been - all because of an 83 year old gentleman who lives there. His name is Harrison Tyler, and he happens to be the grandson of President John Tyler, a U.S. President who served from 1841 to 1845.
John Tyler was born in 1790. In other words, a man born in 1790 has two living grandsons.
To put this in perspective, Jane Garfield, the granddaughter of President James Garfield (who was a Major General for the Union in the Civil War), is 99 years old. Garfield was President 40 years after Tyler. (Garfield was also the second president of the United States to be assassinated-he died just before his 50th birthday. The first President to be assassinated, of course, was Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. President during the Civil War.)
It's one heck of a story, this grandson, and has taken the Internet by storm in the past week, just after we passed the 150th anniversary of John Tyler's death in 1862.
So, putting Harrison Tyler aside, what is so fascinating about President John Tyler?
Although John Tyler's administration is interesting from an aspect of studying pre Civil War history, his actions after states started to secede is what holds fascination for me.
A Peace Conference was held in February 1861 to reach a compromise and enable the Union to continue. It was hoped a settlement could be reached before Lincoln took office in March of 1861. (unlike today, Presidents in that era took office on March 4 and not January 20). John Tyler came from his home at Sherwood Forest Plantation to attend.
John Tyler, sent by his native Virginia, was the head of this conference. It did not succeed, although a Constitutional amendment was proposed.
After the failure of the Peace Conference, Tyler sided with the Confederacy, and was a delegate from Virginia to the Provisional Confederate Congress. When elections to the First Confederate Congress were held in 1861, Tyler was elected to their Congress but died before he took office.
He is buried in Richmond, VA near the grave of President James Monroe. As he was in rebellion his death was not officially mourned by the Union. On the other hand, the Confederacy declared him a hero. A grand funeral was held in his honor.
This is a fascinating story indeed, and I hope to visit Sherwood Forest Plantation one day. And who knows, if my tour group is big enough, and has enough pretty women, maybe Harrison Tyler will be our tour guide.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Would You Write 24 Letters in February?
When is the last time you got a letter from someone? In the mail system of the country you live in?
A post in another blog, Depression Cookies, made me think about this.
I don't mean a letter from a business, or from the government, or from your elected representative, or from someone soliciting a contribution from you? No, I mean a real live letter, "Dear AM.......Love (or Sincerely, or Yours Truly), someone in your life", from, oh...
A friend?
A relative?
A loved one?
For me, I think the last time this may have happened was in July of 2003. An aunt, who was 77 at the time, corresponded with me for many years. She lived hundreds of miles away. We talked occasionally on the phone, but letters filled the gap. I can guess the approximate date, because she died that summer.
(No, actually that is not true. And the occasion where it happened is worth another blog post. Nevertheless, it's been years.)
Of course, like so many others, I do my corresponding now by email or by Facebook message. Texting? Not yet, because my phone doesn't have a keyboard, and I find it awkward. But as soon as I get a different phone, I'll probably be texting away. Although, there is something strange to me about using a phone for...well, nonverbal communication.
All of these methods are wonderful, and fast, and get the job done. But letters, ah, a letter. How many emails or text messages have you lingered over, saved in a box, taken out and reread months or years later?
A website, A Month of Letters, wants to reintroduce us to the pleasure. Quoting from the site:
"I have a simple challenge for you.
Will I do it? At this point, no-even in my peak letter writing days (in college, believe it or not) I don't think I mailed something every day! I can even imagine the writer's cramp-ouch! But I just may sit down and write a letter....or two....or three.
I do think, however, that the challenge is very worthwhile, and am doing my part to publicize it on...hmmm, a blog. But writing a bunch of letters to publicize it wouldn't work quite the same, would it?
Would you join such a challenge?
A post in another blog, Depression Cookies, made me think about this.
I don't mean a letter from a business, or from the government, or from your elected representative, or from someone soliciting a contribution from you? No, I mean a real live letter, "Dear AM.......Love (or Sincerely, or Yours Truly), someone in your life", from, oh...
A friend?
A relative?
A loved one?
For me, I think the last time this may have happened was in July of 2003. An aunt, who was 77 at the time, corresponded with me for many years. She lived hundreds of miles away. We talked occasionally on the phone, but letters filled the gap. I can guess the approximate date, because she died that summer.
(No, actually that is not true. And the occasion where it happened is worth another blog post. Nevertheless, it's been years.)
Of course, like so many others, I do my corresponding now by email or by Facebook message. Texting? Not yet, because my phone doesn't have a keyboard, and I find it awkward. But as soon as I get a different phone, I'll probably be texting away. Although, there is something strange to me about using a phone for...well, nonverbal communication.
All of these methods are wonderful, and fast, and get the job done. But letters, ah, a letter. How many emails or text messages have you lingered over, saved in a box, taken out and reread months or years later?
A website, A Month of Letters, wants to reintroduce us to the pleasure. Quoting from the site:
"I have a simple challenge for you.
- In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
- Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
Will I do it? At this point, no-even in my peak letter writing days (in college, believe it or not) I don't think I mailed something every day! I can even imagine the writer's cramp-ouch! But I just may sit down and write a letter....or two....or three.
I do think, however, that the challenge is very worthwhile, and am doing my part to publicize it on...hmmm, a blog. But writing a bunch of letters to publicize it wouldn't work quite the same, would it?
Would you join such a challenge?
Friday, January 27, 2012
Who Among Us is Worthy?
As the sister in law of a 50ish year old man with autism, I have to say something about a recent event. A little background first.
I know someone who, when a boy, was helped tremendously by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He had an illness that stumped doctors in this area. His health failing, he was brought to CHOP and they were able to diagnose his illness. He received treatment. He recovered.
He was worthy. Our medical system worked for him. He is an adult today.
And then, there is the case of little Amelia Rivera, who was recently refused a kidney transplant by CHOP because...well, she suffered from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes many difficulties for those with it, including intellectual disability. Finding a donor was not a problem (as it is in too many cases of kidney transplant.) CHOP refused to do the transplant because she was
After the mother went public on a support site, the story went viral. In all fairness, we probably do not know the whole story. But, in reading some articles, and comments, and lurking around on CHOP's Facebook page, it would appear that this kind of medical decision is not an isolated instance. From what I can tell, CHOP is rethinking their processes, and are continuing dialog with little Mia's family.
Not that long ago I blogged about nostalgia not being all it's cracked up to be. My father had epilepsy due to a brain injury he suffered in his service during World War II. There was little nostalgia associated with the prejudice he suffered when he came back home. In fact, in some states, I would not have been born because he might have been subject to involuntary sterilization.
So....in our modern day and age people with disabilities are still being denied medical care. Their lives just aren't as valuable as yours or mine.
So what will happen when my brother in law needs medical treatment? Thank heavens that day has not yet come. But will he be deemed worthy? Until recently, insurance discrimination against people with autism was very much a problem, and it is only slowly being addressed by state laws prohibiting such discrimination. Do we need legislation to prevent medical discrimination in care, too?
Some have written a lot more elegantly than me on the issue of the worthiness of Amelia to get this transplant. I invite you, in particular, to read this.
If we say we value life, it has to be all life-not just the lives of the smart, the lives of the wealthy, the lives of the beautiful. Our medical system is broken, for this and other reasons. We all have stories to tell from our own experience. Medical bills we can't afford, insurance that won't pay, not having insurance and suffering the consequences. And now....we'd better not be disabled, either.
We must fix it, for many reasons, including the most selfish reason of all. One day that person being denied care may be - you. Or me.
May Amelia's case have a good resolution.
I know someone who, when a boy, was helped tremendously by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He had an illness that stumped doctors in this area. His health failing, he was brought to CHOP and they were able to diagnose his illness. He received treatment. He recovered.
He was worthy. Our medical system worked for him. He is an adult today.
And then, there is the case of little Amelia Rivera, who was recently refused a kidney transplant by CHOP because...well, she suffered from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes many difficulties for those with it, including intellectual disability. Finding a donor was not a problem (as it is in too many cases of kidney transplant.) CHOP refused to do the transplant because she was
After the mother went public on a support site, the story went viral. In all fairness, we probably do not know the whole story. But, in reading some articles, and comments, and lurking around on CHOP's Facebook page, it would appear that this kind of medical decision is not an isolated instance. From what I can tell, CHOP is rethinking their processes, and are continuing dialog with little Mia's family.
Not that long ago I blogged about nostalgia not being all it's cracked up to be. My father had epilepsy due to a brain injury he suffered in his service during World War II. There was little nostalgia associated with the prejudice he suffered when he came back home. In fact, in some states, I would not have been born because he might have been subject to involuntary sterilization.
So....in our modern day and age people with disabilities are still being denied medical care. Their lives just aren't as valuable as yours or mine.
So what will happen when my brother in law needs medical treatment? Thank heavens that day has not yet come. But will he be deemed worthy? Until recently, insurance discrimination against people with autism was very much a problem, and it is only slowly being addressed by state laws prohibiting such discrimination. Do we need legislation to prevent medical discrimination in care, too?
Some have written a lot more elegantly than me on the issue of the worthiness of Amelia to get this transplant. I invite you, in particular, to read this.
If we say we value life, it has to be all life-not just the lives of the smart, the lives of the wealthy, the lives of the beautiful. Our medical system is broken, for this and other reasons. We all have stories to tell from our own experience. Medical bills we can't afford, insurance that won't pay, not having insurance and suffering the consequences. And now....we'd better not be disabled, either.
We must fix it, for many reasons, including the most selfish reason of all. One day that person being denied care may be - you. Or me.
May Amelia's case have a good resolution.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Naked Building
How many stories are there in the Naked Building?
I don't know. Probably not eight million. But I am sure there are thousands and I would like to share some of what I know.
It's a story of flood, of recovery, of loss of hope, of A Long Goodbye. How the story will end we still don't know.
The Naked Building was built in 1942, during a time when the Triple Cities of New York were prosperous, with a booming economy. This sturdy brick building, some 300,000 square feet, was built by the military, and leased to General Electric. When I moved to Westover (a neighborhood just to the west of Johnson City, NY) in the 1980's, General Electric was still operating in that sturdy brick building. But as the years passed, General Electric passed the business off to Martin-Marietta, who became Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin sold that portion of their business to BAE Systems in 2000. So for all this time, this has been a place of productivity and employment.
It was a good place to work, this industrial facility located in a residental/commercial neighborhood, and so it went until September 7, 2011. After relentless rain due to Tropical Storm Lee BAE flooded. What did those employees think when they left their building that night? Did they dream they might never return?
For almost two months a recovery company and numbers of temps worked 24/7, under blazing generator-powered lights, but the building could not be put back together. Many custom made machines lay in ruins. BAE couldn't risk another flood. Maybe they know something about changing weather patterns....
The decision was made in November to abandon the building. The BAE sign came off the front. The parking lot stayed empty. A passerby walking down the public sidewalk could see into the building, see bare walls, stripped down to the metal studs, throughout the abandoned building. It had become The Naked Building. BAE promised to stay somewhere in the area and said they would make an announcement when they found a place to relocate to. And then the building would be torn down.
But then an amazing thing happened at The Naked Building. One day, a delivery man was parked near one of the entrances, wheeling in cases of soda.
Employees started coming back. Certainly not the 1300 of before the flood-maybe more like 150 or so. But the parking lot next to the building held more cars each day.
What was happening? This week, I found out.
The building will be abandoned by February 28. A skeleton crew has returned, mainly to assist with clearing out anything that can be saved. The air quality in the building (I am told) is terrible. It smells terrible inside. The floors are warped. The manufacturing workers have been furloughed (i.e. are on unemployment) since the day of the flood. I knew that administrative and some others had taken up temporary headquarters in a former IBM facility in Endicott (now called "Huron"), and I'm told things aren't all that great for them, either. And yes, The Naked Building will be torn down. The Long Goodbye is almost over.
Last week, the employees were told they would learn their fate "in three weeks". I suppose that means we will all know in the next two weeks. I'm still told BAE will "definitely" stay in our county - but where?
Or, when all is revealed, will we discover that our hopes were swept away with the flood?
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Winter Wednesday-The 100th Birthday
Today, a woman I've known for some 40 years celebrated her 100th birthday.
I don't want to go into the cliches of "she was born when the Titanic was the greatest ship in the world. She was a toddler when World War I began. She's seen so much history...." because it's all true, but there is so much more to this woman.
She still lives at home, still cooks. still cleans. She is very stooped over, so stooped over that she looks at the ground when she walks, and must use a cane. Yet, her mind is sharp and her memory isn't impaired at all. She is so feisty, and loving. But don't get into an argument with her!
In November, family came together for a big celebration near New York City. Her 99th birthday celebration was postponed three times due to inclement weather and they didn't want that to happen again for her 100th. So they took no chances and had the "big" party right after Thanksgiving.(she also had a smaller gathering at another restaurant today, her actual birthday.)
So what does a 100th birthday look like?
This is the Irish neighborhood where the party took place. (a little ethnic fusion here).
And the inside of the pub.
After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood. Here's a wall mural.
And some more ethnic fusion.
100 years of living and memory. I hope to see her again in April. What a fantawtic woman. I hope know her for a long time. And I hope that if I ever reach old age, I will have her health, and her attitude.
Happy birthday!!!
I don't want to go into the cliches of "she was born when the Titanic was the greatest ship in the world. She was a toddler when World War I began. She's seen so much history...." because it's all true, but there is so much more to this woman.
She still lives at home, still cooks. still cleans. She is very stooped over, so stooped over that she looks at the ground when she walks, and must use a cane. Yet, her mind is sharp and her memory isn't impaired at all. She is so feisty, and loving. But don't get into an argument with her!
In November, family came together for a big celebration near New York City. Her 99th birthday celebration was postponed three times due to inclement weather and they didn't want that to happen again for her 100th. So they took no chances and had the "big" party right after Thanksgiving.(she also had a smaller gathering at another restaurant today, her actual birthday.)
So what does a 100th birthday look like?
This is the Irish neighborhood where the party took place. (a little ethnic fusion here).
100 years of living and memory. I hope to see her again in April. What a fantawtic woman. I hope know her for a long time. And I hope that if I ever reach old age, I will have her health, and her attitude.
Happy birthday!!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Happy National Peanut Butter Day
Did you know today is National Peanut Butter Day? I found out on Twitter.
Next to chocolate, peanut butter has to be one of my favorite foods.
I love it in almost every form. Peanut butter from the jar: both creamy and chunky. Pretzels stuffed with peanut butter. Peanut butter sauces found in various cuisines. And, a dish my spouse makes occasionally, which involves chicken kabobs marinated in a coconut milk/peanut butter mixture (with soy sauce, garlic and optional pepper sauce) for a couple of hours, and then grilled.
For some reason though, peanut butter reminds me of.. peanuts. Peanuts remind me of.....Georgia.
Georgia reminds me of...Jimmy Carter. And Jimmy Carter (the "peanut farmer President") reminds me of his home town of Plains.
When we visited Plains, GA a couple of years ago, we went into a store specializing in peanuts called Plain Peanuts. As soon as we entered the store, we were offered samples of fried peanuts (yes, and they are good-I'm less crazy about boiled peanuts, though), peanut fudge and peanut brittle.
I don't remember if they had peanut butter but they had everything else Peanut. We left with a large peanut purchase, gifts for folks back home. Those people in Plains, GA are smart.
So in their honor, I will celebrate National Peanut Day with some Trader Joes Unsalted Peanut Butter Pretzels. And maybe even have some peanut butter.
What is your favorite way to eat peanut butter?
Monday, January 23, 2012
The 800 and the Streak
On a warm January night (45 degrees!) I sit down to write the 800th post of my blog.
Happy 800 to me....when I look back at my early blogs, I see the progress I have made.
The blogging marathons I've participated in (four now, in the past year) have helped me develop the discipline of daily writing. (A life not full of caregiving an elderly person or caring for little children helps with the streak, too.)
I've blogged every day since late April of 2011, and I am going to have to make a decision pretty soon.
Do I want to keep the streak going?
Daily blogging, in a way, is like a treadmill. You stay upright only as long as your legs keep moving. If you stop moving, you slide off the mill and end up on the floor, on your butt.
If you slide off the mill, will you get up and get back on?
But on the other hand, do I have enough to talk about to keep going?
This is a "general purpose" blog. If I go to a farmers' market, I blog about it. If I see interesting wildflowers (well, not in January) I post pictures of them. If I find an interesting fact about the Civil War, I talk about it. If a madman guns down 13 people just blocks away from me, I write about it....in fact, that shooting, in April of 2009, led me to start the blog and is the subject of the first post.
One can even be cynical and say that if we had not had the flood in September that swept through my Triple Cities neighborhood (and many others) I might have not had as much material as I have been fortunate enough to find in the last 800 posts. Truthfully, I would rather have a vibrant, thriving community than all that material. (and I "ain't done yet" with that material, sadly.)
I guess that is what has pleased me the most about the 800 and my streak. This has become an Internet diary of the last (almost) three years of my life. I hope one day I can look back. Maybe I'll even have grandchildren who will read this blog one day.
That's good reasons to keep up a streak, isn't it?
I just hope that Binghamton doesn't show up on CNN ever, ever again.
Why do you blog?
Happy 800 to me....when I look back at my early blogs, I see the progress I have made.
The blogging marathons I've participated in (four now, in the past year) have helped me develop the discipline of daily writing. (A life not full of caregiving an elderly person or caring for little children helps with the streak, too.)
I've blogged every day since late April of 2011, and I am going to have to make a decision pretty soon.
Do I want to keep the streak going?
Daily blogging, in a way, is like a treadmill. You stay upright only as long as your legs keep moving. If you stop moving, you slide off the mill and end up on the floor, on your butt.
If you slide off the mill, will you get up and get back on?
But on the other hand, do I have enough to talk about to keep going?
This is a "general purpose" blog. If I go to a farmers' market, I blog about it. If I see interesting wildflowers (well, not in January) I post pictures of them. If I find an interesting fact about the Civil War, I talk about it. If a madman guns down 13 people just blocks away from me, I write about it....in fact, that shooting, in April of 2009, led me to start the blog and is the subject of the first post.
One can even be cynical and say that if we had not had the flood in September that swept through my Triple Cities neighborhood (and many others) I might have not had as much material as I have been fortunate enough to find in the last 800 posts. Truthfully, I would rather have a vibrant, thriving community than all that material. (and I "ain't done yet" with that material, sadly.)
I guess that is what has pleased me the most about the 800 and my streak. This has become an Internet diary of the last (almost) three years of my life. I hope one day I can look back. Maybe I'll even have grandchildren who will read this blog one day.
That's good reasons to keep up a streak, isn't it?
I just hope that Binghamton doesn't show up on CNN ever, ever again.
Why do you blog?
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Civil War Sunday - Washington Roebling
What do Brooklyn, Brunswick, ME, Cincinnati, OH, Gettysburg, PA and the Civil War have in common?
The answer is, the Roebling family, a family responsible for some of the most historic bridges in this country. One of their members, a civil engineer by the name of Washington Roebling, served in the Civil War.
Chances are, you may well have traveled over at least one bridge designed by the firm of John A. Roebling's Sons. These bridges include the Brooklyn Bridge, the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (connecting Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY) and the bridge above, the Brunswick Topsham Swinging Bridge over the Androscroggin River in Maine (photo above).
I have walked across both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Brunswick Topsham Swinging Bridge. You couldn't ask for two totally different experiences. The Brooklyn Bridge is traveled by thousands of people daily - by car, by foot, and by bicycle. The scenery is breathtakingly urban, dominated by skyscrapers on both sides of the East River. At the time the bridge was built, Brooklyn was a city separate from New York City. (In some ways it still is-for example, still having its own library system.)
The bridge between Brunswick, ME (a college town I have blogged about before) and Topsham is a pedestrian only bridge. Brunswick, ME has many connections to the Civil War, among them the fact that the book Uncle Tom's Cabin was written there and that General Joshua Chamberlain of Gettysburg fame also lived there for a time.
Washington Roebling served in various capacities as an engineer in the Civil War, including at the Battle of Gettysburg. Stricken by the bends due to an accident during the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, he spent the last 40 plus years of his life as a physical invalid with a very active mind. Despite his disability, he outlived many people in his family and even ran the family business for a time when in his 80's.
If you've seen the Smithsonian rock and mineral collection at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, you can thank Washington Roebling for the beginnings of that collection.
When you think of engineers and the bridges that link our lives....think of the Roeblings.
The answer is, the Roebling family, a family responsible for some of the most historic bridges in this country. One of their members, a civil engineer by the name of Washington Roebling, served in the Civil War.
I have walked across both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Brunswick Topsham Swinging Bridge. You couldn't ask for two totally different experiences. The Brooklyn Bridge is traveled by thousands of people daily - by car, by foot, and by bicycle. The scenery is breathtakingly urban, dominated by skyscrapers on both sides of the East River. At the time the bridge was built, Brooklyn was a city separate from New York City. (In some ways it still is-for example, still having its own library system.)
The bridge between Brunswick, ME (a college town I have blogged about before) and Topsham is a pedestrian only bridge. Brunswick, ME has many connections to the Civil War, among them the fact that the book Uncle Tom's Cabin was written there and that General Joshua Chamberlain of Gettysburg fame also lived there for a time.
Washington Roebling served in various capacities as an engineer in the Civil War, including at the Battle of Gettysburg. Stricken by the bends due to an accident during the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, he spent the last 40 plus years of his life as a physical invalid with a very active mind. Despite his disability, he outlived many people in his family and even ran the family business for a time when in his 80's.
If you've seen the Smithsonian rock and mineral collection at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, you can thank Washington Roebling for the beginnings of that collection.
When you think of engineers and the bridges that link our lives....think of the Roeblings.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Year of Gardening Interestingly
Winter has come to our upstate NY town, with a big (for this year, that is) 3 inch snowstorm in addition to the snow we picked up on Thursday. I could sure use some more winters like this almost snow less one. And now my hanging basket that had the black petunias in them this past summer, sleeps under a blanket of snow.
So it came to pass this week that a letter came from our community garden organization, with the annual registration form and a news update.
Our community garden has existed for many of the years we have lived in this community, but with the prospect of a regional farmers market being built a few hundred yards away, things are really taking off. From a community garden of "do your own thing" some great (or not great, depending on your point of view) things are going to happen.
1. Our community garden season will end September 16 this year. In our zone 5 climate we would have a hopeful 4-5 more weeks of good gardening. That will be used to plant a green manure crop, the first ever in the history of the community garden.
2. The gardening committee is seriously thinking of going organic. We are not (I freely admit) organic in our garden plot: we are guilty of an occasional use of chemical fertilizer (but we NEVER use synthetic sprays) They are thinking of a 3 year phase in period with an immediate ban on plastic mulches. That is going to hurt us. We do use plastic mulches for our tomatoes - the garden has a tremendous weed problem because people will buy a plot, plant it and then never be seen again - their plot grows up in weeds and the seeds spread easily. But what has happened is that many people, apparently, are not cleaning up the mulches at the end of the season.
This year, the floods of September impacted a lot of people where they would not have had the time or mental energy to cope with closing out their gardens but apparently this has been happening in previous years, too.
The problem I see with the "all organic" is: what exactly is organic? Even some certifying organizations don't completely agree on what makes organic organic. Well, the gardening committee is aware of that. They are going to have some ground rules drawn up. It will be interesting to see what the rules are. And, they are going, at least, this year, to continue to allow synthetic row covers which we do use - extensively.
And last...and this may be a little controversal with some members - because of the increased visibility of the garden sites they are going to enforce weeding more strictly. Not requiring every last one be pulled, but you have to keep them cut down.
That one is going to be interesting.
But what this all means is that our community garden is reaching maturity. And because we are all members, we have the right to give feedback and work out the disagreements.
This will be an interesting gardening year indeed.
So it came to pass this week that a letter came from our community garden organization, with the annual registration form and a news update.
Our community garden has existed for many of the years we have lived in this community, but with the prospect of a regional farmers market being built a few hundred yards away, things are really taking off. From a community garden of "do your own thing" some great (or not great, depending on your point of view) things are going to happen.
1. Our community garden season will end September 16 this year. In our zone 5 climate we would have a hopeful 4-5 more weeks of good gardening. That will be used to plant a green manure crop, the first ever in the history of the community garden.
2. The gardening committee is seriously thinking of going organic. We are not (I freely admit) organic in our garden plot: we are guilty of an occasional use of chemical fertilizer (but we NEVER use synthetic sprays) They are thinking of a 3 year phase in period with an immediate ban on plastic mulches. That is going to hurt us. We do use plastic mulches for our tomatoes - the garden has a tremendous weed problem because people will buy a plot, plant it and then never be seen again - their plot grows up in weeds and the seeds spread easily. But what has happened is that many people, apparently, are not cleaning up the mulches at the end of the season.
This year, the floods of September impacted a lot of people where they would not have had the time or mental energy to cope with closing out their gardens but apparently this has been happening in previous years, too.
The problem I see with the "all organic" is: what exactly is organic? Even some certifying organizations don't completely agree on what makes organic organic. Well, the gardening committee is aware of that. They are going to have some ground rules drawn up. It will be interesting to see what the rules are. And, they are going, at least, this year, to continue to allow synthetic row covers which we do use - extensively.
And last...and this may be a little controversal with some members - because of the increased visibility of the garden sites they are going to enforce weeding more strictly. Not requiring every last one be pulled, but you have to keep them cut down.
That one is going to be interesting.
But what this all means is that our community garden is reaching maturity. And because we are all members, we have the right to give feedback and work out the disagreements.
This will be an interesting gardening year indeed.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Gronk of the Flood
What do a day care center, a dinosaur, and a flood in upstate NY have in common? One heck of a story is what.
In 2009 I blogged about the hART of BC, an organization founded by the grandson of Johnny Hart, the native of this area who created the comics BC and Wizard of Id. Mason Mastroianni, the cartoonist grandson who took over the comic strips when John Hart died, planned to have styrofoam dinosaurs, in honor of BC's Gronk character, decorate downtown Binghamton, NY during the summer of 2010. The dinosaurs would then be auctioned off, proceeds going to charity.
The Gronk dinosaurs did come to downtown Binghamton. but didn't stay long, the victim of vandals.
Eventually, they were auctioned off and I found two of them last year.
Meanwhile, one of them had an amazing journey through time...and flood
Mom's House, a wonderful and worthy organization, had been a recipient of one of the auctioned dinosaurs. The dinosaur found a home in their Johnson City day care location (in a neighborhood bordering mine) but that location was flooded, up to their ceiling, in the floods of September 7 and 8 caused by Tropical Storm Lee.
A ditch in my neighborhood bore silent witness in November, filled with ruined children's toys possibly from a child care center on Oakdale Road, and possibly from Mom's House or local private houses.
But there is one happy ending to this story, as the Mom's House Gronk was found in their yard by a family living on Oakdale Road. Returning to their home after a three month absence, they found Gronk. Not knowing who it belonged to, the heavy dinosaur was decorated for Christmas.
One day, Mom's House volunteers saw the dinosaur and contacted the family. The dinosaur was returned to Mom's House at the end of last year.
With luck, Mom's House will return to Johnson City in June.
Johnny Hart would have been proud.
In 2009 I blogged about the hART of BC, an organization founded by the grandson of Johnny Hart, the native of this area who created the comics BC and Wizard of Id. Mason Mastroianni, the cartoonist grandson who took over the comic strips when John Hart died, planned to have styrofoam dinosaurs, in honor of BC's Gronk character, decorate downtown Binghamton, NY during the summer of 2010. The dinosaurs would then be auctioned off, proceeds going to charity.
The Gronk dinosaurs did come to downtown Binghamton. but didn't stay long, the victim of vandals.
Eventually, they were auctioned off and I found two of them last year.
Meanwhile, one of them had an amazing journey through time...and flood
Mom's House, a wonderful and worthy organization, had been a recipient of one of the auctioned dinosaurs. The dinosaur found a home in their Johnson City day care location (in a neighborhood bordering mine) but that location was flooded, up to their ceiling, in the floods of September 7 and 8 caused by Tropical Storm Lee.
But there is one happy ending to this story, as the Mom's House Gronk was found in their yard by a family living on Oakdale Road. Returning to their home after a three month absence, they found Gronk. Not knowing who it belonged to, the heavy dinosaur was decorated for Christmas.
One day, Mom's House volunteers saw the dinosaur and contacted the family. The dinosaur was returned to Mom's House at the end of last year.
With luck, Mom's House will return to Johnson City in June.
Johnny Hart would have been proud.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
What's in a Typo?
Thank you to The Daily Retort for letting me know about the Kodak bankruptcy.
As Tor Constantino declares in his blog, the fact that Kodak left a very noticeable typo on their bankruptcy website spoke, in a way, to a total lack of detail.
At one time I would not have cared about a typo. I remember, when I was young, that although I enjoyed writing, I detested any study of grammar or punctuation. And, spelling was my weakest subject of all (next to math). I came close to failing 10th grade English because I had a teacher who quizzed us weekly on spelling - and made those quizzes a large part of our grade.
(Yes, I'm grateful for spell check, but I know it has its limitations. I'm also grateful my spouse is a much better speller than I am. But I digress.)
Thanks to blogging, I've found that the art of communication depends a lot on the proper use of English. No one is perfect, least of all me, but I do try to improve my writing. My daily blogging is a type of self-discipline. I've participated in several blog challenges. I do it so I can constantly improve this art form I took up almost three years ago. I hope I am succeeding.
So, a company that meant so much to me in my childhood - Kodak film, Kodak brownie cameras, Kodak paper, Kodak paper...that Kodak quality...all gone. It wasn't in a flash (oooh, bad pun) and wasn't unexpected, but it still makes me sad. Another part of my long ago childhood, gone.
Speaking of that typo - I went to the website Tor quoted - went there at 9pm tonight, over 5 hours after Tor posted, and the typo Tor found IS STILL THERE. So if you hurry, maybe you'll see it, too.
I will take that lesson to heart. We must always strive for quality in our writing, and in our lives.
Thank you, Tor.
As Tor Constantino declares in his blog, the fact that Kodak left a very noticeable typo on their bankruptcy website spoke, in a way, to a total lack of detail.
At one time I would not have cared about a typo. I remember, when I was young, that although I enjoyed writing, I detested any study of grammar or punctuation. And, spelling was my weakest subject of all (next to math). I came close to failing 10th grade English because I had a teacher who quizzed us weekly on spelling - and made those quizzes a large part of our grade.
(Yes, I'm grateful for spell check, but I know it has its limitations. I'm also grateful my spouse is a much better speller than I am. But I digress.)
Thanks to blogging, I've found that the art of communication depends a lot on the proper use of English. No one is perfect, least of all me, but I do try to improve my writing. My daily blogging is a type of self-discipline. I've participated in several blog challenges. I do it so I can constantly improve this art form I took up almost three years ago. I hope I am succeeding.
So, a company that meant so much to me in my childhood - Kodak film, Kodak brownie cameras, Kodak paper, Kodak paper...that Kodak quality...all gone. It wasn't in a flash (oooh, bad pun) and wasn't unexpected, but it still makes me sad. Another part of my long ago childhood, gone.
Speaking of that typo - I went to the website Tor quoted - went there at 9pm tonight, over 5 hours after Tor posted, and the typo Tor found IS STILL THERE. So if you hurry, maybe you'll see it, too.
I will take that lesson to heart. We must always strive for quality in our writing, and in our lives.
Thank you, Tor.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Winter Wednesday-The Placid Stream
The Internet community has blacked out to protest SOPA and to show what censorship looks like.
And with that, I would like to tell a true little story about small things.
Once upon a time there was a little creek in upstate New York.
On a late peaceful Sunday afternoon, near sunset, it looked serene, as the winter cold was starting to freeze it over (finally).
A few hundred yards away the creek meets up with the Susquehanna River.
Such a peaceful setting. Nothing bad could ever happen in this picture, could it?
Well, one day in September, it started to rain. Just a few harmless raindrops. Few people paid attention.
But then the rain fell harder and faster. A couple of days later, that placid stream was out of its banks and it and the Susquehanna River were pouring over flood walls and flowing down streets, a force that could not be stopped until hours after the rain stopped. Finally, the creek and the river finally went home.
They took houses, jobs, memories, businesses and dreams with them.
What did we in upstate New York learn?
Bad things start small, almost beneath notice. Then they build. And if we are not on guard, they may sweep us away.
We must always our safeguard our freedom of expression. The Internet has become the oxygen of our world. It must be safeguarded. The Internet was born in freedom, which sometimes lets bad things thrive But we can't destroy the freedom of the Internet to fight the bad guys.
There has to be another way. And we have to find it.
But SOPA isn't it.
And with that, I would like to tell a true little story about small things.
Once upon a time there was a little creek in upstate New York.
Such a peaceful setting. Nothing bad could ever happen in this picture, could it?
Well, one day in September, it started to rain. Just a few harmless raindrops. Few people paid attention.
But then the rain fell harder and faster. A couple of days later, that placid stream was out of its banks and it and the Susquehanna River were pouring over flood walls and flowing down streets, a force that could not be stopped until hours after the rain stopped. Finally, the creek and the river finally went home.
They took houses, jobs, memories, businesses and dreams with them.
What did we in upstate New York learn?
Bad things start small, almost beneath notice. Then they build. And if we are not on guard, they may sweep us away.
We must always our safeguard our freedom of expression. The Internet has become the oxygen of our world. It must be safeguarded. The Internet was born in freedom, which sometimes lets bad things thrive But we can't destroy the freedom of the Internet to fight the bad guys.
There has to be another way. And we have to find it.
But SOPA isn't it.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A Fool for Fazool
I invite you to learn more about SOPA and PIPA and the threat that they pose to sites like You Tube, Wikipedia, Reddit and more.
I rarely get political in my blogs, so I will now return to my normal programming....
One of the wonderful things about gardening is being able to control the vegetables you eat. To be healthy, to buy local if you can't grow your own. I don't do much gardening any more and my spouse now does the heavy lifting. I thank him.
No longer at the mercy of the supermarket, the gardener is free to indulge the imagination.
Do you think tomatoes must be red? That potatoes must have brown skins? That peppers must be shaped like bells? That dried beans must be one of the small number of varieties carried by your local market?
What you see above is a little sampler of the carrots my spouse grew in his community garden this year.
There is a very simple Italian soup dish called pasta fagioli, which is pronounced like "fazool". The rainbow of carrots would have gone very nicely in this dish, but we saved it for a different meal.
The major ingredients in pasta fagioli are pasta and beans. We used to grow dried beans in our garden, but no longer do. We bought these canary beans in the Grand Mart food store in Centreville, Virginia.
The green onion would have been homegrown in season but, alas, it is winter.
The pasta is a pumpkin shape that we also bought in Centreville. My spouse's fagiolis are less soup and more like stew, but you can add more liquid if you would like.
I am no food photographer, but this simple meal was delicious.
I invite you to try a "fazool" the next time you are wondering what to make for dinner.
And I invite you to browse the Internet tomorrow, January 18, and join the Internet Blackout.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Goodbye Boeing
Some 35 years ago, I lived in Wichita, Kansas with my spouse due to his job. We lived there about 4 years, and for this native of New York City, it was a unique experience indeed. I enjoyed Wichita in many ways (although this was during the era of the BTK Strangler, as we called him then) and in some ways was sorry to leave.
After we moved to Binghamton, we saw IBM (the "king" of industry when we came here) go downhill. We saw many people we knew laid off, scrambling to find jobs in other industries. Many never enjoyed the prosperity of their IBM jobs ever again. Their lives turned out totally different (and sometimes better, I have to admit).
Wichita called itself the Air Capital of the World for good reason. There were three major aircraft companies located in Wichita at the time we lived there: Cessna, Beechcraft, and the largest one - Boeing. These companies were to Wichita as Endicott-Johnson Shoes, and later, IBM, were to the Binghamton, NY area. People strove to work for the aircraft companies. At my job in Wichita (not aircraft related), almost every spouse worked for an aircraft company. The aviation industry ruled this city of about 280,000.
No, the Wichita I knew was not a dusty cowtown inhabited by tumbleweeds. It had a wonderful River Festival every May. It had a lot of green trees, a wonderful bicycle path along the Arkansas River, the Mid-America All Indian Center, a historical Wicihta recreation called Cowtown, and was a good place to raise a family. (At one point in time, I lived on the edge of downtown, and was able to walk to work for one of the few times in my life.) But the summers could be wicked hot, and after the summer of 1980, it was time for a change.
Times do change. And now Boeing is leaving Wichita for good.
When I read about this in early January, it brought back a lot of memories. One may wonder why I would care about a city that I have not set foot in for almost 30 years and....well, I knew some of their employees socially. I wonder how many of those people were there at the end. I was shocked to find out that only about 2100 people were still working for Boeing Wichita plant. My memory may be vague, but I think there were some 15,000. people working there when I lived in Wichita.
If your grandparents fought in World War II, it is possible they flew in an aircraft made in Wichita. Your parents may have flown in a passenger plane made in Wichita.
It's the American story, repeated so many times....and it does make me sad.
I don't know if I will ever have the chance to visit Wichita again. If I do....it will be a very different place. In more ways than one.
After we moved to Binghamton, we saw IBM (the "king" of industry when we came here) go downhill. We saw many people we knew laid off, scrambling to find jobs in other industries. Many never enjoyed the prosperity of their IBM jobs ever again. Their lives turned out totally different (and sometimes better, I have to admit).
Wichita called itself the Air Capital of the World for good reason. There were three major aircraft companies located in Wichita at the time we lived there: Cessna, Beechcraft, and the largest one - Boeing. These companies were to Wichita as Endicott-Johnson Shoes, and later, IBM, were to the Binghamton, NY area. People strove to work for the aircraft companies. At my job in Wichita (not aircraft related), almost every spouse worked for an aircraft company. The aviation industry ruled this city of about 280,000.
No, the Wichita I knew was not a dusty cowtown inhabited by tumbleweeds. It had a wonderful River Festival every May. It had a lot of green trees, a wonderful bicycle path along the Arkansas River, the Mid-America All Indian Center, a historical Wicihta recreation called Cowtown, and was a good place to raise a family. (At one point in time, I lived on the edge of downtown, and was able to walk to work for one of the few times in my life.) But the summers could be wicked hot, and after the summer of 1980, it was time for a change.
Times do change. And now Boeing is leaving Wichita for good.
When I read about this in early January, it brought back a lot of memories. One may wonder why I would care about a city that I have not set foot in for almost 30 years and....well, I knew some of their employees socially. I wonder how many of those people were there at the end. I was shocked to find out that only about 2100 people were still working for Boeing Wichita plant. My memory may be vague, but I think there were some 15,000. people working there when I lived in Wichita.
If your grandparents fought in World War II, it is possible they flew in an aircraft made in Wichita. Your parents may have flown in a passenger plane made in Wichita.
It's the American story, repeated so many times....and it does make me sad.
I don't know if I will ever have the chance to visit Wichita again. If I do....it will be a very different place. In more ways than one.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Garden Bloggers Blooom Day - January 2012-Suddenly Winter
It's the 15th of the month again - it's time for my virtual gardening fix. Here in upstate New York, it is winter, and any gardening has to be indoor.
Thank you once again, May Dream Gardens, for sponsoring this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
Today, it was sunny, and got up to 17 degrees F. (-8 C, for most everyone else in the world). Right now, around sunset, it is 13 F (-10 C). We have about an inch of snow on the ground after an unbelievable extended period without snow. We live on the edge of the "snowbelt", and this may well become a record breaker year without snow.
But, with the snow, this is what my yard looks like.
Here's an overview of my back hard, with the black structure being our compost bin. In the foreground, is a large variegated green and white grass that does well in the part shade conditions.
With not much of a yard, we attempt to grow some trees in pots.
More pots in our front yard.
Here's a better view of the ornamental grass.
And, our Lenten Rose plant.
It's so hard to believe that on New Years Eve things were so different. Our flowering cabbage, grown in a pot, was still thriving. Now, it's dead and dropping.
And we even still had parsley. (That's deceased, too.)
As far as my indoor ventures, I have two amaryllis plants, neither of which are blooming for some reason. And, my African Violets are between blooms. They are starting to send up a couple of flower buds, so perhaps by February I will have something to report.
But one thing I will not be reporting is on paperwhites. After my experiment last year, I am not trying to grow them this year - apparently I am part of approximately 25% of the population who finds their scent less than appealing.
Which makes me wonder - am I the only Garden Bloggers Bloom Day participant who can't stand the scent of paperwhites? (I have the same problem with the scent of some-not all-lillies).
Happy GBBD to all and see you in February.
Thank you once again, May Dream Gardens, for sponsoring this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
Today, it was sunny, and got up to 17 degrees F. (-8 C, for most everyone else in the world). Right now, around sunset, it is 13 F (-10 C). We have about an inch of snow on the ground after an unbelievable extended period without snow. We live on the edge of the "snowbelt", and this may well become a record breaker year without snow.
But, with the snow, this is what my yard looks like.
Here's an overview of my back hard, with the black structure being our compost bin. In the foreground, is a large variegated green and white grass that does well in the part shade conditions.
More pots in our front yard.
But one thing I will not be reporting is on paperwhites. After my experiment last year, I am not trying to grow them this year - apparently I am part of approximately 25% of the population who finds their scent less than appealing.
Which makes me wonder - am I the only Garden Bloggers Bloom Day participant who can't stand the scent of paperwhites? (I have the same problem with the scent of some-not all-lillies).
Happy GBBD to all and see you in February.
Civil War Sunday - The H.L. Hunley Rises Again (Sort of)
The first time I learned about the Confederate submarine CSS H.L Hunley, I was at a Civil War reenactment near Binghamton, NY.
There was an exhibit showcasing the naval aspect of the Civil War: one that is overlooked by so many student of the Civil War, who concentrate on the land battles and the soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict. I was intrigued, and hoped to visit Charleston, SC one day to see it (more on that later in this post).
I'm guilty of ignoring the naval war, too. Although, I blogged previously about the ironclad USS Monitor, which was built (in part) from wood obtained just a few miles from my home near Johnson City, NY. (If you've read that post - No, I've never solved the mystery of what happened to the Monitor marker that was once located inside the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City.) When I grew up, every school child learned about the battle of the "Monitor vs the Merrimack" (the Battle of Hampton Roads) and the end of the wooden ship era.
The H.L. Hunley, though, was a submarine: and many of us just don't associate submarines with the Civil War. It was a "secret weaon" of the Confederacy - its existence shrouded in secrecy, a submarine that performed one mission sucessfully, and then sank several minutes later, taking its entire crew to a watery grave.
For years, people searched unsucessfully for it - P.T. Barnum even offered a reward for its recovery. It was finally found in 1995 and the crew buried in 2004 (in what is called the Last Civil War burial.) Since 2000, people have been working on its restoration in North Charleston, SC.
A major landmark (so to speak) was reached in its restoration this past week when a truss keeping the Hunley stable was finally able to be removed. The sub can now be viewed (in its restoration tank) without the obstruction of the truss.
As for me trying to see the Hunley-spouse and I made it to Charleston last year, but when we tried to visit the Hunley, we got hopelessly lost. (We ended up at a Civil War reenactment instead, which I will blog about one of these days.) So, maybe getting lost was for the best.
I hope we will return to Charleston before too long, so we can finally view the H.L. Hunley. Good things come to those who wait....
There was an exhibit showcasing the naval aspect of the Civil War: one that is overlooked by so many student of the Civil War, who concentrate on the land battles and the soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict. I was intrigued, and hoped to visit Charleston, SC one day to see it (more on that later in this post).
I'm guilty of ignoring the naval war, too. Although, I blogged previously about the ironclad USS Monitor, which was built (in part) from wood obtained just a few miles from my home near Johnson City, NY. (If you've read that post - No, I've never solved the mystery of what happened to the Monitor marker that was once located inside the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City.) When I grew up, every school child learned about the battle of the "Monitor vs the Merrimack" (the Battle of Hampton Roads) and the end of the wooden ship era.
The H.L. Hunley, though, was a submarine: and many of us just don't associate submarines with the Civil War. It was a "secret weaon" of the Confederacy - its existence shrouded in secrecy, a submarine that performed one mission sucessfully, and then sank several minutes later, taking its entire crew to a watery grave.
For years, people searched unsucessfully for it - P.T. Barnum even offered a reward for its recovery. It was finally found in 1995 and the crew buried in 2004 (in what is called the Last Civil War burial.) Since 2000, people have been working on its restoration in North Charleston, SC.
A major landmark (so to speak) was reached in its restoration this past week when a truss keeping the Hunley stable was finally able to be removed. The sub can now be viewed (in its restoration tank) without the obstruction of the truss.
As for me trying to see the Hunley-spouse and I made it to Charleston last year, but when we tried to visit the Hunley, we got hopelessly lost. (We ended up at a Civil War reenactment instead, which I will blog about one of these days.) So, maybe getting lost was for the best.
I hope we will return to Charleston before too long, so we can finally view the H.L. Hunley. Good things come to those who wait....
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Rainbow of a Winter Farmers Market
How do you bring people to an upstate NY small city downtown on a winter Saturday morning?
Simple. Host an indoor farmers market with easy parking. And just stand back.
There has obviously been a hunger for year round interaction with farmers here in the Binghamton, NY area. Today spouse and I made our second visit to the Binghamton winter farmers market, which is taking place Friday evenings the first Friday of the month, and the second and fourth Saturdays.
This brings needed foot traffic to the downtown of our small city of some 47,000. people. Will these people shop elsewhere downtown? It's hard to say - there are only limited Saturday shopping venues downtown, but I am hoping that some small businesses, such as the local downtown nut roaster M&D R Nuts, will benefit from the increased visitors.
What do you find in a winter farmers market in upstate NY? The criteria is that everything sold must be raised, grown or crafted in New York State. That includes alpaca wool....
whole grain English muffins....(we bought the multi grain: they were already out of our favorite, cheddar....)
honey....(this vendor was also selling stewing hens for $2.50 lb, and we picked one up. We used to raise our own chickens years back, and look forward to the golden goodness of a free range chicken soup.)
Apples, herbal products, and more meats....
....and more wool.
Another vendor was selling brussels sprouts on the stem, and a "winter root mix" of carrots and some other goodies.
I saw some gloves at one of the alpaca booths, and stopped by. I asked the proprietor if she made fingerless gloves. I don't want them for texting but rather because I have a medical condition that makes my hands (and feet) red/purple and cold all the time. Winter can be hard on me, especially if the heat in my office isn't working right. Well, she didn't have any in stock but she could make them from her stock of fingered gloves (she uses them herself). She asked me to choose a color, and I chose a nice turquoise.
I should have them in another week and then: winter, watch out - with my white/red coat, I'll be wearing a rainbow!
Simple. Host an indoor farmers market with easy parking. And just stand back.
There has obviously been a hunger for year round interaction with farmers here in the Binghamton, NY area. Today spouse and I made our second visit to the Binghamton winter farmers market, which is taking place Friday evenings the first Friday of the month, and the second and fourth Saturdays.
This brings needed foot traffic to the downtown of our small city of some 47,000. people. Will these people shop elsewhere downtown? It's hard to say - there are only limited Saturday shopping venues downtown, but I am hoping that some small businesses, such as the local downtown nut roaster M&D R Nuts, will benefit from the increased visitors.
What do you find in a winter farmers market in upstate NY? The criteria is that everything sold must be raised, grown or crafted in New York State. That includes alpaca wool....
whole grain English muffins....(we bought the multi grain: they were already out of our favorite, cheddar....)
Apples, herbal products, and more meats....
I saw some gloves at one of the alpaca booths, and stopped by. I asked the proprietor if she made fingerless gloves. I don't want them for texting but rather because I have a medical condition that makes my hands (and feet) red/purple and cold all the time. Winter can be hard on me, especially if the heat in my office isn't working right. Well, she didn't have any in stock but she could make them from her stock of fingered gloves (she uses them herself). She asked me to choose a color, and I chose a nice turquoise.
I should have them in another week and then: winter, watch out - with my white/red coat, I'll be wearing a rainbow!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Suddenly Winter! Garden Dream Time
After a wonderful almost snow free November, December, and first 12 days of January....winter has arrived here on the edge of the snowbelt in the Binghamton, New York area.
Blame it on Friday the 13th?
It arrived with a bang of high winds. In a matter of minutes, pouring down rain turned into a snowglobe effect, with huge snowflakes swirling through the air although it was still 39 degrees F outside.
Fortunately, it was still above freezing when I left for work.
Right now it is 24 degrees F (colder at our airport, where temperatures are taken). But we have a secondary cold front coming through tomorrow. By tomorrow night it is supposed to be down in the single digits. (On the Farenheit scale we use in the U.S., single digits are brrrrrr as the freezing point is 32 above zero.)
So I am counting the days to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, when I can virtually visit gardens in places where it is actually - summer!
Until then, as the snow starts to accumulate, I will live in my garden catalogs and dream.
Blame it on Friday the 13th?
Fortunately, it was still above freezing when I left for work.
Right now it is 24 degrees F (colder at our airport, where temperatures are taken). But we have a secondary cold front coming through tomorrow. By tomorrow night it is supposed to be down in the single digits. (On the Farenheit scale we use in the U.S., single digits are brrrrrr as the freezing point is 32 above zero.)
So I am counting the days to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, when I can virtually visit gardens in places where it is actually - summer!
Until then, as the snow starts to accumulate, I will live in my garden catalogs and dream.
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