Supermoon at Sunrise - #SkywatchFriday

Monday, as the supermoon was setting and the sun was starting to dawn, I left for work.  I slammed my front door shut, and about two seconds later, realized I had left my purse in the house.

Fortunately, I had my tote bag, with my lunch, my badge, a book, and necessities for transportation.  But what I didn't have was my phone.

And so I stood there helplessly, and marveled at the sight of the supermoon.  And said "oh no!  This would have been perfect for Skywatch!"

Fortunately, the woman who I call my "guest photographer" was taking some shots that morning.  And, maybe it is against Skywatch rules, but I am using her photos.

I don't know that the moon was bigger, but it was definitely brighter.

My guest photographer lives in the country while I live in a village.

So, thanks to her, you get a couple of bonus shots of dawn in rural upstate New York.

I might just use her wonderful photos again next week, , because...well, I'll tell you that story next week.

Join Yogi and other intrepid watchers of the sky at #SkywatchFriday.  Come watch (and photograph) the sky with us!

The Disappearing Anniversary

Last year was the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 

Pearl Harbor Day was the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which was not yet one of the 50 United States.  Japan declared war on the United States shortly after the attack. The United States declared war on Japan the next day, and Germany declared war on the United States three days later.

The official death toll of Pearl Harbor was 2,403.

 December 7 is a day meaningful to the generation that preceded mine - the generation that is sometimes called "The Greatest Generation".  In the same way, November 22 is that date for my generation -  the day that President Kennedy was assassinated.  For a newer generation, January 28 is the date the shuttle Challenger exploded not long after liftoff.  There is September 11, 2001. For the people of India, there is what they call "26/11" in their way of writing dates, the terrible Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008.

But the anniversary of Pearl Harbor may not live on for too much longer.  Eyewitnesses to the attack are dying of old age.  Take the most famous ship in that attack, the USS Arizona.  As of July of this year, there were five survivors still alive.

My parents are long gone.  If my Dad, a World War II veteran, was still alive, he would be over 100. The man who is interviewed above (his parents immigrated from Mexico) is 105 now.  Ray Chavez, a World War II combat veteran, survived Pearl Harbor and still remembers it. And Pearl Harbor wasn't the only tragic thing that happened to him, as he weathered the tragic death of his daughter, grandchild and son in law in a car accident.

This is a report on his 105th birthday celebration.

Yes, he still works out twice a week with a personal trainer.

And he says "I am not a hero".

I disagree.

We must never forgot our history.   Without knowing what has come before, we don't know the consequences of what happens today.  We can not make good decisions about what is happening now.  Not just on December 7, but every day.

Fall Fancies - Don't Disturb

Shhhh.

Don't disturb the cozy cat.

The cat sleeps in the midst of a noisy open house at a local gift shop, snuggled into some knitted hats and gloves, not caring what is happening, not worrying about the future.

Focused in the moment.

If only we could all be like that.

Egg Creams #FavorsomeTuesdays

An exhibit on Jewish Food all over the world at a local museum led me into today's memory.

Somewhere around the turn of the century (the 20th century, that is), a Jewish immigrant in Brooklyn created the first egg cream in his candy store.  It wasn't my grandfather, although he was one of many such immigrants who owned these Brooklyn candy stores.

Never mind the turn of the century.  Few people grew up in the New York City of the 50s or 60s (and beyond) without falling in love with this drink.  You didn't have to be Jewish or of any special nationality.  I think drinking this was pretty universal among New Yorkers.

There are three simple ingredients (none of which are eggs or cream) in a classic chocolate egg cream, yet, it takes certain conditions to make a perfect one.   These are the ingredients:

Ice cold whole milk  (it must be whole milk, or you won't get the head)
Seltzer, ideally commercial seltzer under pressure
Fox's U-Bet chocolate syrup


Your milk must be icy cold.  You can use chocolate syrup other than Fox's, but it won't taste the same.  And, if you don't have soda fountain type seltzer, you can use the bottled stuff.  But again, it won't be the same.  You can order Fox's U-Bet syrup online, by the way.

Here is some information on the history of the egg cream.

Now, in my imagination, I walk into my local candy store in the Bronx, which was called Manny's.  On weekdays, Manny would sell my Dad the New York Daily News, already saved for him and rolled up, which my Dad would take on the subway and read on his way to work.  On weekends, my Dad might take me to Manny's for an egg cream.

In my imagination, I sit on the round, green, padded stool next to the stack of soft pretzels and ask Manny for an eggcream.

His recipe was something like this.

I know the drink must be consumed right after it is made, or the creamy head will disappear.  On a hot summer day (the door to Manny's is open - it wasn't air conditioned) it was so refreshing.  I sip the egg cream, served in a glass decorated with a Coca-Cola label.  The cream foam top tickles my lip, and I take in the cold, milky goodness and the chocolate heaven of Fox's U-Bet.

Manny's is long, long gone.  I haven't had a true New York City egg cream in possibly 20 years or more.

Join Bellybytes at Mumbai on a High and Shilpa Gupte at Metanoia for #FlavoursomeTuesdays.And, my apologies to Shilpa Gupte for mangling her last name. 

Christmas Lights and Tributes #MusicMovesMe

It's December, and at Music Moves Me, Christmas music rules.  But I also wanted to pay tribute to some recently departed singers, so a little creativity was called for.

My first song is a tribute to actor Jim Nabors, who died earlier this week.  He was known by many for playing the character Gomer Pyle, first as a gas station attendent on the TV series The Andy Griffith Show and later, as a Marine in the 60's television series Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.  But what some don't know is that he started out as a comedian, but was also an accomplished musician.  Here, as an honorary Marine Corporal, he proudly sings Silent Night accompanied by the  U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band at the 2nd Annual Na Mele o na Keiki (Music for the Children) Holiday Concert in 2009.

Nabors was 87.

Second, a tribute to AC/DC cofounder and guitarist Malcolm Young, who died in November at the age of 64 from dementia.  I couldn't find Christmas themed AC/DC music, so I turned to You Tube and its stock of videos of holiday home displays to music. Here, this house's lights pulse to the tune of AC/DC's "Thunderstruck".

And seeing the decorations immediately made me think of still another group - Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Founded by Paul O'Neill in 1993, TSO has gone on to sell almost 10 million albums, many of them Christmas themed.

But, in April, at the age of 61, Paul O'Neill passed away from a prescription drug overdose in Tampa, Florida.  He had reportedly suffered from a number of health ailments.

Then, in July, their bassist, David Zablidowsky, died in a freak accident.  The RV he had been riding in had a flat tire and pulled off the highway.  It was then struck by a tractor-trailer.

TSO is still touring, as they do every November-December, still criss crossing the country (literally) and bringing joy to their millions of fans.

This first video features TSO's instrumental hit Wizards in Winter, which has become a favorite song for house decorators to use in their computer-driven light animations.  This comes from the album The Lost Christmas Eve.

The second song, What Child is This, from the same album, has, over the years, become my favorite Trans Siberian song.  Enjoy the vocals of Robert Evan.

Finally, the song that was my introduction to this band:  Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 (a blend of a couple of Christmas carols).

Join blogger Xmas Dolly on this Musical trip with her other Conductors:   Callie of JAmerican Spice, and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  & Rockin’ conductor Cathy from Curious as a Cathy !

Next Monday - a Christmas music post that has become a tradition on my blog.  I'll be sharing it with my 4M friends next Monday.  Stay tuned!

A Tale of Two Decembers

Same house, different years, Maine, New York (about 20 minutes from Binghamton).

Taken December 7, 2013.

Four years later. Taken December 3, 2017.

Local Saturday - Oh Tannenbaum 2017

Now that it is December, it is time to bring a little Christmas spirit into this blog.

Every year, the Tioga County, New York, historical society (Owego, New York) features a fundraiser called Oh Tannenbaum - various individuals and groups donate decorated Christmas trees and people bid on them.  The winner gets the tree (or sometimes just the decorations).

Here are some of the trees featured in this year's bidding:

Patriotic.

Kitchen

White

Tabletop trees

A closeup of white ornaments.

If you would like to see more Christmas decorations later in the month, let me know in the comments.

Are you decorating for a holiday this month?

Last of November #SkywatchFriday

Today is the first of December.  The year is 11/12 over.

Now, on the way to work, I see some of the lovely colors of the sky.

Clouds in shade of grey and pink.

The horizon reds up.

And the most amazing thing is - these Bradford Pears still have leaves, and some are still green.

Join Yogi and other watchers of the sky at #SkywatchFriday, where people all over the world watch the sky.  Come join us!  Some of the pictures this week are truly beautiful.

Happy December!

Nostalgia Revisited

Things seem to get more horrible each day.  Wars, refugees, terrorism.

There's North Korea looming in the distance for us.  For the people of South Korea and Japan, it's on their doorstep.  I grew up in the "duck and cover" times.  Now, those times are back.

Famine.  Refugee camps.

Climate change.  Floods.  Fires. 

So nostalgia is starting to look really good.

Pining for the misty "good old days" is probably as old as humanity is.  But today, we have electronic ways of expressing it.  Just go on Facebook.  Oh, those good old days, when.....

Yeah, right.  And that is because there is no such thing as the 'good old days".  Never has been.

If you, dear reader, are in your 20's and 30's, just wait.  In about 20 or so years that nostalgia mosquito is going to bite you.  One day you'll find yourself frustrated with technology that your 10 year old child uses effortlessly.  Or you'll suddenly realize that TV shows (if they even have TV in 20 years) just aren't made the way they used to be.

That "my childhood is a museum" feeling that I used to get talking to my son will be your feeling, too.

And the thing is:  "those days" weren't ideal.   Not everything was great.  Not everything has gone downhill.

So exactly what it is about the "good old days" that I don't miss? . For my younger readers: you get one point for every item where you actually knew what I was talking about without using the link.  Ready?  Let's go!

1.  Coke-bottle eyeglasses.  If you wear glasses and have poor vision (like me) I am thankful daily for ultra light lenses that don't leave permanent sores on your nose and your ears.  And glass lenses which don't break.

2. Typewriters.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter in Mrs. Gottlieb's 7th grade typing class.  Mrs. Gottlieb was the most feared teacher in my junior high school (an archaic term, by the way).  She put tape on all the keys so you couldn't cheat and find the correct key by glancing down.  

Typewriters?  Well, if you didn't have one, you'd have to pay someone to type your term papers.  It was a complex process:  inserting paper into a roller, rolling it into position, setting the margins, typing, and when you heard a bell, you knew you were about 5 spaces from the end.  Time to hyphenate, then return the carriage to where it started, and type your next sentence.

3.  Carbon Paper.   And  onionskin.
If you needed copies, you just didn't tell your word processing software to print multiple copies.  You took special paper, and inserted carbon paper between each sheet - and heaven help you if you made a typo and had to correct all of those pages.  That was an art form in itself.

4.  Old fashioned medicine.  I'm probably going to get an earful about this.  But, let's put it this way.  I have a medical condition, easily treated today for many people with diet, exercise and medication.  My grandmother died from the same condition in 1937 because there was no treatment.  Things wouldn't have been much better in the 1950's, when I was young.  And there was the time I broke my leg, and they never took X Rays, which resulted in a night of incredible agony I can still remember (especially the part where they wanted me to walk on said leg because "it was only sprained".  No, it was broken in three places.)  Could you see that happening now?  (On the other hand, I miss house calls.  A lot. )

Modern medicine has a lot of problems, no doubt about it.  But enough of us are walking around right now who may not be on this earth if we hadn't expanded on the medical knowledge of the 1950's.

5.  Old style hiking, swimming, and land exercise clothing.  So heavy.  So sweat trapping.  Enough said.

You'll notice I am talking about technology and not culture, not people's attitudes.  There's enough material there for another blog post.

But nostalgia calls.  So let's revisit it today.

Do you feel nostalgic for your childhood or teenage years?   What do you miss about it? What don't you miss about it?

Fall Fancies - Unseasonable.

This should not be

These trees should be bare on November 28th. 

This flower in my yard shouldn't be blooming on November 25.

We shouldn't be walking along the Chenango River in mild, sunny weather.

But we are.  As much as I hate winter, this is still another fall that just hasn't been right.  I don't feel right.  I feel unbalanced.  Even looking at these beautiful remnants of ornamental grasses near the river, something feels off.

What will happen next?

Charlotte Russe #FlavoursomeTuesdays

Two years ago, I blogged about being invited to a 104th birthday party for my spouse's last living aunt.  She lives several miles from my childhood neighborhood in the Bronx.   In fact, I grew up about two and a half miles (four kilometers) from the restaurant where the party was held.  It's in a part of Yonkers that is heavily Irish, and within walking distance of the Bronx border.  (And yes, I'm pleased to announce that this aunt will be celebrating her 106th birthday early next year).

The first time I ate there (for this aunt's 100th birthday) something interesting happened.  I couldn't resist walking after the 100th birthday party - I needed to stretch my legs.  I went out walking with my sister in law and my spouse.

As I walked down the street, I passed a bakery, an Italian bakery.  It had an old sign on it, a sign that may have dated from the 1960's.

Suddenly, something seemed so familiar.  I couldn't shake the feeling that I had been on this street long ago.

My mind took me back over 50 years, back to when many bakeries in the Bronx featured a special treat that is only made by one or two bakeries any more.  It was a street dessert called the Charlotte Russe.

I loved this special treat.

The Bronx Charlotte Russe was simple- a round piece of spongecake, with whipped cream and topped with a cherry.  You bought it in a push-up cup - you pushed it up from the bottom as you ate.  It was more of a cool weather delight.

I remember taking a bus with my mother to a place in the Northern Bronx where I got my hair cut, and she would visit her life insurance agent to make a monthly payment on a small life insurance policy.  Then, she would buy me a Charlotte Russe.

One day soon after, on Facebook, someone from the Bronx posted a picture of a Charlotte Russe.  I knew what it was right away.  Some things you never forget.

The Russe was sitting on a box from the Holtermanns Bakery in Staten Island.  So I went online, and, sure enough, Holtermanns still makes these gems of sweetness.  Although, perhaps, not for much longer, as the push up cups are becoming harder and harder to find.  And, it seems they don't always use the spongecake - they use pieces of pinwheels or other cakes that didn't sell.

But Staten Island was a long way from the restaurant where the 104th birthday party was held.

Now, in 2017, I see Holtermanns Bakery still makes Charlotte Russe, at least if their website is up to date.  But for how much longer, I wonder?  I've found a second bakery, Francesco's in Hicksville, Long Island, that may also be making them (a comment on Trip Advisor), but I can't find absolute proof on their website.

Will I ever eat a Charlotte Russe again?  Will I ever feast on its whipped cream?

Do you have a favorite food that is no longer made or hard to find?

Join Bellybytes at Mumbai on a High and Shilpa Gupte at Metanoia for #FlavoursomeTuesdays.

His Last Words - Music Moves Me

It is the last Monday of November and, here in the United States, we just celebrated Thanksgiving.

We are grateful for so much, even as so many talented men and women of music have left us this year.

One recent death should make us all think about our lives.

As I was becoming a young adult, a show called the Partridge Family debuted on network television.  The plot (I did not watch it, so this is strictly through research) was simple - a widowed mother and her musical family have a hit song and take to the road to tour.

The oldest son, Keith Partridge (lead vocals and guitar), was played by a young (and good looking) actor by the name of David Cassidy. In real life, David Cassidy was the stepson of Shirley Jones, who played the Partridge Family Mom.

David Cassidy was less than three years older than I was.  You would think such a good looking man would have a wonderful life with all the fame that resulted from him appearing on the show.

You would be wrong.

But first, some of the music of David Cassidy.  Here, the theme of the Partridge Family show starting in the second season "Come On Get Happy".

Their big hit of 1970, "I Think I Love You".  The show, in its original run, lasted four years.  It has been rerun on various channels.  Here you can find what has happened to the main actors and actresses on the series.

Eventually, Cassidy became a solo singer and recorded several solo albums. The "Partridge Family" released nine albums under the Partridge Family name, although Cassidy also performed Partridge Family songs in his solo concerts with his own band.

Three of the major cast members predeceased him, including the youngest Partridge sibling.

David Cassidy, as he grew older, did not make the best choices.  He was arrested several times for DUI.  Earlier this year, he revealed he had dementia after a disastrous concert where he forgot the words to songs he had sung for over 40 years.

After his death, his daughter Katie Cassidy revealed her father's final words:  "So much wasted time." 

Fame and fortune isn't everything.  There's an expression that, sometimes, the purpose of your life is to be a warning to others.

Yes, I'm grateful for a lot in my life.

Join this #MusicMovesMe blog hop every Monday - here are the people responsible for it:
X mas Dolly is the Conductor of this trip, and the other Conductors are her fellow bloggers Callie of JAmerican Spice, ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  and Cathy from Curious as a Cathy.  
Today is a freebie, meaning we can blog about anything musical. For the month of December, the MMMMers will be concentrating on holiday music.  I will be joining them for at least a couple of musical Mondays.  Come join us, if you have music to share!

The Uneasiness of Green

Yesterday, we walked on the West Side of Binghamton, New York (not that far from where the late Rod Serling of Twilight Zone (among other accomplishments) fame grew up.

What did we see on this late November day?

Flowering brassicas - check.

Some things that were usual - such as berries, bright spots on a cloud day.

At one time, dandelions would not have been a common sight - they would have been buried under snow, if they were even blooming.

This foliage should not look like this by now, no matter how pretty it is.  It belongs to days or weeks ago.

And, as for this green tree, that is not normal, either.  My spouse, in fact, has been tracking seeing the last green leaves for years, in this area where most trees lose their leaves and enter a winter's nap to survive the snow and cold. This is the latest ever we have seen such a sight.  The Bradford Pears, in particular, seem to be waiting for something to happen, sitting in a suspended state of part green and part sort-of-red.

Things aren't right.  There is a disturbance in The Force.

What about where you live?

Local Saturday - Is Everything We Know About Shopping Wrong?

Small Business Saturday was today, in the United States.

So much of our well being depends on the retail industry.  And now, there is a struggle.

We are told to shop local and even have that "Small Business Saturday", which is corporately sponsored by a large corporation.  But its heart is in the right place, and, yes, I shopped at several local businesses today.  As I did so, I tried to shop for American made goods.

Johnson City, New York, about 5:55 am November 24, "Black Friday"

Yesterday, though, I was a part of Black Friday.

This year, when I shopped at chain stores, I realize that they employ locally, at least at their physical locations.  For example, I have a relative who works at Home Depot, (not the one pictured), a job he obtained after losing his job as an electrical engineer.  Was it wrong for me to be on that line in the photo?

But:

I got my mother in law her holiday gift online (at the website of another big box store), and I bought a part of her overall gift from Amazon.  (I can say that because she received her gift early).

I don't feel there is a right answer anymore.  I seem to be doing the wrong thing no matter what.

Do I shop at big box stores, and try to buy American made where possible?

Do I shop at local small businesses, who might be selling merchandise made overseas?  (I did shop at a local business on Black Friday, for what that is worth).

Do I not buy online, when it is so convenient, and saves me time and gas?

Do I not buy at all, and destroy the American and world economies?

Is everything I know about shopping wrong?

Surrender - #SkywatchFriday

For some reason, the weather pattern we have been in these past few weeks in upstate New York have led to some of the most beautiful sunsets.

These are sunsets from Wednesday, the day before the United States Thanksgiving celebration.

I came out of work, and the sunset was already in progress.

That one cloud made all the difference.

Orange, yellow, pink and purple danced in the sky.

Finally, the sunglow started to surrender to the coming night.

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

Brown is Beautiful #ThursdayTreeLove

Just because you aren't red or yellow doesn't mean you aren't beautiful.

Fall in upstate New York begins with beautiful yellows and reds.  But, towards the end of fall, brown becomes beautiful, especially in one of our rare sunny days.

In downtown Binghamton, New York, trees clothed in brown glowed in noon sunlight last Friday.  The short tree in front is a magnolia, famous for its beautiful large pink white flowers in April.

This is what the blooms look like.

It has been an amazing fall.  Most trees have lost their leaves but some trees are only now beginning to turn color.  This will be the latest (my spouse has tracked this for years) we will see green leaves in the 30 plus years we've lived in this area.

Join Parul and other bloggers who love trees in all their seasons, in #ThursdayTreeLove.

Today, in the United States, it is Thanksgiving Day.  Let me take this opportunity to thank all my readers for their readership, their support, and their comments.

Go and love a tree today.

Being Thankful

Last Saturday's farmers market in upstate New York.

The bounty of the season, something I can be so thankful for (several recipe links below).

Stirring the wet ingredients

Combining all the ingredients.

The making of an apple cake (recipe here).

Cranberry Sauce (recipe here) - this year, I added one grated apple, and I liked it.

Before baking - note, I am no pie expert

Pumpkin Pie made with condensed milk (I used a store bought unbaked pie crust, and this time, I even waited until it was at room temperature to unroll - as I didn't do last year, and I learned the hard way never to try to unroll a cold unbaked pie crust ever again).

I am thankful for being able to have Thanksgiving at home, that we have the money to buy the feast, and that we have a warm house filled with love.

What are you thankful for today?

A Thanksgiving Memory - #FlavoursomeTuesdays

A while back, in 2015, I shared the below memory with you of my young adulthood, when my spouse was in the Air Force, and we were spending our first military Thanksgiving, together with other people serving, away from home.  At that time, I couldn't find the recipe for my Memory Pie, which is a soybean pie (no, really, please keep reading) that tastes like a pumpkin pie.

But, thanks to a decluttering project, I have found the recipe.  This was my second copy of the cookbook - I had worn the first one to shreds.

So what happened when I found the recipe?

I offered to make it, but my spouse took one look at the recipe, and said "no". When we went to our local supermarket, I couldn't even find dried soybeans.  So I am not going to bake a pie for you.

I will leave you, instead, with a link to the recipe, which is available online.

But I will not leave you with the pie.  Just a memory for FlavoursomeTuesdays, a weekly meme started by two bloggers.  Here is my memory:

It was the mid 1970's and we were over a thousand miles from home.  It was my spouse's first Thanksgiving in the military.  He was undergoing technical training in Texas.  And he had friends in his class, all of whom were far away from home, too.

For the most part we were in our late teens or early 20's, but among us was a slightly older man.  Sgt W. was from Iowa and he was a soybean farmer.  As I recall, he had joined the National Guard and was training with my spouse's Air Force class.

Sgt W. had never eaten a soybean.  He had never sampled the crop he grew.

In the mid 1970's, soybeans weren't common the way they are today.  But I had become an on and off vegetarian in college, and I had fallen in love with a couple of books - Diet for a Small Planet and Recipes for a Small Planet.  As I wasn't working at the time, and my spouse was making the tiny salary of an airman, money was tight and we used the methods explained in this book to stay healthy.  We ate whole grain homemade breads, bean and rice casseroles, and even dishes made with the healthy soybean.

In one of these books was a recipe for a mock pumpkin pie made with pureed soybeans, pumpkin pie spice and other ingredients I can't remember (nor could I find the recipe in a long Internet search last night). 

My spouse invited several of his classmate friends, including Sgt W., to Thanksgiving dinner.  And, an idea hatched in my mind.  Why not make something with soybeans for him?

We had a turkey, and other items no longer remembered.  It was one of the happiest Thanksgivings I remember, because we were all away from home but not lonely, and I remember our companionship much more than I remember the food.

Except for one thing.  When I served my "pumpkin pie", Sgt W. dug in, and said he liked it.  So did everyone else.  I even liked it, and I don't like pumpkin pie.

So I admitted to him that his "pumpkin pie" was really soybean pie.  And he didn't seem to mind.

I wonder what he said when he returned home to Iowa when his class was over.  We never saw him again after that.

I don't know where Sgt W. lives today, or if he is even alive.  Sadly, I  know at least one of the young men at that dinner passed several years ago.  So I don't know if W. remembers the young woman he had Thanksgiving with, in an apartment near an Air Force base in Texas in the mid 1970's, and the soybean pie she served him.

If you are out there, Sgt. W, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

Join Bellybytes at Mumbai on a High and Shilpa Gupte at Metanoia at #FlavoursomeTuesdays.

Songs of Thankfulness #MusicMovesMe

Today, on this Music Monday before Thanksgiving in the United States, our theme is "Tunes with the word "Thankful/thanks or about Thanksgiving or tunes about what you are thankful for."

This year, it is more important than ever to be thankful - for family, or health, or even for our very lives, in a world that is in such turmoil.

It's going to be a hard Thanksgiving time for some families in the rock n' roll world; more on that a little later.

Anyone who has a best friend is so fortunate.  I am thankful that I have a best friend.  My first song is: Queen - You're My Best Friend.

To my spouse, who is a huge Led Zeppelin fan - Thank You, from Led Zeppelin II.

We Gather Together, a hymn we used to sing in public school (yes, public school) every Thanksgiving, in the elementary school I attended in New York City.  Guess I'm dating myself.

And one more - Thankful 'NThoughtful by Sly and the Family Stone.

And now, to the sad music news of this week.

Malcolm Young, rhythm guitarist for the band AC/DC, passed away from dementia at the age of 64 - the same age as I am.  His older brother had died earlier this year.   Blogger Angel's Bark blogged an excellent tribute to Young.

Here is one of my favorite AC/DC songs - Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, from 1976.

Mel Tillis died yesterday at the age of 85.  I am not that much of a country music fan, but I mourn the death of a great musician.  Here, from 1978, Coca-Cola Cowboy.

As I write this post, David Cassidy, of Partridge Family fame, is in ICU and is not expected to survive much longer.   Cassidy, 67, was suffering from dementia, but also had a drinking problem for years.  He was hospitalized Wednesday suffering from liver and kidney failure, initially put into a medical induced coma, but is now conscious and with family..

Here, he covers the song Cherish, done by the Association in 1966.

Join Xmas Dolly, the Conductor of this Musical trip and her other Conductors:   Callie of JAmerican Spice, and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥  & Rockin’ conductor Cathy from Curious as a Cathy !
Don't miss this train when it leaves the music station!

Some Thanksgiving History

Thanksgiving 2017 in the United States will be November 23.

Did you know that the American celebration of Thanksgiving is intertwined with our Civil War?

United States Civil War country - looks so peaceful now

With increased interest in the Civil War due to the controversies (sometimes descending into violence) over Confederate monuments, it is well to return to our roots for a moment.

This is Abraham Lincoln's October, 1864 Presidential Proclamation of Thanksgiving, 1864.

Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States of America, made a declaration of Thanksgiving in 1865.  He had issued earlier ones, mentioning specific battles.  This was a more general Thanksgiving proclaimation.  Ironically, the date he set turned out to be less than a month before the fall of Richmond, Virginia (the Confederate capital) to Federal troops.

Back in 2011, I wondered how the first Civil War Thanksgiving (1861, our first year at war with each other) was celebrated by the troops on both sides.

In1861 there was no national Thanksgiving.  Every state set its own date.

Thanks to another blogger, we have a good description of how Thanksgiving was celebrated by the troops in 1861.  Some of the foods are those we would gobble (pun intended) down today.

The troops had a lot to be thankful about.  Similar to the Thanksgiving dinner our troops get today (if at all possible, according to location) the troops on the designated Thanksgiving Day for their locality got special rations, and the chance to eat "real food":  turkey, potatoes, and even oysters.

And, for those of us from New York, a description of the Soldier's and Sailor's Thanksgiving.  The military still continues this tradition with troops serving away from home today. (And, on Tuesday, I will blog about our first Thanksgiving with my spouse serving in the military).

So, if you celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday - give thanks, and ponder the history of this holiday.