March Musical Birthdays #MusicMovesMe

(If you are looking for my Blogging from A to Z Reveal post, I changed my mind about posting tomorrow - please click here).

It's time for another episode of my favorite thing to do on Mondays - #MusicMovesMe.

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly,   Her co-conductors are:  ♥Callie of JAmerican Spice♥,  and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   Also, co-conducting  is  ♥Cathy from Curious as a Cathy♥ .  Last but not least, there's - (said humbly) me.
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Every other week, we are asked to blog about a musical theme.  The other weeks are free weeks. 

For the month of March, we have a guest conductor - Patrick Weseman.  Today, he asks us to blog about musicians born in the month of March.

There's quite a selection of March musicians, it turns out.

Lady Gaga (March 28, 1986) has become a giant of the music world.  I am partial to "Born This Way" (warning, possible disturbing images.  The song itself starts about 3 minutes into the video.)

I remember Carrie Underwood (March 10, 1983) from her American Idol days, when it was obvious she would be a star, and she is.  I decided to go with "Smoke Break".  I nearly picked "Jesus, Take the Wheel" but I had heard this on another music blog several days ago, and immediately fell in love with it.

James Taylor (March 12, 1948) with Fire and Rain.  My favorite of his songs is The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald but I've found that people either love or detest that song. Oh well, thank you for readers who corrected me (sorry, Gordon Lightfoot!) but at least I posted a real James Taylor song!

 Diana Ross (March 26, 1944) with a live performance of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" in 1979.  Picking a song from her extensive career is nearly impossible.

Last but not least: Steven Tyler (March 26, 1948) of Aerosmith.  Hmm, which one of their many hits should I pick?

I'm picking "Dream On" from 1973 which was written by Tyler.

Hurray for March!

Join me again next week for another episode of #MusicMovesMe.

A Dream and a Giraffe

Two years ago, Animal Adventure Park near Harpursville, New York had a pregnant giraffe by the name of April.  Wanting to keep their fans updated as to the progress of her pregnancy, they installed a web cam in her stall.

Internet lightning struck.  April, as they like to say, went viral, and hundreds of thousands of people watched April give birth in - of course - April, of 2017.

It was a bit of a rocky road, this event that took everyone by surprise.  There are many people who oppose the concept of zoos.  But millions of others took April, Oliver, and the eventual baby - Tajiri - into their hearts.

Putting things in perspective - yes, April is that big

 I, so fortunate because I live only about 20 minutes away from Harpursville, was one of them. 

I even visited April, Oliver and Tajiri later that year.  But then, other things took precedence in my life.  April became a distant memory.

Life went on at Animal Adventure Park, though, and, with about 304,000 other people yesterday, April gave birth to a baby boy yesterday.  The labor was uneventful and mother and little baby giraffe boy bonded quickly.

So why should this matter?

Because the owner of Animal Adventure, Jordan Patch, was not an overnight success.  He started out with a dream and a camel by the name of Maxx.  This isn't Maxx, by the way - he died (from old age) a couple of weeks before my spouse and I visited.

When the Internet chose April to go viral, Jordan Patch saw an opportunity to help save the world's giraffes.  Giraffes are vulnerable to extinction.  Several species (yes, there is more than one giraffe species) have already gone extinct.  He used the publicity to raise money and awareness.

He has also raised awareness of the world of special needs (as my regular readers know, I have an autistic brother in law) through his young daughter, Ava.and their charity, Ava's Little Heroes.

In a perfect world, no animal should have to live in captivity and have their births live streamed on You Tube.  The animals at Animal Adventure, yes, should be roaming wild in a world where they never have to worry about climate change, or poachers or encroachment of humans on their territories.  But that is not our world.

I hope that one day, it can be.

They Are Us

Who are we?  Angels?  Devils?  Who is to blame?  Should we be concerned about something that happened half a world away?


If they haven't come for you, yet, they will try, which is why we must treat what happened yesterday in New Zealand with the utmost attention.  Hatred knows no bounds.  This is not a movement of a few individuals.  The movement of hate towards "the other" is growing daily.

It's impossible to know the pain the people of Christchurch, New Zealand, are experiencing today, whether or not they were in the two mosques that were attacked, or members of the families, or friends, of the 49 killed for no other reason than being Muslims at prayer on a Friday.

All I can do is reach out, as a member of a community which, on April 3, 2009, faced its own horror - a mass shooting in a classroom for immigrants in our community, which left 14 dead.   We are coming up on the 10th anniversary of that shooting, which was not a terrorist attack, but, rather, was due to an immigrant who had received services there blaming the organization for his subsequent troubles.  But still.  The memories may fade, but they will never disappear.  I don't send thoughts and prayers.  I just send a few words, which will ripple and disappear in the sea that is the Internet.

I am also the member of a minority religion, one that these same terrorists would target without a moment's hesitation.

A year ago, I visited the mosque in Johnson City, New York during an open house.  It was a most interesting experience, one that I haven't blogged about yet, but I should.  It was quite informative.

Several things stood out, one of which I will mention today.

On a table were some educational pamphlets, free for the taking.  Most explained one or more facet of Islam.  The people were were asking questions, all (in my earshot) respectful, wanting to learn more about their neighbors.  But some of the pamphlets addressed the fear - the fear of the "other".

So, I thought of that when I heard the remarks of New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.  To paraphrase her, she said, of the victims.  “Many of those affected will be members of our migrant communities—New Zealand is their home—they are us."

They are us.

This time, it was Muslims.  Just as, in our recent history of shootings or bombings in religious institutions carried out by domestic terrorists of the United States, it has been Jews, Sikhs, and even Christians targeted by a white supremacist.

I disagree strongly with Trump's belief that white nationalism is not a rising problem.

If you think you are immune because you are not a member of one of their targeted groups, guess again.  These people are us.  They can be our neighbors.  Our employers.  Our customers.

Will we welcome immigrants and "the other"? Or will we continue down the path we have embarked upon?

New Zealand is making its choice.  But what about the rest of the world, including us?

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day Ides of March and #SkywatchFriday

Today, a Skywatch Friday, hosted each Friday by Yogi has again collided with Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dream Gardens.

But why not?  Colors are to be celebrated, be they in the sky, or in flowers.   Skywatchers, enjoy my flowers - there are more sunrises to come at the end of this post.

Let's celebrate this colorful collision of memes.  Spring will be here in another week (well, to be exact, next Friday, March 21) and nature is already answering spring's call where I live near zone 5b Binghamton, New York.  To tide the skywatchers over, this sky, taken at sunrise yesterday.

This plant has been so patient.
I actually have outdoor flowers - two Lenten Roses, to be exact, have buds.  My white one, some years, blooms too early and is killed by returning winter weather.  This year, I hope we will see its blooms.

And then there is my reliable purple.

I can't remember what this is, but it is putting out buds.  I will kick myself when someone tells me.

Indoors, I am between Thanksgiving cactus blooms, but my one reliable Phalaenopsis orchid is reblooming still again.

A primrose I bought earlier in the winter had stopped blooming but now it's suddenly blooming again, to my delight.  Outside, in fact, I see primrose plants, but no bloom buds have shown up yet.

It got into the 60's today, and I took some of my overwintering plants out.  One was this two year old poinsettia.  It looks terrible, but look - it is trying to put out a white leaf!

As for the sunrises, I took this picture on March 13.

And one day later, almost to the minute, and at the exact same spot, the sun rose again.

If you enjoyed what I offer, come back next month for even more beauty, as I'll also be participating in Blogging from A to Z.  Garden Bloggers Bloom Day will fall on "M" day which is also my Monday music post.  So, stay tuned!

The Path - #ThursdayTreeLove

(For my Pi Day post, click here).

On a sunny winter day in upstate New York, exercisers took to the Vestal Rail Trail to walk and enjoy the sun being out.

As the sun started to set, some walkers walked on the path, lined by snow, passing underneath a natural arch that some evergreen trees had created.  It was a natural finish line for those pursuing health in the cold weather.  Everyone a winner!

Spring is on its way.

Join Parul and other bloggers who love trees the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at #ThursdayTreeLove.

Pi Day - Pizza Rustica

Tomorrow, March 14, is Pi Day.  In the method Americans use write dates, tomorrow is 3-14 - the 14th day of March, and first three significant digits of the mathematical constant π.

I won't have this "Pi" tomorrow, but it would make a nice project for lovers of savory pies. (Pie - pi...get it?)

Pi Day has become a "thing" in the United States. In Wichita, Kansas, where the Pizza Hut chain started, many pizzerias are offering pies for $3.14 - way below what they would normally charge.

My offering for Pi Day:

Pizza Rustica is a savory meat and cheese pie traditionally served in Italian households for Easter and there are many variations.  Some put both sausage and ham into it.  Some will put hard boiled eggs into it.  Some people use a yeast dough for the shell, some a pie crust.  Back when I first published this, I used a store made pie crust, since I am not noted for my pie crust making abilities.

But, as my regular readers know, I am not much of a cook.  So I enlisted my spouse, the family cook, in what turned out to be a lot more of a project than we had bargained for.

This is the recipe I used for the pie.  Sorry, metric readers, you are on your own today.

Some of the ingredients

This is how it would have worked for anyone who knew what she was doing.

First, ingredient assembly.
1 package (2) store made pie crust - unwrap,  Line a 10 inch pie pan with one crust.  Prick dough with a fork.

Now the filling:
1 1/2 pounds cooked ham, diced
2 lb ricotta cheese (we used part skim)
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, diced
5 farm fresh eggs
1 tbsp chopped fresh Italian flat leaved parsley
1/4 cup freshly grated romano cheese

Method 
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine ricotta, mozzarella.

Add eggs one at a time.  Beat with a wooden spoon. 

Add the other ingredients and stir well.  Now, pour your mixture into the pie pan and top with the second crust.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes in preheated oven, then lower the temperature to 325 and bake for about (well, read on).

Now, for what really happened.

I made the ricotta cheese mixture, after spouse chopped all the ingredients.

Then, I took the pie crust package out of the fridge and I unrolled the pie crust.  Or, I tried to.  It started to immediately crack and crumble.  I turned to my spouse. "It's all dry!" I cried. "We have to take it back to the store." (Experienced pie bakers, please don't laugh too loudly).

Spouse disagreed.  He read the directions.  "Take package out and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Then roll out crust...". So what we ended up doing was putting the box on the stove top, nice and warm from the preheated oven.

That did the trick...sort of.

Then he looked at the bowl of ricotta cheese mixture I had prepared. He looked at the pie pan. He looked at the bowl of ricotta cheese mixture again. "That's never going to fit in that pie pan", he observed. "There is way too much."

He took out a springform pan and said "This will probably work".

So, after much fumbling and patching of holes, we (and it was "we") got the first pie crust in.  I poured in the mixture.  After more fumbling, got the top crust in.  Brushed it with egg mixture.  Put it in the oven, followed the directions.  The hour of baking ended.

It wasn't anywhere near ready.

So we ended up cooking this a lot more, until the crust was a bit past golden brown.

And it was delicious.  Really.

Just perfect for Pi Day.

Faster than a Racecar

It was the mid 1990's, and I was sitting with my five year old son on a runway in Syracuse, New York, waiting for our flight to O'Hare Airport near Chicago to take off.  We were en route, my spouse, my son and I, to a family wedding in the Midwest.

My son had never flown before.  I wanted to make it as exciting as possible for my restless little boy, who would be cooped up in this metal tube full of people.  This was the age before smart phones, before the Internet had grabbed hold, before there was instant entertainment in the palm of your hand.

Now it was time to explain what would happen next.

"The plane is going to drive to a point on the runway and then stop.  Then it is going to accelerate really quick and take us up into the sky!" I exclaimed.  "At takeoff, we'll be going faster than a racecar!"

I tried my best to keep fear out of my voice.  There was one thing he didn't know as we sat there on the runway.  I'm scared of flying.

It wasn't always like this.  The first time I flew, in 1966 (I was 13) I loved it.  But several incidents over the years had made me, first, into a reluctant flyer, and later, someone who really didn't want to be up in the sky and managed not to be.  Fortunately, my job didn't require me to travel and we used a car for the majority of our vacation trips.  This time, though, time was at a premium and we had to fly.

We made the trip safely.  My son even got to visit the cockpit and got a pair of wings as a souvenir.

We flew one more trip, the following year, from Syracuse to California.  After that, neither he nor I had been on a plane since.  I had forgotten all about us ever traveling faster than a racecar.

Until the Sunday before last.

My son, now in his late 20's, was sent out to Chicago by his employer for training. The Sunday before last, he flew from Binghamton to Chicago by way of Detroit.

Obviously, since the mid 1990's, many things have changed.  One of those things is the ease in which you can track flights online.  Knowing an airline and flight number, you can find out the type of plane (his was an Airbus), the flight's status (on time? delayed? cancelled?), when they are boarding, when they are taxiing and the exact moment the flight takes off.  You can track the flight on a map, or read statistics giving the plane's speed and altitude.

So when my son texted me (good son!) to tell me he had arrived in Detroit, I decided to turn to the Internet and track him on the Detroit to Chicago leg on my laptop.  He had about a one hour layover.

That hour sped by.  The tracking website told me the hour and minute it was scheduled to take off.  I intended to track his plane's stats during the flight.  I was, as the saying goes, "geeking out". But then I remembered one more thing I needed to do.

Taken by my son

When the clock showed that it was time for takeoff, I remembered.

I whispered, just loud enough for my spouse to hear, "Faster than a racecar!"

Women in Music #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday.  It's time for another #MusicMovesMe. 

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly,   Her co-conductors are:  ♥Callie of JAmerican Spice♥,  and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   Also, co-conducting  is  ♥Cathy from Curious as a Cathy♥ .  Last but not least, there's me.
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We are a musical group, so we would love you to join us - but if you want to join in, please bring some music, so we can get our dance shoes on and boogie with you!

Last week we celebrated International Women's Day.   So why not feature some songs sung, or written by, women? 

This first song, You Don't Own Me, was sung by Lesley Gore when she was only 17 years old.  Consider this:  this song was a hit in 1963, and if you think of it in that way, the lyrics are revolutionary. 

Carole King - singer, songwriter.  This may not be her best song, but I love the singing and the music both.  From 1975, Jazzman.

Carole King also wrote songs sung by many different artists.  This hit, One Fine Day, charted for the Chiffons in 1963.

Prepare to cry, listening to Dusty Springfield, sing still another Carole King song, Goin' Back.

My spouse suggested Laura Nyro.  My choice here would be "Dedicated to the One I Love", covered here by the Mamas and the Papas. sung by Laura Nyro, as there was a problem with the Mamas and Papas video.

Virginia Patterson Hensley (better known to us as Patsy Cline), was taken from us at the age of 30, in 1963.  Her loss was a great one.

Here is "Crazy", sung live on the Grand Ol' Opry.

Women  We are strong. We are talented.  And I could devote many, many more blogs to women in music.  Karen Carpenter, Patti Smith, Linda Ronstadt, Petula Clark (still active at age 86), and so many more deserve time in this blog.

Perhaps I should make this a series.

Come back on March 18, when I reveal my Blogging from A to Z theme, and bring music back to the #MusicMovesMe dance floor!

Will the Sunshine Protection Act Protect Us?

It's that time again.  Today, residents of all but a handful of states (Hawaii and Arizona) find themselves an hour ahead of themselves,   Groggily, we march into the week ahead bemoaning Daylight time.  Why do we need it?  Why do we do it?

Why? (I could also ask why we got up to 47 sunny degrees yesterday and then woke up this morning to snow on the ground, but that's a topic for another time.)

 Leonid and Friends rule!

And will Florida end up saving us from ourselves?

When I visited Florida (from my native New York City) for the first time in July of 1966, I was amazed to discover that Florida, in the same time zone as my native New York City, was an hour behind New York City time.

They were on year round standard time.  They didn't jump ahead an hour at the beginning of spring.  They had the same time year round.  What a concept!

On March 19, 1918 (so we are not quite at the 101th birthday of this thing), the United States adopted the Standard Time Act, enacting time zones and daylight time.

In 1919, daylight time was repealed.  100 years ago this year, we had our chance to escape becoming twice a year zombies.

But then, like the Terminator, daylight time returned.  Again and again, it has returned to the western world. 

Now, Florida, the same state that didn't have daylight time in July of 1966, is trying to save us from ourselves again.

Last year, Florida passed the "Sunshine Protection Act" but they couldn't enact it on the state level because of the Federal law.  So this time, three members of Congress from Florida are trying on the national level.  If passed and signed into law, our country would have year round Daylight Savings Time.


What do you think of springing ahead/falling back?  If we went to a year round time, how would you want to do it?

Spring At Last?

The signs are subtle, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  But they are there.

Birds sing in the early morning, even when the temperature is seven above zero F. (-14C)

Tree tops glow as the sap rises this sunny morning.

Bulbs are starting to come up, although they won't bloom for a while yet.

True, snow still has its hold in my front yard, although last year's sedum flowers provide their own type of color.

But one of my Lenten Roses has been trying to bloom, and maybe it will get its chance, finally.

One day it won't be subtle anymore.  Spring will be here. For good.  Maybe.

It can't come soon enough for many of us.

Speaking of spring, remember our clocks "spring ahead" at 2am tomorrow. Will you mourn that "lost" hour?

Winter Time to Leave #SkywatchFriday

Our winter in the Southern Tier of New York has been so up and down.

Ice on the river.

Snow (that's not fog; it's snow)

Record highs (that white is water going over a dam).

Reflections and a clear blue sky.

We are waiting for spring.  Waiting....so impatiently waiting.  The birds are singing.  The willows are turning yellowish.  Some buds are visible on trees in my neighborhood.

We do love New York, don't we?  Yes, our classic cloudy overcast winter sky and all.

If you want to see other bloggers and their observations of the sky (and you know you do), visit Yogi's #SkywatchFriday.

If Only Jeopardy Could Cure Cancer

Today, millions of people face, in shock, the news announced by beloved 78 year old Jeopardy host Alex Trebek that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.


Jeopardy has become an institution.  When I heard the news, I went right to Facebook - as it happens, I went to high school and college with a future Jeopardy champion, and she had already posted.
Pancreatic cancer is personal for me, as I blogged back in August of 2018 (and most of that post follows).  It killed an aunt, an uncle and a great aunt (both sides of my family have been touched).  Someone I walked with at lunch for years lost her brother in law to it.  A former boss lost her sister to it.  And on and on.

Pancreatic cancer is personal to the purveyor of the best fried fish in the universe, too, and to many others.  Perhaps this is why the news about Alex Trebek shocked so many.


I wrote most of the following post in November of 2009.  To me, it is shameful that pancreatic cancer remains one of the most deadly, if not most deadly, of cancers.  It's hard to detect early, which would be a key to early treatment.

One day pancreatic cancer will be as easy to diagnose as breast cancer, or cervical cancer.  We can always dream.  And pray.  At one of the fundraisers back in 2009, we saw an information plaque which gave various facts about pancreatic cancer.  One of them was pretty sobering:  it said that the state of pancreatic cancer research is approximately where breast cancer research was in the 1930's.

Well, we who were alive in the 1970's know how much the fight against breast cancer has advanced since then.

Circa 1960's, if a woman was suspected of having breast cancer, she went under the knife.  Many times they did something called a frozen section biopsy while the woman was under.  If this biopsy was positive for cancer, the mastectomy was done then and there.  No counseling, no opportunity for the woman to make a treatment decision, no warning, no nothing.  The woman woke up minus a breast.  Who cared about her feelings?

How grateful we women (and men, as men get breast cancer, too - did you know that?) should be for the amount of progress made since then.

Now it is time to apply that same can-do spirit to pancreatic cancer.  Why?
1.  There was no early detection method for pancreatic cancer (as of 2009, and I believe that is still true).
2.  (partially as a result of #1) this is one of the most deadly forms of cancer there is.  We were talking an approximately 4% survival rate after five years in 2009.  Now it's up to 7%, according to the American Cancer Society.

It is not unknown for people to die less than a month after diagnosis.  That is devastating to the family, never mind the person with the cancer.

3.   Not that celebrities should be more important than the rest of us but do you remember:  Michael Landon?  Jack Benny?  Donna Reed?  Rex Harrison?  Joan Crawford?  Fred Gwynne? Luciano Pavarotti?  (some of these are more baby boomer icon names). How about Sally Ride? Patrick Swayze? Steve Jobs? Bonnie Franklin? Pernell Roberts? Aretha Franklin?

The sad but true fact is that it is the loss of celebrities (or the famous) that call people to action.  Although, as this article points out, there aren't too many "famous" spokepeople for this illness-they don't survive long enough.

If a cause isn't (excuse the expression) "sexy", it doesn't get the money.

Pancreatic cancer certainly doesn't get money for research the way some other cancers do.  Not to take away the importance of any cancer, but I believe funding must become more even between types of cancer.

That would be such a wonderful way to honor our beloved Alex Trebek.  My thoughts are with him, as are the thoughts of millions of Americans.  Alex, we are pulling for you, and, indirectly, for all those, perhaps not so famous, in this fight.

(Written in memory of my aunt Trudy, who died from pancreatic cancer in August of 1974).

Snowscape #WordlessWednesday

Where I live in New York State, in the northeast part of the United States, snow is common during the winter.

But there are many parts of the world where snow is almost unknown, and, for some reason, the residents of these areas love to see snow.

It's pretty, I know.  Especially if you don't have to shovel or walk on the stuff.  Children love it.  I don't.

Right now, our ground is covered.  On Monday, when I took this picture, sitting on this bench would have been a little sloppy.

But, believe it or not, snow protects and insulates, too.  It helps protect plants from bitter cold weather, although too much will damage.

And it's good for a #WordlessWednesday.  Why not join in?  You can leave it wordless, or write something, too.  It's easy!

New to #WordlessWednesday but would like to participate? Well, here’s how you can join Natasha and Esha. Just follow their three easy steps:

1. Post a picture on your blog that speaks for itself. It could be from your adventures, experiments, life’s quirky moments, travels or just plain random shots. Or absolutely anything that stoked your being. Or made you think.
2. Add their badge to your post and add a backlink to our posts.
3. We’d love it if you read, comment and share all the posts linked.

Taking Life for Granted

Two events shook our country in the past 48 hours.

1. Tornadoes tore through Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina, killing at least (at the time I write this) 23 people, including a 10 year old girl and a six year old boy.

My spouse loves to watch the weather.

Sunday he was watching his radar app because he heard of storms near Americus, Georgia.  We had stayed in a bed and breakfast there once, and have fond memories of our stay.  He put his finger on a couple of radar spots and said "those storms are pure evil".

One of them may have been the storm that hit Lee County, Alabama and killed the 23 people. Some families lost multiple members.

In an instant, their lives changed forever.

I used to live in tornado country - four years in Wichita, Kansas, nearly a year in Wichita Falls, Texas and five years in Northwest Arkansas.  Two years after I left Texas, a tornado hit the Wichita Falls area and killed 45 people. 

When I hear sirens, my heart still stops.  Ironically, the closest I have ever come to a tornado was right here in the Binghamton, New York area, when an EF-1 tornado hit near where I worked at the time.  I remember the people I knew back south and west who survived tornadoes (I met several of them.)


Weather is beyond our control.  We do not respect Nature at our peril.

2.  Luke Perry, once a teen heartthrob, died from a massive stroke he suffered last week, at the age of 52.  Luke was not a member of my generation, but I am seeing younger people I know so impacted.

At some point in your life, the knowledge of mortality knocks on your door.  It can be a brush with a serious illness such as cancer.  It can be caring for your parents in their old age.  Or it can be the death of friends or even actors/actresses of your early life.


It's hard to live life knowing we can leave it at any moment.  Many of us live in denial of that fact, until it is forced upon us.

It's a lesson we all need to be reminded of from time to time.

Music in Education #MusicMovesMe

It's time for another #MusicMovesMe. 

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly,   Her co-conductors are:  ♥Callie of JAmerican Spice♥,  and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   Also, co-conducting  is  ♥Cathy from Curious as a Cathy♥ .  Last but not least, there's - (said humbly) me.

Every other week, we are asked to blog about a musical theme.  The other weeks are free weeks. One more thing I need to mention - if you have music (or mewsic, as the many cat loving music bloggers that participate say) to share, come join us!  But this linkup is for Music Posts Only!

For the month of March, we have a guest conductor - Patrick Weseman.  Today, he asks us to remember that March is Music in our Schools month - and we are to blog about how music educates us.

Well, for me, I can remember music being part of my education in the New York City public schools from kindergarden, when we played music with sandblocks, triangles, and other simple instruments.  What we didn't know were the benefits.

Some believe that music and math educations are interrelated.

Then, there's music as language.

Many teachers know that music can be a positive way to learn.  People of a certain generation remember a show called Schoolhouse Rock.  One of their more famous songs is "I'm Just a Bill", proving that some things never change.

If you look on You Tube, you will find thousands of songs that teach colors, numbers, and more to pre preschoolers.

An alternative rock duo (backed by an ever changing cast of musicians) called They Might Be Giants have devoted part of their musical efforts to educational songs.

And some songs even teach you about musicians - sort of.  One of these, Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, became a hit in 1985.   There are several versions of this song and I can't guarantee the accuracy of the translation on the screen.

But, on a still more musical note, there are so many songs about schools and education, not all of them complementary.  How about closing this post out with a few songs about schools, teachers, or education?

Sam Cooke - Wonderful World.

Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall

Rock & Roll High School - The Ramones

School's Out - Alice Cooper. 

One more - OK, it isn't exactly school, but I was born in Queens, after all.  Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, complete with John Madden.

BONUS TRACK - ever see the movie School of Rock?  Here, from a reunion concert, is "Long Way To The Top".

One last comment - in April, due to my participating in Blogging from A to Z, I may be switching my Music Moves Me posts to Sunday.  As they said in the old days of radio and TV, stay tuned!

It Was Blue and I Saw It on Oprah

Today, I needed a good laugh.  The gloom of the typical upstate New York winter has settled upon me, knowing we are in for snow and then bitter cold weather.  The groundhog's prediction of six more weeks of winter seems a distant memory now.

Some days, I am so happy that I didn't follow my childhood dreams of being a librarian.

When I was growing up in the Bronx, I could have lived in my public library.  I dreamed of working in a bookmobile.

As it happens, I know a (retired) librarian - one of my spouse's cousins.  I've also read occasional posts by librarians, past and present.

Somehow, I'm glad I never became one - at least, that I didn't work in a public library.

This is one of many posts that are funny only if you've never had a customer service job.  Imagine, someone coming into your bookstore and library, and asking you to find a book for them.  All they know is the color of the book.  Or, they heard about the book on a radio show but you are supposed to use your mind reading abilities to know what they mean.

You know...the book about those two people who fall in love and then....ummm.

Everyone knows librarians are miracle workers.

They really are.

Sorry, but this Saturday Night Live skit, to me, is hysterical.

(Changing the subject quickly, I haven't plugged this library weeding blog lately).

Which reminds me, I haven't said recently, "support your local library today." It also reminds me I should schedule a library post for the Blogging for A to Z Challenge.

Well, maybe don't support your local library today because it may be closed on Sundays.

But on the other six days, why not?  Just don't ask them where the blue book you saw on Oprah is.

Happy 3400th To Me

 Happy 3400th blog post to me!

I started my blog in April of 2009 and, since late April 2011, have been blogging daily.  I still plan to blog daily, although I am not sure for how long.  Certainly, I will end it when it doesn't "spark joy" in my anymore.

Thank you, my reader, for your loyalty, and for stopping by.

I blogged the other day that I would do something special for this blogoversary.  I often don't take psychological tests but this one fascinated me.  I found it the other day on a fellow midlife blogger's blog.

I was curious to know if I was left or right brained dominant.  I don't consider myself that organized, or logical, but I don't consider myself as exceedingly creative, either.

Besides knowing I am introverted, and love some creative crafts (crocheting, photography, blogging) I was curious. 

Here’s the link. The test is simple, takes just a few moments,  and is free: https://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178


This test is for personal use only, and since I do not make any money off this blog, I thought I would take the test and publish the results. 

It turns out I am quite balanced. (I wish I was as well balanced on my feet as, apparently, in my mind.) This is quoted from the test results:

"Studies on patients with brain damage have allowed scientists to determine how each side of the brain controls different functions. The left hemisphere, for example, specializes in language skills and logic. The right hemisphere allows us to recognize shapes and faces and express and read. Most people are not likely to be strictly left-brain or right-brained - we use each side of our brain depending on the task we're dealing with. However, some theorists and researchers believe that there may be one side of the brain that we draw on more, which can in turn make the personality traits characteristic of that side of the brain to be more dominant than others. How to read your results: If you score closer to the right side of the graph, your personality is more characteristically right-brain. If you score closer to the left side of the graph, your personality is more characteristically left-brain. If you score somewhere in the middle, you share characteristics of both sides of the brain.
Overall Result	46
Both your right and left hemisphere seem to have reached a level of perfect harmony - rather than trying to dominant each other, they work together to create a unique and well-balanced "you". Your spontaneous, impulsive, and free-flowing right brain creates an exciting and adventurous world, while your left brain helps you make sense of it and keep track of everything. When faced with a problem or a tough decision, you're not only able to break things down and make an informed and sensible choice, but you're also not afraid to go with your gut when necessary. You tend to express your individuality both in words and actions, and although you're perfectly comfortable running on a schedule or planning things ahead of time, there are occasions when you love to throw in a little spontaneity. Your balanced outlook and approach to life creates a desire in you to not only understand the world, but to also take it in your hands and mold it as you see fit. With both your right and left hemispheres working together to guide you, you are able to understand yourself and life in general from so many wonderful perspectives" If you take the test, I would be curious to know your results, if you care to share them. And again, thank you so much for stopping by (unless you are a spammer, although some of those comments are quite entertaining, too.) Here's to 3500!

Circular Sunset #SkywatchFriday

A couple of upstate New York winter sunsets for your viewing pleasure, on this first day of March.

Earlier this month, I walked out of our local mall after an exercise walk just in time to see the sun set.  In the setting sun, I saw a number of contrails.

And on February 15, after a late afternoon rain (on a rare warm winter day), the clouds reflected golden hour light in a fiery finish.

March is here - and, in about three weeks (according to the calendar, anyway) it will be spring.

Weatherwise?  I doubt it.

Tomorrow will be my 3400th blog post.  I'll have to plan something special.

Join Yogi and other skywatching bloggers each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Trees in the Sunset #ThursdayTreeLove

A number of the tree lovers who participate in Parul's #ThursdayTreeLove every second and fourth Thursday have been pondering variations of the question "do trees have consciousness?"

There is some evidence that it is possible that trees can communicate with each other through their roots.

I wonder, when I see trees bathed in winter golden hour light, if the trees enjoy the sunset as much as we humans do.  Do they feel the light in some way? Did they see the red light show after a rare winter rain?

Perhaps not in the winter, when our deciduous trees in upstate New York hibernate, but maybe they retain some consciousness. 
I wonder if we humans ever will know.

Come back March 14 for more tree loving.

Reflections on Ice #WordlessWednesday

Spring has not yet come to where I live.

My guest photographer's picture speaks to me of the last part of winter.  The snow is mostly melted in the urban area of upstate New York where I live, but out in the woods, where my guest photographer lives, winter (and this reflection in ice) persevere.  No worries for snow lovers, though, because we are going to get another snowstorm today.

New to #WordlessWednesday but would like to participate? Well, here’s how you can join Natasha and Esha. Just follow their three easy steps:

1. Post a picture on your blog that speaks for itself. It could be from your adventures, experiments, life’s quirky moments, travels or just plain random shots. Or absolutely anything that stoked your being. Or made you think.
2. Add their badge to your post and add a backlink to our posts.
3. We’d love it if you read, comment and share all the posts linked.

Blogging from A to Z 2019 Edition

Are you ready for a challenge?

I am, and I will be doing this for..oh, the fourth year. (2016, 2017, 2018, and now 2019.) I'm proud to say I finished each April intact (and hopefully, sane).

It's the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and I'll let Arlee Bird, one of the A to Z team members, explain it in his own words.

" It all began with my post from Saturday March 27, 2010 when I set forth a challenge to all bloggers for the month of April.   Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from A to Z?
       Most of the time if you subtract Sundays from April, you then have 26 days--one day for each letter of the alphabet.  When April 1st lands on a Sunday you begin on that day which will be the only Sunday you would post during that month's challenge. [This year, April 1 falls on a Monday.]

        Using this premise, you would start beginning April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.  It doesn't even have to be a word--it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself.  The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day."

When Arlee sent out this challenge in 2010, about 100 bloggers responded. 1300 responded in 2011. Every year since, participation has grown.  Now, Arlee needs five team members to help him out.  One of them, John Holton @ The Sound of One Hand Typing (read his blog and find out why that title) participates in the Music Moves Me Monday music meme I participate in, as do several other participants.

If you join in, I guarantee you will have a good time and maybe you'll pick up new bloggers to read or even more followers.

So, on Wednesday, when signups begin, I'll be there.  I'll be there on March 18, when there is a theme reveal.  You don't need a theme but I recommend one, just to help organize you.

I also recommend you think through each post, because this is not a time to be a "pantser" and write posts on the spur of the moment (says this confirmed pantser).

Other than that, you are on your own!  Last year, my theme was "Florida Outside the Theme Parks".  This year - you'll have to wait and find out.  I do intend to continue to participate in the memes I follow now plus A to Z - Music Moves Me on Monday, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day on April 15 (M day), Skywatch Friday, and the Thursday Tree Love of the second and fourth Thursdays in April.  That's a lot, yes - but hopefully, I'll get through it all.

Do you plan to join in the fun?

The Peters #MusicMovesMe

It's time for another #MusicMovesMe. Doesn't it seem like we just had one?

Who are the #MusicMovesMe bloggers? We are bloggers who blog about music each Monday and if you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only on this music train, please!)   First, there is XmasDolly,   Her co-conductors are:  ♥Callie of JAmerican Spice♥,  and ♥Stacy of Stacy Uncorked♥   Also, co-conducting  is  ♥Cathy from Curious as a Cathy♥ .  And finally, there's - (said humbly) me.


Every other week, we are asked to blog about a musical theme.  The other weeks are free weeks, including today.  I am going to devote my post today to the late Peter Tork of the Monkees, who died on February 21 at the age of 77 of a rare cancer that affects the tongue, and Peter Frampton, who disclosed earlier this week that a degenerative muscle disease will soon be ending his musical career.

Tork was the oldest member of the Monkees, who started out as a made-up band for a TV show and ended up as a true band.  Tork played several instruments, and sang.

How about piano?  Tork plays the intro to one of my favorite Monkees song, Daydream Believer, from 1967.

Banjo? Yes, please, in "You Told Me".

"Your Auntie Grizelda" was the first song to feature Peter Tork on lead vocals.  Here, he performs it live in 2015.

As for Peter Frampton, although he has recorded more recently, I still love his oldie songs, such as Do You Feel Like We Do, here performed live in 2018.

And, also from the recent past, a live performance of "Show Me the Way".

Join me and the other members of #MusicMovesMe next Monday, same time, same place.

The Lonely Marker

The battle, off the coast of Virginia of the Union ironclad U.S.S. Monitor vs. the Confederate ironclad Merrimack (not the Merrimac, which was another ship put into service around 1864) was drummed (so to speak) into me in elementary school in New York City, back in the early 1960's.

The wood from which the keel of the Monitor was cut came from this area, now occupied partially by a site called Finch Hollow.

The site of the sawmill where the keel of the U.S.S.Monitor was milled is in walking distance of my home near Johnson City, in upstate New York.  The site is, in the present day, occupied by an enclosed shopping mall, the Oakdale Mall.


Like many malls, the Oakdale Mall has seen better days. It may default on a loan next year, in fact.  Its future is in doubt.

Apparently, back around 1998, there was a historical marker in the Oakdale Mall commemorating the history of the Monitor.

Re Finch Hollow, it still exists.  If you drive north on Oakdale Road (which runs north and south, just to the west of the mall)  from the mall, you will find a nature center on the site. I haven't been there in many years, but I remember going there with my then young son.  I don't remember any commemoration of its role in the Civil War on the site, however.

The Monitor (what is left of it) was discovered in 1973 and parts have been brought to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA.  The keel, I am sure, is long gone.  Restorers are in a race against time to preserve the remaining metal parts and guns.  I hope to visit the museum although I've been hoping to do that since before the 150th anniversary of the battle on March 9, 2012.

Well, in the deserted part of the Oakdale Mall that I blogged about yesterday, there is something that few people see anymore, because almost all the stores in that section are closed.

Lonely, the Monitor marker is ignored by mall walkers who walk right by it.

If the Oakdale Mall drifts into history, what will happen to that marker?

I never realized my elementary school Civil War studies would lead to something right in my very (so to speak) front yard.

Have you ever explored the history of your area?