Hollywood (Cemetery) #AtoZChallenge

I think there are two groups of people when it comes to cemeteries.  One group of people only go to cemeteries when they are attending a funeral.

The other group - like me, seeks out cemeteries when I visit historical areas.  One reason may be because I grew up in bus ride distance of a cemetery that contains the graves of many famous people (although, ironically, I never visited it although I still hope to get back one day).

Another is their beauty and history.  Did you know that a number of cemeteries are also arboretums, containing flower and tree displays that would rival those of any botanical gardens?

I've blogged before about one - Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn (New York City).

And I've mentioned another I have visited twice - Bonaventure Cemetary near Savannah, Georgia, where some of the action of "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" took place.

For history, though, it is hard to beat Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

It's not just the plants, although this cemetery is a certified arboretum.  There are many historic graves there, including those of three Presidents - two of the United States and one of the only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.  After all, Richmond, besides being the present day state capitol of Virginia, was also the capitol of the Confederacy.

Because I wrote a Sunday series on the Civil War several years ago, I'm also including some links to people of interest.

Let's start with a blooming azalea near the graves  Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina.  

A close up.  The Civil War, by the way, did more than tear apart families and cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.  In some ways, it is still fought today.

President James Monroe's gravesite.

President John Tyler's gravesite.  When I had blogged about John Tyler earlier this year, I forgot I did have a picture of his grave.

One more of James Monroe.

I do wonder, though - what happens at night?

"H" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Green #AtoZChallenge #blogboost #MusicMovesMe

 It's Monday and time for G Day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and Music Moves Me.

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 me.

<!-- end LinkyTools script —> This month our guest conductor is Kim from The ReInVintaged Life. Next week I'll be blogging on a theme but this week we are free to listen and dance to whatever music we want.  But because this is "G" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge...well, the Big G stands for Goodness.  A memory from my childhood:

G also stands for gardening.  And green.  And so much more.  Before we get into the music, how about a couple of green pictures, as my theme for the Blogging from A to Z challenge is "Finding America through photography".

In 2017, I was able to attend a garden tour in Virginia.  This is an annual event called the Historic Garden Week which benefits various gardens and historic sites.  This year it begins on April 27  and ends on May 4.

These pictures were taken in Ashland, Virginia.  On these tours, some owners permit pictures and others don't.  Thank you, all for opening up your beautiful gardens for a Good cause.

Aren't they green?   And beautiful?  But now, onto the music.

Here are some songs beginning with "G".

Georgy Porgy by Toto.

Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio.  I have never been heavily into rap, but there are a handful of rap songs whose lyrics blow me away.  This is one of them.

The Green Door - Jim Lowe.  This song is from 1956.

One more - Green Grass and High Tides by the Outlaws.

And now, Green Grow the credits:
Day 15 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
"G" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge #AtoZChallenge

Come back again next Monday for another episode of Music Moves Me!

Sunday at Home

People, on their phone "to do" lists, keep important dates.  Mine right now are various appointments but you'll also find the dates the local garden centers and farm markets reopen for the season.

Spring is truly here and I have a bad case of spring fever.

The first week of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge completed (tomorrow starts again with "G") I spend some time in my backyard in the Binghamton area of upstate New York while my spouse (shame on me!) does yard work.

It reached 71 today.  What welcome digits they are; I would kiss them if I could.

Puttering around my yard, I see I have one Lenten Rose in bloom. My other one (purple) should be opening up (I hope) in time for the 15th - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

One garden center I like is open, and spouse took me there yesterday because the itch to plant something...anything...was finally too strong to resist.  I found some pansies and Johnny Jump Ups. Spouse planted the pansies which now I will have to guard against the squirrels who like to come and destroy whatever I dare plant in my containers.

I also planted a hanging basket with 12 "jump ups". These are a new variety for me, called "Cool Wave".  Like Wave petunias (which this company developed), the wave jump ups are supposed to spread.  We'll see.  Our season here is short, these flowers like cold and sometimes it will get into the 90's here in early May.

No ornamental shrubs in bloom in our area, but I think we (not me, but others) will have forsythias by the end of the week.  My crocuses (which are in a cool spot, and bloom late) should be blooming in the next couple of days.

The march of Spring has finally reached New York's southern tier. Nature is forgiven for the sleet it pelted down on us only Friday.  Just don't do it again, Nature, or my forgiveness will be much harder to earn.

Thank you to my Southern blogging friends who keep my garden flame burning during the frozen months.

Day 7 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

Tomorrow, back to #AtoZChallenge.

Florida #AtoZChallenge #blogboost

I couldn't believe the weather forecast last night, where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  "Freezing Rain and Sleet" announced the weather broadcaster.

It was time to think of Florida.  Seriously think of Florida.  I have spent most of my life (except about 12 years) in New York State.  But, for two years - the first two years of my married life - we lived in Tampa, Florida.

I will admit - I did not like Florida (except for palm trees, which I love).  Bugs.  Heat.

Florida, land of alligators.

Sanibel, Florida (and my shadow)

But it is also Florida, the land without snow.  And after over 30 years of living near New York's snowbelt, I'm done.  Not done all the time.  Just done in the winter.

Or when winter refuses to leave.

So, on a day like yesterday, my thoughts turned to Florida.  They didn't think of the palmetto bug that crawled out of a drain when I was last there - in January.  Instead, I had other thoughts.

St. Petersburg, Florida

The land of Gulf and Ocean.

Boyton Beach, Florida

The land of birds.

Clewiston, Florida near Lake Okeechobee

And sugar cane.

And...oh yes, palm trees at sunset.

I will have to make a decision, because, right now, both Florida and New York are calling out to me.

What place will win?

"F" day on Blogging from A to Z.  My theme:  Finding America through Photos.

Day 6 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.

Erie #AtoZChallenge #blogboost #SkywatchFriday

It's Friday and it's time to watch the sky.  It's also "E" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

For those of my readers not living in the United States, the "Great Lakes" are five lakes that originated in basins gouged out by ice, which then, over the years, filled with water.  One of them, Superior (yes, the largest) is some 1,335 feet (407 meters) deep.

In September of last year, I saw Lake Erie for the second time in my life.  The smallest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie still looks like the ocean to me.

My native New York State has two of these lakes partially within its borders:  Erie and Ontario.  But these views are from nearby Pennsylvania.

This photo was taken from a tower at Presque Isle State Park, overlooking an amusement park.

Nearby, a monarch fed on wildflowers.

From a walking trail, you can see Erie, Pennsylvania on the other side of the water.  Erie has had its moments in United States history, among them the 1813 event where Commodore Oliver Perry defeated the British, during the War of 1812, in the Battle of Lake Erie.  (His brother, Matthew Perry, was credited with helping to open Japan to trade.)

It looks so peaceful today, doesn't it?

Oh, one more thing about Erie, Pennsylvania.  Don't live there if you don't like snow.  That's another gift the Great Lakes give to people living along, and to the east of, their shores.

Join Yogi and other skywatchers each Friday at #SkywatchFriday.

Day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost

"E" day at the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Delray (Beach) #AtoZChallenge #blogboost

Delray Beach is a city of about 70,000 people on the East Coast of Florida.   Last year, for Blogging from A to Z, I blogged an entire month on "Florida Outside the Theme Parks" and I encourage those who visit Florida to visit more than Disney or Universal Studios (as exciting as it is to spend time there).

Delray Beach offers the non-theme park tourist everything from wildlife preserves (Wakodahatchee Wetlands - 50 acres of previous wastewater utility property, amazingly free of charge) to the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.  Morikami, especially is a one of a kind gem, which I plan to blog about more later this month.


Full disclosure: I am seriously thinking of snowbirding here after I retire. We'll just have to see what the future will bring.  Just blogging this makes a lot of good memories return.  I just hope I can make it happen.

Today, at the risk of turning this into a travelogue,  a small taste of Delray Beach for you for "D" Day.

An iguana at Wakodahatchee.

It really is OK to have too much fun.

To someone visiting in January from the frozen north, it was so beautiful just to see the water and sun.

And speaking of the outdoors, how about an arts festival?

Day four of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost


"D" Day in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Crocus of Commemoration #AtoZChallenge #blogboost

I wish this was going to be a happier post.

If you don't want to read about a tragedy, then please enjoy these crocuses in bloom.

But I hope you read on.

It's all about three seconds.  Police estimate that is all it took.  Three seconds.

One of the thirteen memorial plaques

The thirteenth most deadly mass shooting (we are actually tied with Columbine) in the United States happened blocks from where I work in downtown Binghamton, New York on April 3, 2009, 10 years ago today.

On April 3, 2009, a troubled 41 year old immigrant walked into a building housing the American Civic Association on the edge of downtown Binghamton.  He shot the receptionist (she survived) and entered an adult classroom for immigrants.  Seconds later, 14 people, including the shooter (by suicide), were dead.

The shooter bought his gun legally, in a store (no longer in business) a bit more than a mile from my house.  He frequented the Binghamton library, the same library whose crocuses are featured at the top of my post.  The same Binghamton library I've spent many happy hours in.

Most of the victims were, themselves, immigrants.

On April 10, 2009, I wrote my first blog post, based on an email I wrote the day of the shooting, as people concerned about my safety called or emailed me.

Since then, I have written other blog posts.  This is the one I wrote on April 3, 2016. 
I've written several about Roberta King, the teacher in that classroom.

ACA shooting memorial, Binghamton, New York

Although I know someone who works for ACA (he wasn't there at the time), and another person whose mother in law was in the building when the shooting happened (she wasn't injured), I didn't know any of the dead personally- although I had met one of them (Roberta King) several years before.  Still, every time there is a mass killing in the news, I think back to that day, and can feel only sadness for those going through the experience now.

Here are the dead.  They came from many places.  One couple, a husband and wife, left two children, six and 12.  Others left children, too.

To quote our local paper:

"Some were young and full of hope for the future. Some were in the prime of their lives, happy to be living here and enjoying the fruits of their labors.

Some came here in search of knowledge, some in search of a safer, saner place to settle down and raise their families."

One of the symbolic soaring birds at the ACA memorial

But more sobering, to us in Binghamton, it seems as though many have forgotten.

At the time, this was the seventh most deadly shooting in the United States.  Now, so many other shootings have crowded ours out.  Who can blame others for forgetting us, when there has been (in no particular order) Orlando, Las Vegas, Virginia Tech, Newtown, Connecticut, Sutherland Springs, Texas, Parkland, Florida and too many more to mention?

But, with the suicide this past week, of two survivors of mass shootings and the father of a woman who died in a mass shooting, I am concerned that anyone who is living through this hell (and it is a rest-of-their-lives hell only they can fully understand) ever feel like they are forgotten. For these families and co-workers, every day of the past 10 years has been April 3, 2009. 

Cars passing the ACA shooting memorial in Binghamton, taken by my "guest photographer"

Various media outlets, including the Boston Globe, have noted Binghamton being left off lists in news coverage of other shootings.  Is that important?  Yes, because it makes many of us feel forgotten.  It's understandable in our minds, but not in our hearts.

But we in Binghamton, New York haven't forgotten you.

Why? It could be the flood of mass shootings that have followed the Binghamton shooting.   Just one more spot of pain in a list that grows longer every day?  Even the students of Parkland-turned-activists haven't been able to shock us out of national paralysis.

Will the shootings ever end?  Will the nightmare of thousands of survivors ever end?

Day 3 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost and "C" day of #AtoZChallenge

Binghamton New York #BloggingfromAtoZ #Blogboost

I have worked in Binghamton, New York, about an hour north of Scranton, Pennsylvania and an hour south of Syracuse, New York, for over 20 years now.

Binghamton is a small city of about 47,000 people.  At one time, its population was over 80,000 but times have changed, like they have for so many small cities in upstate New York. IBM started here, in a way (The Bundy Time Recorder Company) and we used to be known as The Parlor City.  Those times are over.

Now, some know us as the boyhood home of the late, great Rod Serling of Twilight Zone fame.   If you remember The Twilight Zone TV show, you've visited Binghamton in spirit already.

Today, I'd like to take you on a quick trip to Binghamton through photos. These photos were taken mostly in downtown Binghamton.

Does anyone remember the old TV show The Twilight Zone? Rod Serling grew up in Binghamton and frequented this park on the West Side called Rec Park - the carousel there was the inspiration for at least one episode.  There is a bandshell there where Serling carved his initials as a boy.

Binghamton, New York along flood wall in downtown Binghamton.

At the height of fall foliage.

Winter, near sunrise.

Spring dogwoods.

Be inspired.

By this mosaic.

A Grancy Greybeard tree in bloom near the Broome County Courthouse.

Old buildings.

Several other posts I have written on Binghamton:
The Shoulders of the Past
Caroling at the historic Security Mutual building
One building at a time
Hanukkah House

Tomorrow, I will blog about a 10th anniversary Binghamton wishes it could forget.

Day two of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost and the #bloggingfromAtoZ challenge.

April (Come She Will) #MusicMovesMe #BloggingfromAtoZ #Blogboost

Today is the beginning of my tightrope walk with three challenges in April.

Welcome!  Although my theme for #BloggingfromAtoZ is "Finding America Through Photos", I also participate in a music blog meme each Monday.  So today you get two themes for the price of 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♥ .  Last but not least, there's - (said humbly) yours truly.
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Each month we have an honorary conductor for our train of music. Our honorary conductor for April is Kim From The ReInVintaged Life.  She has chosen for today's theme:‘April showers bring May flowers’ (songs about spring, rain, flowers).

Because today is "A" day on Blogging from A to Z, everything I do has to start with the letter "A". 

The duo Simon and Garfunkel present us with "April Come She Will".

Al Jolson sings "April Showers" (dubbed over actor Larry Parks).

A Rose for Emily by The Zombies - it sounds upbeat but listen closely to the lyrics.

On a happier note, it's time to switch to Finding America through Photos, starting with the 1968 song America by Simon and Garfunkel.  I was in high school when this song and I, already a Simon and Garfunkel fan, absolutely loved it.

Outdoor Art, Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas

During the month of April, I am trying to find America through photos.
From Arkansas....

...to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn...

...Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, Florida...

Historic Garden Week 2017, Ashland, Virginia

..and April showers in Ashland, Virginia,

This month, I want to show you the beauty of our United States through photos.  Almost all are mine.  A few will be those of my guest photographer, a former co-worker, and I hope forever friend.

I hope you will join me during April.  For the next couple of days my posts will concentrate on the Binghamton, New York area (where I live and work) but after that, travel we will.  Until then, here are my challenges for April:

The Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost
Blogging from A to Z Challenge #bloggingfromAtoZ
Music Moves Me
On Fridays I also participate in Skywatch Friday, and, on the 15th of the month, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. And, on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, Thursday Tree Love.

P.S. I have made some temporary changes in commenting, one (moving from embedded to popup commenting) that I hope will help avoid the "captcha" jail many of us find ourselves in. It's apparently due to a problem with Blogger that has been reported and hopefully will be fixed soon. The change also prevents me from responding to your comments.  So in advance I will say Thank you for visiting and I'm sorry I can't respond to your valued comments.

And that's no April Fool.

Day one of the Ultimate Blog Challege #blogboost