Birthday Moon Sky #SkywatchFriday

It would have been my father's birthday.

I ended up being treated to a beautiful sunset. 

I took pictures in all directions.  The sky was so blue, it was amazing.

Those power lines - sigh

As a bonus, I was able to take a picture of the moon (the little white dot right above the trees).  It isn't a good one (an iPhone SE just can't do this well, I guess) but it was the moon.

Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.  I spent the day with my father, and watched Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon with my father. 

More memories tomorrow.

Join Yogi and the other sky watchers for #SkywatchFriday.  I'm betting there will be lots of moon pictures today.

Life in 1969

Maybe I should have been a sociologist or a cultural anthropologist (sometimes they look at the same thing from different angles) .  Many times, when I learn about a historical event, I tend to be more interested in how people lived back then.

This year, there are many anniversaries of historical events.  Next up - the moon landing and astronauts walking on the moon.

1969.  50 years ago.

There is some nostalgia in this video for me, as I was close to the (pretend) age of the person who made this video.

It seems so simple.  The teens in the video weren't bullying each other on social media.  They weren't texting or using a chat app.  The Internet (actually ARPANET) had just come into being.
The world was different, all right.

You might not want to eat all the popular foods.

There were almost no handheld calculators owned by the general public.  They were invented around 1966 but didn't really catch on until around 1974.  So scientists and mathematicians used slide rules for their space flight calculations.  Slide rules didn't need batteries and worked in power failures, too.

Long distance phone calls could cost a fortune depending on where you were calling. Forget about video. There weren't answering machines, but then again, there weren't robocalls, either.

There were telex machines.

Microwaves? Well they existed but few owned them.

There was a lot more smoking of cigarettes and cigarette ads had not yet been banned on television.

The Vietnam War was on the minds of any.  We were a split country, People who cried "love it or leave it", some who did leave it for Canada, others who fought and lost their lives, still others who burned the flag or draft cards in protests.  The nightly news brought the headcount of deaths on both sides.

So, that was the world that launched the first mission to the moon on July 16, 1969.  A world where each space launch was covered by each of the three networks.  Many people didn't have cable.  There were no 24 hour news channels. 

Simpler times, perhaps.  Maybe better, but that depended on your nationality, religion, and other factors.  Prejudice was alive and well,  and discrimination was more open.  It still is today, of course.

I'm also finding out that people I know on Facebook had parents or other relatives working in the space program or in related industries.  Perhaps you do know people in your lives, too, who were involved.

I would love to hear your stories.

Back in the Day #WordlessWednesday

While we are on the topic of the 1969 moon landing, the part of New York State I live in had a role in creating some of the technology used by NASA (such as the flight simulator the Apollo 11 astronauts trained on).  If I have time tomorrow, I will blog about that simulator.

Recently, I visited an organization called TechWorks near downtown Binghamton, New York, which is a combination museum and educational center.   Because today is a Wordless Wednesday, I will just show you some vintage computer equipment from the early 1960's.  This may have been equipment similar to that used in early space programs.

IBM 1440 computer. This ran some $90,000 (in 1962 dollars!) and up and wasn't too powerful by today's standards.

Something powered by vacumn tubes (top of item), which predate transistors and the modern technology of today.

Just imagine, humankind went to the moon using equipment not too far advanced from these items.  Now, we hold more power in the palm of our hands, but we make other choices.

The moon awaits.  Will we choose it again one day?  Wil this anniversary respark interest?

Join Esha and Natasha for #WordlessWednesday.

Nobody's Gone to the Moon (in Years)

We are beginning a countdown to the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and walk on the moon.  We'll be awash in nostalgia for the next week.

I wrote most of the following (with some edits, additions/updating, and combining) on July 19, 2009 and July 20, 2009.  It was the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon.

Where was I when humankind landed on the moon? I was 16 when it happened.

I was in midtown Manhattan, with my Dad, at a space exhibit. I had followed the space program from the moment I was old enough to. I don't think I truly remember Sputnik, but I remember our country shooting dogs and monkeys into space. I remember Telstar, I remember being amazed at a trans oceanic broadcast of - The Today Show?

Then came the manned flights. In that day of no  24 hour news channels, the early flights, only several hours long, were covered in their entirety by the networks. They were big news items.

I remember following all the manned flights leading up to Apollo 11 on television. I was a great science fiction fan from around the age of 10, too, and it all tied in.

 I took lots of pictures at the exhibit.

 I stayed up to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, along with millions of other Americans.

Why are we so fascinated by the First Moon Walk on this particular anniversary?

In 2009, I speculated that part of it was knowing that this may be the last 10-year anniversary where all three astronauts of Apollo 11 may be alive? (after all, Neil Armstrong was78). Now, in 2019, Neil has left us but Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is still alive.  A total of four men who walked on the moon are still with us.  The youngest of them (Charles Duke) is 82  He was supposed to visit the place where I watched the Great American Eclipse in August of 2017 but we never saw him.

 Is it a sense of what may have been (why did we abandon manned space missions out to the moon and beyond?) Or is it because we have so many Internet "toys"that allow us to follow the mission, minute by minute, complete with astronaut updates on Twitter?

If only I knew where my photos were, I would scan and post them on this blog. Yes, I took black and white (of course!) photos of the TV screen at home. My Dad and I stayed up late to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps.

However I never thought of taking pictures of us watching TV. That would have been interesting.

What if we had had the Internet then? Well we could say that about any time of history. Better in some ways that our memories are frozen in those faded photos and home movies. No matter how dated they seem to our children.

Eight months after the moon landing I would go on a trip with other high school seniors to study a total solar eclipse on the grounds of East Carolina University. (Greenville, North Carolina) I have been blessed - I have seen three total solar eclipses in my lifetime.

But who could have guessed what became of our space program?  My son (in his late 20's) and I discussed this when we saw each other on the 4th of July.

Who would have thought the last moon landing would take place in December of 1972?  Or that we would get to the point of needing to depend on the Russians (the country we were competing against in the "space race" to get into space?

I was in college when humankind last walked on the moon.  Now I am a senior citizen.

We have self driving phones and computers that fit in the palms of our hands (aka smartphones) but we can't get to the moon.

What will it take to get a manned space program (not just to the International Space Station) truly started up again?

Daylily July #GardenBloggersBloomDay

(If you are looking for my Music Moves Me post, please click here.  I posted it yesterday to leave room for this.)

On this July 15, I am buried (so to speak) in flowers. We've had a lot of rain this past spring, followed by hot (for us) weather.  The flowers are loving it   where I live in zone 5b New York State.  There are daylilies everywhere I go in my yard (well, almost).

So many that I will need to do collages of many of my other flowers.

Impatiens and geraniums (and a cosmos).

I have the best nasturtiums I've had in many years, perhaps due to the rain we got this spring, but something keeps eating the leaves.

Black eyed Susan, ageratum, bee balm (try #1000 - they always die from mildew), lantana, pansies (I still have pansies), petunias (one of many) and annual phlox.

You won't see marigolds, because, two nights ago, something ate all the flowers (and left the plants).

So, with these as an appetizer - are you ready for some daylilies?  As usual, their names are lost in the midst of my terrible record keeping.

So many colors.

I've had this one for many, many years.

These are so prolific.

My one spider.

Lemon supreme (one of the few I still have a tag for).

This one has gone into overdrive.

I bought this red one last year.

I still have several that haven't started to bloom quite yet. Alas, they will probably all be gone by next GBBD.

This July I won't neglect my indoor plants.  One of my African violets is blooming as are two Phalaenopsis (moth orchids). This one has rebloomed for three years and the earlier blooms had died.  Suddenly, it came out with one more.

But this is a first time rebloomer.  And in July?  Why not, I guess.

How about one more collage?  Hosta, ivy geranium, and more petunias.

Perhaps this post will help to sustain me when the fall frosts and and winter come, and come they will. 

Thank you's go once again to Carol of May Dreams Gardens, who runs this monthly gathering of garden bloggers and others who love flowers (like me).  Why not visit her and see what is blooming all over the world?

What is blooming where you live?

A Musical Blackout #MusicMovesMe

I was not in New York City last night when the lights went out.  But I came close to being there.  July 12 and 13 were Manhattanhenge (one of four occasions during the year where the sunset or sunrise line up with the Manhattan street grid) and we wanted to be there.   We ended up not going - but if we had been there...

But thanks to social media, I was able to be there, and I decided to move my Music Moves Me post to  today, as I was so moved.

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 chief co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy. Her other co-conductors are:   Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and me.  Callie of JAmerican Spice blogs from time to time.  

Our guest conductor for the month of July is Driller AA of Driller's Place. 

For our theme today he has picked: "Your Pick" so this isn't my usual rock music post.
New York City has had four major blackouts in my lifetime.  I was there for the first, on November 9-10, 1965.  

The second was during my father's birthday, July 13-14, 1977.  This one did not find New York City at its best.  The third was in August of 2003 and affected a lot of the Northeast.  We did not lose power for long where I live upstate, but we had rolling blackouts for a while.

The fourth one was 42 years later, to the day of the second blackout.  I found out about it - where else?  on social media.

Of the various reports I read, this one may have been the most inspiring.  There was supposed to be a concert at Carnegie Hall by a choir called MCO.  When the lights went out, the concert was moved outdoors.

Thanks to social media, I can bring you a little of it for your Sunday enjoyment. (MCO specializes in sacred music, and this is a religious performance).  There are other clips on Twitter (if you are on Twitter) and, on some of them, you can get quick views of Manhattanhenge.

Here is one more video from yesterday's impromptu outdoor blackout concert, with MCO singing a song called I Stand Amazed. 

To learn more about MCO you can look them up on Facebook or Wikipedia)

This wasn't the only concert cancelled - Jennifer Lopez had just started a concert at Madison Square Garden when the lights went out. 

I'm not a big J-Lo fan so I can't pick a good one for you so instead, for my final song for today, I turn to Billy Joel's Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway).  This is a live performance at Yankee Stadium.  I grew up in the Bronx.

So once again, happy birthday in heaven to my father.  And, please join me again tomorrow for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Memories of my Father 2019

I originally posted this on July 11, 2017.  Yesterday I read a blog post about City of Water Day and the memories came back........ memories of my father, who worked for the U.S Department of Agriculture Cotton Exports/Imports office on Governors Island.  He would tell me stories of taking a ferry to Governor's Island from lower Manhattan and then back home.  Sometimes, the commute got pretty rough.

Around 1963, the office closed and my father was offered a transfer to Chicago. He didn't take it.  He loved New York City.  Except for his military service, he spent his entire life there.

Here's my post from 2017:

On one Memorial Day recently, when a website called Ancestry.com allowed people to search for free, I took advantage of it to find out more about my heritage.

I looked up my grandfather on my mother's side and found (definitely) his World War II draft registration and (possibly) his World War I draft registration.  For the first time in my memory, I saw his signature on the World War II document.

More intriguing, I found my maternal grandfather's town of birth - something I never knew - but it doesn't seem to exist -"Altsandas, Austria" - another mystery for a later date. (I am not sure what country it is in today, but it was Austria-Hungary when he came to this country around 1903). Last year, a blogger did some research, and it appears this town, and its residents, may have been wiped out by the Nazis during World War II. [since then, I have more reason to believe that my educated guess, sadly, was correct.]  At any rate, I can't seem to find it anywhere online.  I've said before that I owe my very existence to the United States and all those who fought in World War II for our freedom, and I'm serious about that.

I wondered why my mother's father had to register for the draft.  He was born in 1878, too old to serve in the U.S. Army in 1942, but I found out there was an event called the Fourth Registration, where all males from ages 45 to 64 were registered.  That's how desperate things were in 1942. 

I then looked up my father's World War Two enlistment record and found what follows.  After the war he worked for several years on Governor's Island, part of New York City, where his enlistment took place.  What I know of his enlistment is that he was already considered disabled (a childhood illness destroyed his hearing in one ear) and had tried to enlist without success.  But, by 1942, we needed anyone who could serve.

State of Residence:	New York
County or City:	Kings[Brooklyn]
Enlistment Date:	6 Aug 1942
Enlistment State:	New York
Enlistment City:	Fort Jay Governors Island
Term of Enlistment:	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Component:	Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Source:	Civil Life
Education:	2 years of high school
Civil Occupation:	Semiskilled occupations in manufacture of miscellaneous electrical equipment, n.e.c.
Marital Status:	Single, with dependents
Height:	69
Weight:	130

There was Governors Island again.
More memories.  Why would my father have been single, with dependents?  I did know the answer to that question.  Because he helped to raise his youngest brother after his mother died.  Just as he raised me after his wife, my mother, died when I was 12.

I have so many memories of my father - the walks we took, the movie he took me to the day I graduated Elementary School (West Side Story), and then how life changed for him as he grew older, and ended up in assisted living in Brooklyn.

Right now, of all my aunts and uncles, only one survives - the man who my father helped to raise.  I visited him in 2002, and my uncle told me he owed a great debt to my father, who had sacrificed so much for him.  It was a debt he felt he could never repay.

And, as for me, I didn't know how much I owed to my father when I was a teen fighting to breakaway from him.  But I do know now.



I finally got to visit Governors Island, many years ago, for a couple of hours.  Perhaps I'll blog about that one day.

Sunsets of August #SkywatchFriday

I've not been sleeping well recently.  I woke up at sunrise on Monday, just in time to see a spectacular sunrise through the bathroom window.  I wasn't about to run outside in my nightgown, so I had to let it go on without me recording it.

Maybe it looked something like this, taken on August 26, 2016.  So, I thought,  why not take a small trip through my iPhone camera roll and visit the archives?

Soon after this picture I took a trip with my spouse into the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

Skaneateles Lake, New York, as sunset approaches.

Just a few minutes later.

Canandaigua Lake.

It's nice to visit the archives every once in a while.

Join Yogi and the other bloggers who contribute each week to #SkywatchFriday.

Summer Camilla #ThursdayTreeLove

Our local Stewardia pesudocamellia, or Stewardia, or summer camellia, is in bloom at our local botanical garden in Binghamton, New York.

This is not a common tree where I live.

Its mottled bark is hard to see in this picture, where I tried to capture most of the tree.  It reminds me a little of the bark of crepe myrtle, a beautiful summer blooming shrub that thrives in the southeast United States.

The crepe myrtle is one of two bushes I wish I could grow in our zone 5b climate. It does grow downstate in the New York City area, although those bushes are much smaller than its southern relatives.

The other bush I wish I could grow is the camilla.   This tree above is actually a relative of the camilla so beloved of people in the South of the United States. Unlike this summer camilla tree, the camilla blooms in the winter and early spring.

Before its last winter

Several years ago, I tried to grow a camilla called April Rose, a variety that was claimed might be hardy enough for my yard.  I periodically reported on how it was doing, but not recently.  And here's why:

It was not to be, this particular impossible dream.  I bought her several years ago.  By this spring, April Rose only had one leaf left.  In the past week, we have reluctantly accepted that our impossible dream is dead.  Yet, maybe we can still dream impossible dreams.  Maybe, one day, we will try again.

In the meantime, the summer camilla tree above survives, several miles away.

Sometimes, you can step outside of your comfort zone.  But trees may not be able to do the same.

Join Parul and other tree lovers each second and fourth Thursday of the month for #ThursdayTreeLove.

Natural Colors #WordlessWednesday

One thing almost all humans enjoy doing is eating.  For your viewing pleasure, the natural rainbow of a New York State farmers market in the first week of July.

Even the building provides its own color.   Most vendors are indoors but I preferred to take outdoor pictures.

Carrots and beets.

Strawberries.  Strawberries were not a success here this year - too much rain.  What is left is expensive.

Garlic.

Mushrooms.

What dishes would you make with these veggies?  Isn't it wonderful that my readers enjoy so many different cuisines?

Please join Esha and Natasha - take a break from writing with #WordlessWednesday.

Cricket Day 2019

One of the nice things I've been able to do in my 10 years of blogging is record when I hear the first crickets chirping each year.

The chirp of the crickets is the first sign of fall coming, and it always makes me a little sad.  I like to think summer is endless.  What a fantasy (here in upstate New York.)

(This Elmshorn rose has nothing to do with this story - I just thought it was pretty).


I didn't start out intending to do this, but it's turned out to be quite a record, this almost annual occasion I used to call "C" Day.

Here are some cricket milestones of the past:

July 29, 2009
July 22, 2010
July 30, 2011 
then, there were two dates in 2012, perhaps due to an early spring
May 21, 2012
July 25, 2012
August 3, 2014
July 28, 2015 
July 24, 2016 
July 31, 2018

Something strange happened in July of 2010, but they were here for good by July 22.

This year, 2019? I thought I heard them last week.  Yesterday morning, I knew.  I heard them. It's official.  July 8, 2019.

Will they go away and come back later in the month, as they did in 2012?  No telling.

It's time for what I think of as the second half of summer.  But wait!  The first half has barely begun!

My blog, with the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day meme I participate in each 15th of the month has become a kind of garden journal.  I'm no good at diaries or journals, but blogging is something I do keep up with. For now, anyway.

So, what does this pattern of dates mean?  Not much, perhaps.  There are other markers of changing climate, such as the trees turning color later and later each year.   Also, the fall color show seems to be getting worse and worse.

But for now, I know the end of summer is approaching.  It isn't here yet.  But it will be.  Nature has reminded us, year after year, that nothing is permanent.

Independence #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and it's time for some music!

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 head co-conductor is Cathy of Curious as a Cathy and co-conductors are:   Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and (finally) me.  Callie of JAmerican Spice joins from time to time. 

Our guest conductor for the month of July is Driller AA of Driller's Place.

For our theme today he has picked:  "July 7 songs that celebrate your Independence, personal or national“

It's hard to believe singer Leslie Gore was so young when she recorded this hit that celebrates the power of women and their ability to act independently. From 1963: You Don't Own M, a song that was a true declaration of independence for those times.

Gloria Gaynor sings (to the delight of this lover of disco music) "I Will Survive".

Here's one for the men.

The Chairman of the Board singing the iconic "My Way".

Next, here's ELO doing "Don't Bring Me Down": this is not the official music video, but the person who did it, I  think, did a fantastic job.

Deserving of a belated happy birthday is the country where I was born and where I have lived all my life, the United States of America.  It deserves its own songs.

Let's dance to James Brown's "Living in America" from the movie Rocky IV.

I can't imagine what my grandparents felt when they saw the Statue of Liberty after a long voyage from Europe.  If they hadn't made that voyage I would not be alive today.  Neil Diamond sings "Coming to America".

This is my all time favorite patriotic song.  Never mind air guitar, I want to play air piccolo.

Finally, sung by the man who wrote the song, "This Land is Your Land", Woody Guthrie. To many, this has become an unofficial national anthem.

That's a patriotic wrap.  Next Monday, July 15, is Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. I may be joining the linky on Sunday with a few flower pictures for you on Monday. 

See you then!

This Week in New York Wildflowers

A week's worth of walking on the Vestal Rail Trail, Vestal, New York, produces not only physical fitness but looks into nature.

Rubus odoratus is a wildflower I first discovered several years ago, and I found it blooming today. 

This is also known as the purple flowering raspberry.  Although it is not a raspberry, it is a member of the large rose family.  I understand the fruit, while it looks like one, doesn't have much of a taste.  The leaves are maple like and that is what first attracted me to this years ago.  I've also learned it is an important flower for the bumble bee.

Speaking of true bramble fruit, I used some special effects with this picture but it appears nature beat me to it.  See the middle where a fruit once rested?

Elderberry, so very fine.  This bush is close to the end of its flowering season and soon enough, the tiny berries will be ripe.  How I miss being able to pick these from my neighbor's land when I lived in Northwest Arkansas, although it's been over 30 years now.

Last week, I found one wild rose still in bloom.  It wasn't, today.

And finally, there's a mystery flower.   I should know what this is but I don't.

Walking isn't just about walking.  It's for fresh air, discovery, and, yes, learning.

What did you do today?

The Mad Ending

I am in mourning.  Mad Magazine is going to cease publication (more or less) later this summer.  First, no more newstand sales. Then, later in the year, almost no new material.

I remember reading Mad magazine (a satirical magazine that started to publish, as a horror comic book, the year I was born) all through my childhood and teen years. The man I met in college and ended up marrying also loved Mad magazine, and his youngest sibling (12 years younger than he is) loved Mad also.  The YA section of our local library still carries the magazine.  If my son (who is in his late 20's now) ever got into it, he never told us.

Eventually, my spouse and I stopped reading Mad, but we spent part of yesterday afternoon reminiscing.  It can't be.  Perhaps we thought Mad would always be there.

Tell me this ain't so.  For so many of us, it was part of our formative years, even Weird Al.

It makes me wonder about Al Jaffee - still cartooning for Mad at age 98.  What will he do now?
Yes, age 98. 

MAD (as many of us called it) was the fountain of youth to many of its artists. Mort Drucker (who is "retired") is 90.  Sergio Aragonés is 81.  Some others now deceased (Dave Berg, for example) drew for Mad for over 50 years.  But Al Jaffee is the iron man of the lot.

I don't even know how to begin to list Al Jaffee's accomplishments.  Perhaps what he is most noted for, though, is inventing (and still designing!) the Mad Fold-In . How many of us got our latest Mad magazine, and tried so hard to do the fold in without mangling the magazine.

This video from Beck shows fold ins if you don't know the theory, and one mentions Al Jaffee.

 When Al turned 85, comic Steven Colbert had a cake made for him.  When the center portion was pushed out, making it a kind of fold in, the cake read...well, look for yourself.

Al, you are inspiring all of us.

But, back to the demise of this satiric magazine.  In our world gone mad, perhaps we don't need a magazine called Mad any more. 

Perhaps our entire daily lives are an entire Mad magazine.

I have one remaining question:  what sound should I use in mourning Mad magazine?

Are you a former (or present) reader of Mad?  I'd love to know your memories of Mad in the comments.

Stormwatch #SkywatchFriday

 I celebrated a quiet 4th of July (the birthday of my country, the United States) with my spouse, and had my son over for a BBQ.  We decided not to go to a baseball game and swelter, waiting for the fireworks.

I have no fireworks photos for you, nor pictures of baseball.

But sometimes, nature provides its own fireworks, as it did last week with thunderstorms all around us..

Storm clouds appeared in the east.

It was late in the day, and it had just rained.

The cloud's reflections appeared in puddles in the road.

At this time of the year, I don't have a good view of the sunset because it is blocked by trees.  But, it was nice seeing the light reflect off the clouds.

This morning, I woke up to what promises to be another hot, humid day.  Summer is here at last.

Joining Yogi and the other watchers of the sky each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Three Cheers for Independence

It is Independence Day here in the United States.

We like to say "Three cheers for the

Red

White

and Blue (skies).

Our liberty - our country - is in danger even as I write these words.  We seem to have lost our way and each day our country seems more divided.

Today, I offer another viewpoint which I hope will make you think.  One is from a poet of the 20th century.  The other is my thoughts after reading that comic Arte Johnson passed away yesterday at the age of 90.  I enjoyed his characters on the TV show Laugh-In so much. 

The German soldier who always said "Verrrry interesting."

The show Laugh-In was one of the ways the United States dealt with the news of the late 60's and early 70's.  The Vietnam War, rampant inflation, the decline and fall (and almost-impeachment) of Richard Nixon, and more.  Sometimes things seemed hopeless.

But we always pulled through, somehow.

I can only hope that we weather the troubles of today and emerge stronger.

To my readers in the United States, may you have a happy Fourth of July.

Spring Nostalgia #WordlessWednesday

Today I wanted to take a short detour back into spring skies.

Bradford pears in bloom in Binghamton, New York, this past May. 

Tomorrow is our nation's birthday.  Today I am proud to show you some of its beauty.

Join Esha and Natasha for #WordlessWednesday.

Tomorrow - three cheers for the Red, White and Blue.

The Miracle Boys of Summer

With age comes nostalgia.  In my mind, they will be forever young.  Even if you don't like baseball, please stick around for this story.

I grew up in the Bronx in the 1950's and 1960's.  The New York City I was born into had three major league teams.  The teams were the New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.

The year I was born, the Yankees played the Dodgers in the World Series, and the Yankees won. In fact, until 1959, the World Series featured at least one New York City team.  Sometimes both were New York City teams.

But by the time I was old enough to discover and start loving baseball, those days were over. As it happens, neither of my parents were baseball fans, but I managed to discover the sport.  Meanwhile,the Dodgers and the Giants fled New York City for California.  There was only one team left in town, the Bronx Bombers (nickname for the Yankees) and I became a Yankees fan.

In 1962, New York City gained a second team - the New York Mets.  Managed by the former Yankees manager Casey Stengel and populated with a combination of young players and players way past their prime (some of them from the Dodgers), they quickly gained the love of New York City fans.  Lovable, yes.  But champions they were not.

They were bad.  No, they were BAD.  Their first season, they won 40 games and lost 120. The second year they improved, winning 51 games (and losing 111).  For several years, they were mired in mediocrity, but the love of their fans never wavered.  And, during that time period, I abandoned the Yankees and turned to the New York Mets.  The Amazin' Mets.

Then, along came 1969.  In a series of what seemed to be miracles, the Mets started to win game after day (that year, they won 100 games) as the front runner Cubs faded.  The Mets united a city that seemed to be deteriorating daily.   My spouse was at the game where they won the pennant against the Braves.  I cheered from the classrooms I was attending as a high school senior.

Then, in one final miracle, they went to the World Series - and won in five games (the Series is a best four of seven).

This past weekend, the 1969 Mets were given the keys to the city by the Mayor.   It was a weekend of memories, a weekend of nostalgia.

It's been 50 years.  I am a senior citizen now and no longer a baseball fan.  But this brought me back to a special time.  I wish I could have been at Citi Field, but it wasn't all joy. The years have not been kind to all of the Miracle Mets, just as the years aren't necessarily kind to us.

Not all of  the 1969 Mets were there. Their manager, former Dodger Gil Hodges, died at the age of 47. Their general manager (Johnny Murphy) died in 1970.  One of their stars, Tommy Agee, died in 1981 at age 58.  Another, Tug McGraw (better known to many as Tim McGraw's father) died from brain cancer in 2004 at the age of 59 . Donn Clendenon, who became a lawyer after his playing days were over, is no longer with us.  Ed Charles died last year. 

Tom Seaver, the Hall of Fame pitcher, has dementia (he wasn't able to attend).  Eddie Kranepool recently had a kidney transplant.  

And there are those who are still active in their communities such as Cleon Jones, who was 26 when he played in 1969.  Now he is 86 and a community volunteer, still active in making where he lives in Alabama a better place for its residents.

A weekend of nostalgia over, we all return to everyday.  Time marches on, and we know there will be no 75th anniversary with the original players.  Time marches on.

But for this weekend, it was a chance to look back at our youth, our childhoods.

Oh Canada Oh Music #MusicMovesMe #blogboost

 It's the first day of July (rabbit rabbit!) and time for some music!  It's also the first day of the July Ultimate Blog Challenge.  Regardless of where you came from, I thank you for visiting me.

Now, it's time to rock!  But first an introduction to me, and to (more on that later) Canada Day.

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, who is sick and hopefully will be returning soon.  Her co-conductors are:   Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, Cathy of Curious as a Cathy and (finally) me.  Callie of JAmerican Spice blogs from time to time.  

Our guest conductor for the month of July is Driller AA of Driller's Place.  Welcome, Driller AA!

For our theme today he has picked: "Your Pick"  Since this is Canada Day in our neighbor to the north, I decided to (mostly) feature songs by Canadian artists.

First up, Rush.  There are so many songs of theirs that I love.  So I decided on this one:  Subdivisions. It's such a powerful song.  Listen to the lyrics closely.  It came out in 1982, but the lyrics are just as meaningful in 2019.

This next song came out in 1970 and - you guessed it - it's just as meaningful in 2019.  Joni Mitchell and Big Yellow Taxi.

Neil Young has many hits, but the most meaningful to me is this one, from 1989.  Rockin' in the Free World.''

When it came to the Guess Who, it took me a while to make up my mind.  So many good songs (some pretty political). I chose a song that has Canada as its topic - Runnin' Back to Saskatoon.

Songwriter Leonard Cohen was born near Montreal, Canada.  I haven't posted this song in so long, and I don't think I posted this version, either.  Cohen's voice is...well, you just have to hear it.

Getting a little grim?  Let's lighten it up with a duo.  Half of it is Canadian.  Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber in I Don't Care.  

I end this with Triumph and "Fight the Good Fight".

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers - have a piece of cake for me. 

Day one of the Ultimate Blog Challenge #blogboost.