The Transformation

Today - surprise - it is overcast, grey and dreary where I live in the Southern Tier of upstate New York.

But yesterday, the sun was out and I decided to take a picture of hydrangeas.

Now, you might ask why I would take a picture of some dead flowers.  And I would tell you, they have their own beauty.

Once, they may have looked like this.

Or this.

But then the end of the outdoor growing season came.  Their leaves changed.

And one day, the frost came.

But their beauty has not ended.

One day soon, they will wear snow on their tops, like hats.  They will wait.

Then next year, the cycle will start again.

The Day of the Palmetto Bug

Please don't be put off by the title of this post.  But I do have to warn you in advance that when you blog about Florida, you can't truly blog about it without mentioning the insect life.

I do love palm trees, though.

I grew up in New York City and wanted so badly to get out of the place that I ended up, as a newlywed, in Tampa, Florida, where I had family.  Years ago, I did a guest post on the blog of the woman who introduced me to blogging,  You, my dear readers, are (of course) welcome to read the whole thing.

Something you need to know about me is that I tend to do things in reverse order.  Many people in the North dream about snow birding in Florida in the winter when they become old.  On the other hand, I moved to Florida when I was in my early 20's, lived there for a little under two years, and ended up (eventually) moving back to New York State.

Why?  The insect life, including (but not limited to) palmetto bugs was a large part of the reason.

Palmetto bugs, in case you have never lived in Florida, are a type of Southern cockroach.  They are a fact of life in Florida.  Besides being large (and I do mean LARGE) and somewhat able to fly (well, it's more like gliding) they carry diseases such as salmonella.

My spouse and I quickly learned about palmetto bugs within days of moving to Florida.   It started when we went to the laundromat to wash our clothes and there, larger than life, we found a cockroach like insect in the washing machine as we started to add our clothes.  We decided we would never use that laundromat again.

But you couldn't escape these insects we were told were called Palmetto bugs.

My father came down for a visit, staying with us, and didn't even blink an eye when he saw them.  My Dad was like that.  But to me, it was embarrassing.

The last straw was finding one in the kitchen of our small newlywed apartment, in what was then a not-that-desirable neighborhood called Hyde Park.  (In fact, we were told NEVER to cross the street.  If we stayed on our side, it was fine.  But don't ever go "there".)

Spouse was so upset about this bug that (I kid you not) he took the refrigerator and dropped it on the bug.  Actually, it just about takes a refrigerator to put an end to one of them.  It left a spot we could never get out.

Now, fast forward 30 years.

Since the day we left in 1976, we had never been back to Florida.  In 2006,  it was time.  Florida bound we were.

We took the Auto Train down. At last, we arrived in Tampa, with our teenaged son in tow.

I have two cousins who were born, and grew up, in Tampa.   One of them, Barry, and his (now former) companion Billie decided they were going to give us a tour of Tampa so we could see how it had changed in 30 years.  My son came along for the ride.

Barry and Billie drove us around Tampa. And finally, I asked Barry if he would take us back to where we had started our married life.

Of course he would.

We couldn’t believe it.  What was once not too desirable was up and coming and most desirable.   We went past what, when we lived there, was a small neighborhood mall – it was now something spanning several blocks called Hyde Park Village.  New construction was everywhere.  The “don’t go there” neighborhood was gone, razed, with condos going up on the site.  Our neighborhood had gone upscale.

The two family house we lived in was still there.  We didn’t recognize the street at all.  It looked really nice.

We parked in front of the house.  And I had to open my big mouth and say “Say, wouldn’t it be nice if we could see the apartment again?”

“Why not?” replied Billie.  She marched up the stairs and knocked on the door.

She came back down.  A young Hispanic man had answered her knock. And yes, we were more than welcome to come in and look around.

So we took our son up and showed him where we had started married life over 30 years before.  The young man proudly showed us around the apartment.  The kitchen had been totally renovated. The palmetto spot was gone.

So now, fast forward again, to 2019.  My spouse is already retired, and I am getting close.  And now, Florida beckons. We want to escape the harsh upstate New York winters for a month or maybe two.  Palmetto bugs or no palmetto bugs.

Funny how things change.

And that two family house in Hyde Park?  My cousin Barry isn't sure it's even there anymore.  There's been a lot of changes in that neighborhood.  But, if we come down again, he's willing to take us there to find out.

And hopefully, we won't see any palmetto bugs.

Winter Blast-Garden Bloggers Bloom Day November 2019

It's the 15th of November.  It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day but the weather didn't get the message.

My front yard, November 13

This is NOT what Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is supposed to be about.

No more outdoor flowers.  This was the last of them, earlier this week.

It's a new day dawning.

It may be colorful, but it is sure cold, too.

So we'll have to come indoors and see what is blooming in my zone 5b home in the Southern Tier of New York.

African violets start the show.

This is a fancy variety I took a chance on, grown by Lyndon Lyon in Syracuse.  Too bad I couldn't get the iPhone to take a nice macro.  It's hard to see but the leaves are variegated.  The flowers are not that showy.

My one Phalaenopsis that is blooming.  Do you get a suspicion that I like purple?

We can switch to pink, with one of my Thanksgiving Cactii.

Remember last month, when I said I wouldn't rescue any of my outdoor flowers?  Well, I lied.

This geranium is so big and beautiful, I begged my spouse to carry it in.  I decided to take a picture while I still had it in natural light - last week.  Since it's still blooming, I don't call that "cheating".

Also, there is this impatien, and I might take cuttings.

Joining up this week with Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who runs the 15th of each month Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

And, Yogi at Skywatch Friday.

Two Seasons In One #ThursdayTreeLove

Welcome!

Today, I join Parul at Happiness and Food in celebrating #ThursdayTreeLove every second and fourth Thursday of the year.

I had a dilemma.  I knew my readers enjoy seeing both fall foliage and winter snow.

Well, nature made it easy for me.  Why not have both in one week?

November 6, the last colors of fall.

November 12.  The snow came while a number of trees still had their leaves. 

What did the trees think?  Well, Nature didn't ask their opinion.

Expect the unexpected.  Don't be set in your ways.

Good lessons for us, too.

Peaceful Veggies #WordlessWednesday

Fall is over.  It's snowing.  Snow is on the ground.  It is brrrr cold this morning; our coldest morning so far this season.

It seems frightening things are happening all over the world, so I will make this post an outpost of refreshment.

Have you ever thought of photographing veggies?  People paint them, so why not photograph them?

Did you know cauliflower came in more than one color?

So do sweet peppers.

Brassicas.

Fennel and celery.

This "pointy" stuff is an heirloom broccoli.

Winter squash provides one more memory of the season now gone.

Doesn't this make you hungry?  It makes me wish the growing season hadn't ended.

Joining Sandee for #WordlessWednesday and Esha and Natasha for their #WordlessWednesday.

Jimmy Carter

I have repeated this blog post several times since I first wrote it in 2010.  One of those times was ths past March.

I'm moved to blog once again about our oldest living President, Jimmy Carter, age 95.  He had a number of falls recently, and is having brain surgery this morning to relieve pressure on his brain caused by fluid buildup.

We wish him the best outcome. 

James Earl Carter still lives outside Americus, Georgia in a modest house on a family compound.  At least up to now, he still teaches Sunday School and visitors can come and participate in the class.  (If you do, unpaid plug, you might want to consider this wonderful Bed and Breakfast.

More recently (2015), Carter has been treated for melanoma that spread into his brain. He also has an extensive history of pancreatic cancer, the cancer that Jeopardy host Alex Trebek is receiving treatment for.   


Once again, my post from 2010.


They called him....

The Peanut President

Jimmy Carter has always fascinated me.  He came seemingly out of nowhere, seemed to have what it took to be President, but once he got into office he never succeeded.  Yet, in private life, he has succeeded beyond what may have been his wildest dreams.

What in his upbringing, what in his childhood values, what in his education made this man?

And why has this area of Georgia grown organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and others?  What here was so special?

We are visiting the Americus/Plains area to find out. In this blog entry I am concentrating on Jimmy Carter the man.

This is the house that Jimmy Carter grew up in.

Jimmy Carter grew up outside of Plains, GA in a solidly middle class family.  The actual town, which no longer exists, was called Archery.  The realities of rural life in those days created a childhood of lots of hard physical labor.  His father, loving as he was, did not believe in keeping anything on the farm that did not "pay its own way".   And this was hard farming, although the Carters were rich enough to have tenant farmers.  Still, Jimmy worked side by side with area black farmers, performing distasteful chores such as "mopping cotton".

"Miss Lillian", Jimmy's mother, was a nurse who did not turn anyone away, black or white.

Jimmy's father encouraged Jimmy to work and play alongside of the local black farmers.

The Carters grew cotton, peanuts, and sugar cane.  Student farmers still raise these crops at the homestead today.  They kept goats for meat, and mules to plow the fields.

In this windmill, is the germ of using "alternate energy".  There is nothing new about windpower.

The Plains High School the Carters attended has been closed (as part of consolidating various school districts).  This is a classroom set up the way it would have looked for Jimmy Carter in the 7th grade. Like so many famous people, Jimmy Carter credits a high school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, as another great influence on his life.  In 1940 Eleanor Roosevelt invited her to the White House to honor her.  I highly recommend reading about her life.

 This is the outside of the high school.

Plains was the "Big City" for Jimmy Carter.  This is what it looks like today:

One day I hope to return to Americus, and experience the area that shaped this humanitarian.


So sad to see falls impact the life of still another aging great American.

Music and Native Americans - #MusicMovesMe

Welcome, Monday!  It's time for 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,  please! Non-music posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)   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. 

This month our guest conductor, Stunning Keisha, Cathy,wants us to celebrate Native American Heritage. Put together a playlist of songs written/performed by Native Americans or inspired/about Native Americans.

It's an interesting topic.

When I lived in Wichita, Kansas in the late 1970's, I worked or interacted with various people, all who identified as white, yet claimed some Native American ancestry.   Every one of them was proud  of that ancestry.  Also, for a time, I lived in walking distance of Wichita's Mid-America All-Indian Center (which is still in operation) and attended a pow wow there.

Where I live in New York State, we are surrounded with names taken from Native Americans (some mangled). Allegany, Otsiningo, Chenango, Susquehanna, Owego, Apalachin, Keuka, Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Skaneateles, Canandaigua, Chemung, Genessee, Ontario, and others.  Where I grew up in New York City:  Canarsie, Manhattan. Where my spouse grew up:  Tuckahoe, Mahopac, Poughkeepsie

I wanted to share a couple of photos with you,.  This is a photo taken at the Allegheny River rest stop on I-86/NY Rt 17 in western New York State.  I don't remember if this is on land owned by the Seneca Nation but it is a beautiful place with plaques explaining their culture.  Some road signs in this area are both in the Seneca language, and in English.

Here is one of those road signs.

One of many plaques at the Allegheny River rest area

I also highly recommend a visit to the Ganondagan Historic Site in upstate New York, near Victor, New York (about 20 miles to the south of Rochester).

But back to our topic....

It turns out there are quite a number of rock performers who are either Native American, or have a degree of Native American ancestry.

Redbone was a band composed of various Native Americans, including Pat and Lolly Vegas, that had a big hit in 1974 with "Come And Get Your Love."

But before then the Vegas brothers had performed with several other bands.  I found this song by Pat and Lolly Vegas, called The Robot Walk.

Randy Castillo, who drummed for Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue, was of Apache descent.  And, since I've had a hankering lately to hear Ozzy's 1991 song No More Tears...well, here Randy is.

And, from his one Motley Crue album, Hell on High Heels.

Lead singer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is said to be part Mohican on his mother's side.  I thought of picking a song called Johnny Kick a Hole in the Sky, but decided on one of my favorites of theirs, Californication.

How about James Brown, who is part Apache?  What great song should I choose?  OK, I chose "Living In America".  This is also Veterans Day, and I this song that celebrates our country.

Last but not least, Jimi Hendrix, who had a Cherokee grandmother.  Here, a live performance of "Freedom".

And that's a wrap!

Join me again next Monday - same time, same place.

Don't Just Thank Them For Their Service

Tomorrow is Veterans Day in the United States and Armistice Day in many other countries,

This holiday was originally to mark the end of World War I (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month) but, now, we honor veterans of all wars. 

Tomorrow, as I do on all Veterans Days, I will think of my late father.

My late father suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI) during his World War II (non-combat) service, and lived with seizures and other side effects for the rest of his life.  After he came back from war he found it near impossible to find employment, a fate that too many veterans of our modern wars suffer.  For a time, he ran a newsstand with another veteran.  Finally, he found a civil service job but was never able to rise too high in the ranks, due to his disability (we are, after all, talking of the 1950's and 1960's).

When I visit a city or town, I tend to gravitate to the war memorials.   For some reason, I feel like I am in touch with my father.

I've written several posts about veterans and war over the years, many Civil War oriented.  Here are some.
Blood chits.
Fighting the Civil War at a VA hospital
Veterans Day and Andersonville
Veterans Day

Which bring us to "Thank you for your service".  I've always been uncomfortable with this phrase, and I am not the only one.

I'll never know what my Dad thought about it.  He died over 30 years ago, before this became common.

But I am uncomfortable with it for the same reason that I always point out that my Dad did not serve in combat.  Not because my Dad's role as a support person (a mechanic, which led to the injury that caused the TBI) was unimportant and possibly dangerous.  But because a person in combat experiences things that change him or her forever.  They may be here physically, but in spirit is a whole other thing.  They pay a price that only other combat veterans, and those civilians who have suffered in war, can understand.  I know several mothers of combat veterans, and it gives one a whole new perspective into how lives can change forever.

I would say "Don't just thank them for their service.  Do something that helps them or their family - not charity, which they don't want, but offer them a role, a purpose, in their lives after their military service.  Let them know they are thanked, not just with several ritualistic words"

Tomorrow, let us pause and remember.

Local Saturday - The Anniversaries

November 9.

In 1620, those aboard the Mayflower see land (Cape Cod).

In 1862, Union General Ulysses Grant bars Jews from southward travel - perhaps a precursor to the infamous General Order 11 on December 17 of that year.

In 1921, Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

In 1923, the second day of the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed attempt of the Nazi Party to seize power in Munich.  But history didn't count the Nazis out, no, far from it, leading up to....

In 1938, Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass.

In 1960, John Kennedy is elected President.

In 1965, the Great Northeast Blackout, extending into November 10, during which my mother passed away.

Kings of Freedom, University of Virginia, Berlin Wall Fragment

In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down.

It's strange, thinking that historical events seem to favor certain dates.

My lawn, November 9, 2019

But this year, at my house, it was calm, as winter had collided with Fall Thursday night and Friday.

Fall is trying to reclaim itself.

But watch out for history.

RIP to my mother, who helped encourage my love of learning and writing.   It took me a long time to realize that her death shaped me, in ways it took me years to understand.  I was a motherless daughter.

And that, too, is part of the legacy of November 9.

Seventh Floor Color #SkywatchFriday

I was so undecided today - I had so many sky photos to share.

But I can't let go of fall, even though we got our first snow yesterday.  I decided to show these pictures, from a couple of weeks ago, taken in the room where a Weight Watchers meeting I was attending was held.

Beautiful downtown Binghamton with our hills beyond.

State office building and Broome County Courthouse, Binghamton, New York

This morning, there is snow on the ground.
Fall, I miss you.

Join #SkywatchFriday, hosted each week by Yogi, and admire sky photos from all over the world.

Voting for Library Funding

We parked at the library for early voting and realized how full of potholes the parking lot was.

Within the library, two election workers blocked access to the main library - you could only go down to the voting area.  But if you could have entered the library, you would have entered a warm and welcoming place.  Local art always lines the wall leading to the checkout section.  

I've had a library card for the past - oh, 60 years, I figure.

But what if you came one day, and the library door was locked?  It's almost happened where we live, and in many other communities.  Just think:

Children with no place to go after school. No where to listen to story hour.  Nowhere to enjoy performances by local talent on summer evenings.

No one to help people looking for a job.  No one to help those with research questions.  Nowhere to borrow a pass to a local museum so you could get in for free.  Nowhere to borrow a wi fi hotspot.  Or to do research on any one of many databases.

No one to see local history, in the other of the two libraries whose funding we were voting on today.

Just think, having to do this every several years.  There had been no increase in five years, yet the demands on the libraries has only increased.

Our election results - the library funding passed.

The libraries can breathe relief.

Until next time.

Last Fall Foliage #WordlessWednesday

In another day, winter will be upon us where I live in the Southern Tier of New York.  Many parts of central/western New York have already experienced snow.

It will be our turn, but I wanted to close out the season with some of the last pictures of fall foliage.

Even last Sunday, there were still traces of green.

Gingkos on the edge of downtown Binghamton, November 1.

Hostas join in.

 A majestic tree, Vestal, New York.

One more, downtown Binghamton, New York

Alas. Our first snow should be tomorrow.

Farewell, autumn.

Linking with Sandee for #WordlessWednesday.

Fighting the Season for Sadness

You may think it's too early to think about Christmas.  After all, today is Election Day and I should be writing about elections and voting.  Not "The Holidays".

You'd be wrong about Christmas not being here yet.

All over the grocery stores, Christmas candy quickly took over the Halloween seasonal aisles.

Our local large grocery store, I noticed today, has already installed its Christmas wreath over the front entrance wall.

Well, more so than ever, Christmas is not a happy time for our family.


In 1998, my father in law died in his sleep on Christmas night.  In 2015, our family (inlaws) experienced holiday death in the family again when my brother in law's mother in law passed away right after Thanksgiving.  An aunt's sister died on Thanksgiving Day (November 26).

In 2018, my mother in law died on Black Friday (the day after the American Thanksgiving).   Two weeks later, one of my spouse's first cousins, someone he grew up with and knew all his life, died unexpectedly. Now those anniversaries draw near.

I so didn't want anything to do with Christmas last year that (with the help of an understanding cousin I will always be grateful to) spouse, son and I escaped to New York City (where the cousin lives) and did a bunch of non-Christmas things.

Even though I was sick for part of the visit, it has become a fond memory.


Now, it's time to remake holiday traditions.

Yes, now.  In 2019, even as we are telling relatives we don't want to exchange gifts this year. Maybe it's just time to step back.  So far, not that much blowback.  Well, a little.

Thanksgiving, we will do with pleasure.  I need to share a lot of gratitude.  After all, many have it worse than my spouse and me.  It's a major holiday for us.  Black Friday?  Well, we'll see.

Hanukkah, I will light the candles and visit Hanukkah House in Binghamton, New York (a seasonal museum), a tradition for myself and my spouse.

Christmas, we are hoping to have one of my spouse's cousins up here and also spend it with my autistic brother in law  No travel this year to see family.

The holidays.  Our way. We will not be bulldozed by what has become an out of control culture.

Do you face a similar situation?

Time Is On Our Side #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday and you know what that means - time for 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,  please! Non-music posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)   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.


Our honorary conductor this month is Cathy from Stunning Keisha. She has chosen as her theme:  You Pick!

This week my theme is "Time".  It's on my mind today because of our switch from daylight saving time back to standard time.

You're never too old to rock.  Time is on the side of these rockers, all of whom (OK, except one of them) are younger than I am.

The group these rockers in their 60's has formed is called Your Mom.  The group is real but it becomes, at the end, a commercial for Medicare supplements.  I can forgive that - I love this song of rockers that time hasn't tamed.

Time for a little nostalgia.  Anyone out there remember the TV show Gilligan's Island?  Those people also had a one year series in the mid 1960's called  It's About Time.  Check out the opening.

Time Is My Side - Rolling Stones. I chose this demo rather than the version that was finally released because I enjoyed its different vibe.

Cyndi Lauper and Time after Time - a song that always leaves me with teary eyes.

It's time to go, so I will end with two songs.

Pink Floyd and the iconic "Time", from their Dark Side of the Moon album.

I end with Clocks by Coldplay, a song that causes nostalgia to wash over me. 

That is a wrap.  See 'ya, same time, same place, next Monday.

Happy Belated 50th Birthday Internet!

On October 29, 1969, the Internet was born.  I'm just a few days late celebrating.

Back in 2009, I wrote a blog post called "So How Did the Baby Boomers Get Online in 1958?"  Since then, my then teenaged son has grown up, but he maintains his interest in Internet history.

As for me...I was late to the computer world.  I bought my first computer in December of 1996, and went online in January of 1997, as I explain below.  My amazing computer, which cost nearly $2,000. with a service plan, had all but a 1.6 GB hard drive.  I got online using a service called CompuServe.

For my browsing, I used a browser called Mosaic, and things looked just a little different.  You can still use Mosaic, too, via something called a "Browser emulator".  I tried it and...oh those memories.

And if you want to see how the Internet looked back in 1997, you can, too.  This is the archived page of Yahoo from January 9, 1997.

But, about 1958....

So How Did The Baby Boomers Get online in 1958?

First, I am not trying to mock my teenage son. But it shows how, in some ways, the mindset of the present generation is so much different from those of us born only 35 or 40 years earlier.

My son knows about what the computers of the 1950's looked like. People of my generation remember the UNIVAC.  My son has studied it.

Do you remember the famous "hoax" picture of the 1954 RAND prototype of the first home computer? Maybe that was what son was thinking about when he asked his question.

One evening he asked me "how did you get online when you were growing up? Did you have one of those huge computers in your bedroom?" I thought he was kidding me.

He wasn't.

Although he intellectually knew there was no "internet" as he knows it back in the 1950's or 1960's, he had to believe that there was something out there that I used, something very clunky, using technology full of vacuum tubes.

He couldn't believe I grew up in an era without home computers. 

Interestingly, son is also interested in "old technology". For example, he is looking for a good Betamax player (and has several Betamax tapes). He just couldn't make that intellectual leap of "no computer, no Internet".

Let's think about this a minute. I bought my first home computer (a bit later than other people, I admit) in late 1996 and went online in January of 1997. So my son was in kindergarten at the time.  That computer connected through a 14,400 baud modem,  and used Mosaic as its browser.  (How dated can you be?)

From his viewpoint, there was a computer in his life "forever".

This leads to another question.  When did the Internet start? The answer is complicated. This link has quite the discussion and the answer is..."it depends".

But no, we didn't have either the Internet or home computers in 1958.  Just typewriters, carbon paper and long distance.


So....did you get online in the early days of the Internet?  If you did, how was it?

When Will We Stop The Time Switch Madness?

It's so ingrained in us that we can't stop, even if some states have passed bills to ditch the switch, or lock the clock.

October, please come back!

I find myself writing these posts twice a year.  Tomorrow, I will wake up, and my spouse will reset our clocks, gaining back an hour we lost in March of this year.  And then, the sun will set just before 5pm to my delight (not).  Monday, when I go to work, I will not see full daylight at my house again until next Saturday.

Twice a year, our country goes through this agony (spring ahead, fall back, stumble around disoriented for a couple of days, then forget about the whole thing) as we discuss:

Why are we doing this?
Is it really necessary?

Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands don't do it.  Why should we?

Why must we?

                             Leonid and Friends cover of Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?)

It does make for some interesting quirks in travel.

I remember, back in the early 1980's, traveling through Indiana several times.  Indiana has a time zone line go through the state. Part of the state is on Eastern time and part on Central time.  Back then, there were counties on year round standard time and counties that observed daylight saving time.  As you drove through the state you gained and lost and gained and lost and could easily find yourselves two hours behind where you thought you should be.

There is the "daylight time doughnut" in Arizona.  The state is on standard time year round, but the Navajo Nation observes daylight time. But then, the Hopi Nation, whose territory is completely surrounded by the Navajo's territory, observes year round standard time like Arizona in general.   The Navajo's decision to not follow the State of Arizona (which they have the right to do) was made because portions of their territory extends into neighboring states that do have daylight time, and the Navajos wanted to be internally consistent within their nation.

Seven out of ten Americans support not changing our clocks during the year but most of us disagree on how to do it.  Even my spouse and I disagree.  He supports year round standard time, for the sake of children getting to class in the light, which about four in ten Americans agree with.  Another three in ten want year round daylight time.  I would rather we "split the difference" - advance 1/2 hour next spring and stay there with no more changes.

Although, truly, I wish October would return.  

What do you think about the time changes, if you live where Daylight Saving Time exists?

Criss Cross #SkywatchFriday

November 1.  Where does the time go?

On Sunday we will get our hour back and the sun will set at 4:54 pm.  I can't stand it.  I hate the transition back to Standard Time so much, and I know I'm not alone.

But, on the other hand - it will make sunset photos a little easier.

Today, we are under a flood warning until 5:22 (?) PM.  When the sun come up I don't know what I will find from the storms last night. Not hearing much on the news, so hopefully the news is good.  We got up to 72 degrees F (22.2 C) yesterday.  Our expected high for today is 45F (7 C).

Let's rewind fall slightly, in the meantime, to happier days.   A rare cloudless day and an uncommon bright somewhat cloudy day await.

Let's go back a few days and take a walk on a couple of mild late October day in the Southern Tier of upstate New York.

A magnolia turns yellow.

Not too much red this year but here is a good example of red.

Contrails criss-cross.

Join Yogi and other bloggers watching the sky each Friday at #SkywatchFriday.