Music Moves Me and June Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

It's collision time.  Two memes, the 15th of the month Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, and the every Monday Music Moves Me, have collided in a mashup of flowers and music.

What to do?  Well, why do I have to do anything?

How about this:  Music first and if you are here for the flowers, why not stop a few minutes, listen to some music, and then move on to my Bloom Day offerings?

Who are the members of Music Moves Me ?  We are bloggers who blog with music each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only- Please post containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)  Every other week we have a theme and on alternate weeks we have "You Pick".  

Our guest conductor for June is Michelle from Musings and Merriment.

Michelle has picked for her theme:  "You Pick".  

In 1963, 15 year old "Little" Peggy March had a big hit with the song "I Will Follow Him".  This is a 50th anniversary recording done by the now senior citizen Peggy March in 2013.

An RIP to singer Ricky Valance, a Welsh singer who died this week at the age of 84.  He had been suffering from dementia.  This was his big 1960 hit in the United States "Tell Laura I Love Her."  I never knew it had been briefly banned by the BBC.

I also chose this Four Seasons song from 1963: Walk Like a Man, because I needed to hear Frankie Valli's voice.

We really do need to get up and dance sometimes.  The Trammps and Disco Inferno.

And now that I'm in the mood for disco, I will close the music portion of this blog with a live performance of the late, great Donna Summer and MacArthur Park.

Now, it's time for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

In my zone 5b garden near Binghamton, New York, the flowers have gone into overdrive, making up for the barren winter months.  Some of my flowers couldn't wait for June 15: my columbines and my rhododendrons wouldn't wait.   I have so much to show you that I had to put some of my flowers into collages. We've been fortunate with the weather - some cool weather, some hot weather, a threat of isolated frosts Saturday night that didn't pan out.

Marigolds, a french one on the left and a white one on the right.

Hanging baskets.  I made the four on the left. The one on the right was my Mother's Day gift.

This is the end of the season for pansies, unless we have a cool summer.

Orange geranium.

Four seed geraniums, from Home Depot. The hybrids have their place, but I love these, too.

I normally don't buy zinnias as starts, but I was impatient this year.  These are Double Zahara Yellow and I hope to use them in mini-bouquets.

I haven't purchased pinks in years, but decided:  why not?

Petunias, two that caught me eye. 

These change how they look according to how warm or cool it is.

White bleeding heart is still blooming, but is on its way out. (The background variegated leaves are from dead nettle).

Yellow bleeding heart and cranesbill geranium.

Potato flower.

Meanwhile, indoors, three African violets bloom.

My area of New York State continues to reopen.  We are not done with this dread virus, though, and I hope all of my readers are healthy and doing well this June 15.

Thank you to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting this meme every 15th of the month.

And thank you for Xmas Dolly, who has resumed hosting duties for Music Moves Me.  I thank Cathy of Curious as a Cathy for her taking on this responsibility for the past several months.

Have a great day!

The Colors of Mid June

A quick post today, as it is so beautiful outside.  It's the last week of spring.  Come take a short wildflower walk with me.

The temperature is in the high 60's.  It is pleasant, with low humidity.  It's days like these that make up for our long, long winters.  Well, almost.

Taken on the Vestal Rail Trail, Vestal, New York, between Thursday and today.

Rugosa roses.

Another view.  Although these are invasive, they smell so nice.  I wish I could pick them for potpourri.

I kept thinking of the old song "A Bicycle Built for Two".

I should know what these are.

Finally, I believe this is from a spirea which has naturalized.

What amazes me about this little exercise walk is how many of these flowers are white and yellow.  These must be the colors of mid-June.

Want more flowers? Join me tomorrow for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Kitty Litter Drying Results

What were the results of my recent attempts at drying flowers for potpourri?

Here is my recent post on my attempts to dry lilacs blooming in my yard using an internet hack I found- cat litter.

Well, guess what happened.  It didn't work.  Here are the lilacs after drying- and they have almost no scent.

I don't know what I did wrong but next year, it will be back to the drawing board, so to speak.

Then there was an experiment with lily of the valley which grows underneath one of my hedges.  My mother in law loved that scent.

Here was the lily of the valley in the cat litter.

And the result.  It dried beautifully, but has almost no scent.

I'm not sure what I can do now.  I'll have to do research.  I am hoping still to be able to use these blooms, and I will find a way.

Yoda said (or will say, in a future we are trying to build now) "Do or do not.  There is no try".

Even when it comes to potpourri.

As they said in the old days, "stay tuned".

Flyover Skies #SkywatchFriday

Interesting times we live in.

Last Saturday, June 6, our area (the Southern Tier of upstate New York) was visited by two vintage planes, courtesy of Operation Thanks from Above held by the National Warplane Museum.  The purpose was to provide a flyover all through the Southern Tier of New York (our border with Pennsylvania), with the planes flying over some 50 doctors offices and hospitals, including our local hospitals in Binghamton and Johnson City.

Spouse and I hoped we could get to see it, but the planes were about 5 minutes early and we had barely gotten out of the car when we heard them coming.  I only had my iPhone SE (1st generation) with me and I quickly snapped six pictures.

Only three had a trace of the planes, and these pictures barely show the planes, so you will have to use your imagination.  In this first picture, see the cloud to the left of the house?  About halfway down the blue sky you will see a tiny dot just to the left of the cloud.

In this one, just to the left of the tree and between the first and second wire from the bottom, another dot.

And in this one, in the upper part of the photo you can see two white dots and contrails.  Yup.  Really impressive (not).

The planes were a Douglas C-47, called “Whiskey-7″,and a P-51 Mustang called “MadMax.”

I really have to "up" my photographic game.  I don't want to spend many hundreds of dollars on a camera that I wouldn't know how to use, anyway.  But I wish I could have gotten you, my cherished readers, some pictures.

Earlier that week, before the flyover, there were some lovely, puffy clouds.  I love that deep blue sky.

Here, at the end of May, a store is frozen in time.

At the end of May, it still has its Easter ads up and clouds were visible in the reflection on the glass.

We've never seen these sights before.  Hopefully we never have to see these signs again.

Yesterday, this store reopened for inside sales at reduced capacity.  Today, our part of New York reopens under "Phase 3" as we continue to hope we can continue our state's coronavirus recovery.

Join Yogi and other bloggers who watch the sky each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Red vs White #ThursdayTreeLove

The horse chestnuts have finished blooming for 2020, but I want to share my memories with you.

If they look familiar, I've blogged about them before.

2018 Tree Love post
2017 Tree Love post



But what I wanted to bring you today is a little Battle of the Horse Chestnuts - white vs. red, the two varieties we have.  The white ones are much more common.  The reds are a hybrid.

You decide which you like the best, red vs. white.

White closeup

White full size

Red (but really more pink) closeup

Red fullsize (noting this is a young tree).

And the winner is....? Please comment below.


I am joining Parul at Happiness and Food for her bi-monthly #ThursdayTreeLove

Ragged Robins #WordlessWednesday

Two types of robins I want to show you today.

Ragged Robin (right side) is a wildflower ,which I haven't noticed that much in previous years but is having a banner year in 2020.  It enjoys wet conditions.

And then there is our robin.  I had blogged about a robin's nest in our back yard.  Eventually, the two robins were ready to leave the nest.  I don't know what happened to one of them but here is the other.  At this point it had been sitting where it is for almost a day.  Look in the center of the photo, right above the fence.

So I decided to creep up and see how close I can get.  My iPhone SE (first generation, which is like a small iPhone 6) doesn't have a good zoom function.

Closer.

Still closer.

The robin is getting alarmed.

Body language says "That's close enough" and I stopped.

I apologize for the not great photos but this type of photography is something I can't do with this camera...I mean, phone.

He (or she) stayed there a few more hours and was gone the next morning.

Joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for #WordlessWednesday.

An Uncomfortable History

I first published this post on November 10, 2016.  I've been thinking of posting it again, and I feel the time is right.  If the following post makes you uncomfortable, please come back tomorrow, when I will resume my blog's normal light heartedness.

Still with me?

In 2016, I blogged this in connection with the rising tide of hatred expressed against Jews.  Now, the focus has changed and there is a cry for justice and change in cities and towns throughout our country.

This brings us to have to examine a history of our country that has many uncomfortable moments.

On some days, it seems that hate oozes from every dark corner of this country.   People of hate have been encouraged, thinking that finally, the conditions are right once again for their hate to blossom.

Historic hate can be so easily forgotten.  Some of the history of my community has been forgotten.  It's time to remember.  We tried in 2016, but the lesson did not take.

Have you ever thought about what happens when hate becomes accepted, and public? How about here in Binghamton, New York, a small city in upstate New York?

You don't need to look too far, because it happened almost 100 years ago.

This looks like an ordinary cross, doesn't it?  It's not.

Do you think that hate was never out in the open in our great country?  History tells us it was.   Parts of our history (from slavery to lynchings) remind us of the evil portions of our history.  Now it's still there, but being exposed by modern technology (such as cell phone cameras).

One such example is an organization I do not even wish to name completely.  I will simply refer to it as the Klan.

This organization exists today, still trying to spread its message of hate.  At one time, it was a lot bigger, and people openly boasted of their membership.  Now, in our times of protest, they have come out again.

Did you know that the Klan had a complicated relationship with the area around Binghamton, New York, an area which is my adopted hometown?  We think of the Klan as an organization whose strongholds were in the South, but, for a time, that was not true.

In the 1920's, many people were afraid, just as they are today.  In our area, they were fearful of a rapid increase in immigration. People were afraid of losing jobs, of losing power, of losing things important to them.  The Klan had a presence in our "Twin Tiers" through the 20's and 30's.

These pictures were taken at an exhibit at the Bundy Museum in Binghamton, which ran in November of 2016.

This is a "heroic" recruitment posters.  At one time, in fact, the New York headquarters of this hate organization was located in Binghamton.

This is a letter on official letterhead boasting of their existence, and asking that someone write away for recruitment material.  Today, someone would contact them via social media or their website.  They are active on both.

This organization came complete with a secret language and even songs.  (I looked for this on You Tube, but the video postings are all from members of this organization.  I will not link to them.)

For some reason this picture kept posting sidewise - on the bottom is a Klan business card.

Wall near where the Klan temple was located, Binghamton, New York

You may be wondering about that cross at the beginning of my post.   That cross was once part of the Klan temple at the corner of Henry and Wall Street in Binghamton.  And, in a great irony (or perhaps intentional), that area of Binghamton now holds a monument in honor of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Also on display was a newsletter of this organization, published in 1924. It talked about what would happen if the Catholics took over the United States.  I was young, but I can remember how John F. Kennedy, running for President in 1960, had to fight anti-Catholic feelings.  There was also an advertisement page, and ads were plentiful, including for a printer of invites to weddings and other special occasions.

The fight against hate never ends.  Now, there is a movement to declare the Klan as a terrorist organization.

They aren't the only hate organization that needs our attention, though..

In order to make progress we must remember where we were, and never go back there again.

Keep that in mind, as history is made before our eyes.

Jackie Jet Jazzman #MusicMovesMe

It's Monday!  It's time for some music, as I join with the music lovers of Music Moves Me.

Who are the members of Music Moves Me ?  We are bloggers who blog with music each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only- Please post containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)  Every other week we have a theme and on alternate weeks we have "You Pick".  

Our guest conductor for June is Michelle from Musings and Merriment.

Michelle has picked for her theme:  "Songs that begin with the letter J".  

There are so many of them and I can only pick a handful.

Jump Into the Fire - Harry Nilsson, from 1984.

Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares (I've had this on my blog recently but I don't mind repeating it.) which I found, a little to my surprise, that this is actually a cover. 

Jackie Blue - the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, from 1974.

Jet City Woman - Queensryche, from 1990.

Jazzman - Carole King, from 1975.

Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody - instead of  the David Lee Roth cover I am more familiar with, I decided to go with the Louis Prima cover.  I read on You Tube that  Just a Gigolo actually dates from 1929 and I Ain't Got Nobody from 1915.  Two oldies but goodies!

And that, music lovers, is a wrap!

Same time, same place next Monday. 

Pandemic Farmers Market

It's been months since I have posted a farmers market picture.  There was winter, of course, but then there was a pandemic, and so much got disrupted.

In New York State, where I live, the farmers market where we live (a year round outdoor market) never closed, but, to be honest, I stopped going towards the end of March because I didn't feel safe there.  (Why not?  It's complicated, it was fixed, we all learned and entered our New Normal.  Basically, I felt it was too closed in, and it was hard to keep social distancing.)

There was a learning curve - some vendors left (offering other options to their clients), the space opened up some, and, finally enough spring weather arrived and some vendors were able to move outdoors.  And, the garage doors farmers used to access the building were opened up, giving it more ventilation.

We are fortunate - we have a car, and we can afford some of the prices.  The prices are not at all out of line, given what the farmers must do to make their livings, but at the same time, there are a lot of people out of work, depending on food giveaways.  It is a hard time for many.

Many people are seeking to grow their own food, but farmers markets are also more important than ever as commercial food distribution channels struggle to adjust to the changes in our society.

I started going again (every other week) with my spouse in May.  It used to have a one shopper per family limit, which is not strictly enforced anymore, but we still tend to separate.

Yesterday, at the market, this is some of what we found.

Lettuce.

Asparagus. (This asparagus is so, so fresh.)

Fresh garlic.  We won't have bulbs until the fall and these are more like green garlic.  But it's garlic.

And mushrooms, also so fresh.  They last in the refrigerator.

We also bought chicken eggs, duck eggs and a two pack of whole wheat handmade English muffins.

I shudder to think of if we have to close back up.  I am so grateful for the chance to buy fresh food from farmers I've known for years.  Do we recognize each other with our masks on?  Maybe not, but we are both there, and that is what matters.

There is one piece of good news for our area - a portion of Binghamton, New York (where I used to work before I started working from home in March) which hasn't had a supermarket for over 20 years is going to get one - not a national chain but a store a year or so in the making, set up by our local Council of Churches.

What is happening, as far as food, where you live?  

Tiptoe Through the Emails

I should have been getting ready for my 50th high school reunion this weekend.  A trip to New York City awaited.  I imagined me walking the halls of my high school for the first time since June of 1970.

But the event was cancelled, joining a long list of cancelled events.

So, I sat on my couch and felt sorry for myself, as I deleted some long-overdue for deletion emails.

I scrolled through the months. Some I kept.  Many I deleted.

A flyover, scheduled for today, of two "old" warplanes, on this, the 76th anniversary of D-Day.  It will fly over a number of cities and towns in the Southern Tier of New York, including my doctor's office and the hospital where my brother in law spent three weeks recovering from COVID-19.

A rescheduling of an online event "to honor and respect the nation's grief".

My welcome to the New York City public library; I have a card now (thanks to the pandemic) for the first time in almost 50 years.

Emails with jokes, with videos, with attempts to cheer each other up and keep each other entertained during lockdown.

Scroll by scroll, I experienced the COVID-19 lockdown backwards.

I passed the confirmation of the registration for my high school reunion.

Then, reservation confirmation emails for motels, for the Amtrak Auto Train Service.  Receipts from merchants in various states, reminding me of vacations.  Emails from businesses no longer in business.

Newsletters from our local libraries (some finally opening back up for curbside only as of June 8).

I only scrolled through several months, but it was like passing through a couple of lifetimes.

In junior high school, each year, we sat through assembly and watched the movie "The Time Machine". I have no idea why my school did it but we did.  One of my favorite parts was when the time traveler was in his machine, looking at the mannequin in a dress shop and how its dress changed through the years.

Here it is, if you are interested.  My time machine, if you call it that, was backwards.

This is the 76th anniversary of D-Day, the invasion of France by Allied Troops that helped to lead to the defeat of Nazism and fascism.

But now, 76 years later, we are back in battle.  The battle has several fronts:  COVID-19, racism, and a struggle to find ourselves and the heart of our country in our pandemic world.

History is being written before our eyes.

What it says is up to us.

Clouds Gather #SkywatchFriday

A couple of recent storms have led to interesting pictures.  Not the most spectacular, but there is interest in even the not-so-spectacular.

Observe:

Reflections in a puddle.

Clouds gather.

The sky glows.

And a final glow.

Upstate New York continues to march towards summer. 

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

Lilacs and Geraniums

When the lilacs bloom, I think of my mother, who passed away in 1965.  We did not have any lilacs in our yard.  In fact, we did not have a yard.  I grew up in a small apartment in a New York City housing project.

She loved a talcum powder called Lilacs and Roses.

I was fortunate to buy a house that had one lilac bush on one of my property borders.

Eventually, the white lilac of my other neighbor grew big enough that part of it hung over my property.

Several years ago, we planted a third lilac.  This was supposed to be yellow lilac - as you can see, it is not yellow, but no matter.  We love it, anyway.

Our house also came with a climbing rose that our one neighbor told us was possibly 50 years old, but it is now in rose heaven.  But we still have the lilac.

So, last week, I took some of these lilacs and did a little experiment in using kitty litter to dry lilacs so I can use them later in potpourri.  I also am drying some lilies of the valley which will be ready (if it works) later this week.

Once more, I let the scent of lilacs, bring me back, bring me back to the 1960's....

I escaped, and gradually made my way to a little house in an upstate New York village, free to pursue my life and my lilacs. 
Today would have been my mother's birthday.  She couldn't have lilacs but she grew beautiful geraniums.  Now, I grow geraniums in my garden, too.

I've been staring at the screen, wondering how to end this post.  Maybe I'll just end it here, and say, happy birthday in Heaven, Mom.

Sweet Rocket Wednesday #WordlessWednesday

Another walk on the Vestal Rail Trail in Vestal, New York.  Sadly, this came hours before the town was put under a State of Emergency with a curfew during the threat of violence that has gripped our nation.  But the trail itself was an oasis of peace.  It wasn't too crowded, either.

Rockets are more than vehicles that take us into space.  This is sweet rocket, a late May/early June wildflower here in upstate New York.

It comes in purple...

It comes in pink.

At the same time, brambles are blooming.

I must include the usual sign of the times.

Joining up with Sandee at Comedy Plus and her Wordless Wednesday.

The Lost Playground

It seems so ordinary, in extraordinary times, to think about the apartment I grew up in.  It was in the Bronx, in a zip code that is now about 77% non-white.  This zip code has one of the highest rates of positive COVID-19 tests in New York City.

The apartment was in a public housing project.

I've been thinking about that a lot recently, wondering how many deaths the housing project I grew up in has suffered, and the other suffering its residents must face on a daily basis.  I did a quick internet search and came up with an article a few weeks old in a New York City newspaper about COVID-19 deaths suffered by employees of the New York City Housing Authority.

It was accompanied by a picture.

A picture of the housing project I lived in for 21 years.

Now, I am 150 miles away, living in upstate New York.  And no, I do not know what the residents of my former neighborhood feel or think.  Their experience is not my experience.  Even when I grew up there, it wasn't. 

Then, there are the events of last week, which have touched many, many cities and towns and villages all over the United States as frustration has boiled over into rage.  But bad actors have mixed in and are trying to take advantage of the outrage to do what they do best - destroy and attempt to terrorize.  As this is not a political blog, I will, instead, talk about an incident a few miles from where I live.

Sunday night in Binghamton, New York, where my employer is located, there was a peaceful protest in a city park called Rec (Recreation) Park.  Mere hours after the protest ended, people unknown (at the time of me writing this post) torched its playground and destroyed it.

The playground was built in 2016 by volunteer labor, and was the largest all inclusive playground in New York State.  Our community was so proud of it.  Families of all colors used it.  It was across the street from an elementary school.

This is what it looked like.

The police stress that they don't believe the fire was set by protestors.  But the biggest losers are the children.  Playgrounds have been closed here by COVID-19.  When they can finally reopen, the children here would have lost still more.

The community has vowed the playground will be rebuilt.

It will be a small part of rebuilding our country.

Songs of the Times #MusicMovesMe

Monday has rolled around once again and it is time for Music Moves Me.  It is also my 46th wedding anniversary, and an extraordinary week of events still unfolding.

First, the anniversary:

Spouse and I may still not be ready to travel, but music is always there to help us celebrate.  Today, I'd like to celebrate with my readers and the members of Music Moves Me.

Who are the members of Music Moves Me ?  We are bloggers who blog with music each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most welcome to join! (Music Posts Only- Please post containing links to You Tube or Vimeo for actual music.  Other posts are subject to removal or labeling as "No Music".)  Every other week we have a theme and on alternate weeks we have "You Pick".  

Our guest conductor for June is Michelle from Musings and Merriment.

Michelle has picked for her theme:  "You Pick"  I'm picking songs about love and songs about anniversaries.  Nothing is guaranteed, especially in these times we could not have imagined even months ago, but I so hope we are both around to enjoy many more anniversaries.

I will start with this classic about anniversaries:  Happy Anniversary- Little River Band

The Anniversary Waltz - so many covers of this 1941 song to choose from.  How about Bing Crosby?  (sigh....)

Carl Carlton - Everlasting Love

We are getting a bit too mushy here - so here's a different view of things.  The Doobie Brothers cover of Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While).

What some think is the greatest love song ever - not sure about that but it's a great song that I've had on my blog before.  God Only Knows by the Beach Boys.

But now, current events dominate our thoughts. This not being a political blog, I won't give that type of commentary.  Just a couple of songs....

First, a song I found on another blog in this blog hop, one I had not heard of until yesterday.  Alicia Keys and "We've Gotta Pray", a song released in 2014.

Finally, the classic A Change is Gonna Come, Sam Cooke, from 1963.

1963.  2014.  Today.

I offer these songs without further comment.

You know what comes next:  see you next Monday, same time, same place.