Put on a Happy Face - The 8 Month Flood Anniversary

Today is the 8 month anniversary of the flooding in the Binghamton, New York area due to torrential rains caused by Tropical Storm Lee. 

I've blogged so much about this that I can write the words in my sleep:  "flood", "Tropical Storm Lee".  But words don't really begin to describe the last eight months here in the neighborhood of Westover, near Johnson  City, NY.  We've seen the best in people (neighbors coming together) and the worst (a drug addict setting a flood-vacated house in my neighborhood on fire).

I was so lucky in comparison to so many.  The flood waters stopped before they got to my house, by a measured distance I still shudder to think about.  We had water in our basement, but we never lost power.  We lost part of our first floor flooring.  Our front and back doors are doing this weird kind of settling thing.  But enough people in my neighborhood lost their homes, either temporarily or permanently, though. Westover also lost a large area employer - 1350 people - when their 800,000. square foot building flooded.  Fortunately they found suitable quarters several miles down the road but those 1350 jobs were touch and go for a while.  They still aren't guaranteed safe, not that any jobs can be nowadays.

How do you measure progress?  By the number of cars reappearing in neighborhood streets, due to people slowly returning to homes?  By stores continuing to reopen?  By trees coming back and blooming this spring?  By our Westover Y, once stripped down to the concrete floors and a desk consisting of a card table and a computer, now carpeted and once again boasting a front desk?



In the very hard hit neighborhood of Twin Orchards, the garage of a house being fixed up sports a happy face

A few hundred feet away, a beautiful Russian Olive tree blooms.  Nature endures.

Ours wasn't even the hardest hit area.  About 15 miles to the west of us is the village of Owego, the "coolest small town in America".  Many businesses have reopened after months of clean up efforts.  I love the mural on this building.

And near our house, a flooded shopping center is again open for business.

Thank you to the businesses who have stayed.  Thank you to the people who fed the stricken of my Westover neighborhood in the days after the waters receded.   Thank you to the employees of Wegmans Supermarket and BAE for going door to door to offer help when your own businesses were closed due to flooding.   Thank you, Maureen McGovern, for honoring a Westover fan with a visit and singing at a flood relief concert.

And thank you, dear reader, for allowing me to tell this story still another time on this, the 8 month anniversary of our flood.

What Disaster Movies Leave Out

Today is a theme day in the 2012 WordCount blogathon.  We are prompted to blog about five movies that have influenced our writing.

I don't watch movies that much, but I would like to approach this prompt from another angle:  Movies of the People.

Hollywood movies don't necessarily tell the true story of disasters.  We found that out on September 7 and 8, 2011.

These You Tube clips are going to look awfully boring to you if you have the time to watch them.  No explosions, no car chases, no high drama of mountains tumbling into rubble or Transformers blasting apart New York City or Hoover Dam.  No aliens, no Earth in danger, no superheroes flying through the sky to push back the asteroid about ready to hit. No, this was a different kind of disaster. 

This disaster started with heavy rains and ended up with rivers pouring into cities, into towns, into peoples' houses.  Roads were literally torn to pieces.  We were lucky here in the Binghamton, NY area because no one died (although my next door neighbor had to be deep water rescued from his SUV).. Some towns in upstate NY look like a giant hand picked them up and dropped them from a few hundred feet.  My good friend's mother still doesn't have her local supermarket.   The closest one is some 20 miles away.  She's 92 years old.

These two You Tube clips are the attempts of two local people with cell phones or video cameras to document what was happening around them.  The first clip, which I watched a number of times in the two months after the flood, features a drive down some streets in Johnson City, NY.  The music is "Mad World" by Gary Jules.  It sets the mood quite well.  The drive starts at a point a bit more than a mile from where I live.  Watching it, in a way, helped me make sense of some of this.

The second clip features some beautiful photography. If you don't have time to see the clip, at least see the beautiful sky a few seconds into the clip.

Disaster movies never show the aftermath, either.  The clean up, the putting back together of buildings, businesses and lives omehow never makes it onto the silver screen.  These clips won't show that part, either.  Because, you've got to admit, the truly dirty work isn't dramatic.  And movies, quite honestly, don't do "boring and everyday" too well.

That's what bloggers are here for.

Tomorrow, I will share some recent photos and let you know how we are doing with the part the movies don't show you on the 8 month anniversary of The Flood.

Civil War Sunday - Forgotten Helmira

One of the saddest chapters of the United States Civil War history is the story of Civil War prisoner of war camps.

At the start of the war, prisoners were exchanged fairly quickly, many times right on the battlefield.  The exact systems used for this and later "paroles" are beyond the scope of this blog post, but there are a lot of sources online to read more.

Eventually these systems broke down.  By the end of 1862, it was recognized that prisoners, on both sides of the war, needed to be held in a more permanent manner.  And this is where the horror really started.  By the end of the war, over 50,000. prisoners, from both sides combined, had perished.

Mention the word "Andersonville" to any well-educated American adult, and they will immediately recognize the name of what may have been one of the worst, if not the worst, of these prisons.  The site is located in Georgia not that far from Americus (home of Habitat for Humanity) and Plains (home of former President Jimmy Carter). Today, you can visit Andersonville.  I have, and I highly recommend that you do so, no matter what your nationality or ancestry.  There is a Prisoner of War Museum there that you can spend hours in.  Both Andersonville and the Prisoner of War museum are free of charge.

As my host in Americus told me, victors write history.  The North won the Civil War and it is important to note that the North had its share of notorious prisons for its prisoners of war.  The worst, perhaps,was Elmira Prison, located about an hour from where I live, in the City of Elmira, NY.  Its prisoners called it Helmira.

At Helmira, don't look for a developed historical site, with multiple monuments, as you will find at Andersonville.  Don't look for a visitor's center or a museum, either.  In fact, if you don't know exactly where the site is, you may never find it.  Signs in downtown Elmira point out sites related to Mark Twain, who summered in Elmira for 20 years.  You will find no sign pointing you to Elmira Prison.

What you will find, if you persevere, is a residential neighborhood and a vacant lot near a city boat launch, and a building owned by the City of Elmira water department.

There is also a flagpole with an informational plaque.

There is also this monument. 

Please note the monument is dedicated as much to the Northern soldiers who trained at the site before it was a prison, as to the Confederates who died there.  Such a difference from Andersonville, where the Prisoner of War museum aims to make the POW experience universal.

This is part of the boundary between the camp and the neighborhood, something called Foster's Pond.  The pond is about 1/3 the size that it was during the 1864-1865 period when the camp was used as a prison.  It was open for just about a year, and had to remain open after the war ended in April of 1865 as some of the prisoners were too sick to be transported home.


I will leave you with a picture of a community picnic pavilion near the site.  I wonder how many people who rent it know about the history of the site.

If it is true that victors write history - we in the North should be doing a much better job with Helmira.

Sustainable Saturday - Good King Henry at the Market

I am starting a new feature this Saturday - I may only run it for a month or two.  The outdoor Farmers Market season is upon us, as spring progresses here in upstate New York.  I am more out and about, and I find, enough times, that I am writing about farmers markets, or other sustainability type issues, on enough Saturdays anyway.

So maybe my inner muse is taking a hint.

Today, spouse and I traveled to Elmira (about an hour away) for a Civil War reenactment, so we decided to combine the trip with a trip to Ithaca, New York.  Ithaca is the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College, and their Saturday farmers market is a marvel of organic produce, local cheese, handcrafts, free range meat and eggs, food vendors including a very popular macrobiotic eatery, and practices that are adopted with a keen eye towards environmental impact.

The entrance is so inviting. (Full disclosure- this particular picture and the pansy picture were taken in a previous visit right before Earth Day in April.)

One of the many fine vendors - who can resist this name?

Pansies in April have progressed to....

...a beautiful show of rainbow chard and red and white radishes.

Veggies for sale included everything from the normal spring greens (spinach, mesclun, lettuce) to wild ramps and fiddleheads. 

One vendor was selling plants of Good-King-Henry, but we were unsure enough about it, despite its historical origins, to buy it.  It sounds like it is only edible in the early spring, so for us it may be more of a curiosity than a real help on our very small urban plot.  We did buy a sorrel plant from the vendor.  Sorrel is gourmet food for Japanese beetles but (knock on wood) it seems we have fewer of those beetles lately than in past years.


Have you grown Good-King-Henry?  I'd love to hear from you.

Join me tomorrow, please, for Civil War Sunday.

Supermoon, Meteors and Life as We Knew It

Saturday is the Cinco de Mayo- time for parties, Mexican food, and, this year, a supermoon.

The supermoon is the full moon when the moon is closest to the Earth.  It normally comes in April or May.

The annual Eta Aquarid meteor shower will be hitting its peak at the same time, Saturday.  Hmmmm.

Does this sound like a plot for a YA series?  For example, what would happen if one of those meteors hit this supermoon?  Things wouldn't go well for the Earth, no doubt.  The moon controls the tides, and a lot of other things, too.  The moon isn't just a pretty ball in the sky that goes through phases every 28 days.

If you are ready to grab onto this theme, too late.  A YA series has already been written on this theme by an upstate New York author, Susan Beth Pfeffer.  And, SPOILER ALERT.  it ain't a pretty story. 

The three books are:
Life As We Knew It
The Dead and the Gone (hints at what happened in book #1, doesn't it?)
this world we live in

Pretty spooky, that this meteor/supermoon thing should come in the middle of me reading this series, which explores What Happens If A Large Meteor Hits the Moon One Night in May.  I'm going to spend a very uneasy Cinco de Mayo evening.

I actually started (without knowing it was part of a series) reading the third and final book, "this world we live in".  What I loved about it is that I was able to immediately plunge into the story although I didn't know a single thing about the first two books.  Within pages, I was hooked so badly I would resent it if I was interrupted.   That's the experience I want from a good read.

This is what I loved the most about the third book:

1.  The characters were people.  They fought (a lot).  The teen heroine had grown through adversity but was far from a saint.  Especially at the end (double spoiler alert)
2.  I felt the natural disasters were plausible as a result of the meteor hit - but since this isn't a "science fiction book" I wasn't expecting hard science.  Nor did I get hard science.
3.  Religion played a part in the book.  In most YA fiction I've read (unless the book is explicitly Christian literature) I normally haven't found much in the way of religion.  Here, characters pray, characters hold church at home, and one main character is a deeply devout Catholic.  I'm glad the book took time to explore what might happen to religious belief in the aftermath of a huge natural disaster.  Not because I'm especially religious (I'm not) but religion is part of the human experience.

This is what I didn't like:
1. The book jacket flaps gave away the entire plot!

Interestingly, in Goodreads reviews,, I found a lot of people were very disappointed with this third book because it didn't continue the growth of the first two books. So perhaps I should be happy that I read the last book first.  Now that I'm reading the first book, I'm sorry, in a way, that I know the fates of some of the main characters.  And I do agree the first book is better than the third.

But I look forward even more to the second book, which takes place in my native New York City. 

Are you looking forward to some moon and meteor shower watching on Cinco de Mayo?

Will Your Blog Be Obsolete Tomorrow?

We put so much time into our blogs, many of us. 

But will anyone be able to read them in 20 years?  (or, even sooner?)

If you think this is a ridiculous question, answer this question:  Do you have something in your house that can play any of the following, all of which existed as "modern technology" during my lifetime:
-a wire recording (OK, I'm dating myself here);
-an 8 track tape;

-a cassette tape;
-an 8 inch floppy disc;
-a 5 1/4 inch floppy disc or a 3 1/4 inch floppy disk;
-a plastic digital audio tape?
-a VHS tape?

The problem is (except maybe for the cassette and VHS tapes), not many people have these playback devices, either.  So, the history recorded on these devices may well be lost forever.

And what happens when the devices we use today become obsolete?

Consider these facts:
-The Rosetta Stone, recording a decree issued by an Egyptian king in 196 BCE, is still quite readable and the only barrier to reading it was not knowing two of the three scripts the decree was inscribed in;
I can read the Lliad and the Odyssey, although they were first composed (most likely) in the 8th century BCE;
I can admire cave paintings in France first created around 35,000 years ago.

But I can't read floppy discs I created with my first computer, purchased in 1996.

If this doesn't concern you, consider this essay written back in 2002 written about our National Archives called "Are We Losing our Memory?"

So what happens when the Internet evolves, or even becomes obsolete?  What will happen to all the data on it?  True, we have the Wayback Machine, but I have tried to use that on a number of occasions and have found it is not easy, or reliable, to use.

So, short of printing out our blogs periodically (probably killing a forest each time), what can we do?

Will your blog be obsolete tomorrow?  Probably not, but wait 20 years.

We know the Middle Ages but will we know the early 2000's?

Spring Things - Lilacs, Tulips and Iris

Here in upstate New York, we have had an unbelievably early spring.  Right now we should be at the beginning but instead we are almost at the end of the spring blooming season..

Perhaps due to some unseasonably cold weather recently (including a couple of freezes), we may be having problems with one of our loveliest spring flowers - the lilac.

At first, I was happy because the lilacs were out so early - in the third week of April we had lilacs opening up, almost a month ahead of "schedule".  But then, a co-worker told me her lilacs were open, but they had no scent.

Then, I looked at my lilac bush. It might be almost 50 years old and is quite wide.  I had one - just one- patch of flowers on the entire plant.  This looks like a lot but that is all there is.  One small patch, and they are about 8 feet off the ground.  No lilac bouquets this year sweetly scenting my dining room?  Looks like it.

On my neighbor's white bush this is all there is going to be. One branch.

I don't know why this is happening.  Could it be last year's super-rainy (ending in floods) weather?  Was it just too much for the lilacs?

Fortunately, other flowers have done a lot better.

Last week I posted a picture of a large tulip patch in front of a senior housing development in downtown Binghamton, where I work. This was in the flood area but it didn't seem to hurt the tulip beds. Yesterday they were still going strong.

And spring held one more surprise for me today.  At my next door neighbor's (same one as the white lilac) his iris were starting to bloom. This normally doesn't happen until late May.

Our amazing spring has been full of surprises.

Are you having an amazing spring, too?  And, if lilacs grow in your area - does it look like it is not going to be a good year for them?

The Flooded School That Teaches Us

Welcome, Blogathoners.

I live in an area of upstate NY near the Pennsylvania border.  I am from New York City originally, but have lived in several parts of the United States.  I've lived the past 20 plus years near Johnson City, New York, a handful of miles from Binghamton.  I've been blogging since April of 2009.

On Sundays, I blog about the Civil War. (not as a historian or a reenactor, but as someone who has always loved history. On Wednesdays I blog about Spring Things, which are usually nature or flower related.

In between, I blog about many topics ranging from local food, travel, farmers markets, flowers, vegetable gardening, library book sales, and walking.  But I also blog about area's recovery from devastating floods last September caused by a summer of record rain and then over 10 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Lee.  I live in one of the flood stricken neighborhoods but was fortunate to be spared the majority of what many of my neighbors had to go through.  Blogging has been so important to me through this process.

On the 15th of each month I participate in a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (which I found out about from another Blogathoner.).  From time to time I will share photos I've taken on my walks.


Today, I wanted to share with you some philosophy brought to us by a sign in front of an elementary school in Binghamton.  The school was severely flooded, and may never reopen.

The school sign, which at one time posted information about school events and holidays, now says "Prosperity is a great teacher.  Adversity a greater."

I thought the quote was so appropriate, sitting as it was in front of a ruined elementary school.  Many of its students were themselves flooded, or had other family members who were.  The building may be ruined, but it still teaches.

So I looked up the quote.  It was written by William Hazlitt (1778-1830) who, I read, was esteemed as possibly the greatest English literary critic after Samuel Johnson.  The entire quote is "Prosperity is a great teacher, adversity is a greater.  Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it."


This is so true.  There are a lot of very strong people throughout upstate NY, Vermont, Missouri, Kansas, Japan, Thailand, and a lot of other places.  Adversity brought us here in the Binghamton/Owego area together, and sometimes, as time passes and forces us apart, one can sometimes wish for that community spirit again. But we have to hope that the rebuilding will change all of our lives - for the better. 

Adversity is a great teacher indeed.


Join me in exploring this month of May, and beyond, as we strive to rebuild and enjoy the wonders of our upstate New York area.

Do you have a favorite quote?  Have you been through a natural disaster - if so, what wisdom can you offer us here in the Binghamton area?

If An 84 Year Old Can Use an iPhone So Can I

Today, the Ultimate Blog Challenge is over and tomorrow I start the WordCount Blogathon.

And on June 2 I start the Author Blog Challenge.

But that is not why I am sweating bullets.

The reason is simple:  yesterday, I got an iPhone.

What have I done????

What gave me the courage to leap from a 4 year old Trac Phone, one that can make phone calls and not do much else (no camera, no keyboard, just a very basic phone), to a (gulp) iPhone 4S smartphone?

Three reasons.

1.  My young adult son upgraded his phone to an iPhone. This wasn't a surprise.
2.  Then my sister in law, who is 12 years younger than I am, upgraded her phone to an iPhone.  I know she was thinking about it, and now she acted.

But then came the clincher.

3. My 84 year old mother in law got an iPhone!

And that is when I said to myself:  "Self!  If a woman who was born during the Depression, grew up during World War II, saw her loved ones go to war and back, worked in New York City and later for two magazines whose names you would instantly recognize, raised four children including a son with autism (in a day without any supports for such a Mom or such a boy), and got her first computer in her 70's can still have the zest in life to take this leap, then I can do it too!

Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and take that leap.

I applaud my mother in law's faith that she will be able to learn this phone and do what she wants, which is to keep in touch with family and friends from her chair.  For her, mobility is more of an issue each and every day. She is a courageous woman.

And sometimes it just takes that one thing to make us take the leap into the unknown, too, to leave the comfort zone of our everyday life.

That's why I blog, and take on blogging challenges.

Good luck to you, if you are in the Blogathon or in the Author Blog Challenge.  And wish me luck with my new iPhone!

Civil War Sunday - Music and Muskets

Welcome, future Blogathoners, to my Civil War Sunday posts.  I will explain them more next Sunday but for now, please know that I concentrate less on major battles and more on the people, and the "times", of the 1861-1865 era.  I will also sometimes blog about Civil War era people and what they went on to do after the war.  Today's post is about Binghamton, New York.

Phelps Mansion Museum, on the edge of downtown Binghamton, New York, was built in 1870 for Sherman Phelps, a businessman and judge here in Binghamton.  The architect was Isaac Perry, who went on the later fame as the New York State architect.



So many towns and cities in the United States have their own hometown Civil War heroes - Binghamton, New York is no exception.

Our "hometown hero" here in Binghamton, New York wasn't even born in the United States, but in Scotland.  His family came to the United States when he was about 8.   His name was David Ireland.

Ireland fought in a number of important battles of the Civil War, including Gettysburg, where some historians believe he played a pivotal - but unsung - part, at Culp's Hill..

Like so many who fought in this tragic war, Ireland didn't die in any of the battles he fought in.  Instead, he died of dysentery in 1864. 

But what does David Ireland have to do with a building that wasn't built until six years after his death?

In 1863, David Ireland married Sara Phelps, daughter of Sherman Phelps.  Afterwards, he left to went back to war.  He never made it back home to see his bride, and did not have any children.

Today, a Civil War reenactment and special music event will be held in the Phelps Mansion Museum.  This is a yearly event - this year's event is called "Music and Muskets".  In past years, there has been a reenactor playing David Ireland.  This year there is to be a musician playing Civil War era music on actual instruments from the era.

When Phelps Mansion was built in 1870, it was in a mainly scenic, rural area.  Today, there is very little scenic about where it is located, in an urban area that (I must admit) is a bit run down.  But it is well worth visiting if you are in your area, especially if you can take one of the free tours offered the first Friday evening of each month.

The Long Strange, Blogathon Journey

I welcome the other crazy and not so crazy people signed up for the 2012 WordCount Blogathon.  Where do I begin in introducing myself?

Well, how about this?  If you explore my blog (please do!) you might notice that I have blogged every day since April 29, 2011. (Yes, that does prove my insanity.)

So this is my one year of consecutive posts blogging anniversary.  I never meant to do this, but here I am.  Just like I never could have imagined what the 365 days (366?) between April 29, 2011 and April 28, 2012 would bring to my area, and to me.

In some ways, I'm glad I didn't know what the future held.  The weather events of the last year have changed every person living in the Triple Cities of upstate NY and indeed, those living in a lot of upstate NY, Vermont, Alabama, Missouri, Kansas, Thailand, and so many other places that have experienced the wrath of nature.

Just as a mass murder in Binghamton, near where I work, on April 3, 2011 made me start this blog to begin with.

But I digress.  I did want to talk about the Blogathon.

I can thank a certain nameless person whose initials are Billie Noakes, may she (sputter)....well, she is the person to blame for me even being here.  What she did was email me on May 1, 2011 and tell me about the Blogathon - I only had hours to register, and no time to think.  So I did it, as I explain in this May 4, 2011 post about why I blog.  (Do you get the feeling I tend to be a little spur of the moment?)

I am so glad I did it, and you will be, too.

Think you can't do it?  Yes you can.  Really. 

You will meet an amazing community of writers if you join.  Some newbies, some established free lance writers, some published authors.  They will be supportive.    They will answer your questions.  And no question is too stupid to ask!  Please, sign up.   There are some great prizes to motivate you. And even if you don't do all 31 days, you will grow and develop. Trust me on that.

I joined Twitter because of the Blogathon.  I am even on Pinterest now because of the Blogathon.

And now for a little information on my blog, Ramblin with AM.

I live in an area of upstate NY with a combined population of about 100,000.  It is a beautiful area, but beset with a lot of problems.  I am from New York City originally, and even lived in rural Arkansas for several years.  I am probably also one of the older bloggers in the Blogathon, so I sometimes write about nostalgia and my struggles with technology.

On Sundays, I blog about the Civil War. (not as a historian or a reenactor, but as a "laywoman".)

On Wednesdays I blog about Spring Things, which are usually nature or flower related.

In between, I blog about anything that strikes my fancy - local food, farmers markets, flowers, vegetable gardening, walking on the local railtrail,  travel, and our area's recovery from devastating floods last September. (I'm so lucky to have my house because part of my neighborhood did flood, and some of the houses will never be lived in again.).

On the 15th of each month I participate in a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (which I found out about from another Blogathoner.) and you get to enjoy my sometimes blurry photos.

So, please join in on the fun.  Yes, fun.  Moments of sheer terror....but fun, too.

I look forward to interacting with you!

Frost Fears

My front yard is in bloom.  But it may not be for that much longer.

Here in upstate NY, a chilling thought has struck with tonight's weather report.

We've had an early spring.  Dogwoods and lilacs are blooming now - beautiful tulips are in bloom, as are late daffodils. We had already planted our rosemary plants in the herb garden, trusting it wouldn't get much below freezing anymore.

So many trees and flowers in bloom, at a time of year where normally we'd only now be seeing crocuses, Bradford Pears and forsythias. 

Then suddenly - tonight we are under a freeze warning.

Our record low for today is 28, but normally none of these plants would be blooming now, either.

Will we lose our lovely flowers?  Will trees, tomorrow, be full of brown blossoms?  Will the lilacs fail this year, just as they are coming into full bloom?

Has spring played a final, cruel joke on us after tempting us with flowers since mid-March?  Or will I find out how hardy these mid spring flowers can be?

I'm glad I took pictures yesterday on my exercise walk in Binghamton. Because tomorrow morning this may all be a memory.

But it was sure great while it lasted.

Here's The Thing

I've blogged from time to time about buying local.  I shop at farmers markets, I try to "buy American" when possible.  This year I am patronizing local nurseries for my seeds and plants instead of buying a lot of seeds mailorder because one of the best nurseries was flooded out twice in 2011- but one thing I rarely do is visit my local indie bookstore.  (I admit to being a very heavy user of the local public library).

Today, I did visit the local bookstore and now I have a decision to make.


RiverRead, I haven't visited you in months!  Inexcusable for someone who loves to read and works in easy walking distance from you.  And, at that, you were flooded back in September.  I must put my money where my keyboard is and buy something form you.

So, today I went into the store.  After a few minutes of browsing, Pat (a co-owner) offered me a cup of coffee.  I took her up on it.  I especially enjoyed the fact that the sugar was sugar cubes - and that, next to the coffee pot (coffee purchased from Toms, a local store in Binghamton) was a very nice selection of herbal teas.


Then I saw The Perfect Book.  Not for me, but for a loved one.  A certain occasion is coming up the beginning of June that calls for a gift.  I looked through the book.  Had I wanted to, there was a nearby cozy chair to curl up in.  The book would be just perfect for that person.


But (as TV detective Adrian Monk used to say) "Here's the thing."

It was $40.  That's not an easy purchase for cheaps...I mean, frugal, me. So I paused a bit, browsed a little more, and left.

When I got home, I looked up the book on Amazon.com.  I don't buy from them that much, but I have always had great experiences with them, and I am a Prime member to get their streaming TV.  And, I know they sometimes offer deep discounts on books.

Amazon.com was selling the book for $24.39 and I would have free 2 day shipping with my Prime membership.

So....again, "Here's the thing".
Local bookstore, friendly owner, holds "meet the author" events, has a lot of interesting books, buys local themselves:  $40.
Amazon.com: does nothing I know of for our upstate community but its cost is some $15. less. Same book.
Shipping from some distant warehouse would take additional natural resources, so the local store would be the "greener" purchase.

I don't need it until early June so time isn't a factor.

The little devil on my shoulder said "Buy it from Amazon.  You could do that and still have a little less than $15. left to buy something at the local store."  OK....



The little angel on my other shoulder said "RiverRead. Do The Right Thing."

Should I put my money where my keyboard is and Buy Local?

If it was you....what would you do?

Spring Things - Creeping Phlox and the Flood Tulips of Binghamton

Our spring in Binghamton, New York continues despite the cold weather.  The one good thing is that we escaped Snowpril (and not by that much, either).

This spring, it seems the creeping phlox is especially beautiful.   It's such a nice plant for sloping yards, and Binghamton has enough of them.

I found these walking on the west side of Binghamton:

and this, complete with shadows. (Sorry, don't have Photoshop.)

And finally, this.

Meanwhile, in downtown Binghamton, in front of what I called the "Three Towers", senior housing that flooded during our epic floods in September from Tropical Storm Lee, their huge beds of tulips are blooming - showing the resiliency of nature.  (the towers, by the way, are occupied once again.)

Our spring has been so long, and it still isn't over. 

I'm enjoying every minute, every flower, of it.

What's blooming in your area, or your yard (if you have one) right now?

Texting in the 1930's

It wasn't that long ago that my (then) teenage son asked me how I had gone online in 1958. He was imaging my bedroom filled with a huge UNIVAC computer.  He just couldn't imagine a world without the Internet.

His generation probably can not imagine a world without texting, either. But, unlike the Internet, texting did exist in the 1950's.  But we didn't know it as texting.

More to the point - does anyone out there remember Telex?

I do.  In 1981, I (living in the United States) got a job with a company that did business with several companies in England.  We needed a way to communicate fairly quickly with them for confirmation of certain transactions.  Quickly, that is, for the early 1980's. 

Keep in mind, there was no Internet, no email (well, there was email even as far back as the late 1960's, but it wasn't accessible for the majority of us).  We did have telephones but trans-Atlantic service was still expensive.  And fax?  This was just starting out.  We didn't have a fax machine.  What we did have was....

Telex.

Our company had a Telex machine and a trained operator.  A Telex machine (and yes, they still exist) is basically a telephone that doesn't use speech.  It has a keyboard and a printer, and the owner subscribed to a Telex network.  You could "call" anyone who had a Telex machine (they each had a number assigned to them) and type out a message.  The recipient would print out the message, and could then respond back in kind.

The service was enabled across both sides of the Atlantic back in the 1930's and still exists today.

These operators didn't know it, but they were texting, 1930's style.

I never did have to learn to use the Telex. But I bet it would have been fun.  And you know what?  Nothing in those days was instantaneous, but I don't think we were any the worse off for it.

Am I the only one to remember this original form of texting?  And, does anyone else think things were just a little "saner" back before we could do things instantaneously?

Snowpril Anxiety

The Weather Channel is already calling the winter storm in progress in Western NY "Snowpril".  Not only were we blessed by an early spring (unbelievably early, with so much leafed out now that normally wouldn't have leafed out until May), but winter decided to send snow now, instead of during its regularly scheduled time in November, December, January, February and March.

Better late than never?  No.

We are lucky here in the Susquehanna River valley near Johnson City, NY.  The snow part of the storm decided to stay just to the west and south.  There was sleet in the "cracks" of the car (i.e. the windshield where the wipers are) this morning.  But it was pure rain coming down.  We got some very heavy rainfall overnight - fortunately we've dried out quite a bit since our September floods.  Before I went to sleep I heard it mixing with sleet.

Ugh.

The anxiety remains every time we get heavy rain.  In talking to a neighbor this morning, I realized it wasn't just me.  "I'd rather that it was snowing", she told me, "because snow won't flood us."

Somewhere, it was snowing, and it wasn't that far away.  I saw a couple of SUVs with snow on their roof and fronts driving down Main Street.  A number of school districts to our west and north closed for the day.  A lot of people were without power in those areas, too.

We had just taken our snow tires off last week.  Oops.

The crabapples were coming out in our neighborhood and the rain and sleet knocked a lot of the blossoms off.  I hope our apple crop up in the hills wasn't affected.  Anxious time for farmers, too, and anyone who decided to jump the normal season with their gardens. (we didn't take that gamble, and are very happy for it.)

The rain is supposed to mix with snow overnight, but the temperature is expected to remain above freezing.

It's not nice to fool Mother Nature, and it's especially not nice when Mother Nature fools you.

Winter's last hurrah on April 23.

I hope.

Were you affected by the "Snowpril" storm?

Civil War Sunday-The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body

I thought long and hard about what to write today for my Civil War Sunday. 

Today is Earth Day:  so maybe give my post an environmental slant?  Indeed, there are links to at least one environmental study of the effects of the Civil War. 

Thinking of the crazy weather we've been having lately- what about weather during the Civil War?  Covered, also, at this link. 

So, what I would like to write about instead is something related to an event that happened this week back in 1865 - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and his passing on April 15, 1865 at about 7:22 AM.

Grave robbing was far from a rare occurrence in the 19th century.  In fact, there was an episode of the PBS show History Detectives that started with a person who thought he had a strange Civil War weapon in his possession.   It seemed to be an explosive device - a torpedo.  (back in the Civil War era the word "torpedo" was a general term referring to an explosive device - not the same meaning as today.)

It turned out to be a torpedo all right - a device that, if a grave robber tried to disturb a grave, would explode in the robber's face.

Abraham Lincoln's body could have used one of those.

I'm starting to read a fascinating book called "Stealing Lincoln's Body" by Thomas L. Craughwell.  It is based on a true story of some counterfeiters back in 1876.  Their gang's best engraver was in prison.  They needed him.  They decided to steal Lincoln's body and hold it for ransom.

The ransom would include a pardon for their engraver.

Lincoln's body wasn't guarded.  After all, who would want to steal it?

Did the counterfeiters succeed?  What about the Secret Service?  What finally happened at the end?

You'll just have to read the book to find out.

The Fellowship of the Flood

Earth Day has been cancelled in Binghamton, NY.

No, really, it was cancelled.  There was an Earth Day celebration at our zoo, true.  But the Earth Day celebration that would have taken place at MacArthur School in Binghamton was cancelled due to our September flood.  The flood destroyed the school.  (It may never reopen - this is still up in the air.)  There wasn't enough time to find another site. 

Just another something cancelled by the flood. The Binghamton Earth Day was always fun - we got tree seedlings, Frito Lay samples (there is a local Frito Lay plant), free seeds, plus got the chance to browse exhibits, for a very minimal admission charge.

So what we ended up doing was going up to Ithaca, which is about an hours drive from where we live near Johnson City, New York.  We visited the Farmers Market and went to the Danby Green Homes Tour, which I will blog about in the near future.  At the Tour (15 "green" houses open for touring by their owners - or at least the green energy parts) we ran into a Danby woman who was, apparently, on the same "track" as we were.

We got to talking.

Amazingly, not only was this woman familiar with our neighborhood (Westover, one of the flooded neighborhoods of the Triple Cities), but she had volunteered for the flood cleanup in Owego, one of the worst hit towns.  She told her story to us, explaining she was compelled to help.

With another woman driving, she first stopped at house after house in Candor, which is between Ithaca and Owego, offering bottled water, and whatever help she could give.   Eventually, she helped in Owego. (I blogged some about their flood recovery in November and December of last year.)  I told her about the volunteers who showed up "just because" in our neighborhood, going door to door to offer help in the worse hit parts.

And, one of the houses on the Green Tour had some flooding, too.  It's sometimes hard to remember that the floods of Irene and Lee (ours was from Lee) hit so many people in upstate NY and other parts of the Northeast.   With other flooded communities we are part of what I call The Fellowship of the Flood.

My spouse and I, living in Westover, are part of the Fellowship of the Flood.  My childho od friend in Brooklyn, battling cancer for the second time, is also a member of the Fellowship of the Flood.  Her mother lives in rural Delaware County and as of February, the closest supermarket to her house still hadn't reopened. (that village, Margaretville, was very hard hit.  And if you want to see worse, look up a village called "Prattsville".) So either my friend or another family member had to bring food, or someone had to go to the next nearest supermarket, some 20 miles away.

Nearly eight months after the flood, thinking about it can still, under certain circumstances, bring up some pretty raw emotions.  But not when talking to another member of the Fellowship of the Flood.  I get a lot of comfort from talking to other Fellows.  They understand.  They've been there.  And a lot of them had it so much worse than we did.

So much to be grateful for, as we spent a gloomy April day in Ithaca.

Talking to Your Past

One of the amazing things about blogging is that you can talk to your past.  But there is no guarantee your past will see you.  Or hear you.

On April 30, 2011 I posted (with a couple of edits) this post on spring.  Yes, spring is usually a rare commodity here in upstate NY.  Late to come, quick to leave.

 If only I could blog to my past self today.  I wouldn't mention the floods of September of last year-why sadden her?.  No, I would have talked about a wish come true, and how wishes coming true can sometimes have a strange twist.

So here goes:

Dear AM of April 30, 2011:
You wished for spring last year, after a hard winter.  We don't get as many hard winters here as we used to, oh, 20 years ago but last years' winter was hard.  And bruising.  Two people I know fell and hit their heads.  At least all I did was bruise my butt.

The winter of 2011-2012 was nonexistent.  What if I told you we shoveled snow maybe 3 times?  That the sidewalks were bare for maybe 90% of the winter?  That we had crocuses blooming before spring came on the calendar?  Or that the Bradford Pears here were blooming before the end of March?

It was heaven, AM.  It was everything I thought an early spring would be.  The trees stayed in bloom for weeks (it seemed.)  In fact you can still see forsythias (also out before the end of March) here and there.   Today we walked in Binghamton and those trees with fragrant white blooms and lilac like leaves (but these are trees, definitely) were in bloom, perfuming the 78 degree air.  Crabapples were showing their pink best.  Late daffodils and mid to late season tulips were competing with creeping phlox to give the best display.

So, what would you say to the fact that WE HAVE SNOW IN THE FORECAST FOR MONDAY?  No, not flurries.  Accumulation.  At least we aren't in Rochester, where I hear they are predicting a foot.

Would you scream and stamp your feet and say IT AIN'T FAIR?  Oh please, nature, don't pull the spring rug from under us.  Please keep the flowers and warmth coming.  Please....let the weatherfolks be wrong.

If you could talk to your self from a year ago, what would you say?  And, are you about to face a very unpleasant spring surprise from Mother Nature, too?

And now, the post from April 30, 2011:

Suddenly Spring

Only a week ago our trees were just budding out.  Forsythias were out, but winter was hanging on for dear life.  We were still having enough cloudy days with temperatures barely into the 50's.

Don't blink, Southern Tier, or you will miss spring!

We went downstate for three days and when we got back on Monday, the Bradford Pears were in bloom.  And now they are fading fast, along with the flowering cherries and some other flowering trees.  The magnolias are budding today;  by Monday they will probably be gone too.  The redbuds are coming out now along with some early azaleas.  Andromedas are still blooming but not for long.   Hey, what happened?

Unfortunately, this is what happens when we have late springs.  We get the "everything at once" syndrome.  Green bomb.  Suddenly Spring.

This does make me long, in a way, for the springs of the south.

On March 21, we stayed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina and the Bradford Pears were in full bloom.

 On March 30, we stayed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, and the Bradford Pears were in full bloom.

I don't wish for tornadoes but sometimes I wish we could have a spring like that.  The stately progression of one flowering tree after another.  And they even hang around for a while.

But don't get me wrong, I am enjoying every bit of it.  Spring is here, here, here, here!

Urban Chickens? Cock A Doodle Doo Yes!

On Saturday, my spouse and I were walking in Binghamton, an upstate New York city of about 47,000. residents, when we heard....

a crow.  A rooster crowing?

We heard it again. No doubt about it.  Years ago, we owned our own chickens, which we raised for eggs, for meat, and for entertainment.  We are quite familiar with crowing.

We walked by the house we thought the crowing was coming from and didn't see any easily visible evidence of chickens.

But chickens are in Binghamton, and they are legal.  As they are in a number of cities all over the United States, including some that may surprise you (New York City, for example).  Generally, ordinances permitting chickens will
a.  allow a maximum of 3 or 4 chickens per family;
b.  allow hens only, not roosters;
c.  require the chickens be confined to a yard or coop;
d. may or may not allow slaughter on the home premises; and
e.  many times will require a permit that you must pay for.

Are you interested in the nitty gritty of raising chickens? My experience is rural and not urban.  I've distilled some of my general knowledge which I am happy to share with you. 

Of course, I can't give advice on issues of how to build a coop in a city, or fence your feathered friends in.

As for that rooster in Binghamton....its legality may be somewhat questionable.  It seems the Binghamton ordinance doesn't outright prohibit them but does discuss the noise issue.

Our local paper (still mad at them, see my post of earlier this week) featured an article on urban chickens in today's issue. You'll enjoy the video interview on the website - made me a little bit nostalgic.  By the way, the featured people on "Margaret Street" are NOT where we heard the rooster crow.

Would we keep chickens today?  Probably not, as we are enjoying our empty nest too much to have to worry about chicken sitting when we are gone.  But maybe one day.....if we talk that talk of local food, we should walk that walk, too?

Do you keep urban chickens?  If not, have you thought about keeping some?