Are Movies Made from Books as Good as the Book?

Tomorrow, a movie will be released based on a famous Young Adult (YA) novel - The Giver, by Lois Lowry.  The book was written 20 years ago, on a word processor (remember them?), and is getting a new foreword for the 20th anniversary.

When I read the new foreword, I saw that it was being made into a movie.


When I saw there would be a movie, I said, silently, "Oh please, don't let it be so."

OK, there are some books whose stories translate well into movies.  But I truly don't know how they will do that with The Giver.  Because...well, you'll know if you've read the book.  And if you haven't - well, please do so.

The Giver is not an action packed book filled with fighting and epic battles, like - oh, The Hunger Games (one of the best YA books of all time, in my most humble opinion)  No, The Giver tells a completely different story.  And it seems that, at least nowadays, a movie without battles of some kind, or even a quest, will bore the average moviegoer.


I won't need to issue a Spoiler Alert for the rest of this blog post.  I am not going to give away the plot, or the ending that stayed with me for months when I read the book.  I'll just say there was one thing in the new foreword, also written by Lois Lowry that did not surprise me .  This, if I can be permitted to quote from Ms. Lowry.

"One couple wrote to me about their autistic, selectively mute teenager, who had recently spoken to them for the first time -- about The Giver, urging them to read it. A teacher from South Carolina wrote that the most disruptive, difficult student in her eighth grade class had called her at home on a no-school day and begged her to read him the next chapter over the phone. A night watchman in an oil refinery wrote that he had happened on the book -- it was lying on someone's desk -- while making his rounds ("I'm not a reader," he wrote me, "but man, I'm glad I came to work tonight")

I have loved to read since my earliest years (I'm told I taught myself to read by the time I was four.)  There are many reasons why I read.  One is to find those gems - the gems that transport you into a world you never completely leave.  The books that worm their way into your mind, and your DNA.  The books you think about for years after.

Yes, there are books out there that are THAT GOOD - and I feel for those who never discover the true power of those books for themselves.

If the movie version of The Giver can do that to its audience, I welcome it. But, in general, I end up being disappointed by movie versions of books.  Sometimes, all that is left from the book is the title, and the name of the main characters.

There are, of course, exceptions.  Two movie adaptations I enjoyed greatly were The Hunger Games and To Kill a Mockingbird.

Disappointments?  Too numerous to mention.

What do you think?  Were there any books you were introduced to from their movie, because the movie intrigued you so much?  Or, for you, is it mostly disappointment?

Summer Ramblings - Music in the Twilight Zone

Remember Rod Serling?  Remember The Twilight Zone?

Rod Serling grew up on the West Side of Binghamton. on a street named after the first mayor of Binghamton.  He played in a park called Rec Park.  Rec Park is a gem of a park, with lots of green, a swimming pool, tennis courts, statues, and a carousel that is perpetually free, thanks to the generosity of a long ago businessman.

In fact, our Triple Cities is considered the "Carousel Capital" of the country, with six operational Herschell carousels - all free to ride.

Each August there is a music festival, free to the public, in Rec Park.

People gather among the trees.

Local bands played in the bandstand where Serling carved his initials as a child.

The same bandstand, long distance.

In the distance, the building that houses the historic 1925 carousel. (Readers! Would you like me to blog more about our carousels?)

And, a peek at one of the carousel panels that pays tribute to Serling . This one shows Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man".

Do you have a local festival during the summer?

Community Garden Veggies

Today, a day when so many of us are still in shock over the untimely death of a beloved actor and comedian,  I wanted to give you a glimpse into what we grow in our community garden.

I came so close to not going forward with this and then I decided I needed to go forward with this post.  There is so much I want to write, but I am not ready to do it yet.

So in the meantime, I bring you -

Squash.  Unlike most people who run every time they see a neighbor's zucchini, we love them.  My spouse and I have so many ways to use these.  If you want, I might even share one of those recipes with you.

Tomatoes.  There is nothing more delicious than a vine-ripened tomato, even a blurry one. I won't even eat fresh tomatoes out of season. I've always been disappointed.

This year, we are only growing one heirloom tomato, a Mr Stripey.  We've had so many problems with late blight, we are depending on specially bred hybrids this year.  This year, our main tomatoes are Jasper and Defiant (Defiant pictured above.) We are also growing Better Boys and Jetstar.

Onions are our go-to crop - year in and year out, they are our best crop.  We are in a commercial onion area (actually, more to the north near Syracuse) and we must have similar conditions.  We start all of our onions from mail order plants, and usually grow at least five varieties of onions, plus leeks.

Speaking of squash, the flowers are edible (and delicious). I'd like to share a recipe from an excellent blog written by one Chef William, for a Squash Blossom Omelet.

Not pictured - swiss chard, also doing well this year.

Our beans, alas, are a failure - wild animals ate them all.  Our cucumbers started to bear, but then got mildew almost overnight.  RIP Beans and Cucumbers.

Do you have a garden? What do you like to grow?

Go Go Godzilla Sunflowers!

Late summer is officially here.  We heard the first crickets on August 3, and now their chirps signal the coming end of summer.

No flower says "summer" more than sunflowers do.  I'd like to show you some pictures taken at our community garden plot yesterday. 

My loving spouse puts the vast majority of work into our plots.  I sometimes join him on weekends.  But our plot has been a bit neglected this summer.

These sunflowers don't care.  They have come up for us year after year.  I've called these "Godzilla sunflowers"in past years.  They are at least seven feet (a bit more than two meters) tall.

Here are some of our other sunflowers.

 Not all sunflowers are yellow.  In fact, they are available in shades ranging from orange, to creamy white, to red.

Here's an orange and yellow specimen.

And a final volunteer Godzilla, bowing under its own weight, paying tribute to a beautiful, sunny day in the Southern Tier of upstate New York.

I'm not the only person who grows as many flowers as veggies at the community garden. Here's a nearby plot.

We don't grow sunflowers for seeds - we just can't beat the birds to them. But I don't mind my feathered friends.  Their pleasure, and my use of sunflowers as cut flowers, is enough for me.

Tomorrow - some veggies of our community garden.

Civil War Sunday-The Battle of the Seniors

The story of the Battle of Mobile Bay, August 5, 1864, is a favorite story of the Civil War.  Naval battles don't get the same attention that land battles of the Civil War do, and yet, there are countless stories that will amaze and educate you.

Let's set the scene.

Confederates had depended on ships sailing the waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico to get them supplies, food, weapons, and to move soldiers.  The Union, knowing that, had blockaded all major Confederate ports, a major effort considering there was about 3,500 miles of coast to blockade.

One of these blockade plans got the nickname "Scott's Great Snake".   Or, the Anaconda Plan.

In turn, the Confederacy employed blockade runners in steam powered vessels to keep the supplies coming.   

Two of these were uncles of one of our greatest Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt.

By August of 1864, Mobile Bay, in the Confederate state of Alabama, was one of the last Confederate ports operating.  Guarded by three forts, Mobile Bay was heavily mined.  During the Civil War, these underwater mines were called torpedoes - the military hadn't developed the modern torpedoes fired from submarines yet.

And now, getting ready to face off, are two experienced naval commanders, both in their 60's:

For the Union, one David Farragut, born near Knoxville, Tennessee a Confederate "border" state.) on July 5, 1801, raised in Louisiana (another Confederate state) and more recently living in Virginia (another Confederate state.) He had been in the Navy for some 51 years, having first seen combat at age 11, and had decided not to join the Confederates in their fight to leave the Union.  He had seen action during the Civil War many times before.

For the Confederate States of America, one Franklin Buchanan, born a year later, in 1801, in Baltimore, Maryland (a Union "border" state). Buchanan thought that Maryland would secede from the Union, but when it didn't, he ended up siding with the Confederacy.

Confused yet?  Don't be.  Many people, especially those living in border states (states bordering the Confederate States of America), had to make that decision - which side to side with.

Farragut, feeling that the secession of Virginia was treason, moved from Norfolk, Virginia to Hastings-on-Hudson, in the Union state of New York.

Buchanan, meanwhile, was involved in a battle I had blogged about - the Battle of Hampton Roads, in 1862.  The Union ship Monitor involved in that battle was made with materials that came, in a small part, from where I live in upstate New York..

Many people can write about the actual battle better than me, and I encourage you to read more.  I love the fact that the two commanders, a Southerner fighting for the Union and a Northerner fighting for the CSA, were both in their 60's.  There is just so much to love about both men, period.

So, back to the battle, Farragut's mission was to get into the harbor through the mines and capture it for the Union.

One ship hit a mine and sunk.  Did Farragut quit?

No. Farragut, on the mast of his ship, saw some of his ships starting to pull back.  It is said that he gave this order:  "Damn the torpedoes.","Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed."

So, that became an expression that many people still know today, coming from a paraphrase of the order that David Farragut gave.  Damn the torpedoes!  Full speed ahead!  When all is hopeless - acknowledge the danger, but keep moving forward.  Focus on your goal!

Using that strategy, Farragut and his ships raced through the torpedo-laden waters, engaged the Confederate forts, and won the battle.

So, what happened to Farragut and Buchanan?  For both, it was their last battle.

Farragut, fatigued, never fought again. He became a national hero.  The rank of Rear Admiral was created for him.  He died in 1870, and was given a hero's funeral.

Buchanan was wounded and captured during the battle and remained a POW until about two months before the end of the war.  After the war, he became a businessman in Mobile, Alabama and died in 1874.

The legacy of this battle:  a saying that encourages us to continue forward when all seems hopeless.

Have you ever "damned the torpedoes"?

Sustainable Saturday - Bug Off!

About a week ago, I got some interesting bug bites while blogging in my back yard. I believe they were mosquito bites, and we are close to getting into West Nile season.

Then there are tick bites. There is always the fear of Lyme Disease.  It is more common each year here in upstate New York. 

The bites are slowly getting better, but I didn't want a repeat performance. I am going to be wearing bug repellent for the rest of the season.

I found some herbal bug repellent in the house, left over from two years ago.  Last year the vendor was not at our local farmers market and I missed that product.  I do not like the smell of the commercial bug repellent, although I will use it.  So today, spouse and I went to the Otsiningo Park Farmers Market in Binghamton, New York to see if she had returned.

We walked past the peaches. It is hard to grow peaches in our area, but there are places to the south, in Pennsylvania, that are still within the maximum "local" radius the market permits.

Ah, those peaches.  I'm still working on yellow plums from last week but I might be buying some soon.

Kale and broccoli.

We walked past the breakfast area.

Now I can walk in my yard again!

And then, success.

"I missed you", I told the young lady from Ever After Botanicals.  (I'm happy to see she has a shop on Etsy, although buying at the farmers market is less expensive.)  Her product is expensive, but I feel it is worth it.

Like so many small business people, she started making various products because she couldn't find anything like them already on the market.

The active ingredients in this bug repellent include Citronella, catnip, lemon eucalyptus, geranium, and various essential oils.

Will this do the job of repelling ticks?  I do not know.  In all honesty, if I was going to be doing an activity which might expose me to ticks, I would reach for the commercial stuff.  But, for my backyard, and mosquitoes, this is good enough.

Nature - beautiful, but dangerous.

The Dreaded Purple Trap

Rounding out what turned out to be a week of purple prose, or at least blog posts that somehow incorporated purple things, I want to turn to purple (so to speak) once again.

I wrote this during a 2013 blogging challenge.  So far this year, the dreaded purple boxes are not visible in my neighborhood, but it doesn't mean the emerald ash borer is any less of a threat.  In fact, it is spreading into Eastern Massachusetts and Boston.

Our lives have always been in accommodation to nature, whether we realize that or not.

Let's hope the dreaded purple trap isn't on its way to a tree near you.

The Dreaded Purple Trap

Today, bloggers participating in the 2013 WordCount Blogathon write haiku.  Two years ago, I wrote Civil War haiku. Last year's haiku day includes a definition of haiku.

Except for the three line, 5-7-5 syllable count, my "haiku" doesn't really qualify as true haiku.  But since when has that kept me from my once a year effort to make true haiku fans cringe?

Today's haiku are based on something I saw the other day on a walk through my neighborhood near Johnson City, New York.  My heart sank when I saw the dreaded purple box.  Indeed, there are two ash trees, side by side, just blocks from where I live.

The magnificent ash
Survived kids, floods and squirrels,
Standing patient guard.

The ash borer came.
Will the purple trap find one?
What will happen now?

The magnificent ash.  900 million ash trees in New York State are endangered.  The emerald ash borer has arrived.

The last thing I wanted to do for Haiku Monday was write one about the emerald ash borer, which now is in 19 states in the United States, and threatens various types of ash trees, including the one that baseball bats are made from.  The emerald ash borer is not the first invasive species (or fungus) that comes from overseas to endanger a beloved tree.  And it will not be the last.

Just because the purple box traps that are put into trees (with a botanical lure) have appeared in my neighborhood doesn't mean the ash borer has. (These beetles are also attracted by blue and purple colors.)  But it's not a good feeling, based on the past history of trees in the United States.

There was the American chestnut, brought low by a fungus.

There was the American Elm, many dead from a pathogen carried by the elm bark beetle.  So many Elm Streets in our nation, so few elms left.

And now, we battle for our friends, the ash trees.  Not just us here in the United States battle. Canadians battle.  Meanwhile, in Europe, Norwegians and others battle an ash fungus.

It isn't a good time in which to be an ash tree.

Don't move firewood, we are told.  Slow down the spread.  Give scientists a chance to find a natural answer to this beetle.

Are beloved trees in your neighborhood or country endangered by a foreign foe?

An Unusual Lasagna

Back in September, 2011, I wrote this post on purple sweet potato lasagna. Since then, my spouse and I both follow (more or less) the Weight Watchers style of eating.  It isn't easy, but it has been rewarding for both of us.

If we were making this today, we would use low fat ricotta and mozzarella (and less of it), lower the amount of pasta (and weigh it out) and we would probably use winter squash rather than sweet potato-and more of the veggie.  Sweet potatoes (as nutritious as they are) do have "points plus" charged to them in the Weight Watchers system, whereas winter squash do not. 

We are fortunate here in upstate New York - although sweet potatoes are difficult to grow, winter squash is not.  And, at this time of year, we know that its appearance in the local farmers markets is just around the corner.

So the choice, dear reader, is yours!  And, you actually have another choice.

How about PURPLE sweet potatoes?

Purple Sweet Potato Lasagna

Back in July of 2011, I blogged about some ethnic supermarkets we shopped in when we were staying in the Centerville/Chantilly, VA area.  We bought a couple of different vegetables there that we brought back to try.

One of the things we bought were purple sweet potatoes.  

We have always enjoyed growing unusual colored produce.  We grew (back in the 1970's, before most people heard of them) purple potatoes, yellow and white tomatoes, and yellow watermelon.  So the purple sweet potatoes were a natural.

Soon after we got home, spouse cooked a couple of them in the microwave.  Yuk.  They were dry and mealy.  I'm one of those persons who loves their food wet.  I have pasta with my tomato sauce.  That frustrates my spouse, who grew up in the Italian tradition of serving pasta with just a dab of sauce.

But even he agreed that the dry texture was a bit much.

We let the situation (and the sweet potatoes) lie until tonight, when it became apparent that the purple sweet potatoes wouldn't last much longer.  Apparently, they don't last as long as the sweet potatoes we are used to.

Spouse decided to use a recipe he's used for butternut squash and also for the sweet potatoes we are used to in U.S. markets.  And it worked!  Here, noting my spouse doesn't really measure, is what my spouse did.  Note, this is not a vegetarian recipe and he feels it would not work the same with out the ham.  And also note I also tried to make sense of his verbal narrative.  I suspect you will have to be an expert cook to follow this one.

Spouse's Purple Sweet Potato (or Yam or Winter Squash) Lasagna

You need lasagna noodles or any kind of flat pasta, or even bowties.   Then you need your favorite winter squash or sweet potato, cooked (microwave works great) until soft, let cool, and mash.  Ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced smoked ham (like Black Forest) or smoked sausage.  You'll need a little milk (skim is fine).  Finally, grated Romano or Parmesian cheese, and parsley to taste.  I can't tell you quantities.  Lots of luck.

For the sauce you need your choice of garlic, sage or rosemary.  Olive oil and/or butter, if desired.  Chicken stock.

First:

1.  Thinly slice ham or sausage, the mozarella cheese, and a couple of cloves of garlic.
2.  Chop garlic slices.
3.  Mince sage or rosemary.
4.  Start boiling water for pasta.
5.  In the meantime, mix the mashed potato/squash and mix with about an equal amount of ricotta cheese.
6.  Add a little bit of milk so that the mixture is smooth but still thick. (this is important).
7.  Chop your parsley and add to the mix.
8.  Add grated cheese to taste.

This is your filling.
 
9.  Cook pasta until al dente or even a little firmer. Do not overcook!

While pasta is cooking, make the sauce.

10.  Heat, on medium heat, anywhere from 2 tbsp to 4 tbsp of oil or oil/butter mixture.
11.  When hot, add garlic and chopped sage/rosemary.  Let garlic start to sizzle but don't let it brown.
12. When garlic just starts to turn golden, add 1/4 to 1/2 c chicken stock.
13.  Turn heat on to medium high and bring to boil.  Let it cook while the pasta is boiling and you assemble the dish.  You want it to boil down a bit but don't boil away.

Next:

14. Drain and immediately put back in pot; fill pot with cold water, swish around and let the pasta sit for several minutes until cools down. This keeps pasta from sticking.
15.  Preheat oven to 365 F.  While it preheats:
16.  Spray backing dish with cooking spray or lightly coat with oil
17.  Drain pasta that is sitting in the cold water.  Put back in pot.

Assembly:
18.  Assemble like a lasagna.  Layer of pasta first, then several scoops of filling.  Spread out evenly.  Another layer of pasta,  Then a layer of the ham/sausage.  Then another layer of pasta . Then a layer of mozzarella cheese.  Then repeat.  (I somehow think I messed up this part, as my head was pounding by now.)

At this point sprinkle some of sauce over the mozzarella.

Then another round of the above.

Finish with plain pasta. Then sprinkle top with more sauce. Reserve some sauce.   Place in oven and bake for 30 min.  Let it rest 10 minutes. Serve with rest of sauce.

Now you know why I don't write a cooking blog (and why, three years later, I still don't!).

Have you ever eaten purple sweet potatoes?

Summer Ramblings - And Then There Was One

An update on my gardening project for this year - attempting to grow paw paws, a native American fruit, from seed.

It will be a challenge.

Last year, when I found paw paws for sale at a locavore store, I bought one, saved the seeds, and kept them in moist peat for the winter.  Then, come spring, we planted the large seeds, one to a pot.

Would they grow? They sat and sat, with no sign of germination.

I thought I had failed.

Then, in late July, I found that all but one of the seeds I had planted were germinating.  Such excitement!

Since then, I watched the germination.  Each seed would rise to the surface, pushed by an emerging stem.  The stem would emerge from the seed, and then stand up to the world, leafless.

Then the leaves appeared.

Five out of six seeds had germinated. 

But one of the heavy seeds broke off the head.  Then there were four.

Yesterday, the leaves of one plant were lying, broken off the stem, dead.  I couldn't figure out why.  The stem remained.

But today, two more plants' leaves were broken.  Obviously, something was after them.

This is the one survivor, and I hope it can thrive in the house until it's a little older.

As for the remaining stems, I'll just have to hope they can recover.  These are not fully cultivated trees, after all (I'm guessing).  Maybe they are tough.

But nature is not always kind.

Hace you ever had a project that you did "just for the heck of it"?

A Garden so Pretty in Purple

What is your favorite garden color?

I walked around my home garden the other day, and had to conclude my favorite color is purple.  Let's take a little stroll, shall we?

I picked this up at the Otsiningo Park farmers market the beginning of this summer.  I've never seen a coleus before or since that looked like this, with such narrow leaves.  I'm trying to root some of it now for growing indoors in the winter.  I asked the vendor what variety this was, as it didn't come with a tag, and she had no idea.  Can anyone solve this mystery?

Persian shield. (Strobilanthes).  We've had this plant since the flood of 2011-it was a flood refugee from a flooded garden center, and we've been able to root new cuttings and overwinter since.  The original plant is in my office but looking straggly after three years.

Purple basil.

A purple bell pepper.

An ornamental purple pepper (beware, these peppers are HOT).

And finally, a purple mustard.

I haven't even shown you all the purple plants or flowers I have.  

What is your favorite garden color?

What is Even Better than Pesto?

Basil, for me, is an almost perfect plant. It's ornamental.  It smells nice.  It comes in colors - green, purple, purple and green, variegated.  Some varieties have white flowers, some purple, and one, Cardinal, even has ornamental red blooms.  

Some varieties are tall and upright.  Some mound.  Many can be grown in containers.

It's a flavoring for tomatoes, and more.  It makes wonderful pesto.  And you can make something else with it, even better than pesto.

Go out to the store and price basil.  Yes, I'll wait.  At $3.00 for a small plant with a few leaves, like the local supermarket here in upstate New York sells, you will save yourself a lot of money if you have the room to grow a few plants.

Make yourself comfy, dear reader, while I show you some basil.

This is one of the two basils I have in a container.  Pesto Perpetuo - ornamental, and culinary, with a hint of lemon.  Yes, it's a variegated light green and white.  I've grown it for some four years now, and it has never disappointed.

Here's my other container basil - Thai basil, with its beautiful purple flowers.  It's wonderful for cooking.

Sweet basil.

Spicy globe basil, bordered by two of my purple basils.

And, now for the recipe you've been waiting for.  It's a French style pesto called pistou, and it is on a blog that I love for so many reasons I can't fit them into this post.

I hope she doesn't mind if I stea copy some of the ingredients to start you off.  If you want to know how much of each, the rest of the ingredients, and the instructions, you'll just have to visit Amy's blog.

•  garlic cloves
•  (packed) fresh basil leaves, shredded
•  salt
•  olive oil

 Doesn't that sound good?  Doesn't that make you want to grab your blender, and run to the garden? (And, about that "smell o'blog" blog plug in I keep threatening to invent...)

Because it doesn't have nuts in it, pistou is a bit more Weight Watchers friendly than "regular" pesto, too-for me and my spouse, a bonus. (we'll have to play with the recipe some though.)

So...ready to pistou?  I am!

Would You Ride in this Beautiful Balloon?

Happy 30th anniversary to Binghamton's Spiedie Fest and Balloon Launch. 

I started to go to our Spiedie Fest when it was basically a balloon launch, a spiedie cooking contest (what's a spiedie?  Click here and try it!) and some craft booths.  Now it has become concerts, meet and greets, lots and lots of vendors, a 5K run and - hidden somewhere in this, a celebration of spiedies, our local food.

I don't necessarily dislike meet and greets.... anyone recognize this gentleman?

A spiedie is a marinated meat - the traditional lamb, or chicken, beef, pork, venison - marinated in oil, herbs and vinegar - grilled and then served on Italian bread.  

And a confession - I don't like them that much!  I have a problem with swallowing (I've had to have my esophagus stretched once already) where I can't eat certain dry foods - and this, along with things like toasted bagels, just don't work good for me.

But I love the balloon launches.  And, sometimes you run across someone special.

Anyone recognize this gentleman?  (Ah, those meets and greets.  I just stumbled into this one as he was leaving, lucky me. And yes, my spouse of 40 years was there to catch me when I fainted. Kidding.)

Here's what I wrote about the launch process last year.

Simply Summer - Up Close At A Balloon Launch

Perhaps you've seen them go "up and away!"  You may have seen hot air balloons in the sky, and maybe you've even taken a ride in one of them.  If you are truly fortunate, you've been to a hot air balloon festival.

But how close have you ever gotten to one during the launch process?

At this weekend's Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally, in Binghamton, New York, you could get close to the balloons, and watch the entire process from the time the trailer is unloaded, until the balloon is up in the air.  This is a Spiedie Fest tradition, the closeness to the process, and one that we cherish, no matter how big the Spiedie Fest has gotten from its start some 29 years ago.

It's amazing how quickly they can set up and launch.  They are used to last minute decisions, as a launch on an otherwise sunny day can be ruined by wind.

First come the trailers that carry the balloons. I love the advertising on the side and back.

Then, they unload the basket.

The team installs the burner unit.

Meanwhile, out comes the bag with the envelope.

This is "the envelope", stretched out on the ground.

The inflation process doesn't take long at all. (Not shown, the fan used in the process.)   At this point, you are running from one place to another, as balloon crews shoo spectators to a safe distance.  The excitement consumes the spectators, who are busy taking pictures, but the team has a job to do.

As the envelope inflates, team members hold it by attached straps.

Upright and only moments from launch, as the pilot and others enter the basket.

Right at the moment of launch.

And finally, up in the air with the glow and fire of the burner visible.

Watching balloons launch - what a way to spend a beautiful summer late afternoon.  The Spiedie Fest is well worth your trip next August to the Binghamton, New York area.  Remember this:  first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in August.

Have you ever been to a hot air balloon festival?

Sustainable Saturday - The Crickets

My spouse and I were walking on the Vestal Rail Trail, and suddenly we realized something was missing.

There are sounds and smells you associate with each of the four seasons in upstate New York.  But today,on the 2nd of August, there was something missing - crickets.

Last week, we walked there, and didn't hear the crickets.

Turns out, in my blog, I've recorded what I've come to call "C" day.  Here are three past entries:

July 30, 2009
July 22, 2010
July 30, 2011

Today, as we got to one end of the rail trail, we thought we heard some.  At least, it isn't cause for concern yet.  It's "only" August 2, so we still have time.  And, we actually had a late spring, so this may have something to do with it.

The sound of crickets, to me, is the warning call, the message that the summer will be ending in September, that the hot weather we sometimes complain about will be replaced with cold winds and icy sidewalks.

If only it was an endless summer.
But the goldenrod is blooming. The blackberries are ripening. Can the crickets be far behind?

Two Reunions

Two years ago, on the first Friday of August.  It is two years since some first cousins and their families gathered at my home in Westover, near Johnson City, New York for a mini family reunion.  We haven't had one since and I don't know if we ever will have one again.

After the reunion was over, I wrote this blog post.  It's hard to believe two years have passed since the reunion, and almost three years since a flood that devastated my neighborhood, and other parts of the Triple Cities of Upstate New York.

It's been a time of recovery and a time of hope. A time of memory (the topic of the August NaBloPoMo),  A time of ReUNION.

Slowly, the flood ruined houses are finally being demolished. Much (not all) of the land will be turned into green spaces, never to be developed again.

Former BAE Industries, Westover, NY, July 3, 2014

The ruined factory I speak of (still not demolished) once occupied by BAE Industries and 1300 workers, still waits for its date with the bulldozer.  At one time it was the largest wood framed structure in the United States.  Its history is forgotten by so many.

But on the other hand, since I wrote this, at least one new business has started where another one had closed - a seed of hope.

And our town, the town of Union, has been planning a gigantic planning project, the ReUNION Project 2020.  There are a lot of high hopes for our area.  Time will tell what positive things will come out of this disaster.

This is the post I wrote after the cousins reunion, on the eve of the first anniversary of the flood.

On the Cover of the Rolling....Flood Book

It is said that everyone has their 15 minutes of fame.  Sometimes, that fame is a welcome thing.  Don't you want to be famous?  Doesn't everyone?

Sometimes, it is your neighborhood that becomes famous.

Many times, you just as soon wish it had never happened.
That's what I wish, every time I leave my house near Johnson City, NY and walk or travel more than about three or four blocks.

I pass buildings that became vacant 11 months ago today, and are still vacant.  Some don't have interior walls.  Some are still filled with debris.  Some have "For Sale" signs.  Some still have bushes encrusted with flood mud.

There is the former credit union building.  The former day care center.  The former doctor's practice. The former 600,000. square foot factory building that once held 1300 workers.  The former adult day care center.  The sagging houses that will never be occupied again.  One entire street is almost devoid of occupants, with just a handful of hardy souls trying to reclaim their lives.

The out of business and for sale tire store whose mechanics nourished my son's love of car repair especially touches my heart.  The former.....the former.....

Many businesses have reopened.  The Home Depot.  The Ollies.  The window contractor.  The Aldi.  Our local pediatrician. A dentist.  A massage therapist.   My beloved Unicorn Electronics.  Wild Birds Unlimited.

We must look towards the future and I usually do, but today I look back one last time.

This past weekend, I had several cousins visit from the New York City area, Pennsylvania, and (by Skype) Florida, the midwest and Texas.  We had a lot of fun, and we talked about many things.  Still, a certain book I had taken out of the library drew a number of fascinated readers.  They paged through the pictures while my young adult son provided the narration.

One of the cousins graduated last year from Binghamton University.  She looked at pictures of places she knew. She had graduated in May of 2011 and the pictures were taken during the period of September 7, 8 and 9, 2011 during the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee,  It was a book about the flood.  If she had still been going to the college, she may well have volunteered at the Events Center, which became one of the evacuation centers.

My neighborhood is on the cover of the flood book.  My house is even visible (no, not telling you which one) in the aerial photo.

Our neighborhood of Westover, along with several other areas (some of which suffered much worse than we did) have become a symbol of the flood.  Let us name them:  Owego. Castle Gardens.  Twin Orchards.  The Southside of Binghamton.  There are others.  I really don't know why our neighborhood was chosen for its 15 minutes of fame, but it was.

When I first found out our neighborhood would be on the cover, it was emotionally very hard.  It was just a couple of months after the flood, and my feelings were still too raw.  But, when I saw the book at the library this past July, I knew it was time.  Time to put the flood where it belonged, in the past.

Time to read the book.  Time to move on.

So we looked at the book, and then went on to much happier things. We had such a good time that my sides ached the next day.

I wish the flood had never happened.  I wish I could have had the power to prevent the storm from doing what it did to our part of upstate NY and parts of several other states.  But wishes have no power.  Only actions.  We have come so far, and we should be proud.

Next month will be the one year anniversary.  I will write about the flood recovery one last time.  And then I hope to move on permanently to other blog topics.

It is time.

How a Journey of 1000 Steps Begins - Part 2

On Tuesday, I started a series on how our journey to advocate for my spouse's developmentally disabled brother in law started.  As I blogged about, my father in law died suddenly, one Christmas night in the 1990's. 

After the viewings, and the funeral, the paperwork started.

"B"(as I call my brother in law in this blog) helped my mother in law and me make the phone calls to various agencies, to my father in law's former employer (he had just retired), to Social Security, and to the ARC chapter who ran the sheltered workshop where "B" worked.

The ARC, in the "old days" had another name (so unacceptable today):  "The Association of Retarded Children". Yes, things were so different back when "B" was born, in the 1950's.  Or, even, in the 1990's when our advocacy journey began.

"B"'s association with ARC dates, I believe, from his late teens.  A long, long time.

"B" didn't make the calls.  I made a lot of them, but if we needed a statistic (such as the date he retired, the date he turned 65, and so forth) "B" was right there with the information.

That is one of his talents.  Not all people with autism have that kind of talent, but "B" does.  He can, for example, remember the weather (a special interest of his) for almost every day of his conscious life.  He also has an internal calendar with dates of almost everything that has ever happened to him.

You'll recall that I blogged, back in June, about "B" insisting that the family cat was responsible for his father's death.  In talking to the ARC, I asked if there was any kind of help they could provide in helping "B" adjust to the death of his father. (Incidentally, in case you are wondering - yes, people with autism do process death differently than many people without autism.  Perhaps this should be the subject of a future post.)

The answer to whether the ARC could provide help was "No."  The reason why shocked me-it was so unexpected.  And it started us on our journey of advocacy, which came to a milestone earlier this month, as my spouse was granted guardianship of "B".

So long ago, my father in law had insisted, every time we asked about "B"'s future, that "everything was taken care of".


It turned out that nothing was taken care of.  There was one important detail he had neglected t take care of. And that was why "B" couldn't get this, or any other service besides a sheltered workshop, from ARC.

"To be continued".  (Yes-there will be a third post.)

My readers, thank you for coming to my blog!  For now, I may have to cut back my blogging for August and September  I still plan to blog daily, but posts may be reruns, or photo posts.
I still will have good content for you, but a family situation is taking a lot of my mental energy right now.  I hope you will understand.

And know that I appreciate you, my readers, every one.  Thank you for reading my story - and thank you for your comments.

See you in August!

Summer Ramblings - I am Grateful

Today, a simple post on a simple subject - gratitude.

I love to exercise walk, and many times my spouse and I find ourselves walking on the West Side of Binghamton, New York.  A lot of people there like to landscape  Today, I wanted to share some of what I see on those walks.

Walking - such a simple act, but not everyone I know can do that. 

Butterfly weed with a bee (see upper left corner).  We all should be grateful for bees - without them, we would starve.

A Binghamton porch.  For us who are not homeless, let us be grateful for the roofs over our heads.

Dahlias and a flower to the right which I don't know, but it sure is pretty. Without my glasses, my vision classifies me as legally blind (and that's been true since elementary school).  I am grateful for the ability to see and for modern technology.

And finally, the roundabout in downtown Binghamton, where I work.  Not quite the west side, but there is something about early morning light that makes the juxtaposition of the two year old roundabout and the 100 or so year old buildings - something special.  I am grateful to have a job.


What kind of beauty is in your day today?