Welcome! I hope I bring a spot of calm and happiness into these uncertain times. I blog about my photography adventures, flowers, gardening, the importance of chocolate in a well lived life, or anything else on my mind.
Welcome to Skywatch Friday, where bloggers like me watch the leaves fall sky.
At this time of year, watching the sky takes second place to watching the turning of the leaves. Where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State, we've had some "meh" years recently in the leaf peeping department. But, after our local paper predicted "meh" as their front headline one day (yes, they really did) I guess that spurred Nature to prove our paper wrong.
You decide if Nature did a good job. Here, Vestal, New York.
Otsiningo Park, Binghamton.
Choose wisely - yellow, red, russet?
The hills are alive with color.
As a bonus we had some beautiful clear skies recently, which matched the trees turning so well.
Even on the Vestal Rail Trail, Nature shows off.
But I know some of you won't rest until you see some clouds. Well, Sunday, we had clouds. Spouse and I headed up to Spring Forest Cemetery in Binghamton, which is filled with history, and also trees turning color.
Welcome all to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, almost frost 2020 edition.
Yes, after only a slight frost in September (and a whole lot of covering plants for three consecutive nights) it looks like the Garden Grim Reaper is in sight - maybe Sunday morning at our Zone 5b garden in the Southern Tier of New York. But I still have flowers to show you.
For the last time this year, so many outdoor flowers (both at my house and our community garden) that I can still have fresh flower bouquets at home.
The fall stars are white Japanese anemones in our shady backyard.
Dahlia
Zinnias at the community garden.
A last sunflower at the community garden.
Pineapple sage - the flowers are finally starting to open (just in time for frost).
Nicotiana. Only two of the six plants I bought made it, for some reason.
My nasturtium Alaska also didn't do that well, unlike last year, which was its best year ever.
Petunias and one of my several calibrachoa. I got this petunia on the left at a $5 hanging basket Home Depot sale on the 4th of July and it did so well for me.
Nothing says fall like "mums".
I will end with my one heuchera plant that seems to be doing well. The variegated leaves belong to a brunneria, which are currently trying to take over my shady yard.
Still again, thanks go out to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for, once again, hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Why not visit her blog and then visit other gardeners from all over the world.
I'm only in my mid to late 60's but I find myself wandering the aisles of my memory, pulling open filing drawers, taking out folders with memories. Memories of what I did, where I went, where I lived. Lingering through the folders, Regretfully, putting them back in the drawer.
Today, it's baseball.
I remember some of the players of my youth and teenaged years.
And I think of my two lifetime trips to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (pictured above in 2014).
Then, reality intrudes. So many former major league ball players died this year (including all of them named above). Five Hall of Fame players passed away in the last six weeks. The latest one was Joe Morgan, possibly one of the greatest second basemen of all time, dead at the age of 77.
The old timers are vanishing before our eyes, we middle aged (and older) current or former baseball fans.
When will this year end?
It made me remember the one game, not quite an old timers game, I went to at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York, where I got to see Bob Feller pitch at age 90. Then, he died a bit over a year later. In rereading this post, I realized that I had actually seen Whitey Ford at a minor league game in Binghamton, New York back around 2008. Ah, memories....
The following is taken from that 2009 post. I hope this is the last time I blog about baseball for a while.
It's funny....I go to a Fathers Day game for Fathers Day and....neither
of my parents were baseball fans. As a result, I grew up in the Bronx,
and never once visited Yankee Stadium. I don't know exactly how I
became interested in baseball, but (this was before it was OK for girls
to enjoy spectator sports) I used to get a lot of "you sure know a lot
about baseball for a girl" comments.
Actually my technical
knowledge wasn't and still isn't all that good. I can't tell you, given
a certain scenario, if the batter should bunt, try for the sacrifice
fly, if the man on first should try to steal, or what. I just always
loved to watch good baseball. I was always the last one picked for
softball, so I never even dreamed about playing, back in those pre-Title
IX days.
But...my Dad used to take me on Sunday afternoon walks
during the summer. It got both of us out of our hot apartment, as we
walked and walked. He used to love to go to houses under construction
to watch them go up. It fascinated him. I would tag along, with my
transistor radio, and listen to the Yankees ballgame. These walks are a
very fond memory for me.
That was many years ago, and my Dad passed away in 1986.
Too
bad no old Yankees from that 1960's lineup were there in Cooperstown
(although I did get to see Whitey Ford once in Binghamton) but here are
some pictures of players at the game. And, THANK YOU, BALLPLAYERS, FOR
COMING. It was so refreshing to see ballplayers who wanted to be there. And, I know you had a good time too. So much so that Bob Feller has already announced that he plans to return next year.
By
the way, I still don't know who the people were who rode in the
"Yankees" car, including the gentleman with the Mickey Mantle uniform
who looked so much like him. I have a picture, but there are spectator
faces in there so I don't want to post the photo.
This
picture was taken seconds before a mob of children and adults followed
Brooks Robinson. blocking my view, to get his autograph.
Here, from the back, is George Foster: I sure would not have been rooting for him when he was playing for the 1970's Big Red Machine.
This
picture was taken after the game: the players in "camouflage" uniforms
were Military all stars who played alongside the old timers. I
wish I had a good seat to capture all the clowning around. And,
Doubleday Field folks, just a hint-the PA system where we were (all the
way in the hinterlands) rivaled the 1970's PA systems in the New York
subway for incoherence.
And now....I need to escape into my memories once more.
Who
are the members of Music Moves Me ? We are
bloggers who blog about music
each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join in on the fun. Just remember our simple rule: you must include at
least one You Tube or Vimeo video or your post may be subject to removal
or labeling "NO MUSIC". You are welcome to write about music. too but there must be at least one music video.
We've been down a few participants recently and would love for you to join our Monday party!
Every month we have an honorary co-hostess. For the month of October our honorary co-hostess is: Mary from Jingle Jangle Jungle! Today, here is her theme:
As it’s Roctober – Choose a decade and build a playlist of rock songs from that period"!
I blogged last week that I
hate it when my music posts write themselves. You'd think I'd be happy
but it usually means a music great has passed on to the Great Gig in
the Sky.
Well...this post wrote itself, because, for the second week in a row, I must pay tribute to two music makers who have passed on. For the first one, here's a story:
In the mid 70's my spouse joined the Air Force. In the early parts of his service, he made several good buddies. One was a music lover who introduced us to albums from time to time. One of those was what turned out to be the first album from the group Van Halen. The first time I heard that album, I was blown away.
Eddie Van Halen died last week of cancer at the age of 65. I found out at work when an anguished email from a co-worker hit my mailbox.
I shouldn't be surprised that so many people loved him.
I was all ready to pick a 80's playlist. Not an actual playlist, because, for some reason, I get frustrated building them on You Tube. So you'll forgive me if this isn't an actual play list. But anyway, I decided to pick the 1970's for my playlist. Once I started, it came together quickly.
From their first album, the self-named Van Halen, 1978's Running with the Devil
A live version of Eruption, also from that firsts album. Watch Eddie Van Halen's face and the sheer joy shining in it. I never knew about what was behind that smile - the pain of growing up being bullied because of his racial heritage.
Watch his guitar techniques. It was a good time. This is about 13 minutes long, but if you just tune in here and there it's still worth the time.
Farewell, Eddie Van Halen.
This fellow airman also introduced us to a group called Boston, who released their first studio album in 1976 and their second in 1978. For my playlist, here is 1978's Don't Look Back. It's hard not to look back at my life, though.
Reggae singer Johnny Nash also died last week at the age of 80. His big hit was I Can See Clearly Now from 1972. I was in college when this was released.
Here is another song from Johnny Nash, his cover of Wonderful World from Top of the Pops 2. He released this song in 1977.
I was a big Elton John fan back in the 1970's. One song I really love was originally recorded in 1970 but released on the Yellow Brick Road album in 1973. To this day I don't understand the lyrics, but it's a good song. Another college favorite of mine.
I could have picked one of his big hits, but this song just called to me - Grey Seal.
America's A Horse with No Name captured everyone's imagination in 1972 - to this day, I guess, we don't know why the horse had no name....
In 1974 Three Dog Night released "The Show Must Go On". Oh, those tight pants...and yes, my spouse used to wear polyester shirts. In fact he had an entire collection of them.
David Bowie and a live performance of "Heroes". This song was released in 1977 and didn't gain that much traction at first (I don't remember it from the 70's, in fact) but now it is considered by some as one of the best rock songs of all time.
One last song. True confession, I liked (and still like) disco music. One of my favorites was Donna Summer's 1979 cover of MacArthur Park, a song that originally dated from 1968 (and which I owned the 45 single to). But Summer did it so much better (sorry, Richard Harris).
In putting this blog post together I realized that, as much of an 80's fan as I am, the 1970's really did rock. In fact, it rocked so much that I just might continue the 70's theme next week.
Wishing you a wonderful week. See you next week, same time, same place.
Several times over the years I blogged about the Amazing Secret of Sherwood Forest.
No, the amazing secret of Sherwood Forest doesn't have anything to do
with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although it would have been
interesting to watch them fight in the Civil War, dressed in their
bright green clothes and using their longbows and clubs to
fight....well, I don't know if they would have sided with the Union or
the Confederates. But Friar Tuck would have been quite the sight.
No, I am talking about Sherwood Forest Plantation, in Virginia, which became a bit of an Internet sensation in 2012 because of a man who lived there. His name is Harrison Tyler, and he happens to be the grandson of President John Tyler, a U.S. President who served from 1841 to 1845. There was also another living grandson.
I haven't been a baseball fan for years but I have a special spot in my heart for Whitey Ford, because he's one of my earliest memories of getting interested in baseball (I grew up in a non baseball watching family). Did you know that he died watching (on TV) the team he played for, the New York Yankees?
Ford played for the Yankees his entire career - 16 years. 10 time all star, six time World Series champion. Best winning percentage of any pitcher in the 20th century. He was called "The Chairman of the Board". But not only that, in a way, he was local to where I used to work, Binghamton, New York. In 1949, he joined our then minor league team, the Binghamton Triplets. Johnson Field, where he played, is long gone but the land is partially occupied by NY Rt 17. I believe our local senior center is also partially on some of the land that was Johnson Field, but can't verify it.
Up to the late 1980's, Ford used to occasionally visit Red's Kettle Inn near to where the field was, where he used to eat. As of this writing, Red's is still open.
Fall in New York State. Apples, pumpkins, and lots of clouds in the sky.
When the sun is out, nature celebrates with a tree show. The burning bush on the left is a bonus.
Some of the geese are migrating, or at least, showing a lot of restlessness. They are a bit hard to see, but I managed to take three pictures. In the first one, you can barely see the geese (look on the lower right, where the power lines are).
This wasn't that great either (look between the tallest tree and the large cloud in the botton third) but I liked the clouds, so I'm including it.
Bingo! (Upper middle.)
Sky along the Susquehanna River.
Finally, I say farewell to the October sky for this week with this shot.
As Yogi, who hosts this meme says: The sky doesn't care about the pandemic... It just does its thing. Contemplate the sky is what I say.
The trees are beginning to turn their fall colors where I live in New York State.
Orange tree against a blue sky. More and more, sunny days are the exception here, as we move into our fall cloud patterns.
I took this picture October 1 in Otsiningo Park, Binghamton. A sunny day, but as I write this (the evening of October 7), there is also sadness. Several fellow bloggers/FB friends are undergoing health challenges, or supporting close loved ones' health journeys. And there is all the suffering from COVID from those with it, and their family members/friends.
So many suffering in so many ways - how can a simple tree bring happiness? It isn't easy.
The autumn season brings special gifts to us in the Northeast United States. Pumpkins, apple cider, spectacular (or not) fall color.
But it also brings hope, because even as many of our trees shut down for the oncoming winter, their buds for the coming year have already formed - small, perhaps, but they will survive the winter and burst into glory come spring.
May life bring hope and peace to all who are suffering today.
Nature left me a little gift the other day. If it hadn't been near where I was walking, I may never have seen it.
My guess is that it belonged to a blue jay. Hopefully, it was just due to a molt and not something tragic. I didn't pick it up. According to Native lore, it carries the power of the bird it belonged to and was granted to you for a reason. It belonged to Nature and was a gift to be left in nature.
Every year, in our garden, we try to attempt something new. This year, going through a depleted seed rack, we came across a packet of something called "Dragon tail radishes".
I had heard of something called Rat's Tail Radishes, a radish grown, not for its root, but for its seed pods. However, I am not a big fan of radishes.
But this year is not your normal year, and we decided these dragon tails might make a nice fall crop. They grew quickly, with abundant foliage.
Then they decided to bloom.
You can see some of the young pods growing out on the upper left side of this flower cluster.
Beautiful flowers were followed by lots (and lots and lots and lots) of pods, like a long, thin, purple bean. The young ones are crisp and have a little bit of a bite, but I have grown fond of them. I eat them raw right off the plant. The older thicker ones, the thickness of a green bean, will pepper up your mouth.
They are addictive, though. So we decided to make some pickles.
You can see some of the pods over to the right. The vinegar pickling mixture (for refrigerator pickles) is on the left.
Almost ready for the fridge. These will not be canned, so will need to be used up soon.
So now what?
We are at a loss, honestly. I went on an internet search.
Here's something called Peas and Prosciutto with radish snaps, although these aren't the pods we are getting. I also found something for "radish snack" involving roasting them in the oven. I do note these are not the same pods as "rats tail", which are smaller, thicker, and green instead of purple.
I hope we can find some other ways to use these. If you have any ideas, I would appreciate you sharing.
Who
are the members of Music Moves Me ? We are
bloggers who blog about music
each Monday. If you have music to share with us, you are most
welcome to join in on the fun. Just remember our simple rule: you must include at
least one You Tube or Vimeo video or your post may be subject to removal
or labeling "NO MUSIC". You are welcome to write about music. too but there must be at least one music video.
Every month we have an honorary co-hostess. For the month of October our honorary co-hostess is: Mary from Jingle Jangle Jungle!
Today,
she has picked the theme of "You Pick".
I hate it when my music posts write themselves. You'd think I'd be happy but it usually means a music great has passed on to the Great Gig in the Sky.
But this Monday it's worse. Last Tuesday we lost not one, but two, music greats.
Helen Reddy passed away September 29 at the age of 78. Reddy had suffered from dementia in her final years.
She is best known for the anthem "I Am Woman", perfect for the 1970's.
Here are a couple of others, starting with her cover of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from the play "Jesus Christ Superstar".
And, Delta Dawn.
Mac Davis also died September 29 at the age of 78, from complications of heart surgery. He wrote songs for many artists, including Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley, plus recorded some of his own songs. One of them, In the Ghetto, was a hit for Elvis but this is Mac Davis performing the song.
Here's a song we can still identify with even today. Just change some of the names: "Why Don't We All Just Get Stoned".
And if this live Mac Davis performance doesn't make you laugh, nothing will. (It even has a reference to Helen Reddy). Davis was quite a storyteller. After this, I wish I could have seen him live.
It's October 4, 10-4 in our style of writing dates. We are surrounded by bad news, and more bad news.
But nature, in response to the news, responds 10-4.
Those who remember the CB craze of the 1970's remembers 10-4, what truckers use to say "acknowledge" or "OK". (Here's a better explanation of the CB "10-codes")
Because, all around us, nature is telling us to take a deep breath, and look at our surroundings.
For us in New York State, here's what you would see.
Fall foliage (the best is still to come).
Winter squash.
Gourds.
Specialty pumpkins.
Blue hubbards.
And more foliage.
Today is also Trucker Appreciation Day. This year, we acknowledge how much we owe to our truckers, essential workers who bring our food and other supplies to us. I have no truckers in my family (that I am aware of) but one of my neighbors back when I lived in Arkansas were both truckers, the husband and the wife.
It's interesting how certain regional foods or drinks get a following.
Several years ago, while visiting Florida, I went into a Publix (regional supermarket chain). My spouse and I like to go into supermarkets where we are staying because we usually find something interesting.
This time, it was Vernors Ginger Ale. We decided to buy a two liter bottle and try it out.
I grew up in New York City, and have lived in New York, Florida, Iowa (briefly), Kansas, Arkansas and Texas. So, I've learned to embrace certain regional specialties. I had heard of Vernor's but had never tasted it. In New York City, we have embraced another brand of ginger ale, Canada Dry.
Anyway....one taste of Vernors and I was hooked. Ginger Ale, for those living outside the United States, is not an ale - it's a nonalcoholic soda. It can be consumed on its own, as part of mixed alcoholic drinks, or as a treatment for stomach upset. I never realized, until today, its history - and its importance to Michigan.
The last three years, we've gone to Florida for a couple of weeks in January, and have brought back a bottle of diet Vernors on the Auto Train. I usually wait for a special occasion to break into it. You can't hoard soda in these bottles - they eventually lose carbonation and/or flavor. I wonder if the reason you can find it in Florida is because of all the Michigan natives who retired there.
The occasion to use it came today. Feeling a bit under the weather because of a med I had to take for something not serious but annoying, I broke into the Vernors.
It hasn't resolved the issue, but it sure tasted good. I can't describe the taste. Vernors has a creaminess - almost like a ginger flavored cream soda. At one time, it was actually aged in oak barrels, and the Vernors label shows that heritage.
So, I found a couple of places online where I can buy soda, including one specializing in Detroit food and drink products, but shipping costs are prohibitive for soda because of the special packing they require, and the weight of the liquid.
On the last day of September, I was watching the end of the local 6pm news. The newscaster said something like "you really need to go outside and watch the sunset." Their studio is high up on a hill, but I'm not. Still, I grabbed my phone and headed for a place to watch.
The nice thing about living in a small city is that the broadcasters are local, too. That newscaster wasn't kidding - I started to take pictures even before I got to where I wanted to stand.
The horizon looked like it was on fire.
The west looked fine.
So I decided to point my camera in another direction.
Along the river, an egret caught my eye. You can barely see him (or her) as a tiny white dot towards the bottom center of the picture - this is as far as I could zoom my phone.
You could see the reflection of the sunset on the water.
Too soon, the show was over. Thank you, local newscaster. I may be treasuring this evening for days to come.
