Near the airport -- #skywatchfriday

My office is just a few mikes from a small, regional airport.  Right under the flight path.

#skywatchfriday

Mostly Mozart

Yes, I think I'm going through a classical music phase. A group of us headed into the city Saturday night so see a performance:





The piece we saw was Schubert.  Nice music, beautifully played and sung.

In German.

But with the English translation projected on the screen.

The lyrics describe a young man's feelings of isolation, depression and despair, his suicidal thoughts.  Beautifully crafted, lots of symbolism.

And too long by half.

Seriously.  The performance was 90 minutes long, and by the 45-minute mark, I was ready for him to wrap it up.

Even so, we had a nice evening.  We got into the city early enough to wander through a street fair.  I tasted the most incredible coconut rum cake and shared an arepa (a cornmeal cake stuffed with mozzarella cheese) with my friend K.  Drew bought himself a pair of sunglasses. And then we grabbed some dinner at the Whole Foods Supermarket.

Yes, Whole Foods, in the basement of the building that houses the theater, sells a variety of prepared foods, and offers a small seating area where you can eat your meal.  I had vegetable biryani, chicken masala and naan, but I also had to try a little of their jalapeno macaroni and cheese.  

And afterwards, we walked back to Penn Station, through the crowds in Times Square, past the guy's advertising bus tours and comedy clubs, past the costumed characters and the painted ladies, past the guy's selling counterfeit designer handbags and the fans in Yankees jerseys and Jets jerseys coming back from their respective games ... It was a very nice evening.

Charlottesville

Scary to see how many White Supremacists exist in our world.  Scary to see how much fear and intimidation they bring with them.

 I worry for our future.

Ducks game -- yes, again

You haven't lived until you've seen a guy in a duck costume do the Chicken Dance:

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As for the rest of the evening, a typical baseball game.    Not particularly crowded in the stands.  We dined on hot dogs and French fries and tried to catch foul balls..  There was one play where a broken bat wound up in the stands. And ultimately the Ducks turned the Maryland Blue Crabs into crab meat...  they won 4-1.

Mooning over baseball #skywatchfriday

I must confess, this photo is from 2016.  But the full moon over the stadium was so interesting...

#skywatchfriday

Yet another "build-your-own-burrito" restaurant.

The dining room is clean, bright and comfortable.  The staff is friendly and enthusiastic.

The food?  Well, it's fast food, but well prepared.   The staff assembles your order from prepared ingredients.  You choose tacos, a bowl or a burrito, then choose the ingredients -- rice, beans, meat, toppings.

What I like about this place -- chips and salsa come with every order (you can add guacamole or queso for a small fee).  You can choose from a variety of salsas, both red and green, ranging from mild to almost painfully hot, on the salsa bar.

This place certainly won't replace my favorite Mexican restaurant, but it's a great place to grab a quick bite.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Once again, Joyce poses interesting questions.

1. Do you try to set rules for yourself about how you use your time? Explain.

Yes and no.  If I didn't structure my work day I'd never get anything done.  But I leave weekends unstructured, or rather, I TRY  to leave weekends unstructured.

2. Monday was National Lighthouse Day. Have you ever visited a lighthouse? If not, do you have any desire to see one up close? Of the 10 Most Beautiful that made this list which would you most like to see in person-

Lindau Lighthouse (Germany), Fanad Lighthouse (Ireland), Portland Head Light (Maine), Yaquina Bay Light (Oregon) The St. Augustine Light (Florida), Peggys Point Lighthouse (Canada), Start Point Lighthouse (England), Tower of Hercules (Spain), Bass Harbor Head Station (Maine), and White Shoal Light (Michigan)

When you've been away, what's your 'lighthouse' telling you you're on the right road home?

I haven't been to any of the lighthouses listed, would love to see them all,  but I have been to two lighthouses, both local.

I live on Long Island.  When I was a kid, my parents took us out to Montauk Point. We climbed on the cliffs and we looked at the lighthouse.

Earlier this summer I visited the Fire Island lighthouse.  I blogged about it here.

As for more personal lighthouses...are we talking about geographic or metaphoric?

Whenever I hear my love's voice, I know I am coming home.

3. What have you unintentionally stopped doing? Is this something you need to pick back up and begin again, or is it something you need to let go of for now (or even permanently)?

For the last year or so I have been exploring my spiritual side through mindfulness and meditation.  It's helped me stay grounded and less stressed.  As my life has gotten busier in the last few months, I've left that practice behind.  I am actually scheduling meditation these days...

4. We've had a full week of August. Share a GRAND moment from your month so far.



Walking on the Jones Beach boardwalk one Friday evening.  We saw a flock of seagulls all gliding on the wind, and a flock of Canadian geese take off from the grass.  And later, when it got dark, we saw the moonlight glowing on the ocean.


5. Tell us one song you love with the word 'baby' in the title.

From Youtube:




6.  Insert your own random thought here.

I wonder if that new buffet restaurant will be an Asian buffet....