songbird's crazy world

 New month, new possibilities. We had an official state of emergency last night.  Here’s why: Thunder, lightning and heavy rain … welcome to the orange zone. It was actually scary for a little while.  We were on flood alert, but thankfully we’re ok.  There was serious flooding in Queens … We’ve had so much rain this year, so can someone please explain why my lawn is turning brown? But the weather is supposed to improve for the weekend.

Shadow in the living room   And hiding in the kitchen window Duchess

 Busy skies  Anything shape of that cloud …. #skywatchfriday

 So occasionally I walk or drive past a sad house …there was a fire last summer, and the house is still in a state of disrepair. And yesterday on the Ring app I found out that there was another house fire in the neighborhood.  This one is in a different part of the neighborhood, I occasionally walk there.  So sad. But the homeowner’s nephew says everyone is safe, so that’s good. The bread machine produced a wonderful loaf of gluten free bread.  I was a bit nervous, first time using the machine and first time using the recipe.  But it worked.  Gluten free bread is never as good as regular bread, but this was tasty, So now I have another toy to play with.

I finally got to see the Billy Joel documentary.  It’s all about his life and career.  I knew a lot about him before I saw the movie, but of course there were things I learned about him. He released an album asa companion to the documentary.  Listen here. I love this one, recorded here on Long Island. When he sings about “hanging out at the Village Green” he means this place.  Here’s the pool and playground, with the shopping center in the background. There are songs on this album I haven’t heard in years, like this one. And this one has special meaning for me … came out when I was in college upstate, and I’d take a Greyhound on a Hudson River Line … I love this very early recording of Piano Man. I finally bought a bread machine.  It’s got a “gluten free” setting.  I’m going to try it today. I’ll let you know how it turns out. We are in the midst of another heat wave, but the weather should be better by the weekend. In the meantime we have two kvetchy ...

 

 Today’s theme Song about get-a-ways to chillaxing or anything that makes you think of summer fun We have been doing similar songs all summer, but I think I found a few more. And a brief sad note,  satirist Tom Lehrer passed away.

I am glad I live in an enlightened place.  When Drew and I went to the theater last week I spotted this sign:   We saw the new Superman movie Friday night.  Very enjoyable.  Just enough humor in it to lighten the mood without turning an adventure film into a comedy.  And yes, it’s very “woke”.  Much is made of his “alien” origins.  Oh, and if you see the movie, make sure to stay for the post-credit scenes. Next week it’s back to the Marvel Universe and the Fantastic Four. You know you’ve reached the height of domesticity when, in the way home from a romantic dinner, you stop at the gas station to fill the tank, make a quick trip to the ATM and then pop into the supermarket because you’re out of half and half for your morning coffee. It’s raining today.  It’s been such a rainy summer.  So disappointing.

  The Rhythm of My Heart Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Rhythm of My Heart (1991) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . Before I start answering this week’s questions … I had the pleasure of seeing Rod Stewart in concert at Jones Beach in August 2014.  I had tickets to see him at Jones Beach in August 2020, but Covid … the concert was postponed until August 2022, on a day I was unable to go.  (Drew went with one of our friends, brought me a t shirt.) When I heard he was going to do a stadium tour with Billy Joel this summer … ...

  We got to watch Audra McDonald chew up the scenery last night. Afterwards we went to one of our favorites —  John’s of Times Square .  They do gluten free!

 Duchess in the living room    That last photo … the black and white comforter is now officially hers.  It was full of cat hair.  Drew thought he’d wash it and put it away, but Duchess demanded he return it to her couch.    Why I’m constantly cleaning my kitchen    That they’re actually sitting on the same couch ….

A late afternoon walk at Jones Beach.  This time we chose the section of boardwalk that takes you through the dunes. The skies were so interesting that afternoon. #skywatchfriday

 Looks like they gave up on mowing, they’re letting the lawn go natural. I love the look of this house.  I’ve been walking past it for months.  Never took a picture because I was hoping they’d move the pod. Seriously, most people use pods if they’re moving, or if they’re doing major house renovations.  I have no idea why these folks have had a pod for months.  But the house is cute, isn’t it? And yes, I’m still doing a lot of walking in the neighborhood. We’re also trying to get down to Jobes Beach to walk.  I’m “in training”, after all — I signed up for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, a 5k walk scheduled for October 19 at the beach. Back in 2019 we found a sandwich shop that had a different “take”  on  pastrami .  We followed the shop when it relocated.  Back in April we went to the shop, but it was  temporarily closed .  The shop never reopened. But … our favorite Greek takeout place is opening a second locatio...

 I was never a Black Sabbath fan, but I was sad to hear Ozzy Osbourne passed away. Sadder to hear about Malcolm Jamal Warner I loved him on the Cosby show.  Billy Joel is making news.  I haven’t seen the documentary yet (we DVR’d part one and will record part two on Friday) but I did catch his  interview  on Bill Maher’s podcast.  If you have an hour or so, it’s a great interview.  At the very end of the interview, Billy mentions that he was influenced by the lyrics of Gilbert & Sullivan operettas.  Hmmm… Attitude makes a difference.  How you treat people makes a difference.  I was very discombobulated this morning, almost forgot that I had an appointment with one of my doctors.  I arrived 15 minutes late and apologized profusely.  I was told “no problem, just have a seat and we will be with you shortly.” I stopped by the reception desk as I was leaving so that I could schedule my next appointment.  Usually there are s...