songbird's crazy world

  Happy Holidays!  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! Deja vu!  Didn’t we do this last year?  Of course we did …  Last year’s answers SATURDAY 9: HAPPY HOLIDAYS  From the archives 1. As you can see, when Sam Winters was a little girl, she loved giving her annual wish list to Santa. If you could ask Santa for anything at all, right now, what would it be? Santa can’t bring me what I want this year …  2. Are you currently on the Naughty or Nice list? How did you get there? I try to stay on the nice list … I don’t always succeed… 3. Are you trav...

 Both cats are lounging in the living room. Shadow:  I hear Mommy’s car on the driveway! She’s home! She’s home!  She’s home!   Duchess: Calm down, she wasn’t gone that long.  Shadow: I’m going to meet her at the door. Duchess: (rolling her eyes) Take a chill pill.  Seriously.  You’re three years old, not a kitten. Shadow:  (laughing) Just wait until Daddy gets home … you’ll pretend not to notice when he walks in, but then you’ll meow at him until he sits in the chair with you.  Duchess:  How dare you …Um, what’s that thing she’s got in her hands?  It looks like … it’s…it’s…it’s a carrier. Shadow: Oh, no … the only time we see a carrier is …when …when …it’s too horrible to think it … Duchess: It looks like you’re going to the v-e-t… Shadow:  Me?  It could just as easily be for you … Duchess:  My carrier is upstairs. You outgrew the one Mom got when you were a kitten, remember?  Ha ha, enjoy your visit … Seve...

  I’ve captured the moon! #skywatchfriday

  lat·ke /ˈlätkə/ noun plural noun :  latkes (in Jewish cooking) a  pancake , especially one made with  grated  potato. Latkes are traditional for Chanukah.  They are also a pain to make from scratch.  Grating potatoes …mixing the batter …frying them in oil … Most people can avoid the hassle by buying latkes from the deli (I always liked the ones from Ben’s Kosher Deli) or the frozen ones from the supermarket (Trader Joe’s taste like homemade). I can’t buy latkes, They have gluten. Most commercially prepared latkes use matzo meal or flour as a binder. Sigh. But both Streit’s and Manischewitz make gluten free mixes. So I tried the Manischewitz homestyle latke mix (different from their potato pancake mix).  The homestyle mix is much thicker than regular pancake mix — instead of pouring batter, you form patties.  The patties hold together so well that you can use an air fryer instead of traditional frying.  Not bad for a first attempt …

 The holiday began on Sunday.  We decorated the living room, I didn’t decorate outside this year, thanks to the snow. But our electric menorah glows in the window, a testament to our faith and our resilience in troubled times. Many tears have been shed … but the light of Chanukah illuminates the darkness …

 We got our first measurable snowfall starting Saturday night, ending Sunday .  I’d say we got about seven inches. It was light and fluffy, easy to shovel. Yes, I said shovel . Because somebody didn’t buy gas for his newly-serviced snow blower. We had to do the driveway and the sidewalk in front of the house.  And we had to do it before the temperature dropped and the light, fluffy snow turned to ice. But at least the town plowed the streets.   Plowed just in time for Santa to do his drive-by. Let me explain about Santa … Here on Long Island we have a professional police department in each county.  But fire and ambulance services are provide by volunteers, and are funded, in part, by community contributions.  So every December these volunteers drive through the community, showing off their firefighting equipment and spreading holiday cheer.  Santa Claus always rides along. Santa came past our house while we were shoveling snow. 

 And it’s Chanukah! How about a Wicked  Chanukah celebration? From Six13 And the Maccabeats This next song isn’t a Chanukah song, it’s a psalm sung every week during services.  But Cantor Schwartz loves to put Hebrew prayers to popular tunes, especially Broadway. And speaking of Cantor Schwartz How about a few more traditional Chanukah songs?

 My heart aches for the Jews of Australia.   Chanukah is bittersweet tonight. 

 So, as you know, Drew and I have a membership with the Bronx Zoo.   On Thursday we headed to the zoo for the annual  Holiday Lights  show.  The winter hours for the zoo — park opens at 10 AM, animal exhibits close at 4 PM, park closes at 4:30. The Holiday Lights events begin at 4:30, but if you have a ticket for the special event you can enter the park at 3 PM. We arrived at 3, so we had about an hour to visit with the animals. I love the waterfall at the Bronx River entrance to the zoo. It was a bit chilly … A bear! Oh deer … We headed over to World of Darkness, an indoor exhibit.  We hadn’t been able to see this exhibit when we came last May, so we were anxious to visit. Definitely interesting. They had three different types of bats. There were caymans. And some interesting rodents. This little guy was persistent. And afterwards we ran into a peacock.  I love peacocks. With no more animals to look at, we decided to grab a bite to eat at the Dancing ...

 Whine … I don’t feel good … I knew I was going to feel sick, I was prepared…but it still sucks … In order to understand why I feel sick today, you have to go back almost six years, to March 2020.  The start of the pandemic.  “Everyone” was catching the virus (we were still calling it the coronavirus then, we hadn’t started calling COVID). But I … didn’t.  (At this point you need to imagine me spitting through my fingers and saying “poo poo poo” to ward off the evil eye.)  In May 2020 my doctor tested me, and it turns out I had the antibodies for the virus, which meant that at some point I had the virus but didn’t have symptoms.  Then I remembered there was a day, when Drew was very sick, that I felt a little “off” — the food didn’t taste right, and I really needed a nap … And then, winter 2021, came the vaccine.  And we were all scrambling to get vaccinated. (Well, most of us were … but that’s a story for a different day.) And they said that people wh...

  First Christmas 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 to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: First Christmas (2024) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) The song mentions snowmen and snow on a windowpane. Has it snowed near you yet? We’ve had a few flurries but no measurable snow. We are expecting snow Saturday night, though.probably an inch or two. 2) Diane Keaton sings that hearing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" makes her miss someone she loved who won't be coming home at all. Is there a Christmas song that reminds you of a ...