songbird's crazy world

 Forty years ago today a group of friends headed to Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, NY.  The park [still]  has a lovely area for outdoor concerts, a bandshell by the lake. You sit on the lawn and look down the hill towards the lake and the stage. There was a concert scheduled that night, one of our favorite performers. It was a beautiful summer night, we got to the park early and spread our blanket out on the lawn...but the concert never happened. Harry Chapin died July 16, 1981 -- forty years ago today. We were sitting on our blanket, listening to the radio.  And a Harry Chapin song came on.. Wow.  Harry only had a handful of hit songs on the radio, but it was always good to hear one. And then a second Chapin song came on the radio.  And then came the announcement...Harry had died in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway.  He'd been driving from his home in Huntington Bay to a business meeting in NYC  when his Volkswagen Rabbit was hit b...

 My neighbor’s pool is still very, very green.  I thought, "if he’s not going to shock it, he should cover it before the mosquitoes take over".  But apparently he decided to drain it.  All that effort for nothing.  But at least I don't live next to a swamp anymore. Drew picked up a pass for the neighborhood pool.  Now I just need halfway decent weather …and maybe I’ll be able to get down to the beach soon, too … We celebrated Becca’s birthday with a lovely brunch.  She insisted on bringing the new boyfriend.  I guess this is a serious relationship. They’re going to Walt Disney World next week. Not to be outdone, Jen is headed to San Francisco to visit a friend.  I’m glad she’s going, she needs to enjoy herself.   Drew and I are finalizing our road trip plans.  We’re headed to Maryland.  Lots of historic sites, lots of fun things to do.  I’m looking forward to it. We had a good time last year in Connecticut, despite all the...

  1. Tell us about one small blessing you have counted in the past week?  The excitement I saw in my daughter's eyes when she talked about upcoming plans.  2. Bastille Day is celebrated on July 14th...have you ever been to France? Any desire to visit there, and if so what would site or city would you most want to see? (pretend for a minute international travel isn't an issue) I would love to visit France.  I'd love to see Paris.  The Louvre, Versailles, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe...  3. A food associated with France that you love?  Crepes.  Croissant.  Macaron.  Champagne.  4. Something you recently purchased where a coupon was involved? Do you regularly shop with coupons?  We had a coupon for a free appetizer at a favorite restaurant.  5. You have to give something away this week...what will it be?  I have a crate full of books that I no longer read, I  am going to give them books to a literacy pr...

 

 Another "your choice" week.   Fresh out of ideas, I let YouTube choose music for me today. Here's what the app picked for me. Thank you, YouTube, that  was delightful.

  Mairzy Doats 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: Mairzy Doats (1944) Unfamiliar with this song? Hear it  here . 1) While today this is considered a children's song, "Mairzy Doats" was a #1 hit and a staple on radio stations in 1944. Do you know any of today's most popular songs? ( Here's this week's Hot 100 .) I looked at the Hot 100, and I feel like I just wandered into a foreign land, one where nothing seems familiar.   2) One of the song's writers recalled that the song was inspired by an old English nursery rhyme...

I went to my chiropractor appointment, and the receptionist was glowing.  Seems her daughter gave birth to a baby girl this morning.  Of course I congratulated her.   And then I found out her daughter gave birth in the same hospital where my children were born.  I was in that hospital 29 years ago today...today is Becca's birthday.    Happy birthday to my baby girl! We're going out to dinner Sunday to celebrate. Drew and I went to a ball game last night.  A double header because Tuesday night's game got rained out. The Ducks won both games! Interestingly, two of the players on the Ducks -- Ian Kinsler and Danny Valencia --- are former major leaguers who have been selected for Team Israel and are headed to Tokyo later this month.   They signed short term contracts with the Ducks to get in shape for the Olympics. Yes, baseball is an Olympic sport.  The American team didn't qualify for Tokyo, so I will be rooting for Israel. ...