songbird's crazy world

The Gold Coast mansions of Long Island.  Think “Gilded Age”.  Think The Great Gatsby.   Opulent mansions, relics of a long-gone lifestyle. Many of  the estates still exist, as museums, event venues, etc. The Nassau County Museum of Art   is located in Roslyn Harbor.  It occupies 145 acres that were once part of a farm owned by William Cullen Bryant. The main house, known as the Frick House, serves as an art gallery, but there are. also formal gardens and a sculpture garden, as well as nature trails. Right now the museum is featuring an exhibit of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany, who was a renowned painter before turning his attention to more commercial forms of art.  At one time Tiffany lived in Laurel Hollow, about 10 miles from the museum.(Tiffany’s mansion was destroyed by fire in 1957.) The exhibit features many of Tiffany’s paintings — he recorded his travels throughout the Middle East and North Africa — but also features the lamps and other pr...

Billy joel on my mind today

 So the weather was perfect  a walk at the beach. The East Bathhouse has reopened after two years of renovations, so of course we chose to walk in that direction. We saw lots of seagulls, as always. And I finally got a picture of the tunnel that connects the parking lot to the beach, These tunnels run under Ocean Parkway.  The acoustics … yeah, real echo chamber. Interesting thing happened near Field 6.  We saw a large group gathered on the sand, and they were all holding books.  Drew said “it looks like a prayer group.” A moment later, several members of the group stood up, and the leader began a prayer.,. Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei rabbah … as soon as I heard the opening phrase of the Mourner’s Kaddish, I had to stop walking and join the prayer. Shabbat shalom. (Of course I lit candles when we got home.) As we were leaving we had to drive past the theater, so we got caught in the traffic heading to the Tim McGraw concert.  But otherwise it was a great ...

 Another one bites the dust.  A Chinese restaurant we’ve gone to many times suddenly and unexpectedly closed.  Sigh.  I’ve barely gotten started on my summer plans but I’m already seeing autumn and Halloween merchandise in the stores.  I like autumn, I love Halloween, but come on … We’re invited to a wedding on Halloween. Yes, really, it’s at a winery on the North Fork, a winery Drew and I really like. The couple’s website says 98 days until the wedding.  Dress code is casual, wear a costume if you like.  Should be fun. My cousin had a  Halloween-themed wedding  back in October 2013.  I loved their cake. They honeymooned in Salem, MA.  Of course.  Just found out that next month  music star Candelita a/k/a former NY Met Jose Iglesias is joining the cast of a Broadway show, Buena Vista Social Club .  Remember him? I’m wondering if we should try to get tickets.

  This Is A Very Special Day 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: This Is A Very Special Day (1953) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Peggy sings that she feels good enough to climb a hill. Will you be doing anything athletic today? Not particularly. We’re going to an art museum and then to lunch. 2) However she was also tempted to climb back in bed. Is a nap in your plans for today?  Nope. 3) She tells us that she looked in the mirror and told herself it was time to "lose the blues....

 Look who’s on the yoga mat! She’d be a natural for cat/cow …