songbird's crazy world

Whenever the Mets have a day off, SNY rebroadcasts old games, games from previous years.  On Monday night they broadcast a double header from August 2020. You remember the weirdness from 2020, of course.  Season shortened to 60 games, no fans in the stands, everyone masked up.  Broadcasters did not travel with the team, but did their broadcasts from their home stadium. Schedules were arranged to minimize travel, so your opponent’s location was more important than their league affiliation. So the games I saw were from August 28, 2020.  The Mets played the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.   They played two seven-inning games.  What was interesting about Game 2, though …the Mets took on the role of home team.  The previous week, the Yankees were supposed to play the Mets at Citi Field, but those games were canceled due to COVID, and Game 2 was a make up game. It’s always interesting to watch old games, to see who was on the  team then and who is no longer ...

 So I am enjoying being back in the office.  I like the idea of actually going to work two days a week.  I like having a desk that is not in my house, I like seeing my coworkers and having social interactions with them.  And all those little things, like knowing the bathroom code and buying lunch in the sandwich shop  downstairs (yes, I managed to find things to eat in an sandwich shop -- they make a great chopped salad).  And I like the flexibility of being able to work from home when I need to or want to. And, as you have seen, I've been walking in Eisenhower Park.  It's far more interesting than just walking around the neighborhood.  I'm going to try to get over to Wantagh Park and Jones Beach more often, too.  After all, the summer season has officially started.  We had the annual Memorial Day barbecue on Sunday.  Smaller than usual group this year.  But we had great weather, good food, interesting conversation, a very ni...

 And the theme: Memorial Day songs remembering those in general or a specific person who served, pick songs you think that person might have enjoyed or songs that make you think of a your fallen hero But before I get into the theme, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the death last week of rock icon Tina Turner.    Now, as for the theme...my father was a proud member of the Greatest Generation, having served in the United States Army in World War II, stationed in Italy.   He turned 18 in February 1945 and was drafted shortly thereafter.  He was discharged December 13, 1946, and always considered Friday the 13th a lucky day. Here he is, with his parents and sister, when he returned home from the war. He died in October 2015.  We had military honors at his funeral.  The Army never forgets those who served.   So in my father's honor, songs that were popular during WW II Let's start with some Andrews Sisters Oh,  I  like them....

 I hope you know that when I take you for a walk in Eisenhower Park, I am showing you only a small portion of the the park.  Eisenhower Park is huge, over 930 acres.  That's larger than Central Park  in NYC.  There are picnic areas, playgrounds, golf courses, baseball fields, tennis courts, an amphitheater, an aquatics center, an ice rink... The park started life as a country club.  Nassau County acquired the property during the Great Depression, when the club owners could not pay their taxes.  Salisbury Park opened to the public in 1949, and was renamed Eisenhower Park in 1969. It's centrally located, just under 5 miles from the county seat in Mineola, and it's just down the road  from the county hospital and county jail in East Meadow.   As we are approaching Memorial Day, this week I visited the war memorial.  It's just above the manmade lake.   There are numerous monuments surrounding the memorial, honoring the heroes ...

  Some Gave All   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: Some Gave All (1992) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . Memorial Day is the federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle. 1) Here at Saturday 9, we regard everyone who served -- veterans and active military -- as heroes. Have you, or has anyone in your family, worn the uniform of our armed forces? We want to hear about them. My father turned 18 in February 1945, and was drafted into the Army shortly thereafter.  He was a nice Jewish boy from B...

 Before I show today’s video …I will mention that superglue is a marvelous thing and someone small and furry has been forgiven her trespass against my Corning pumpkin,

 It's a "your choice" week. Drew and I are on a road trip, of sorts.  Every six months we travel from Long Island to Philadelphia, to a specialist he sees at Temple University Hospital.  Drew chose this doctor several years ago  because the doctor was doing a procedure that wasn't available in the New York area at the time; it was too new, but now it's available in New York.   It's a 2 1/2 hour drive from Long Island to Philadelphia.  We drive down, see the doctor, have lunch in the hospital cafeteria, then drive home again. So, in  honor of our road trip, let's do some songs about Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Let's start with some Springsteen.    That song was actually depressing, wasn't it?.  So let's get a bit more lively with Glenn Miller.    And then there's Harry Chapin's story  about Scranton...much more fun with audience participation.    You know I have to include some Billy Joel    Let'...

 So Drew and I were supposed to go to a baseball game last night, but the weather was horrible and the game was postponed.   It was fireworks night, too … Sigh. So instead we tried a new restaurant, a. Colombian place.   Carne asada, chorizo, maduras…  yeah, I love the food from that part of the world. The restaurant reminded me of our trip last December, when we spent two days in Cartagena.  That was a fun vacation. The weather today is much better.  Sunny and warm, a hint of summer, The summer season semi-officially begins next weekend.  And, of course, the annual Memorial Day barbecue will be on Sunday.  We haven’t planned much for the summer yet.  A few baseball games, of course, and we’re going to see the summer blockbuster movies — I’m really looking forward to the new Indiana Jones movie.  Other than that, we haven’t planned much yet. But I’m sure we will have fun.

  Mirrors 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: Mirrors (2013) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) Is there a mirror in the room you're in now? I’m in my bedroom, where I have a full-length mirror on the back of my door.   2) In this song, Justin Timberlake tells his lover he just can't wait till they're together. What are you eagerly looking forward to today? Well…I was supposed to go to a baseball game today, but it’s been postponed because of rain … so we’re trying to make alternate plans.  ...

 Testing … testing … testing … The “Shadow testing mom’s patience” system is fully operational.   I was in the office yesterday.  I stopped for take-out on the way home.  Got home, fed Shadow, then sat down to eat my salad.   Shadow jumped up onto the table.  I said “get down”.  She did. A few minutes later, she jumped up again.  I said “get down”.  She did not get down.  I guess she really wanted some of my salad.  I picked her up and put her on the floor. A few minutes later, she was on the table again.  This time, she resisted when I tried to pick her up. And then I heard a crash. Backstory:  in September 2021 Drew and I took a  Road Trip To Corning .  The purpose of the trip was to visit friends, but while we were there we spent an afternoon in the Corning Museum of Glass.  One of my souvenirs was a beautiful glass pumpkin.   Look what she did to my pumpkin. I guess I’m lucky that the only thing tha...

 Some more photos of Duchess

 Another walk

 The theme:  Single word song titles or single band/artists name First thing that came to mind?   And speaking of name sings     How about some places?       This one fits the theme in two ways Let’s enjoy one from the  Eagles    And end with one from last week.   

Last night I caught the last 45 minutes of a movie on PBS.  It was a movie I’d seen many times before: Fiddler on the Roof. The very first Broadway show I ever saw was Fiddler on the Roof .  It was 1972, and the show had been running since 1964.  I was 12 years old. I had committed the entire  cast album to memory long before I saw the show. I’ve seen so many Broadway shows since then, but … Well, I saw Fiddler  with my grandmother, who’d grown up in the same kind of town as was depicted on the stage. My grandmother cried … The story is universal, everyone can relate to feeling lost in a changing world.  But for me, the story is also about my heritage. Which is why we took my daughters to see Fiddler  when it was revived on Broadway in 2004. So I watched the last 45 minutes of the movie.  And I cried…

  Mama Said 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: Mama Said (1961) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) This week's song is about a girl who remembers wise advice she received from her mother. Tell us about someone who advised you years ago and to this day you think, "They were right!" Hmmm … I get paid to give  advice.  I’ll have to think about when I took some else’s advice, 2) She sings about hearing chapel bells. Can you hear church bells ringing from your home? No   3) This week's featured artists are the ...

 So has this ever happened to you? You unexpectedly wake up in the wee hours of the morning, and you realize you’re uncomfortable and need to change position, but you don’t want to simply roll over because you might disturb the cat.  The cat is on the bed with you, fast asleep, and you’re afraid she’ll wake up if you move too much or too fast. So you wiggle a little.  She’s still asleep.  You squirm a little.  No problem.  You shimmy a bit.  Then wiggle some more. Inch by inch, you slowly, carefully move, each time checking to ensure that the cat remains quiet. Until finally, FINALLY, you find yourself in a comfortable position once more.  You heave a sigh of relief.  You close your eyes, ready to return to that wonderful dream you were having … And 8 pounds of hungry feline lands on your chest and meows in your face.

 As I mentioned before, I now work in my office two days a week. In order to get to and from my office, I drive through Eisenhower Park.  Yes, that Eisenhower Park, where I’ve been known to take long walks around the man-made lake. Guess I’ve run out of excuses. Today I saw ducks, geese and turtles in the water, and squirrels and a robin on the grass.  Robins are always lucky for me. (Bet you can’t figure out why 🙄😉😁) I got a few shots of the ducks and turtles.      My latest attempt at video

So, my laptop saga.  Three years ago, when I got my new job, my employer installed software on my personal laptop so that I could work from home "temporarily".  Yeah, COVID is fun.  Anyhow, eventually the company issued me a company-owned laptop. But my personal device took quite a beating.  Six-year-old laptop with a broken touchpad and half a dozen software issues.  I use my iPad for most things, so I didn't need to immediately fix the laptop.  But when the iPad turned into a brick... Really started to miss the laptop while I was waiting for the new iPad to be delivered. So the other day I drove over to the computer repair shop.   The cost to repair the old laptop ... for the same money I was able to get a new machine.  So now I have two laptops for Shadow to crawl on, one for business and one for myself. Speaking of COVID ... the pandemic is officially over.  WHO says so.  The federal government says so.  The state health de...

 My next-door neighbor is selling her house. Well, she’s really not my neighbor anymore, she owns the house next to my parents’ house.  And she’s lived there, been my parents’ neighbor, since the houses were built in 1968.   There are two suburban counties here on Long Island, Nassau County is closer to the city, Suffolk further east.  In the late 1960’s there was a housing boom in western Suffolk County.  A developer would buy acres of land, build model houses, and start selling.  If you liked the model, you’d buy a plot of land and watch the developer build your house.  So of course the community in the development was mostly families with young children.  My family had outgrown our house in Nassau County, and so my parents bought a larger house in Suffolk. My parents were originally friends with the couple next door, until a dispute about the property line ruined the relationship.  But we always kept up with the neighbors’ major life event...