songbird's crazy world

 Clouds #skywatchfriday

Did you know that gray cats are actually black cats, but with a gene that dilutes the color? Yes, I can see it … My very first cat was a black cat.  Well, technically a tuxedo, she had one tiny white patch on her throat. We named her Cinders.  We had her for 20 years — that’s ancient for a cat!   She had the same cattitude that Duchess has. I also had a black cat named Mr. Mistoffelees.  You know, like in Cats .  What can I say, it was the 80’s.  We called him Misty.  He was an adventurous cat.  Liked to explore.  Hated being an “indoor cat”, was always looking for a way to “escape”. But now I have my Shadow. She’s a tuxedo, of course.    But …  I don’t think I ever mentioned how Shadow came into my life.  A friend of mine told me “A friend of mine, his cat had kittens and he’s trying to find homes for them.  Do you want the black kitten?” I assumed she was all black, a mini panther.  I love black cats 🐈‍⬛ ...

 I saw a bunny on my walk yesterday. The weather has been unseasonably cool, which has me thinking about my fall wardrobe.  I don’t need much for my work wardrobe now that I work from home, but I could use a few things… Work was very stressful yesterday.  We lost a significant client, which means restructuring.  I’ve been down this road before, it’s going to be … interesting… at the office for awhile. Another reason I’m glad I work from home. It looks like I will have to become familiar with Yeoman of the Guard , a less-known Gilbert & Sullivan operetta.  The 1957 movie version starred Celeste Holm and Alfred Drake. Wikipedia  says The opera is set in the  Tower of London  during the 16th century, and is the darkest, and perhaps most emotionally engaging, of the Savoy Operas, ending with a broken-hearted main character and two very reluctant engagements, rather than the usual numerous marriages. The libretto does contain considerable humour, i...

 Scenes from the back yard Im hoping the landlord gets rid of the pool, it’s in really bad shape. Small plane … Both cats are loving the bird feeders, we’ve had a lot of birds. (Indoor cats can look but not touch.) Went to the Pit Stop Friday night, got the famous spaghetti squash primavera. You know, the dish they cooked for Guy Fieri years ago.  We were so disappointed about our favorite seafood place closing, but our second favorite remains open.  Saturday night involved a bib, cracker, pick, shells and a ton of butter.  Craving satisfied. We’ve had a change in the weather , it’s cool, almost autumnal.  A reminder that summer will be over soon.  Good for taking a walk though.  Sorry, no photos this time.  We’ve been here over a year, icpve pretty much seen everything this neighborhood has.  No, wait.  I did take one photo. Wh6 does this house have two front doors? Definitely a quirky neighborhood.

 See if you can guess my theme?

 Yes, that’s me …

 I’ve mentioned several times that Drew and I are members of the New York Wildlife Conservation Society, the organization responsible for the Bronx Zoo, and that we’ve been to the zoo many times.  I had an early-morning doctor’s appointment Friday.  I decided to wear the shirt I bought at the zoo last May. It’s a great shirt, it’s got a picture of a rhino and says “Save the chubby unicorn”. Drew was still asleep when I left the house.  He was gone when I came home, out running errands. So you can imagine my surprise when Drew came home and I saw that he was wearing a souvenir t shirt from the Bronx Zoo.  We really must be on the same wavelength. As for my doctor’s appointment … he is very pleased with me.  I got on the scale at his office … the last time I saw that number was in 1985.  I’m in better shape now than I was 10 years ago.   Which is so important.  I’ve seen far too many of my friends lose mobility, even independence, and I don’t w...

  Colors of the Wind 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: Colors of the Wind (1995) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . This month we're going to recall Summer Songs. These will all be records that topped the charts during August. 1) Number 1 on the charts in August 30 years ago, "Colors of the Wind" is from the Disney hit,  Pocahontas . Have you seen it? The movie was released in 1995.  My daughters a/k/a the Disney Princesses were 4 1/2 and 3 that summer.  The question isn’t “Did you see it?...

 So  a few days ago I posted about the orange barrels popping up around my neighborhood.  The project appears to be sidewalk improvement.  Which makes taking a walk a bit more challenging. I saw a momma rabbit and her baby on my most recent walk. I also saw sunflowers. It’s the middle of August. Labor Day weekend is just two weeks away.  Where did the summer go?

 Walking in my neighborhood in a cloudy afternoon  #skywatchfriday

 

 With all the excitement about Pete Alonso, I forgot to mention something else that happened at Citi Field Tuesday night, There was a give-away for a small group of fans who bought tickets in advance.  We didn’t have tickets for that promotion, and I admit to being jealous.  The give-away was a team jersey, but instead of a player’s name the jersey said “Billy Joel”.   One of the traditions at Citi Field is the 8th inning singalong.  During the game fans get to vote on which song to sing, and “Piano Man” is always one if the choices, Tuesday night the fans overwhelmingly chose Billy’s iconic tune.  With all the Billy Joel fans in the park, it was no surprise. When Billy was in the house during the 2015 World Series … Billy is the only performer to do concerts at both Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium, and he also appeared briefly with Paul McCartney at Citi Field.   He was supposed to play Citi Field and Yankee Stadium this summer.   Did you know he...

 Nothing like sharing a moment with 40,000 like-minded people. I’m talking about baseball, of course. Tuesday night’s destination.  Drive into Queens, cut through Flushing Meadow Park … … and arrive at … We usually park across the street from the stadium,  under the subway— the 7 train. Citi Field is right near La Guardia, the skies are very busy. We walked across Roosevelt Avenue to the ballpark.  There’s the home run apple from Shea Stadium. And the statue of Tom Seaver. Inside the main rotunda you’ll find a tribute to Jackie Robinson.    The views from our seats.    They’ve added another retired number since the last time we were here, congrats to David Wright, Our banners proudly wave. Tonight’s game was against the Atlanta Braves.  But there was something else on our minds: Pete Alonso.  You see, over the weekend, Alonso a/k/a the Polar Bear tied a team record.  Darryl Strawberry, who played for the Mets in the 1980’s, hit 252 ...