songbird's crazy world

Terri's  questions this week: Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY – July 10 NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY July 10th of each year celebrates National Clerihew Day in the United States.  Edmund Clerihew Bentley created the whimsical, four-line biographical poem. An English novelist and humorist, Edmund Clerihew Bentley (July 10, 1875 – March 30, 1956), was a 16-year-old student when he thought up the lines for his first ever clerihew. Sir Humphry Davy Abominated gravy. He lived in the odium Of having discovered sodium As with most poetry, the Clerihew is defined by a set of rules. It must contain four lines, rhyming couplets of AA/BB, a person’s name in the first line, say something about that person and it should be humorous. It is meant to be a funny poem, of course. The genre of poetry wasn’t limited...

Drew and I had a lovely backyard barbecue on the 4th.  Very small group of people, but we had a lot of fun. We plan to do it again Labor Day weekend.  Maybe the next time Jen and Becca will show up; neither was able to attend this weekend.  Jen was in Rhode Island, a friend from college got married.  And Becca was a bridesmaid at a Long Island wedding, she's known the bride since middle school. Drew and I went to another Ducks game Saturday night.  Unfortunately they lost the game, but there was good news -- they clinched a spot in the playoffs in September because they're the top team in their division at the end of the first half of the season.  And there were fireworks at the ball park after the game.  It's cheap entertainment, costs about the same as a movie ticket. Good thing we chose baseball over the movies...the movie theater in Drew's neighborhood had to close suddenly because it failed a health inspection.  Seems there was a little...

This week's theme involves independence. I'm going to put my own spin on it....see if you can figure out  my sub-theme.... Let's start with Martina McBride: Moving along, it's time for some Carrrie Underwood. Then, of course, there's Gloria Gaynor: Let's go old school with some Peggy Lee: Which makes me think of Shania Twain: Which, in turn, makes me think of Helen Reddy:

These photos were taken June 29, 2019 in Bethpage, NY.  I was driving eastbound on Hempstead Turnpike when I saw the sky to the north start to change.  A storm was rolling in. I pulled over, into an empty parking lot, and took these photos. If you looked south and west, you could still see blue sky. (Yes, that's my little blue car, all alone in the  lot...) Just a few minutes later I was driving through torrential rain.  A powerful storm, it lasted less than an hour, but took down trees and power lines.  #skywatchfriday

This is a photo I took of a copper beech tree at Sagamore Hill, the home of President Theodore Roosevelt. Drew and I went to Sagamore Hill in May, 2016.  I wrote about our visit here . So I was sad to learn, earlier this week, that the copper beech tree had to be cut down . The tree, planted in the 1890's, had become diseased.  But a sapling taken from the original tree will be planted in its place. I guess life goes on.

Terri's  questions this week: Everything below this line is from the line is from the  National Calendar websit e. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INDEPENDENCE DAY – July 4 INDEPENDENCE DAY Each year on July 4th, the United States celebrates Independence Day.  This federal holiday commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.  For nearly 250 years, the country has been celebrating a day in history that inspires us still today. On July 4th, speeches and ceremonies are held across the nation. Across the country, people crowd cities for parades and festivals. Streets are decked out in red, white and blue bunting and flags. While families and friends gather for some of the most mouthwatering food – large picnics and barbecues, local fairs provide a taste of culture and mom’s home ...

Yes, I'm a little bit obsessed with baseball lately.  The Mets will host the Yankees at Citi Field today and tomorrow, subway series part 2 -- they played two games at Yankees Stadium last month.  It's fun to watch the cross town rivalry play out.   I remember the days, before inter league play, when the only time we'd see the Mets and Yankees play each other was during the Mayor's Trophy Game (I think they stopped playing that exhibition game in the 1980's; rumor had it George Steinbrenner didn't want to lose to the Mets....) I'm wondering, though, if the Yankees have recovered from their jet lag.  The Yankees and the Red Sox spent the weekend in the UK, and played two games in London Stadium.  That was a first for Major League Baseball.   Both games were a real slug fest -- the Yankees won Saturday's game 17-13 and Sunday's game  12-8.  The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attended the game -- I'm wondering if Meghan had to explain the r...