30 Years Together

Well, Mr. Bill and I met 30 years ago a few weeks ago and had our first date 4th of July weekend. Our 27th wedding anniversary is this week. We laugh and think about all we've been through, all the people we have been in these years.... I must say that for me it was like dating a different Mr. Bill many times, and he me. In the end we are right back where we always thought and hoped we would be, together.

Miss P, is driving R & L to Tampa for 4 days to attend two Red Sox games, play at Sea World and do the huge Water Parks in Orlando and stay with friends in Orlando. It sounds like they are the ones going to have the fun, BUT,,,, it will be Mr. B and me!!! We will be out on the water on a boat with friends watching the huge fireworks display on Sugarloaf Key. And, on the 5th having a house party with many friends over... and then a couple days in peace.
Quiet nights of quiet stars.....

Next Book

I've decided that my next read will be GODLESS by Ann Coulter. All the hooplah about it gives me cause to get it. I've heard it is sold out but hopefully I'll find a copy. Has anyone read it, or want to read it? I thought Pop Pop may have a copy I could borrow. I'll keep you posted.

Livingston Taylor

Queenee and I saw Livingston Taylor at the Company Theatre in Norwell last night. I saw him back at the beginning of his career in the Braintree High School gym, of all places, with about 20 other people. I was embarrassed at the poor turnout, but he sat on a folding chair and sang his heart out for an hour or two for us. The tiny group meant I was lucky enough to be able to position myself on the floor just in front of him. I never took my eyes off his hands; he plays finger-picking guitar and I was mesmerized. He was the inspiration for me learning to play a guitar. Another time I saw him at the Music Circus and he must have been high - he was introduced three times before he actually made it out to the stage - but the show was fabulous, as usual.

He's teaching at Berklee now - lucky students. Last night's performance was peppered with commentary about writing and composing and some history of popular music. His range of knowledge about music is impressive. I haven't seen him live in years. He sings and plays better than ever and his new CD, There You Are Again, is really great. He played both guitar and piano (no banjo) and sang a lot of new material and some old favorites. I could have used a hanky; tears welled up more than once. I'm so happy that he's still writing and performing, there is too little thoughtful music being made these days. Afterward, he signed CDs and small posters in the lobby for about 100 people. You can imagine what is must be like to be gracious and cordial night after night with people who act like they know you, but he seems to enjoy it and worked through the line with the aplomb one might expect from a seasoned pro who loves his audience.

I managed to be the last person in line, which was fine - I had dragged out my dog-eared but well-loved copy of his very first album and wanted to get him to sign that instead of the CD I had bought earlier in the evening. Just as my turn came up, two very rude women decided that they would return and continue talking with him while I was getting my album signed. One of these two creatures wanted him to correct a spelling mistake in her name, and then asked him to add a little heart. Sheesh. I bit my tongue. He tried to ask my name while they were clamoring for his attention, and I said, "No need, just sign it." Which, in hindsight, sounds really brusque. I was trying not to take up too much of his time, it was getting late and he had to get home too, yet ces deux vaches carried on, one asking questions about Six Days On The Road, which happened to be on the album he was signing for me. I would have asked him to please sign the record itself as well, but these two women were just making my teeth hurt and I thought it would be too much of an imposition, after them, to ask. Anyway, he signed the album, shook my hand and said thanks, and then was dragged away by someone else.

So now I feel like a real shit, having been unintentionally rude to someone for whom I have only the utmost admiration. I'm sure he didn't even notice, but I feel bad about it anyway. I'd send him an email and apologize, but it would never get past the people who filter his website email, and you can't blame him for that; he's so popular he would be inundated with email from people pulling and pushing him this way and that. Liv, if by some miracle you happen to read this (LOL, as if *that's* likely), I'm sorry, and thanks for signing my album. It was a real treat to see you again after so many years.

Beta testing Picasa2

 I got my invitation to beta test Picasa 2 from Google. It scans your hard drive for images, much like the first version, but then creates a web photo album for you (you must have a gmail account) and uploads whatever pictures you choose to your web album. You can also post to Blogger directly from Picasa. This is much cleaner than trying to post from Flickr. So far, so good.

And isn't that bun just the cutest? 

Click and Clack

I am a big fan of Click and Clack, the Tappit Brothers - also known as Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the hosts of the popular NPR radio show Car Talk. Not only do they give great advice, they are witty and funny and smart. They also have a substantial website. I found a great local mechanic for PopPop's truck in the Mechanics Files listings on their site. Anyway, Ray has a Modest Proposal for our gasoline addicted country. Check it out here.

8th grade dinner dance

It was an exciting and bittersweet night. Girls got all dressed up to go to their last fling at the middle school. What an awesome job they did decorating for the dance!!! It was a tropical luau theme complete with volcano, tropical gardens, tiki tents, beaches, waterfall, etc, etc. Great job! Girls had a wonderful night. Now.....onward to summer vacation!!!

Testing, Testing,......

just checking to see if this works.....I think I did it!! At work and lunch is almost over. Had my leftover chow-mein w/white rice, yum....Hey, how boring is this post!! Like I said, just testing folks. Will try to be my more interesting and entertaining self at another time.

Flock browser

This rules! I'm trying out the new beta of Flock, a browser built on Mozilla that has features specifically for bloggers. Once you have Flock set up, you can post to a blog directly from the browser. I can also upload photos to Flickr right from Flock. Nice! The favorites handling needs work (I have a lot of bookmarks), but otherwise, so far so good. If you are uploading photos and posting to a blog, it might be worth using this browser for that purpose.

The balcony

As I've already said, the wedding was lovely. This photo was taken after the ceremony. The bride and groom are thanking the various guests assembled below.

The wedding was outdoors at a historical preservation site where Laura works. Kent's family has a tartan, which he wore, and they had a man playing the bag pipes. I'll leave it at that until I have permission from the happy couple to go into more detail. Suffice to say, it was beautiful and you shoulda been there!

She who must lay eggs

The snapping turtle returned this morning. Pop-Pop was working in the garden when she marched in and booted him out. She nosed around for nesting spots for a while and I took a few quick pictures. She wasn't happy about me being near, but she wasn't intimidated either. I'm sure she'd have come after me had I gotten too close for her comfort, and this distance was about as close as I cared to get for my comfort! I have a not-very-good video of her walking around (1:08, 15mb).

Nan and I went to PA for Laura and Kent's wedding this past weekend. It was lovely and so great to see everyone after too long a time. I'll get a few photos up later.

Climbing the wall

How bad a day have you had when you find yourself literally climbing the wall? This female snapping turtle managed to get up on top of the stone wall by the horseshoe pit. PopPop and I figure she's looking to nest somewhere, and he used a board to move her back behind the wall, where we suggested she continue to look. Pretty impressive climb, though. She's about 15" long (shell-wise). We'll keep an eye out for her over the next couple days and see if she makes the climb again.

Early Evening at the Beach

We went for a very late afternoon snorkel and swim today at Bahia Honda Beach. We observed a variety of small conchs but no queen conchs. The turtle grass is coming back and many juvenile fish are everywhere. We watched a dozen tall hats play around a piece of driftwood in 5 Ft of water. Today is the first day of hurricane season and this beach is a perfect example of what last years season did to the seascape. Bahia Honda Beach has once again been voted #1 beach in America. The sand that washed in has made a much larger beach area, and the dunes have been replanted. The park service has done a fine job restoring this state park. Here are a couple pictures that show you just how large the beach around the island is now. Yes that is R and L fooling around. We left about 8pm and were home with plenty of daylight.

Hummingbird

A ruby-throated hummingbird has been visiting the kitchen window. Queenee32 has a suncatcher with a bright red center hanging in the large picture window and the hummingbird comes to check it out every so often. Only for a few seconds at a time, of course, so there is no way I'll ever get a photo, but it's so cool to see him. I don't know if he's found the hummingbird feeder yet.

Have a look at these photos of a hummingbird nest - the final photo in the series will give an idea of just how tiny the birds are.