Fun with the El Seez

This Land is Your Land

words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

©1956 (renewed 1984), 1958 (renewed 1986) and 1970 TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (
BMI)

Now I Walk in Beauty

Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.


Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.


Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.


Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.


Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.


Now I walk in beauty
Beauty is before me
Beauty is behind me
Above me and below me
Around me and within me.

Miles and Bags!

Birbanto is blogging about his friend Miles. Check out Miles' thing for bags.

Why I Speak Up

It certainly isn't because I am a bold person that I will speak out against something. I find myself shaking in my trainers as I gather confidence to speak up when I witness injustice. It's seemingly easier to just turn away but the mental images and consequences of doing so usually plague me much more than just swallowing hard and continually being labeled as a crabby person, a bitch.

I see many turn a blind eye to things they know aren't right. Sometimes it's because they are experiencing a bit of personal gain until the wrong is righted. They see no reason to speak up if it isn't hurting them. Like testing a candy machine whose handle might be broken and doesn't require a coin, they will give it another twist each time they walk by to see what they might get for free. If it's broken, it's a rare person to take the free candy to the service department and let them know the machine needs attention. Who is the winner; one who gets free candy or the person who reports it? Who is the loser; the candy eater or the reporter who has someone jeer at them, "Why d'ja go and do that!?"

I found myself in a situation of overhearing a situation similar to the broken candy machine. The people it had to be reported to were actually the ones who were enjoying the "free candy." I wondered if I should keep quiet all together. That would allow them to continue to unjustly tap into something that was not theirs to take. I knew I would not be met with any thanks for bringing it to their attention. They already knew and were glad for the unearned bonus. I would be the bitch, again. I was the bitch, again.

The thing they were most disturbed by was wanting to know exactly how I found out. They wanted to know how the information leaked out, who spoiled the fun, who squealed. Silence was my response and it all had me asking myself, "What benefit would come to sharing how I found out? What good would come to those whom I had overheard talking about the 'free stuff'?"

The one thing that finally came to mind and has stuck with me were some words I had once read on how it's easier to remain silent but how it benefits no one in the long run.


In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

-Pastor Martin Niemöller

Thank you to those who speak up, even against groups they are benefiting from. Hopefully you will never be alone and that many will in turn speak up for you and your rights.

The Nissan Division...

... of the heat shield sculpture garden being maintained by RGBisMe!


Overlooking the western end of the ever expanding heat shield sculpture garden. The new Armadillo Belly is in the photo between my feet and the camera.

nom nom nom

Mom groundhog noms up one of the apples that aren't quite ripe enough for us hoomans.

Why Aren't You My "Friend?"

Much to the shock of many, I am actually an introverted person. I sometimes push myself out of my comfort zone by initiating conversations, attending or organizing group functions. To the many who only know me as an outgoing or even boisterous person, it is false bravado on my part. They are my over compensating tactics to keep me from crawling into a corner to hide.

I am a also mostly a private person; my blogging and use of social networks started as a way to keep my family connected with what I had been up to. Sharing photos online appeals to my cheapskate and time saving self. Taking time to write out my thoughts allows me to get the words that I want down properly even if there are misspellings and grammatical errors. Posting at my pace felt like I wasn't bombarding anyone via email nor failing to keep on a schedule like a regular newsletter. I talk to very few people I know via telephone. Yes, I have held many jobs and volunteer positions where people call me for information but for me to call someone for a personal reason takes a lot of psyching myself up. For all of these reasons the Internet seemed like a good place to put out information for family and close friends to catch up with me at their leisure.

Social networks are abused in many ways. For those of you that don't read After Image here is a great compilation of the topic compiled last October. I have been spotted on the street by people whom I haven't met. I have been recognized because they were avid readers of my blog. Thank goodness we had also exchanged extensive emails and I had a pretty good sense that they were very decent people when they sent me an email saying they had seen me on campus.

It has been odd to have people whom I know little about comment to me in person on topics that only my my posts cover and I had not yet shared with them as individuals. I tell myself that I have nothing to hide from the world so it's fine.

The real drawbacks for me started when rude and abrasive comments were made on this blog. I decided to moderate what could be posted. Although it would be clear to any reader that some people who disagreed with my posts had no decorum in handling their opposing opinions I also knew it could upset my family to read them at all. I really didn't think it was appropriate to encourage smart aleck responses that just foster ill feelings. I have probably only deleted a handful of comments on this blog and my Facebook account but each decision made me lose hours and hours of sleep.

I also decided to modify some settings on Facebook. I was being approached by many people with whom I had no desire to (re)connect with so I amended my privacy settings. I was reading very upsetting barbs as comments to myself, family and friends so I found how to "block" them. Facebook still keeps changing how it is set up and I constantly must make certain I am aware to update my settings.

I was also realizing that some contacts (Facebook calls them "friends") were posting things about themselves that I didn't really want to know or see. I added filters so I wouldn't see what online games they were engaged in, hunting photos of deer carcasses they were proud of or religious anthems they wanted to post.

One terribly misogynist comment on how my one contact was manipulating women at his place of business made me decide that maybe I didn't want to be connected with him even peripherally. This made me realize that I had probably added contacts more as a collection of people I know or knew at one time. I had lost the focus of connecting with family and close friends with whom I rarely get to visit. I got rid of my Twitter account at that point.

Every time I post a photo on Facebook I have to filter who can see it. Believe it or not, my family has some semi-celebrity people in it and in some circles they have stalkers. Allowing "friends of friends" to see tagged photos of family gatherings is not an option.

At the point I had to set up categories of contacts so they would filter properly is where I started to draw the line. I hated to have to make a judgment call as to whom I trusted to see certain photos or posts. I found myself wondering if I knew someone well enough not to casually mention when I was going out of town within earshot of random people and just started eliminating contacts over the months. I eliminated people whom I didn't know well enough or had showed less discretion in conversations I had with them. This process is subjective and is also intuitive.

Where some people see social networking as a tool to generate topics for what to talk about in face to face conversations, I have always been stupidly shocked that someone knows private things about me that I have forgotten I have posted on the Internet. I find that I have a feeling of mental vertigo in situations like this because I can not remember sharing the information with someone who is (out of context and without frame of reference) trying to connect with me.



It surprised me when it caused misunderstandings with a few people who felt they had done something to be disconnected. My explanation of using the social network differently appeased all but two people. The one could not understand why I did not want to reconnect with them after 20 years and the other equates eliminating a contact with eliminating friendship. Both admitted to wanting to know what I was up to. It felt stalker-esque from the international contact but just silly from the local one. I refuse to be pressed to justify my choices but the ripples of discontent they have cast have me considering Facebook Suicide.

A very kind woman I know lent me a book on understanding various personality types. I wasn't able to give it as much attention as I wanted to but it drew to my attention to an aspect of myself I hadn't really examined before. I am going to try to stay aware and hope I will be able to find a balance between not participating in things at all and entrenching myself so deeply that I can't get out gracefully. I think the trick is going to be looking very carefully at prospects, situations and even potential friendships before committing to them and being cautious about my enthusiasm levels. With any luck, I will find some middle ground well before I get to the point of having to ditch projects completely while hurting or disappointing myself and others in the process.

Arts Fest 10k!!

Jimmy "The Eye" did the 5k and did the 10k. We both got new PRs but that's the way it is when you are just starting out.

I started farther back in the pack so my time was really about 1:01:51. It was hot and hilly so I think I did pretty well.

Keep Cool!

Here are a couple of photos to inspire you to keep cool on what could easily be the hottest day of the year. I couldn't resist this pool of water but wisely left my cell phone and shoes behind before I took the plunge.

Summer Runnin'

I am adding some photos and videos of a couple of great runs I participated in this summer. Yesterday I finally shaved my 5k time under 30 minutes and average pace was about a 9:23 mile. Not too bad from having just started in January. See captions below each photo for description. I will add them as I can.

NYRR Women's Mini 10k
Central Park
June 12, 2010

My corral for snails pace runners. Next year I will maybe be in the 5,000s!!

A little warm up jog down to the port-a "janes." It was a women's only race don't -cha know.

Central Park West before the rush of womanity.

Here come the racers!

Ravenboy and RGBisMe cheered me on as I ran by. I fit right in!



Juniata River Rampage
Lewistown, PA
July 3, 2010

We decided to go for the patriotic costume prize and vowed to run together. We made a flag when we stood side by side.

The very beginning. 90 runners was the smallest race we had ever been in. You can see Jimmy "the eye" starting his watch as we cross the start line. He is in red and white striped and right of center in this pack.

We had about .25 mile to go when we had to hop up onto the sidewalk for the final push. We were really focused on the footing here.

"Run like a Kenyan" I managed to wheeze out just feet before the finish line. We could see the clock would have us under 30 minutes and I was excited. Grace is in the lower left corner cheering us on!

We did get the trophy for the best costume and I got a bronze medal for having the 3rd fastest time in my age category for women. You gotta love small town races!

Bank Architecture

A bank on 8th Ave & 14th St in NYC has a cool clock with a bronze beehive (and bronze bees) on it. Bowery Savings Bank, that RGBisMe & I saw near Grand Central Station last year, had things like squirrels and other critters that cache things away.

I love the old external designs on buildings and pondering their symbolism gives my great pleasure. Finding little gems like that in any town or city are the best treasures. I can shoot a bunch of digital photos and it keeps my mind working by doing research when I have the time. RGBisMe and I both love the book, Forgotten New York and have visted some of the cool places mentioned in it.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

The warm flow from the south landed numerous first of the year migrants in our neighborhood this weekend. As I have been blogging I have heard a summery song and finally went out with the binoculars because I just couldn't place what it was. Finally a I scored a few really great looks and confirmed the little fellow, a Black-throated Blue Warbler!

May Moments

We celebrated the coming of May with our good friends Asrai & Ravenboy. They opened their home to us as they have for so many other special holidays. Maga11 watched the cats to make the trip possible.

We got into the city just a bit early and stopped to check on our Peter the Fisherman letterbox since no one had logged it successfully in over 6 months. It was doing just fine and we were so glad this special carving is still out there for people to enjoy.

We made our way to the east side to find one of the best surprises; we scored on street parking for the whole weekend right in front of their apartment. No double parking to unload the car, no hefty garage fees, no toting stuff for block when it was time to go home. We were able to check n the car every time we left the building and it was perfect all weekend.

Ravenboy is having a slightly invasive procedure done today to remedy a floating bone chip (or maybe a jelly bean) in his one ankle. We wanted to lend him some support and give him our love during the last few days of his wait. Ravenboy had to go to work for some final physical therapy while he is on workman's comp and we spent the first part of afternoon with him and Asrai downtown at the Union Square green market. They treated us so well; Lunch at Curly's was a real veggie treat!

We sat and laughed together in the warm evening, just catching up and sharing thoughts and ideas we have going on. These good folks always have something going on. Asrai is literally juggling circus jobs and planning for directing kids' summer camps (circus arts and ballet). Raveboy has been busy with multiple art projects while he heals his heel. He is hoping to have a prolific ballet season at the Met this summer before joining Asrai for teaching at summer camps.

RGBisMe and I had brought along our active wear to sneak in an early morning workout in Central Park. The 6 mile route I chose was already busy with bikers and joggers by the time we got to the Engineers' Gate. RGBisMe borrows Raveboy's really cool bike to ride with me as I tried out the 10k loop around the whole park.

The morning was perfect and it seemed to have brought out the maximum number of people. It was amazing that no one bumped into anyone else as we navigated the main road around the park. Bikers, joggers, runners with strollers and dogs were all running in every direction. We enjoyed seeing them set up the rest stations for the Revlon 5k that I had almost signed up for. I ran the course (and more) backward before we made a wrong turn somewhere and found ourselves back at Tavern on the Green for a second time. RGBisMe got us straightened out and we finished by buzzing up a slight uphill before crossing behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art and ending where we had started. My 10k time was ok (for me) and I know that I will be able to make it to the end of the Women's Mini in a month.

The afternoon was spent catching a ride on the Metro-North to take a peep at some abandonments along the way. Old buildings with an amazing amount of character are just north of Yonkers. The ride on the beautiful first of May was all along the Hudson River. We saw many signs of new growth including baby Canada Geese swimming along with their parents as we traveled to Croton-Harmon and back. The lengthy relaxing ride was just what my tired legs needed after a long run in the park.

We had a meal at one of our favorite spots in NYC, Harry's Burritos before we slowly made our way across the park and back to the apartment. On the way we checked on our Imagine letterbox then went on to show Ravenboy and Asrai one of our favorite sculptures in the park. It was one they had never noticed before because it is not on a route they regularly walk. We discovered it years ago as it was a virtual geocache destination. Still Hunt is a sculpture that is easy to miss because it is perched high above the jogging path. Ravenboy and I decided to have a ride on the cat.

Another great evening of visiting and chatting followed. They treated us to fresh fruit and home made caramel dip both evenings. We wagged our tongues until we tired but didn't want the evening to end because we knew we would depart the next morning. Leaving such thoughtful, fun loving, kind and intelligent people is hard for us. To have good friends that are close family is the best. We are supremely lucky that we live close enough to visit them but miss them so much for the months we aren't together. They are such a special couple.

The next morning, RGBisMe and I rose early to check on our Up in the Air letterbox and swapped out it's logbook. By the time we returned, Ravenboy and Asrai were just getting up. We took a leisurely walk to a very cool restaurant, Yorkville Crêperie. On the way, we snapped some photos to submit to the Moment in May. The idea was to take a photo at 15:00 UTC (11 AM for us). I loved the idea of sharing just a slice of our life just at that special moment.

I was lucky enough to have a lot of colors of the flowers in the markets to inspire me. Everything was green and lush as we walked through Yorkville. For just the few minutes prior and after 11AM, I snapped some photos before we enjoyed our final brunch together. Thus, I am sharing in my blog our Moments in May.

Lawn Care Tips

We have hired a couple of local Flickers for our lawn care needs. I photographed the fellow while he was hard at work in our back yard. The gal was is our front yard last evening. We are waiting for them to bill us (pun intended).

Aereation
If your lawn soil is compacted, your lawn might not be getting the air it needs to thrive. Lawn aeration attends to this problem, pulling up plugs of soil and allowing water and nutrients to reach the roots of your grass.


Lawn aeration strengthens the roots, and strong roots equal a lush, green lawn. Aerating once or twice a year will generally do. With a lawn aerator, lawn aeration can be an easy do-it-yourself project, but any good lawn care provider can aerate for you as well.

Aerate the highest traffic parts of your lawn most frequently. Heavy foot traffic can make soil practically impermeable, and lawn aeration can go a long way to solving high-traffic-area problems like slow growth and low resistance to wear and tear.

Lawn Grubs
Some lawn areas are more attractive to June bugs laying eggs. More eggs are deposited at night in warm soil areas such as next to sidewalks and driveways and often near outside lights. Open areas free of trees and shrubs are preferred and moist soil is favored over dry soil. This year egg laying is likely to be concentrated in watered lawns since most unirrigated lawn areas are dry. The ultimate irony - in most years highly managed turfs are more likely to get hit with grubs.

Grubs are the immature stages of some beetles. In our area the highest populations are annual white grubs. Grubs are whitish, "c" shaped and wormlike. The adult is the tan 3/4 inch June beetle.

Damage will usually occur in August through October. Grubs feed on grass roots until the grass dries out and dies. The turf can easily be pulled back like a carpet. Turf can survive some feeding. Less heavily watered turf should be scouted for grubs in early August. Peel back the grass. Just a couple grubs per square foot are not a problem to an otherwise healthy lawn. Ten or more per square foot are necessary to justify treatment.

Home gardeners have some options for grub control: Don't water during July and August. If the weather is hot and dry, cool season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass will go dormant. If a few grubs are detected, water and fertilize appropriately so turf can recover from some feeding then reseed or resod areas damaged.