A Day In The Life

People, Places, Nature, LIFE!

11/01/2016
DailyMusings

29 comments

Share Your World

What was your favorite subject in school?

I always enjoyed English, and in High School I loved my Astronomy class. We leaned about the phases of the moon and the stars- I found it fascinating.

If you could have a servant come to your house every day for two hours, what would you have them do?

Clean the bathrooms and wash my kitchen floor.

Where did you live when you were in the third grade of school?  Is it the same place or town you live now?

I am still living in the same town I grew up in, and pass the school where I attended third grade almost everyday.

My 3rd Grade school photo1967

In your opinion, list some places that are great for shopping?

Well it depends upon what you are shopping for. Amazon of course is great for anything you can’t find locally. 6pm.com is my go to online store for shoes that are reasonably priced. Talbots, Old Navy, Gap, J Crew, Lord & Taylor- I love to shop so just about any mall anywhere any store!!

In the fitting room this summer sending a photo to my BFF for an opiniondressingroom

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Grateful everyday

Share Your World

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10/29/2016
DailyMusings

13 comments

Daily Post: Bridge

Living in the New York area we always seem to be crossing bridges.

Crossing the Hudson River, to get to NYCgw2

or crossing the Hudson River a bit farther north onTappan Zee Bridge135

or crossing the Hudson even farther North over the Bear Mountain Bridgebearmtnbr4

Once even crossing the Hudson River on foot on the Walkway Over the Hudson, I wrote about it here

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And once visiting a park overlooking the Hudson River while standing next to the George Washington Bridge

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Bridge

 

10/24/2016
DailyMusings

25 comments

All Seasons-Becoming Fond of Fall

Head over to artworksfromjeshstg to participate in All Seasons-Bright October

Fall is arriving here in the Northeast in the US and on Sunday I had a chance to capture some of the beautiful colors as my husband and I walked along the Hudson River.

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These cliffs are called The Palisadescliffs1

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The view across the riverdscn7896

We walked 4 and 1/2 miles-the trail winds along the river and then climbs into the mountain up a steep grade. We were glad to reach the top and turn around. On the way back we met a Guinea Hen, he lives with one of the Park Rangers. He wandered right up to us.

The descent back down was certainly easier and greeted us with shade and a yellow canopy of treesfoliagepathway

Autumn is a wonderful time of year here- before the real chill of winter sets in.

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10/23/2016
DailyMusings

27 comments

A Photo A Week Challenge: Tools

My husband is not the “handy around the house” type of husband. He has many other strengths, but fixing things, hanging things, and the use of tools are not his strong suit. I lived on my own for 10 years before I was married and had to figure out how to use a screw driver and hammer if I wanted to get things done. I remember the thrill of buying a cordless electric power screwdriver.

A few weeks ago I was given a light switch plate by a friend, only to come home from work to find my husband wielding a screw driver to replace the old switchplate. I was shocked he even knew where to find the screwdriver. It was such a momentous event I took a picture.screwdriver1
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A Photo A Week: Tools

10/22/2016
DailyMusings

44 comments

Walktober

What’s Walktober you ask? Hosted by Breezes at Dawn, she says  Walktober is a group walk.  We each go out for a walk, we each post about it, and she gathers all the posts together in one big post here.  It takes place between October 15 through the 23.

Friday it rained from 10 AM to 4 PM at which point the sun made an appearance and the sky turned blue. I decided to go for a walk as I had been cooped up inside all day. I headed down to a nearby park alongside a river, which served as a military headquarters through much of the Revolutionary War. General George Washington actually made his headquarters there from September 4 to 17, 1780. This is the actual bridge he crossed dscn7815A beautiful view from the bridge with the fall colors reflected in the water. Amazing how still and clear the water is after a pounding rain all day.

dscn7811I took the path that leads to the house where Washington actually slept, it is open sometimes for military re enactments. The path was  covered with the rain drenched fallen leaves.

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Another path leads to an old barn, one of my favorite places to stop and take in the view. I always love the large expanse of sky from this vantage pointdscn7849

Most of the grassy areas were flooded from the rain, but I spotted a butterfly and was able to get close enough to get a few shots.

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A squirrel gave me the once over as I walked back to the roaddscn7856

The trees in one area were filled with Starlings. I was astounded at how many there were. Reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”dscn7831

They all flew off at once filling the sky like starsdscn7843

Many trees have not yet turned fall colors here, but I was able to spot a few.dscn7702

dscn7852Thanks for coming along with me on my Walktober!

10/21/2016
DailyMusings

31 comments

The Weekly Smile

I met my friend David in the summer of 1973 when I was 15 and he was 17. He was the friend of my best friend’s brother and about 8 of us began hanging around together that summer and into the school year. We partied on weekends, ate lunch together in school and got to take the school elevator because David had a key as part of the “AV”-“audio visual” crew transporting overhead projectors to and from classrooms. Pretty big deal back then. He graduated high school in 1974 but went to college locally so we still saw each other off and on. He married and asked me to be a bridesmaid in his wedding, a departure from the usual where the bride picks the bridesmaids, especially in this case as I barely knew the woman he was marrying!

Our lives took many different twists and turns through the years, but somehow the bond that was created in our teens never seemed to break. We have never been out of touch over the past 43 years, and try to meet for coffee a few times a year. Our differences never seem to make a difference- we both have the same point of reference from so long ago, know each other’s “history” as our own. I think our ongoing friendship speaks to how important those teenage years were, and even the friendship we shared in our early 20’s. We always seemed to be there for each other- I can remember turning to David for a shoulder to lean on during a bad patch with a boyfriend, someone he knew, and how our friendship got me through those troubling times.

David and Me At My Surprise 21st Birthday Partydavelisa1978

We met for coffee today, for the first time in a long time-and we sat for 3 hours catching up on what’s been going on. We shared a few laughs and caught up on what some of the others from the old gang are doing these days. I looked across the table feeling like it was only a moment ago that we were teenagers, so much of that time still so vivid in my mind’s eye- not believing the man sitting across from me is going on 61. I smiled remembering those days, some filled with laughter, some in a drug induced haze, some filled with heartache and tears. I smiled thinking how glad I was to have someone still in my life who remembers those times too. And how fortunate.davidme2016

10/21/2016
DailyMusings

7 comments

Feathers on Friday: Eastern Phoebe

1One of the most familiar eastern flycatchers, the Eastern Phoebe’s raspy “phoebe” call is a frequent sound around yards and farms in spring and summer. These brown-and-white songbirds sit upright and wag their tails from prominent, low perches. They typically place their mud-and-grass nests in protected nooks on bridges, barns, and houses, which adds to the species’ familiarity to humans. Hardy birds, Eastern Phoebes winter farther north than most other flycatchers and are one of the earliest returning migrants in spring. The Eastern Phoebe generally perches low in trees or on fence lines, as did the one I saw below.004

dscn7522Phoebes are very active, making short flights to capture insects and very often returning to the same perch. They make sharp “peep” calls in addition to their familiar “phoebe” vocalizations. When perched, Eastern Phoebes wag their tails down and up frequently. They are small birds, only about 6 inches long. 2

Feathers on Friday

10/19/2016
DailyMusings

9 comments

Daily Post: Underground

I grew up in a house across the street from train tracks. At one time they carried passenger trains, but during my childhood and still today, the trains carried cars or fuel or freight. As children we were able to cross over the tracks- always looking both ways for the headlight of a train, and occasionally seeing it in the distance but running across anyway. Sometimes we would stand and feel the air rushing by as the train passed and wave to the man who sat in the last car as we watched the train disappear down the tracks. Sometimes the train would idle on the tracks for hours, leaving us no choice but to use the tunnel or “underpass” that ran underground beneath the tracks.

It was dimly lit and dirty, empty liquor bottles strewn around or broken, and it stunk to high heaven. We would scream as we ran through as the echo was the only good thing about it, and somehow it made us feel safer, the sound reverberating off the walls and filling the empty space. After a young boy was killed trying to jump onto the train as it passed by, a fence was erected to prevent anyone from crossing the tracks. Now we had no choice but to use the underpass. Over the years it has been cleaned up and painted, but it is still a dank and unpleasant place to enter, and as I still live in my childhood neighborhood I sometimes do have to use it. I no longer scream as I run through, but I do still run. Something about being underground and not being able to see the staircase to exit as you enter from one side still unnerves me.1

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and out I go!20150508_083432

Underground

10/19/2016
DailyMusings

16 comments

Cee’s Share Your World

If you wanted to de-clutter where you live, what room / space would you start with?  (And why, if you’re feel like admitting to it.)

My mother used to say we spend half our lives collecting things and the other half getting rid of them. I have to to agree with that sentiment. Over the last year I have begun to get rid of the excess that takes up space in my closets and on my shelves, the collections that I no longer care to collect. My husband is loathe to throw things away, always fearing he will need it for something someday. If I had forgotten I had an item when I come upon it, I really no longer need to keep it. Our basement became the repository for all things not needed but not ready to be thrown away- so I started there. I made a pretty good dent in cleaning it out over the summer and when I have a free day will continue

If you want to remember something important, how do you do it (sticky note on the fridge, string around your finger, etc.), and does it work?

It gets written on the calendar in my kitchen and I usually write it down on a list. I am a great keeper of lists, adding, crossing off, and finally throwing away when a task is complete or the shopping is done.

If you could create a one room retreat just for yourself, what would be the most important sense to emphasize:  sight (bright natural light, dim light, etc.), hearing (silence, music, fountain, etc.), smell (candles, incense, etc), touch (wood, stone, soft fabrics, etc.), or taste (herbal tea, fresh fruit, etc.)?

Sight. I need a view, I need natural light and at night prefer just one small light on, and I need the room to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye- photos, pictures. plants around me. My favorite place is working at my kitchen table with a view out my garden window.gardenwindow1

If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask?

I can only go as far back as my grandmother’s mother, she was a dressmaker and I would like to learn more about her life. She died young at age 52, the year my mother was born, from un diagnosed diabetes, and my grandmother also died young at age 62 when I was 17, so I never learned about her mother from her.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Grateful everyday for everyday, and looking forward to meeting my Aunt for lunch- I haven’t seen her in close to a year!

My Aunt and me in the selfies we have taken every year since 2011!2011-2015-collage

Share Your World

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10/16/2016
DailyMusings

25 comments

The Weekly Smile

Fall is arriving though the temps the past few days have been warm. We used to call it Indian Summer, why I have no idea. My husband came home with two beautiful Mum plants for the front of the house, which made me smile. I loved the yellow color, and loved that he thought to do it.mums2

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