The Sunday Five: Around You

1: Where are you reading / responding to this? 

2: How far are you from a phone? 

3: Is it daylight or dark? 

4: What can you hear? 

5: If there is anything to drink within reach, what is it? 

My Answers,

1: Where are you reading / responding to this?  At the desk in my bedroom 

2: How far are you from a phone? Both the house phone and my cell on are on the desk. 

3: Is it daylight or dark? daylight, later afternoon. 

4: What can you hear? A freight train about 1.5 miles away.

5: If there is anything to drink within reach, what is it? A glass of water 

Please share your answers in the comments 

The Saturday Morning Post: A strange way to pick a restaurant

 There are thousands of restaurants in New York City. From one-dollar pizza to the some of the worlds most expensive delicacies, if it can be sourced and legally sold, someone in New York has it on the menu.  When we came down from the walk in the clouds, it was time for lunch.  The Shops at Hudson Yards has a dozen options. All most all of them looked interesting.  So how did I pick one, the sheep on the sign.  Anyplace that has a sheep as its logo has potential to be great.  And it was.  Imaginative British inspired, made with the finest ingredients. 

We were seated at the peak of the lunch rush. The actor filling in a waiter, was sweet and friendly.  He did warn us that the kitchen was a little backed up, to which I ordered a drink and told him our next commitment was a nap then dinner at 6.  He assured us we would be back to the hotel in time for a nice nap.  Lunch was leisurely, but not slow by normal standards. I had a nice salad, and very upscale fish and chips. Jay had a pate followed by a pasta.  It was excellent.  

Interestingly there was no lamb on the menu (or mutton.) 

Fabulous - if slightly late- Friday - New York

Did you miss me?  I almost 8 hours late posting today, sorry! 

The Bryant Park Grill in New York has become our "we have to go back there" stop in New York. It is tucked into the back side of the New York Public Library, on the edge of Bryant Park.  The setting is garden elegant, the food is amazing, with service to match.  The domestic cheese tray is amazing.  
 

Thursday Ramble - Late April edition

I have made the first purchase for the kitchen replacement, a new faucet, and the next day the kitchen sink.  Both should be here by the time this posts.  The faucet is black and square, there was a TV commercial of a couple walking into an architect, placing a faucet on the desk and saying "design us a house around this."  Yes, that kind of a statement piece.  Appliances remain the major loose end.  

I am in a crazy busy cycle at the work, three major trainings in two days, and another next week.  My first board meeting since becoming director is Friday, I get to shake things up. And it is budgeting season. And we are officially returning to the office.  Glad I am taking a week off in May.  

I am back in a reading frenzy, I bought a stack of books in NYC, and I am almost done with those.  More on the Kindle to read.  It was nice to get into ink and paper bookstores a couple of times.  There is a nice small bookstore in the New York Public Library.  And one down in the garment district that specializes in drama. You have to love a city that can support specialty bookstores.  

On the east coast of the US there are three types of long distance trains.  North East Regionals,  Aceela, and named long distance trains.  I have ridden all of them.  The Acela is supposedly high speed, but not by much, not really worth the extra.  The NE Regionals are older cars, not the nicest, often the cheapest.  The named long distance trains have nicer interiors than the NE Regionals.  On the trip to New York we took a NE Regional going up, and the Sunset Limited that goes to Miami on the way back,  The seats on the Sunset where more comfortable and a little farther apart.  If they are the same price, take the nicer train.  Any train is the best way to travel on the upper east coast.  

   

The Way We Were Wednesday - Rollo

This photo of my mother's parents was probably taken before I was born, definitely before his health forced them to retire.  He looks very robust in this photo. He was born into a large family on a farm. He preferred to farm with horses or mules, resisted using a tractor (and a tractor accident started the cascade of health problems that led to his retirement.)

When I was sorting photos after my parents died, I came across a baby photo of him, and discovered that his middle name was Rollo.  I have no idea where that came from.  The best I can determine his family was primarily German in ancestry. As was my grandmother's. She had an unusual first name, Mina. (Yes like the bird.) 

Any unusual names in your family history? 

Travel Tuesday - The Stories

 Almost every photo triggers and memory, or a story.  When I travel I take lots of photos, I come home and sort them, and some stand out.  But many are just there.  I find as I go back through them weeks, months or years later the memories and the stories are triggered.  This photo was pulled at absolutely at random from a list of over 60,000.  It was taken shortly after the first snow of 2022. It was a heavy wet snow, that brought down a lot of branches and trees.  This one was taken near home, as the eagle flies only a mile away near the river.  This is the entrance to the Dike Marsh trail,  I have walked there hundreds of times in the past couple of years.  My estimate would be that 33% maybe more of the trees along the trail lost major limbs in that storm, a couple of dozen trees were toppled. I walked the trail that day. 

This image triggers that memory, and all of the stories related to my time on that trail.  We should all take more photos, trigger more memories, tell more stories. 

Music Monday : The Weather Girls - It's Raining Men (Video)

Something very upbeat this week, we need this.