Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Last FREE Weekend at National Parks This Summer
Looking for something family and budget-friendly to do this weekend? National Parks across the nation are once again offering FREE admission on August 15 and 16. This is your last chance to take advantage of the fee-free weekend program this summer.
“The entrance fees being waived at the 147 sites that usually charge for admission range from $3 to $25.( The 244 other parks do not charge entrance fees.) The waiver does not include other fees collected in advance or by contractors—such as fees charged for camping, reservations, tours and use of concessions.”
For full story click HERE.
Look for a park HERE. If you drill down on this page, you can find specials that save even more money at some of the parks.
Amtrak makes the point that some of the parks ( in NYC, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston, Arlington, VA) are even accessible by train. Click here for a list of the parks you can reach via train.
Morristown National Park
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Happy 4th of July
by LIz Noffsinger from www.freedigitalimages.com
Here’s a link to a terrific little video with some gorgeous photos of our country. ( It opens with a shot of the Arizona Memorial, in Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, HI, which is as solemn, moving, eerie and haunting a place as you will ever visit. Just seeing the photo produces a lump in my throat.)
The background music is “America, The Beautiful”, which, if I had my way, would be our national anthem.
Though I’m not sure how it sits with Native Americans — when you read all the words, and not just the verses we sang in school — I’d much rather we’d be known around the world for “amber waves of grain, purple mountain’s majesty, fruited plains and brotherhood, (though just plain personhood would be nice to acknowledge. But that’s yet another post!) then for “rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air.”
On the 4th, we’ll be waving at friends who are marching in the parade here in Ridgewood, NJ and then reconnecting with other dear old friends at the July 4 bash they’ve hosted for more than thirty years.
And, there’s no RAIN in the forecast. Perfect.
What are YOU doing for the 4th? (Leave a comment, below so I know someone’s out there.)
Enjoy the day.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
So…What’s on Your Bucket List?
You know … that list of things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”?
It helps to take them out of the closet first.
Okay… I’ll start, but then let’s hear from you lurkers out there on this one… share some of the top items on YOUR bucket list. ( You know who you are!)
Here goes:
(I note a common thread of travel through these, which does not surprise me in the least.)
1. Visit the towns my father walked through as an infantryman during World War II- they would be France, Germany, Luxembourg and Czechoslovakia. ( Happy Birthday, Dad. He would have been 85 today!)
2. Meet all my great grandchildren.
3. Go to each of the 18 states I’ve not been to…yet. (I could cheat and make the list shorter, but just an airport doesn’t count.) Michigan, North Carolina, Colorado, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Oklahoma ,Utah, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi.
4. Own, and know how to competently use, a kayak. ( NOTE: This does NOT imply there will be any white water rafting. This means quiet water kayaking.)
5. Research the rest of my family tree.
6. Knit just one sweater that really looks great on me…. and that I LOVE to wear.
7. See the Northern Lights.
8. Master watercolors. Ok, maybe master is a bit strong, but at least use them occasionally? And taking them out of the closet is a good first step, don’t you think?
Okay lurkers … your turn. It’s simple… Just click on the word “comment” below.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
“Playing for Change” Releases CD/DVD
I was first moved to write about Playing for Change, Mark Johnson’s peace-through-music organization, last year.
Today, Playing for Change, “a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music” released a CD/DVD, “Songs Around the World”.
“The album demonstrates that regardless of our religion, race, gender, or political views we can unite through music.”
And despite the fact that I am on self-imposed knitting supplies- shoe- handbag etc.- purchasing probation, I am planning to purchase a CD for myself and a few more for gifts so I can support this international peace work of building schools to teach music.
(Click here to listen to preview.)
Let me know what you think, and if you decide to buy one, via the comments below.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Don’t Miss The WaPo Peeps Contest Winner
For the last three years The Washington Post has sponsored a “Peeps Diorama Contest” at Easter time, when the sugar-coated marshmallow candies have traditionally appeared. Each year the contest grows and this time there were more than 1000 entries. One rule prevails: All the characters in the dioramas must be Peeps, those gooey, colorful, chick and bunny (and now Christmas tree and jack-o-lantern, etc.) candies.
Click HERE for a peek at the top 40 entries, as selected by WaPo editors.
Sure to make you smile. And then to make you wonder where all these people found all that time to not only conjure up the ideas for the scenes, but then to actually implement them.
Maybe if I gave up knitting (and blogging) I’d have time to enter?
If you hurry out right now, you just might be able to pick up some discounted Easter Peeps to start on your entry for next year!
But be forewarned: Apparently Peeps were sold out in the D.C. area weeks before the holiday, so there may not be any left for a practice run.
And according to The Washington Post’s web site, this year’s winner is a pro — a graphic artist who spent 45 hours, spread over two weekends, perfecting her Edward Hopper-inspired entry entitled “Nightpeeps.”
Friday, March 27, 2009
The World is UGLY … So Why Not Wear UGLY Shoes?
It’s not bad enough around here these days, what with all the incessant gloom and doom about the economy dragging us down. To top things off, it now looks like you can’t buy a decent pair of shoes this spring… even if you do have the money. Macy’s, Barney’s, Bloomie’s, Shoebuy–makes no difference. They’re all participating.
In what appears to be a random act of terrorism, (or is it misogyny?) someone drugged, hypnotized or clubbed the collective creative shoe design genius of the world. And now it seems, as a result of that heinous act, the shoe creators have all, as if of one mind, decided that 2009 must be the year of the really ugly shoe.
Have you noticed them? Fringed, ankle-high, platform-soled boots… with the toes cut out? They look like something Cro-magnon Man’s mom would have fashioned from a woolly mammoth hide. Or what was left of the last Christian after the lion returned to his den. Read the rest of this entry »
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Shamrocks photo by Kevin Rossel
Andrew on St. Patrick's Day with his green milk., photo by Julie Schwan
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
What are you grateful for?
on our Thanksgiving table
Here’s a fun way to wile away a few minutes just before drifting off to sleep the night before Thanksgiving, or any other night, for that matter. Try coming up with an alphabetical list of things you are grateful for.
Don’t think too hard. Just mentally stroll through the alphabet and write down the first thing, or things, that pop into your head.
Here’s my list: Read the rest of this entry »
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wasting (even more) time on the internet
In my post-election state of satiated media gluttony, (kind of like the turkey-inspired nap on Thanksgiving?) I’ve made a conscious decision to try NOT to play the “Build Barack’s Cabinet Game” I see and hear others eagerly engaging in. Instead, I’m going to just wait to see what our apparently exceedingly bright president-elect does all on his own, without my help.
This, coupled with the fact that I’m no longer obsessively checking out politifact and election polls leaves me with some time on my hands. What better way to fill it than with a little harmless internet fun?
As if you need help.
Click right here.
(FYI: Don’t bother with the IQ test. It’s a trap and you have to pay for the results. Now how’s that for smart?)
