Category Archives: General

Summer’s second act couldn’t help but be better than its first, and so we continue on with our recap of the sunny season, which finally deigned to give some merit to its name. When it all began, I found inspiration in the Doris Day version of ‘Where the Boys Are’ – which, while filled with longing and a certain undertow of melancholy, carried Day’s hopeful earnestness into something lighter and more joyful. This summer proved that even amid the season of the sun, there could be rain and wind and darkness. As we grappled with all of that, this version of ‘Where the Boys Are’ seems a more fitting encapsulation of how we spent our summer. Visions of gatherings by the pool and a return to normal now feel worlds away, and maybe this is just the way us humans have got to cope from here on out. That didn’t mean we couldn’t find happiness and light of our own, and family and close friends saved this season more than any other. 

Where the boys are, someone waits for me
A smiling face, a warm embrace, two arms to hold me tenderly
Where the boys are, my true love will be
He’s walking down some street in town and I know he’s looking there for me…

When August arrived, the sun remembered it was supposed to be shining, and the weather warmed up for a few stretches of high heat and humidity. Where I’d typically be complaining of the excess of such uncomfortable temps, by this point I all but got down on my knees and praised Jesus. Summer, though late and weary, showed at last, and I began daily dips in the pool to maximize the moments. Who knew how long it would last?

Summer could, at times, feel like a Sunday sort of love. 

It could be filled with sadness and melancholy, especially when a song like this reminded of the past. 

But it could also come with cheeky Speedo shots and similar thrills and frills, if you looked close enough.

A rainbow hydrant in Amsterdam. Go Rams.

Old boy in the attic.

Bamboo harmony.

The Summer Olympics continued to shine. 

Painted by the light, the Japanese painted fern provides a luminous spot of beauty in any shaded space. 

Summer stuns in scarlet.

A sacrificial parsley plant, for the benefit of the butterflies. 

Summer offered its own sort of peace, but there was still space for meditation and mindfulness. I shook off my self-imposed restraints of a Virgo-like structure and found mindfulness outside as well. 

Madonna returned to the summer fold with this quiet moment of beauty from the ‘Dick Tracy’ soundtrack and that glorious summer of 1990.

Our mocktail madness continued with this delicious faux-daiquiri.

Closing out the Summer Olympics in a Speedo.

Suzie offered her take on the summer with one look.

Second showing of lavender.

A tale of two Albany dinners.

A few days in Amsterdam with the gentlemen Ilagan – three generations of us under one roof.

Shakedown to the 80’s – a reminder of my childhood with some help from my nephew Noah.

In keeping with smaller get-togethers, it was just me and Suzie who made this much-needed friendship trip to Boston, which began with a charcuterie rose that Suzie didn’t believe in, and continued with a walk along the Esplanade. 

A walk on a very hot day was tempered by the cool shade of the Boston Public Garden and frequent shopping stops along Newbury Street. Suzie picked the jazz-inflected soundtrack.

Boston embraced us with the night, sending us scuttling along the Seaport and along its enchanted cobblestone streets, and spending the weekend with Suzie was precisely the pick-up the summer needed. (And yes, Chris, we totally stuck your glasses where the sun never shines.)

Madonna turned 63, further defying the naysayers.

A geranium refreshment.

Summer air.

I found my way into caffeine through matcha.

Social media mayhem doesn’t let up just because it’s summer.

My birthday arrived in late August, and with it a requisite birthday suit shot.

Despite that cheeky peek, it was a birthday spent quietly, and happily so.

August, slipping away…

Recalled to meditation.

Morning glory memories before August took her leave.

My state career began in the late summer of 2001 – and after twenty years, I’m well over the hump, with only ten years left until I am eligible to retire. That puts things like summer into deeper perspective. 

Rolling the yarn hints at another season to come. 

September still holds summer for most of its duration.

Imitations of life in downtown Albany.

The closest we’ve gotten to a naked David Beckham shot, courtesy of his wife Victoria.

The arrival of Labor Day, the coming of the chrysanthemums, and the realization that summer was almost over.

A low-key birthday celebration in Boston with Andy was a lovely way to enter the second half of my 40’s. 

An early birthday wish for my Dad – a fellow Virgo – who turned 91 years old this September.

September sunset.

Summer, drained of color, and maybe even a little sick of herself, turns the scene over to autumn.

An epic overnight with the Ilagan twins was just as fun for me as it was for them, and sets us up nicely up for a fall season. That feels like a very fine place to end the summer. Until we meet again…

Let’s dwell, just for this opening/closing moment, on the positive and the upbeat, and begin this summer recap with a song by the Jonas Brothers, designed for the Summer Olympics, capturing the very best of what this summer should have, and could have, been: ebullient, celebratory, and glorious. Summer should catch the sun, throw it back to us, and engage in a volley that lasts until we are spent in happy exhaustion. It should splash about in the pool, squinting from too much sunlight and too much chlorine, leaving a memory that’s as hazy as it is wonderful, searing itself into the heart of every pleasure center. It should explode into bloom like some hybrid tea rose, spreading its perfume and shifting between shades of scarlet and fuchsia and pink as it ripens into something akin to the sunset. 

USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS

THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS

Thats how summer should usually go. Not this year. Instead of that, we were largely still stuck inside, with COVID cases on the rise, and the Delta variant wreaking further destruction, all because a minority of selfish fucks refused to get vaccinated, wear masks, and rise to the most basic level of human fucking decency. Compounding that fuckery was the weather, which decided to absolutely shit on us now that our pool is fully functional and we might actually have something to do on a sunny day. All in all, the nastiness that was 2020 simply carried over into 2021, with the additional factor of sheer exhaustion from the awfulness of it all making it that much worse. Summer was supposed to be better than this. And so I’m hearing this song with a bit of ironic bitterness, and only a bit, because the things I’m about to describe were some of the happier moments of the season. While I’ve never been one to sit down and take note of happiness, this seems the best time to do so. We need some of it before the season officially retires. On with the summer show!

We got a jumpstart on the summer, knowing it would end all too quickly, and christened it with ‘Where the Boys Are’ – even if the only boys who would use our pool would be me and Andy and our nephew Noah. 

Skip and I officially opened the summer season with a welcome return to our almost-annual BroSox Adventure. It began with a free night at the Mandarin Oriental thanks to a dog named Cooper, continued with walks in the rain and taxi rides from heaven and hell, and in the end was one of the more hilarious trip we’ve made in service of the Sox. 

In an effort to set the tone for the summer we’d hoped would arrive, ‘San Remo’ by Mika played on repeat rotation. And maybe that brought all the rain.

Despite the wet weather, family formed the warm and glowing aspect if the sun failed to do so, and it was a season of re-connecting with those who matter the most. Here we celebrated Father’s Day, grateful for our Dad as his continued in his 90th year. 

The wild sweet pea, tamed in the garden.

Bees, knees, and hips. 

The Ilagan twins proved summer saviors, as spending time with them as they grew into their 11th year would be one of the highlights of the season, as previewed by this Saratoga movie trip. 

WE AIN’T GETTING ANY YOUNGER, TO BE HONEST I DON’T CARE

I’M NOT TRYING TO LIVE FOREVER, I’M JUST TRYING TO BE RIGHT HERE

THIS I KNOW, ONLY NOW IT’S ALL WE GOT… THIS I KNOW…

ALL THE NIGHTS OF STRIKING MATCHES, JUST TRYING TO FIND A SPARK

COUNTING DOWN TO RAISING GLASSES, COUNTING UP TO BROKEN HEARTS

THIS I KNOW, YEAH THE COUNTING NEVER STOPS… THIS I KNOW

Flowers that remind us of Gram.

Pride and panache, and a most difficult jacket to store.

All in a day’s eye.

One of the many differences between me and Madonna.

The cardinals did their part by lighting up our thuja hedge.

We always need more thyme.

Memories of Andy’s roses.

A summer song that features water hyacinth is a rare and welcome gem: the best imitation of life. 

Poem of solitude for summer – especially this summer.

The flair of phlox.

The dangerous perch of the future.

Sunflower splendor.

Sometimes it felt like echoes of sunshine were all that we had.

Summer, still standing, like this little boy beach pose, one of my first…

Another Boston trip, for which I was joined by our old pal Chris for a trip along the Esplanade, and the weighty issues of getting older, sustaining friendships, and making it through the winding roads of middle age amid a raging pandemic. We did our best to laugh at it, and only partially succeeded.

Rain and rain and more rain, and while the flowers loved it I was less than thrilled. 

Flowers at a favorite hotel.

Blooming wet allium.

Baubles and bangles.

A pose for a pause to honor the silence.

USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS

THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANT TO REMEMBER THIS

A meditative return to friends in Connecticut after too much time apart was another highlight of the season. Missy, Joe, Julian and Cameron were all ready to lift the spirits and find the fabulousness left to the season. 

I absolutely love hydrangeas, especially when they turn blue. 

Speaking of blue, this is Tuesday tea.

When it rains, we find solace in our friends, and no one comes closer to providing such safety and warmth as our two favorites from Cape Cod – JoAnn and Ali – who turned a summer weekend into a badly-needed catch-up session for all that we’ve missed the last two years.

Rainy day reading.

Our featured song was performed by these guys, and the the Summer Olympics were born. 

An anniversary letter to my husband.

LIFE MOVES A LITTLE FASTER EVERY SECOND I’M WITH YOU

DIDN’T KNOW WHAT I WAS AFTER, UNTIL I FOUND IT ALL WITH YOU

THIS I KNOW, IF TONIGHT IS ALL WE GOT

DON’T LET GO

JUST ONE MORE DANCE, TWO MORE DRINKS

IT’LL GO BY FAST, SO DON’T YOU BLINK

A power outage reignites mindfulness.

The Summer Olympics returned in the nick of time.

Pete Buttigieg went jogging shirtless.

Papyrus by the pool.

And summer did its best to come to fruition.

The classic BLT sandwich, minus the B and the L.

A classic flower, perhaps in need of a new common name.

Lily for a day, beauty for a decade.

A pot plant grows in Albany.

USED TO PRAY FOR A MOMENT JUST LIKE THIS

THERE’S A FIRE IN YOUR EYES I CAN’T RESIST

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANNA REMEMBER THIS

BABY, WE’RE GONNA WANT TO REMEMBER THIS

One of the silver linings of the cool and rainy weather was an enormously long bloom time for the Chinese dogwoods. 

Still, we prayed and prepared for summer’s second act, one that would come and be happily populated by more family get-togethers…

{To be continued…}

Summer comes to a close here tomorrow, with a pair of ambivalent summer recap posts that take us back through the summer that wasn’t. I hung onto it as best as I could, but at this point I’m ready to send it packing, and to begin fall with a clean slate of hope and promise and possibility. 

Fall has also been the time to return to structure and organization – whether at school or work or simply in the first few cold snaps of morning frost, when we’re reminded that we need to be vigilant and on guard in a world that has gotten this mad. 

Come back tomorrow for the summer recaps – it wasn’t all bad, but some saltiness seeped into my retelling of it, and since most people love when I let loose and get saucy, this is your chance to see such villainy on full display, even if I do my damnedest to bring you to a happy ending. 

The final full week of summer is now behind us, and this week brings the arrival of fall. That means the time is ripe for drama, and with the VMAs and the Met Gala providing fodder and intrigue to finish off the summer, we certainly had some drama. As long as it remains of the fashion kind, I’m cool with it. When the warmth and the color drains from summer, and the world begins its turn to the brittle beauty of fall, we start all over again. But first, the last complete week of the supposed season of the sun. 

She’s still Madonna. 

Front door visitor.

Ornamental heat.

A semi-homemade bouquet.

Madonna: the sass, the ass, and the attitude. I hope I’m that confident one day. 

Tom Ford does Palo Santo.

A candle meditation.

Savoring the last days of summer. 

Fall market.

More joy for autumn.

The sun and the flowers.

Greenhouse flair.

Fig fruition.

An underwear-clad Ben Cohen appreciation post.

Summer drains away.

Dazzlers of the Day included Rachel Bresnahan, Robert Scott Wilson, Sean Doherty, and LeRoy McClain.

Learning to savor and appreciate every moment of enjoyment is an integral component for finding happiness in one’s life, and so it has been that philosophy which has guided me into the pool for daily swims over the past few weeks, when the weather has been clear. We’ve kept the pool heated to make up for the early run of rainy days and weeks and, well, months, so this final stretch has been important to make the most of this otherwise-dismal summer. 

Still, it found a way to shine, such as in these daisies which have prolifically flowered beside the pool, surviving regular snacking by the chipmunks and consistent assaults by rain and wind. Like many of us, they took a beating amid this summer’s fickle sunshine, and bloomed in the face of all that awfulness. Were they a bit bedraggled by the end of it? Of course. I was too. But they’ll have a nice winter slumber and store up their energy for next spring for another chance to start over again… 

These ornamental peppers are everywhere right now, heralding the steamy crux of summer and fall, when the days could me mild or wild, naughty or nice, and the uncertainty in the air lends drama to every moment. The pretty color combo you see here is going to inspire this website’s segue into fall and the holiday season – bright, dramatic, super-saturated fun. I’ve kept things rather beige and bland of late, but we will be breathing some new life into this 18-year-old website. Some old chestnuts just need some burnishing to shine again. 

Suzie brought us back a doormat that says ‘HYGGE’ on it from her last trip to Ikea, and apparently it’s a tasty treat to this particular rabbit. It hopped right up to the front door and nibbled on the bristly thing for a moment, before pausing for a photo then hopping away. We’ve had a few strange visitors to the front door this summer – I’ve noticed a chipmunk favors a mid-day stop on the step to hastily devour a treat, and there’s been a skinny squirrel that likes to stand on its hind legs and test the air above while peering around the yard. This bunny seems to be getting little bolder, as it’s always stayed on the front walkway until now. 

It was not an unhappy sight to see, and beats the parade of delivery people with their intrusive parting paparazzi shots confirming delivery of the latest package. 

PS – Don’t mind my hose. 

“The little space within the heart is as great as the vast universe.
The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that now is and all that is not.”~ Swami Prabhavananda

With the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and my Dad’s 91st birthday all arriving on the same day this weekend, it feels like a good time to celebrate kindness and compassion, and to take stock of all that we are lucky to have this year. Here’s a recap of the past week:

A season bookended by fallen flowers.

Entering the second half of my 40’s – Part 1.

Entering the second half of my 40’s – Part 2.

Boston return blooms.

Masked, vaxxed, and somewhat relaxed.

Golden worries brought back to life. 

Further adventures in babysitting, when they’re not babies anymore.

A rosemary, gin and grapefruit mocktail.

An early birthday wish for my Dad, who turned 91.

This site always goes dark on 9/11.

The splendor of a cider doughnut on a Sunday morning.

Scenes from a 91st birthday dinner. 

Palo Santo via Tom Ford.

“You don’t choose the times you live in, but you do choose who you want to be, and you do choose how you want to think.” – Grace Lee Boggs

Whatever the diminishing state of the world, I’ve done all that I can do to ensure that my family and I are as safe and protected as possible while this COVID pandemic continues to rage. That’s all we can do, and there’s a certain peace of mind that accompanies such knowledge. I’ve been getting back into daily meditation to quiet the increase in worry and anxiety that goes along with increased hours in the office, and increased COVID cases in general – a strange combination that makes me question all sorts of things – but again, there are only so many choices over which I have the ability to exert any control.

Fall is usually the time of the year when I get more serious about things, particularly creative projects, and though I have a couple things brewing, none has spoken to me with any imperative. Usually the universe will nudge me in the right direction, so I’m waiting for those signs, and if none arrive I’m ok with that too. I’ve just discovered the Amazon Prime Video account I’ve had for all these years and ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ is all I care about right now.

When the chill of the night starts lingering into the days, I’ll get into crocheting again too. After this blanket took almost four decades to complete I’m anxious to finish more reasonable projects with more human timeframes. And so this lull in the waning days of summer is not something I’m concerned about – it’s all unfolding as it was meant to unfold.

Filled with the falling blooms from the seven sons flower tree, the pool echoes the more exciting sight of the cherry blossom petals of pink floating in it just a few short months ago. This is the closing sign of the summer season, and carries a tinge of sadness to it because of that, but it’s tied to the opening start of it all, and so it brings an element of sweet to the bitter. It’s ok – we’ve been here before, and if we are lucky we will come back, and next time the blooms will be pink again, and the season of the sun will return with a happy vengeance. 

On this Labor Day, I’m taking the easy way out with this recap of the previous week, ut coming up very soon we will chronicle my birthday in Boston and the recent sleepover with the Ilagan twins, so fresh content is just a few clicks away. Come back for that in a bit – for now, let’s recap the last week…

It began with my 20th anniversary with the State of New York – meaning I am two-thirds of the way toward the day I am eligible to retire. 

Rolling the yarn from summer into fall. 

Summer still happens for most of September.

Those doggone days of summer.

A lady of iron.

School criminal.

Shirtless male celebrities made a splash here again. 

That naked Lil Nas X album cover for ‘Montero’.

Foggy bottom.

ALB whimsy.

Downtown Albany delights with these imitations of life. 

A glimpse of David Beckham’s naked ass courtesy of Victoria Beckham’s Instagram. The road to David Beckham nude takes another turn…

No wire hangers ever! (Or almost…)

Dazzlers of the Day included Michael Damian, Kim Fields, Mindy Cohn, Nancy McKeon, and Lisa Whelchel.

Since a great deal of the clean-up for the attic loft consisted of shoving errant junk into the storage and closet space of the unseen parts of the attic, some organization and editing remains for me to do. I’ve saved the bulk of it for this fall and winter while enjoying the scant peeks of sun we’ve had this summer. The other night I had a moment to begin sifting through the racks of clothing, and I managed to whittle things down and make the slightest dent in the collection, resulting in this line-up of hangers. 

We’ve only just begun…

(Keen inspectors may find the exception to the rule…)

The title of this post belongs to a section of Washington, DC, and the Foggy Bottom metro stop always tickles me whenever I see it listed anywhere. On this morning, I’m using it to convey the fog that surrounded our pool in these transitory times of summer seeping into fall. No one is sorrier to see summer go than Andy and me, particularly after such a piss-poor summer that had more rain than spring and fall combined. A rather unfair set of circumstances given last year’s pool fiasco where every day without a functional pool soared to 90 and shone with full unfiltered sunlight. This summer hasn’t felt like summer at all, leaving us in sorry shape for making it through another winter. There are fewer memories to see us through, less Vitamin D coursing through our veins.

That said, I’m not going to lament the passing of summer, especially as there’s nothing to be gained for such wallowing. Better to embrace the change about to take place, lean into the impending season and celebrate the harvest. The gardens, in spite of (or perhaps because of) all the rain have performed fairly well. The ferns usually scorch by the end of July and persisted throughout August, while the Chinese dogwood ‘blooms’ lasted for months – a palliative part of sacrificing all the sunshine. And I’ve made a concerted effort to get into the pool at least once a day when the rain has broken, which forced me to take a meditative pause when my regular meditation fell by the wayside. Living may not be getting any easier, but our coping mechanisms are being refined. Life is about editing and improving and dealing with what we have on hand – not being given the perfect set of circumstances from the beginning. On such foggy mornings, the battle to break out of the haze serves as an opportunity to create our own clarity – and one of the lessons of this summer has been how to turn gray days into something brighter. That starts from the inside.