a vacation break with chanda

chanda and i joined my sister and her family for a few days at the beach. we had wonderful weather and swam so much and ate the first night at the clam bar at the dock, sharing a fried fisherman's platter and clam chowder. we stayed until this afternoon, and then drove home in the hot weather . . and it was very hot because our car's air conditioning was not working.

chanda and pluto slept over monday night so we could leave early tuesday morning. i packed hard boiled eggs and banana bread which we had with green tea (me) and coffee (chanda). 

our tuesday afternoon was spent at the bay beach.

game time . .

ladder toss . .

as the day drew towards evening, i was reminiscing about how my parents would come down at that time of day to meet the girls and i. once i had fallen asleep in the dunes and woke to poke my head up and see them seated in their lawn chairs, talking to morgana with chanda prancing about while korrina was still wandering beside the jetty, collecting sea shells and stones.

we went home to rinse off before heading out to the clam bar for dinner.

pluto kept an eye on things . . 

kathy, chanda and i wandered off to look in a few of the shops but hurried to the water when jason texted us to come quick and catch the sunset.

this evening before going to sleep we looked at the stars and with the help of h. a. rey's star gazing book we found vega, shining bright overhead in the constellation lyra the lyre (part of the summer triangle (once called the navigator's triangle) made up of three bright stars with vega the northern most point and deneb in the northeast and altair in the southwest - all three from different constellations. lyra is the lyre of orpheus, son of the sun god apollo (or oeagrus, king of thrace) and the muse calliope, who played so beautifully that he soothed wild beasts. after he died, his lyre floated down the river hebrus to the sea, continuing to play music and so eventually came to the muses who placed it in the sky. vega's name comes from the arabic word "waqi," meaning falling or swooping, a reference to a time when the star was seen as a flying eagle or vulture and honors the importance of astronomy in islam, for which it helped followers to mark the time of prayers, festivals and pilgrimages. we also saw anteris in the constellation scorpius in the midst of the milky way, a bit towards the southwestern sky. we also located the big dipper in the northwestern sky and polaris just northeast of it.

----

wednesday morning found us at ditch . . 

it was a rough sea that day . .

my sister was telling me a story of when she and warren were walking along the shore at jones beach one summer (a long time ago - pre-children) and a strong wave came in and knocked her down and washed over her. she staggered up and warren had just kept walking! he hadn't noticed! she could have been washed out to sea and he would have just kept walking  . .  !

it was a good day for surfing, and a good day for boogie boarding. my sister is my boogie boarding partner, and we had a fun time getting tossed about by ditch's erratic waves.

 

we stopped at the library on the way back to the house for lunch as jason and chanda hadn't seen the renovations yet.

 

we checked out quite a few items considering we were leaving the next day (one was a movie for that evening - the secret life of walter mitty which chanda and i had seen awhile ago, but my sister hadn't. i was amazed that she, warren and jason hadn't seen it yet, as they're the ones always recommending things to me.)

lunch on the deck . .

hot dogs and delicious salads from the local deli.

and then the second beach of the day  . . swimming at the bay. i love being at the shore with my sister and brother-in-law as they can spend a long time there. greg doesn't like swimming in the cold water (having grown up in florida, he's used to bathtub water), but the rest of us prefer it. (greg does enjoy sitting on the beach and reading his books, however.)

back at the house . . 

making guacamole to have with corn chips . . 

pizza and salad this evening . . 

----

thursday morning:

swimming at the "ischia" beach (because it reminded chanda and i of a beach she visited in ischia last  year):

 

 

 

(photos by chanda)

 

 and then chanda and i had that long, hot drive back to the city. we stopped for coffee and a muffin at hampton coffee in water mill and drove through an unusually heavy sun shower (greg had the same storm downtown during his special luncheon with work colleagues) and quite a lot of traffic to brooklyn where we took conduit avenue to her neighborhood.

 

we were so happy to find a parking spot across from her building.

it was so hot that i was a little worried about pluto, but he was fine, though i'm sure he was happy to finally be in a cool air conditioned room.

pluto's new pal and roommate, melvin.

chanda brought back a stool on which she eventually plans to place a plant, and a new book about taking care of plants for one's apartment (found in town at a local shop).

her place is looking very cozy . . 

greg met me there and we drove home together. it felt good to be back in the city.

sunday morning poem and a book reading

the locust

its hot voice sizzles from some cool tree

near-by:

it seems to burn its way through the air

like a small, pointed flame of sound

sharpened on the ecstatic edge of sunbeams.

by leonora speyer (1872-1956)

 

----

 

 

 greg and i went out early this morning to visit a new restaurant in the neighborhood (first putting in a load of laundry on our way out).  the company initially opened in los angeles and specializes in breakfast: oat flour pancakes, eggs and three types of sausage - pork, chicken or chickpea. the pancakes, eggs and fresh orange juice were delicious but the coffee was weak and the sausages a little too dry and salty.

very cute baby customer . . 

there was a line out the door by the time we left . . !

we were home in time for first unitarian's summer service via zoom at 11 (also in person) which i listened to while greg went for a walk. we met later at our re-opened library for a book reading by author ada calhoun, reading from her newly published book also a poet, about her relationship with her dad and how they were both influenced by the poet frank o'hara. she's a wonderful speaker; warm and funny and very comfortable talking to an audience, answering questions and telling stories. afterwards, we walked along tenth street to three lives bookstore and then home for dinner.

everyone is enjoying the summer breezes . . 

the bookstore always seems to be very busy lately!

for dinner i had marinated black sea bass with tamari and ginger as suggested by a neighbor i spoke with saturday morning at the fish stand. it was very good but i don't think black sea bass is a favorite fish of mine . . i roasted zucchini and beans and made a salad with cucumber, arugula and red leaf lettuce. it's been in the low 90's now, but not too humid.

breakfast with friends and a museum visit

i was out at the green market early this morning and then had breakfast with our friends before they were on the road home again (stopping first at another friend's house a few hours from here). there was a little rain, but they were able to go swimming at a local lake which must have felt refreshing. 

 

greg and i visited the whitney's biennial exhibit this afternoon. i find it's easier for me to first learn about many of the artists before going, which i've done in the past by registering for their zoom lectures. they then make these lectures accessible on their website that visitors can listen to at anytime. for this exhibit there are a lot of audio pieces, along with videos that i found overwhelming (many sound pieces coming from different sections of the exhibit floor - it felt a little too busy), so before going back i hope to tap into these lectures (which i haven't done as yet).

 

 

 

(these are three large sculptures by charles ray, born 1953).

 

chiura obata, 1885 - 1975, silence, last twilight on an unknown lake, johnson peak, 1930 - woodblock print. (from the permanent collection.)

yun gee, 1906 - 1963, street scene, 1926 - oil on board. (from the permanent collection.)

alia farid, born 1985, palm orchard, 2022 (part of the bienniel)

 

 

greg . . a happy camper at the newly opened shake shack right next to the museum.

lunch with the travelers and our library re-opens

some photos of switzerland  . .

a beautiful view while having breakfast . . 

wild flowers from her cousin's garden . . 

they took a tramway up the mountain and hiked to the edge.

chanda stopped by to have lunch with us . .

 

(which which was quite a feast including chili, pasta with pesto,  a green salad, cole slaw and also sandwiches . . )

afterwards, i walked with chanda to the vet, as she had brought pluto over to be checked as he has been having very loose stools. they decided to try him on a hypoallergenic diet as they think he might be allergic to chicken (he's also been having blood in his stool off and on consistently for several months). so, he'll now eat hill's prescription diet Z/D canned and dry meal, or, at least he'll give it a try and see how it goes.

after saying good-bye to chanda, greg (he was waiting for us outside the vet's office) and i stopped in at our local library which was having its re-opening celebration today. it's been closed for three years while they put in a ramp and renovated the interior (including expanding its lobby). it looks fabulous and we're happy to have our local branch back in operation! (there were two jazz muicians playing in the right hand corner.)

they had several old photographs displayed downstairs which i found interesting. above is the library with the prison that was attached to it and situated where the beautiful garden is now. (you can see the turret of the library on the left.)

 

this is a photo of the neighborhood people who worked hard in the 1960's to get the city to make the jefferson market courthouse into a library.

celebrating the official opening of the library on november 27th, 1967.

and then in 1974 library employees and neighborhood folks had to once again work hard to keep the branch functioning as the city wanted to close it (not even ten years after it had opened!). thankfully, they were successful and we now have a lovely renovated branch.

a colorful sign by a very young patron showing how much he loves reading and his library.

oil paintings of our branch.

hooray for our libraries!

neighborhood art, waiting for our visitors and morgan's cat friends

clay sculptures on tenth street

chanda had stopped by after work for some food for pluto that i had ordered online. i walked with her cross town for a little bit where she was meeting a friend before going home. i was expecting lucia and her girls to land around 4 pm from zurich where they had been visiting family. they walked in finally around 7. her phone wasn't working and she hadn't been able to text. it was good to see them and to hear about their trip . . so many beautiful photos of switzerland and germany . . the mountains, their family farmhouse, a myriad of garden photos, ponds, cousins and beautiful cobbled streets with old houses and stone fences. it was a fun visit for them.

 

morgan has been taking care of some cats . . 

oreo and ivy . .