Sep 11

#911 Tartan

 

The #911Tartan by designer Stacy Clark.
This somber #tartan was designed to remember the fateful events of September 11, 2001.
9/11″ is literally weaved within the very fabric of the material. In 16oz wool the thread count is 234 (2+3+4=”9″) and the sett is 6.5″ (6+5=”11″), hence 9/11.
In regard to the colors, the black background is in remembrance of all who were lost on and after that fateful date.
The wider gray columns represent the World Trade Center Towers which have become forever synonymous with the attacks. All other colors are purposely muted against the black and the gray to be almost indistinguishable from each other,  just as all who responded could not be told apart in their common mission to save lives.
The red flanking either side of the towers pays tribute to all firefighters. The blue outside that honors all law enforcement.
The green stripes pay tribute to the military and the muted white includes all medical and civilian responders.

Sep 11

9/11 – We Will Always Remember :(

I originally wrote this on 9/11/01…

 

I, too, was stunned to hear the news this morning and continuing throughout the day.

It was just something unbelievable.  My husband and I were on a Land Rover 4X4 tour of the off-road areas of Barbados when we first got the news.

At first, when we got the very first news, around 9:30 am, I thought that it was some tale that the driver was weaving…and that there would be a punchline.  As the day wore on, more interest was on the radio than on the tour.  Some of the people in our Land Rover were from New York City and they were terrified for friends and family.

What an awful day in history this is, one of those that we’ll always remember where we were when we got the news.

Like the rest of you, I am stunned, absolutely shocked that this could happen, using our own planes, no less.  I cannot imagine the terror of the people on those planes, or in the World Trade Center…or the Pentagon.

 

The rest of the story:
The year of 911 my mom and my son had been with us for the first week. My son had to be back at college so on Sunday he shepherded my mom through the airport, customs and all and got her back home before he headed back to UMass/Amherst on Monday. Thank goodness they got back before the mayhem started!

On Tuesday we were out on a 4X4 from Island Safari with our favorite guide, Zario. Zario is a fun guy and and very knowledgeable about Barbados and world events. We were very happy to have him again because it was the “luck of the draw” which driver/guide we got.

I remember that morning being kind of stressed already – I was having trouble with one of my contacts and I was just grumpy.

Zario picked us up first, one of the benefits of staying at The Crane – everyone picks us first for everything and drops us off last. Then he picked up another couple from New York City who were staying at Bougainvillea.

The tour started off through the fields, down cliffs as usual. Zario had the radio on in the background. When we got to the first stop he told us that there was a “problem” in New York. That it seemed that a plane had hit a building. We thought that there was going to be a punch line somewhere. There wasn’t.

As the tour went on, the news got worse. The couple from NYC was very worried about relatives.

By the time we got to lunch and met up with the other 4x4s everyone had heard. We were in a little chattal house restaurant, the TV was on CNN and everyone was just watching in silence and horror. Usually this lunch is very festive and fun. Not a care in the world. Not today.

We left the New York people off at their hotel and went “home”. The TV was full of New York news, then Pentagon news. We know people who work at the Pentagon. The news just got worse as we went along.

We were basically stuck in Barbados.  Phones to the US didn’t work well, email was slow to non-existent, all we knew was what we got on CNN, incessantly.  My mother and son had been with us the week before and had just flown back the Saturday before.  I was so glad that they had gotten back home ok, then my son off to college.

We were supposed to fly home on the next Saturday, but if was iffy if that would happen since the airports were closed for the longest time.  We were flying into the DC area. The phone lines to the Barbados airport and to American Airlines were always busy.

Finally, we decided to give it a shot, packed up and went to the airport to see if we could fly out or not.  They could only guarantee the flight as far as Puerto Rico.

The San Juan airport was crowded with Americans trying to get home, flights being canceled due to closed airports, people sleeping all around the airport, using backpacks for pillows.  It was a very difficult time.

We did finally leave for home later that night.  This is what I wrote the next day…

I flew on American Airlines last night (9/14/2001).  We left Barbados on time but the connecting flight, originating out of Aruba was very late, and we waited for a long time in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

After that flight had arrived though, we were all sitting around, hoping they’d board the plane soon.  All of a sudden, there was cheering in the hallway.  We turned to look – our pilot and crew were marching up the hallway with a huge American flag.  He stopped and talked to us.  He explained that the copilot would hang that flag outside his window as we taxied out of Puerto Rico and into Dulles.  The flag was making the rounds of American flights all over the country and that the yellow streamers hanging down were being signed by all the American crew members.  He posed for lots of pictures (I have some I’ll post later, when my eyes are less bleary!), then, as they were going to get the plane ready, he asked us in a loud voice if we were ready to fly to Washington and everyone cheered.

Along the way, he thanked us so much for having faith and flying (like we had any choice!).  The headphones for the movie and the drinks were all free on this flight!  He also told us that there were a lot of fighter planes in the Washington to NY corridor and not to be surprised if we were intercepted by one, who would just be making sure that we were “who we said we were”.  I thought that would be kind of neat to see, but I didn’t see them.  We arrived in Dulles (Washington, DC) with a jet fighter escort.  At the time, that sounded so comforting, but it turned out that they had been there to shoot us down, if we’d made any funny moves.

Then, when we arrived at the terminal, the captain said that we were back in “the land of the free, and the home of the brave” and got some more cheers.

It was a memorable flight for someone like me, who is terrified of flying under the best of circumstances.

On 9/10. Who knew?



9/14, San Juan Puerto Rico:
After the crew marched down the hallway.

The captain, letting others have a chance to fly the flag.

This young woman lead us onto the plane.

MaryOUSAheart

Sep 10

“Twas a Dark and Stormy

Well, not quite like the Dark & Stormy drink from Bermuda.

More of this post to be continued…

Sep 07

Labor Day – First Monday in September

labor-day

 

Labor Day was celebrated for the first time in New York City in 1882.  It was originally celebrated on September 5th, but was moved to the first Monday in September in 1884.

Labor Day started out as a state holiday, getting voted in by individual states. As the day gained popularity, Congress declared Labor Day 1894.

 

Sep 07

It’s Labor Day Again!

labor-day

 

The first Monday of every September is dedicated to the men and women who have labored to build this country.  Through a time-honored tradition that has its roots in the coordinated efforts of the labor movement of the 1800s, we salute the American worker force.

Labor Day was celebrated for the first time in New York City in 1882.  It was originally celebrated on September 5th, but was moved to the first Monday in September in 1884.

Labor Day started out as a state holiday, getting voted in by individual states. As the day gained popularity, Congress declared Labor Day 1894.

With an added day to the weekend and the school year starting, Labor Day also signals the official end of summer.  Families take one last summer trip and cities hold one last festival for the season.

 

Sep 06

National Read A Book Day

In another of the “Who Knew” Holidays…

national-read-books

 

National Read A Book Day is observed annually on September 6th.

Don’t keep it to yourself.  Share the experience!  Read aloud to anyone who will listen.

How-to_Read-A-Book

Reading improves memory and concentration as well as reduces stress.   Older adults who spend time reading show a slower cognitive decline and tend to participate in more mentally stimulating activities over their lifetime.  Books are an inexpensive entertainment, education and time machine, too!

 

May 30

National Hole in My Bucket Day

 

May 30, of each year, National Hole in My Bucket Day is observed.   This wacky holiday is in honor of the fun children’s song; There’s a Hole in My Bucket.

The song which has origins in 1700 Germany, is about a back and forth conversation between Henry and Liza.  Henry needs to fix his leaky bucket.  In each stanza, Henry asks Liza for advice. In the end, he needs a bucket to carry water to repair his bucket.

What if every children’s song had its own national day?  Sheesh!

 

May 28

Can you Steal a Free Book?

lfl

 

From Book Riot

Little Free Libraries are pure literary generosity.

These charming book exchanges, which stand in front yards across the country (and around the world), are typically self-sustaining. Neighbors take a book when they see something they like, and donate a book when they have one to share.

Through this cyclical system, Little Free Libraries are kept full, with inventory that constantly changes.

But, recently, there have been reports of ne’er-do-wells who don’t get the honor-system concept. Instead of choosing one book, or dropping off a title or two, these killjoys take all the books — every last one — leaving nothing but empty shelves for the next patron to find.

Read more at http://bookriot.com/2015/08/04/can-rob-little-free-library/

 

Luckily, nothing like this has happened to our LFL,  Greenbriar Little Free Library #33664 (https://www.facebook.com/GreenbriarLittleFreeLibrary/), although I read stories about theft and vandalism on a Facebook page for LFL stewards.

What do you think?  Is it possible to steal something that is free?

May 25

Happy National Tap Dance Day!

tap-dance-day

 

Another of the Who Knew?-type posts. It’s National Tap Dance Day.  When I was a little kid, I took the “required” ballet and tap classes for a year.  My mom has a picture of me in my tutu and one in my majorette costume for the tap recital.  I imagine I only took for the year because those costumes cost extra money.

Later on, I bought tap shoes – still unused – and signed up with a friend for a local adult tap class.  Unfortunately, we were the only ones who signed up for the class and it was cancelled.  It was a major nightmare trying to get our money back.  They wanted to give us a credit for the next time, but that would cost more money which we didn’t want to pay.

But, I digress.

National Tap Dance Day falls on May 25 every year and is a celebration of tap dancing as an American art form. The idea of National Tap Dance Day was first presented to U.S. Congress on February 7, 1989 and was signed into American law by President George H.W. Bush on November 8, 2004. The one-time official observance was on May 25, 1989.

Tap Dance Day is also celebrated in other countries, particularly Japan, Australia, India and Iceland.
National Tap Dance Day was the brainchild of Carol Vaughn, Nicola Daval, and Linda Christensen. They deemed May 25 appropriate for this holiday because it is the birthday of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, a significant contributor to tap dance.

 

 

Even Legos can tap to Puttin’ On The Ritz! A tribute to Fred Astaire, in the classic scene from the 1946 musical, Blue Skies, with the music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Although originally written for vaudevillian Harry Richman in 1930, the lyrics were readapted along with a brand new dance sequence some 16 years later.

 

 

Here’s the original from Blue Skies, although some has been cut with stills of Fred inserted:

 

 

And another version, with Taco 🙂

 

 

Just for comparison, the real original 1930 movie footage of Irving Berlin’s world-famous song, sung by Harry Richman, from the film of the same name.

 

 

And something completely different with my old favorites, The Nicholas Brothers from the film Stormy Weather.

 

May 25

Don’t Forget Your Towel Today!

Each year, May 25 is Towel Day.  Do you know why?

towel

Towel Day is celebrated every year on 25 May as a tribute to the author Douglas Adams by his fans.

On this day, fans carry a towel with them, as described in Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to demonstrate their appreciation for the books and the author.

The original quotation that explained the importance of towels is found in Chapter 3 of Adams’ work The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost.” What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)

—Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

towel-day

 

This book is important to me because I read it while I was at NIH waiting for pituitary surgery.

 

 

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