And the Winner Is...

Another wonderful afternoon in Riverside Park

As promised we have a winner to the Central Park note card drawing. I used Random Generator and the winner is our dear friend,  Chatty Crone. Chatty, I will be at the post office this week and have your cards in the mail.

It's hard to imagine that May is ending in only an hour. Lots of blogging, reading cooking and walking. It wasn't my best month for steps, but I had great days yesterday and today -- total of 7.1 miles -- and ended the month walking 72.1 miles. My goal for June is to better than that number. The month also included a return to Yoga, Betsy's big birthday celebration and several good on-line studies. 

Sadly May has also included tragedy and unrest throughout the country. There are times I've felt that my posts are too light for all that is going on, and I'm not acknowledging the big issues all around us. But I also know that Buttercupland is a place of refuge from everything going on around us, and I don't want to lose that.   

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands. 

Pink Saturday Goes Dog Sledding

Pink Saturday Goes Dog Sledding in the Canadian Rockies

I thought I'd finished going through all of my pictures, but I realize there are troves of photos and memories hidden in every corner of my apartment. I was sorting through the linen closet and in back of the dish towels was another box of photographs from circa 2000. I discovered photographs of my only winter sports vacation and three envelopes of pictures from an amazing vacation cruise from Singapore to Phuket, Thailand. 

But this post is about my once in a life-time dog sledding experience in beautiful Banff, Alberta, Canada. I am not a winter sports fan. I ice skated a few times in junior high school. I skied one morning in high school and realized I didn't like cold, height and speed and spent the afternoon drinking hot cocoa in the lodge. I didn't even touch a ski during four years of college in New England, including my year in New Hampshire where Dartmouth had its own slopes. 

Fast forward thirty years my friend and travel buddy Pat suggested I join her and her friend, Judy, for a week of cross country skiing near Banff. I said no, and Pat reminded me that this trip was the trip of a lifetime to one of the most beautiful places on earth and gave me a second chance to say yes. Which is how I ended up in the Canadian Rockies reclining in a dog sled.   

Even though I don't like being outside in the cold, somehow  I thought being in a dog sled being dragged over snow would somehow be well, not so cold. I am smiling in the picture, but just a few minutes later as I began my once in a lifetime dog sledding experience, my smile was gone and I realized I was quickly becoming a human block of ice. I was wearing  layers of ski clothes, but the one layer that kept me from the frozen ground wasn't enough to keep me from freezing. I was as grateful as I've ever been when the once in a lifetime experience came to an end. It was ten minutes that seemed as though it was an eternity.

  

My dog sled path through the woods 

That was my first and last dog sledding adventure and my last actual winter sports experience. I learned my lesson and now enjoy all winter sports vicariously, and generally only when watching the Olympics every four years. Any Buttercuplanders winter sports fans?

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands. 

The Legend(s) of the Cardinal

A cardinal came to visit...

While Betsy and I were walking in Riverside Park. At first I was totally oblivious, but the bright red bird caught Betsy's attention and she helped me to find it. I know I've seen cardinals before, but I took this one as a sign of hope and of all good things to come in the future. 

I knew that seeing a cardinal had many meanings, but the only one that came to me was that a visit from a cardinal was a visit from a loved one that is deceased. When I got home and started researching this I found a number of other things symbolized by a cardinal. 

Cardinals are among the most popular birds. They are the state birds of seven states and the mascots  of many teams, including the St. Louis Cardinals. They are the birds of Christmas, being one of the few Northern birds that don't fly south for the winter.  

Cardinals are symbolic in several Native American cultures. In the Choctaw culture the cardinal was a symbol for changes in relationships. In the Cherokee culture the cardinal was seen as the daughter of the sun and part of the creation story. The Cherokee also believed a  red cardinal flying towards the sun was a symbol of good luck.    

I read an article in the NY Times that many more people are taking up bird watching in the last few months. I'm not quite ready to say I'm a bird watcher, but I am interested in learning more about the birds of New York City. I've been doing some reading on the American Bird Conservancy website and I signed up for a web session on learning to photograph birds next month. Is anyone else a bird watcher?

I've continued to do more decluttering and discovered a trove of travel pictures that have long been buried. Tomorrow for Pink Saturday we'll be taking an armchair trip to somewhere cool, just the change from the summery humid weather that we're experiencing.  

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands!

Wedding Bell Blues Wednesday

Nessie and her attendant, Miss Fluffy

A few weeks ago Nessie and Pep Le Monkee announced their engagement, which was definitely a bright spot in this season of canceled events. Their hope was to have a destination wedding in the fall, with a Zoom reception following for their many friends around the world. Sadly, it appears that the destination wedding may not be at a far-away destination. Their wedding planner -- Buttercup -- is considering either Central or Riverside Park, either of which in the autumn would be beautiful and very romantic.

Despite this hiccup, wedding plans merrily continue. Miss Fluffy, Nessie's bestie, will be her attendant and will also plan the Bachelorette party. They've been poring over Pinterest for fun ideas and I see drinks with little parasols in the future. 

The biggest issue for Nessie -- and for many brides -- is what to wear. Someone suggested I could fashion something from -- gasp! -- toilet paper. Yes, it's very much of the moment, but I think a sweet bride like Nessie deserves something a little more permanent. I haven't sewn in decades, but being that Nessie is all of three inches tall I think I could tailor something festive and pretty for our bride. Nessie's heart is set on lace, so we'll be going in that direction. 

Besides wedding plans, I'm keeping busy with the usual walking, cooking and cleaning. I'm pleased to report that I started the day with vacuuming, done before I settled into computer time. I'm keeping up with my Weight Watcher meetings virtually and I'm adding back my Yoga group tonight, also by Zoom. What are your plans?

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands.

  

It's Time for Iris and a Giveaway

It's time for Iris

With every new blooming flower of the season I think "This is my favorite." My favorite really is the lilac, but I'm partial to just about every other beautiful bloom I see. I've been delighted with the first crocus of the season and then the tulips, and now it's iris. I found these beauties in Riverside Park today and they are my new favorites. I know that soon the iris will be gone for this season and I'm going to enjoy them as long as they last. But I need to remember it's still early in the year for flowers and there are lots more to come. 

It's also time for a giveaway

I haven't done a giveaway in ages -- or maybe just in 2020 -- but I have a set of note cards and stickers with pictures of Central Park that I would like to share. The "rules" are easy peasey. Please leave a comment with your favorite spring flower and be a follower of Buttercupland by 11:59 p.m. on Saturday May 30. I'll be posting the winner on Sunday, May 31. 

What are your plans for Memorial Day? We're still in the stay at home mode so I'm sticking (as usual) close to home. The weather looks nice and I plan to visit Riverside Park and do some walking. I also plan to blog and be part of my Monday afternoon Zoom with friends.    

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands. 

Pink Saturday And a Box of Colored Chalk

Get your chalk! We're off to Riverside Park for Pink Saturday

Fortunately, Pink Saturday is a state of mind and not a place, because today was not a day for sunshine, park and chalk. It was rainy and windy and a good day to stay inside -- even more than the usual stay at home. I got outside for a quick errand and a mile walk, but otherwise I've been indoors spending time phone and text chatting and reading the New York Times Sunday sections that arrive on Saturday. 

For anyone who thought children had stopped playing outside, think again. That may have been the case in the past, but now there are children playing in the park, on the sidewalks and in the closed streets. We've all had our fill of television and electronic devices and long for sunshine and activity. All we want now is to be outside!

What's your pick? Tic-Tac-Toe or Hopscotch?

I don't think I've seen tic-tac-toe or hopscotch on the streets of New York in decades, but there many games drawn throughout the park. When I was growing up we played hopscotch almost every summer day, and I was pretty sure that the game was history, but clearly there's been a resurgence. Who else in Buttercupland was a hopscotch player?

More hopscotch and my favorite sidewalk portrait

Enjoyed finding this smiling cat on one of my walks

It feels great to be blogging, pictures and all. I always enjoy the comments -- don't we all -- but especially enjoyed the ones from yesterday's post and all the book comments. I hope everyone found a recommendation or two. I know I did. 

Before my photo difficulties I mentioned doing a giveaway and I will go ahead with it tomorrow. Please stop by!

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Wishes for a very happy Memorial Day weekend.  

Random Five Friday

I love the dog topiary at Riverside Park

In the early years of blogging, one of my blog buddies, Nancy, hosted Random Five Friday. Random Five Friday was exactly as described. It was five random thoughts in one post. It was a great way to catch up on the week, as well as share thoughts that didn't quite make a full post. This week I'm using the format to catch up on the status of my Black Swan existence after two months of staying put.  

1) I had a great morning walking with one of my gym/Yoga/water aerobics friends in Riverside Park. We met in the morning when the park wasn't crowded and enjoyed sunshine, walking and catching up on the last two months. We have "seen" each other via Zoom, but there's nothing like fact to face, even with masks and at opposite ends of a park bench. 

2) I figured out what I'd been doing incorrectly in downloading photographs. Not sure what happened because it's the same thing I've been doing for years, but somehow I omitted one step and of course, nothing happened. Once I walked through the process again -- after looking at my settings for an hour -- all was right with the world. 

3)

Tomorrow, May 23, is the official birthday of the New York Public Library. 

Happy birthday, my dear friend! I can't wait to spend time with you again. 

4) My concentration has improved a lot and I'm back to reading. One of the books I'm looking forward to reading is The Spiral Shell by Sandell Morse. I discovered Sandell and this book this via a writer friend and it looks thoughtful and totally compelling. I've been reading a lot of history, and looking at difficult times past and what kept people going. There are several author "Zooms" that are scheduled -- in the link -- and I hope to "see" you at one of them.  

5) A question for Buttercupland: What are your reading choices this month. Besides history, I'm reading mysteries as always, and thanks to the New York Public Library, I'm on my third volume of C.S. Harris' Lord Devlin historical mysteries. Set in the Regency period in England, they chronicle Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, as he steps beyond his life in the aristocracy and seeks justice for complex and unsolved murders. They're far from cozy and at times, a little more gruesome than I would choose, but the characters, setting and historical detail make them great reads. I read several of the earlier volumes and now I'm reading whatever the library has available to borrow electronically. It's pretty haphazard, but I'm nonetheless enjoying my escape to Eighteenth Century England very much. 

For tomorrow's Pink Saturday fun we're returning to Riverside Park for a special art show I've curated. I hope you'll join the fun. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and of course, wash your hands.  

Welcome to Riverside Park

Welcome to beautiful Riverside Park

Blogger has been slightly more cooperative this evening and I'm happy to reschedule our visit to Riverside Park. The weather is slightly cooler, but the rain held off. Let's get a jacket and put on our sneakers and set off for the park. 

When I moved to this apartment almost thirty years ago I don't think I'd ever set foot in Riverside Park and it wasn't a factor in choosing my apartment. As the years have gone by, and especially in the last few months, it is a literal answer to prayer. 

In the Nineteenth Century the population of New York grew substantially. After Central Park's completion in 1859 a decision was made to add parks on both the east and west sides of Manhattan. In 1865 the city acquired 700 acres on the Hudson River. In 1873 Frederick Law Olmstead, who had designed Central Park, began the design for the new park. The work didn't go as quickly as Central Park, but in 1880 Riverside Park was completed. 

I took a number of pictures of the park, including my favorite spot, a rock garden that includes a topiary dog. Sadly, this was the only picture I was able to download because Blogger is still misbehaving. My goal for tomorrow is to spend time doing research about what the problem may be. 

Besides my Blogger mishaps, all else is okay. The weather has been lovely and I've been getting out for walks. I've been doing a lot of reading -- book blog post to come -- and I'm enjoying my Weight Watcher groups via Zoom and of course, cooking and cleaning the kitchen.  

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands.

Sunday in the Park with Masks (Mostly)

Alas, I downloaded my pictures of Riverside Park and they're not appearing. The little ball just keeps spinning. I'm assuming it's Blogger's semi-annual bout of temperment. I'll try again a little later, but I didn't want to let the day go by without saying hello.  

Open Street Saturday

Bikes, games and walkers share the road with cars and trucks as part of  Open Streets

Open Streets began in March when a small group of streets -- generally adjacent to parks -- was closed to vehicles for part of the day. As March became April and now May, more streets have been added to the list. One of the streets is a portion of my street. 

During the week the sidewalks and parks haven't been crowded, but come the weekends and the nicer weather, there are crowds. The program on this stretch just started on Wednesday and the street hasn't been crowded, but as the weather continues to get nicer I'm expecting more people enjoying the extra space. It's been particularly nice to see kids riding bikes -- lots of training wheels -- and playing games. 

My view first thing this morning. It was a beautiful day to be out and walking.

We're going outside tomorrow, too, and we'll be visiting Riverside Park. We'll also be doing our first giveaway in quite awhile. I hope you'll stop by.  

As ever, thanks for visiting my little corner of the world. Take good care and wash your hands!

Dreaming of Barcelona

Let's get our groceries at the Mercat Santa Caterina

If 2020 hadn't taken the oddest twists and turns imaginable I would have just spent four days in Barcelona. In March 2019 my high school buddy Susan and I were both recovering from surgery. We got to talking about the vacations we would take one day and in the course of the conversation(s) we booked a Transatlantic cruise from Miami to Barcelona. The trip included a week at sea, which we both looked forward to, and stops in the Azores, Morocco and Southern Spain. I spent three days in Barcelona as part of a sixtieth birthday trip and I was looking forward to spending time there again as my seventieth birthday approached. 

We had a list of things we wanted to see and we were just about to book our excursions when it was becoming clear that cruises wouldn't be sailing this spring. Our plans were mostly places I hadn't visited on my trip in 2010. But one place I wanted to return to was the fabulous food market, Santa Catarina. Originally built in 1845 on the site of the Convent of Santa Catarina, it was beautifully renovated in 2005. 

I'd love to choose dinner delicacies from this assortment

For many of us one of our main activities for the last few months has been food shopping and I thought it would be fun to have a change of place in one of my favorite markets anywhere. 

I wouldn't know where to begin here. Everything looks delicious.

What would be your choice?

I had a yummy pear for dessert tonight, so I will probably go with grapes. 

It's been fun to dream of grocery shopping in Barcelona and more fun that all of Buttercupland was able to join me. Tell me what's been fun where you are. Maybe it's a book you're enjoying, a new television show or perhaps, an armchair trip.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands. 

Welcome to Central Park

Please join me in Central Park 

The very closest park to where I live is Riverside Park -- just a block away to the west -- and it's a frequent walking destination. But when I get a little more energy I walk up the hill -- four long blocks -- to Central Park. They are both beautiful urban oases, but Riverside is very much a park for the neighborhood and not a destination for all of New York City. We'll be visiting Riverside in the week ahead, and for today we're spending our day at Central  Park. 

You may have seen photographs of Central Park recently and the park probably looked much more crowded. I stayed on the very edge of the park near one of the entrances and it was blissfully empty, even in the midst of many people visiting the park for fresh air. 

Central Park was the first landscaped public park in the United States. There were already landscaped parks in Paris and London and New York City had advocates for establishing a similar setting in Manhattan. The location was debated and ultimately  700 acres were taken by eminent domain. The area is filled with rocky outcroppings which create a great landscape, but were unsuitable for commercial development. These were not empty acres, but rather the home of 1,600 people. These residents included Seneca Village, a settlement of African-American landowners that dated from 1825. The photograph above is literally the site of Seneca Village, which went from what is now West 82nd St. to West 89th St. 

In 1857 Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmstead were selected to design what would become Central Park. It was a massive public works project with over 20,000 workers, including stone cutters, engineers and laborers reshaping the area's topography to create the pastoral landscape. More gunpowder was blasted in the building of Central Park than at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. This was followed by workers bringing in three million cubic yards of soil and planting over 270,000 trees and shrubs. In 1859 this urban masterpiece was opened and by 1865 the park received over seven million visitors a year. What a legacy to New York City and to the world! 

What a legacy to New York City and to the world! I've always appreciated the beauty and proximity of Central Park, but these most recent days have made me even more appreciative. 

It's been cool here, but we've had beautiful sunny days. Flowers are in bloom and we're having a glorious spring. 

As ever, thanks for  visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands!

Happy Mother's Day

“All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” 

Abraham Lincoln

One of the benefits of this time I've spent at home is the opportunity to work on projects I've been meaning to do since I retired almost seven years ago. I haven't gotten to the toughest projects, like cleaning out my closets, but I have gotten a good handle on organizing decades of photographs. I started with the travel pictures and then yesterday I went through most of the family photographs. My goal was to find this picture and any other pictures of my mother and me. I was happy to locate this picture, taken for either Mother's Day 1952 or for my second birthday that summer. Sadly, there were very few other pictures of the two of us, but I was gladly to find several other pictures that  I will be putting together for a framed collage. 

Not a day goes by that I don't think of my mother. She died in 1990, but her presence is always with me. She's been in my thoughts even more often during the last few months. At moments when I'm troubled, I think what would my mother do? She wasn't especially sympathetic to complaining or the idea of boredom. In this time she'd be cooking, baking -- she was a fabulous baker and never saw a recipe that looked too difficult. She would be reading, knitting and talking to friends and family on the phone daily. I know she would have enjoyed streaming movies and television shows and learned to use Zoom as well. I can hear her advising me, her often too impatient daughter, to take advantage of the time. She wouldn't have minimized the illness and job losses, but her advice to me would be to use these precious days well. Of course, she would be right, as usual.  

As always, I say thank you to my mother and wish all of Buttercupland, near and far, a very happy and healthy Mother's Day. Enjoy this precious day. We will only be given May 10, 2020 once and that once is now.  

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love, today and every day!

Pink Saturday Goes to Mount Fuji

No passport needed for our trip to Mount Fuji, Japan

We're back on the road this Pink Saturday and today's trip is to Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji. I was chatting with my friend K and she mentioned that she enjoyed seeing places we've visited. For our mutual 65th birthdays we visited Japan in cherry blossom season. It was a dream we both had and it was a treasure to be able to share the trip. My only regret about the trip was that it was too short. There was a lot of flying and just twelve days to see the "high points" of Japan. We started in Osaka, went on to Kyoto, then to Mount Fuji and finished in Tokyo.

We spent a beautiful clear morning at Mount Fuji, one of Japan's three holy mountains. We joined the throngs of visitors to Japan who make the trip to Fuji. Fuji is a cultural icon of Japan and it'seen in many depictions as a symbol of the country. 

This was one of my first views of the mountain as seen through the bus window. 

 Mount Fuji is a popular site for mountain climbers. It's 12,389 feet and this is as far as I got.  

I took some time to explore the Mount Fuji gift store. Despite the sweet and benign depiction

 here Mount Fuji is still an active volcano. The last eruption was in 1707.

I am always tempted to bring home another friend for Pep, but somehow resisted. My will power failed in both Australia and Scotland and new friends came home with me.  

Too quick, but a fun visit! Hope you've enjoyed it, too. I've actually had a busy week. On Wednesday night I "attended" Betsy's virtual birthday party, on Tuesday I "went" to my friends' daughter's college graduation thesis presentation and "went" to lectures via Zoom at two other times. Tomorrow I get the weekend NY Times delivered and look forward to doing the Sunday crossword puzzle. Have you been doing any of the Zoom programs?

As ever, thanks for visiting. Take care and wash your hands!

Surprise! It's a Happy Birthday Blog Post

Happy birthday to my dear Mount Holyoke friend, Betsy!

It will be fifty-two years in September that I met Betsy during our freshman year at Mount Holyoke. We were on the same floor in 1837 Hall. I don't remember if it was the first week of school that we met or the second week, but quickly Betsy became a friend. Though our backgrounds could not be less alike, we were kindred spirits with similar interests and perhaps, more importantly, we laughed at the same quirks of life. 

Years passed and we lived in different dorms for two years and then were reunited with a close group of friends for our senior year. We all ate dinner together every night and formed a close bond. We went our separate ways after graduation. I was in graduate school in Nashville and Betsy moved to Cleveland for business school.After school, we both gravitated to Manhattan and lived two blocks away. We both ultimately moved away from our first apartments and lost touch, not an uncommon story for college friends. 

But the world can be an amazing place and forty-two years after our college graduation we learned that we were, once again, neighbors living on the same street four blocks apart. We'd both had ups and downs, but we still had similar interests and we still laughed at the same quirks of life, and we still were/are friends. 

The last six years have been sweet. 

We've had lots of good times in New York City

Fabulous visits to Maine

And our trip of a lifetime last summer to England, Scotland and Ireland

Betsy in Iona, May 2019

Today is Betsy's 70th birthday. Plans for the celebration have changed considerably, but not the good wishes. Dear Betsy, here's to many more years of good times, good health and happiness. So grateful that you are my neighbor and most of all, my friend. 

The Journey of 1000 Miles: Spring Update

Walking on the Sidewalks of New York

My last mileage post was March 31. I'd had a terrific month of walking  -- recalculated today at 96.1 miles -- and was optimistic that even if I couldn't walk 90+ miles in the months to come I could make progress on my goal of walking 1000 miles in 2020. 

I did make progress in April, but I only walked 55.3 miles, sadly not even an average of two miles a day. I can plead chilly and rainy weather and that's true, but it was much more the circumstances of our times. I didn't feel confident being outside and risking being too close to other people. There were a few days where the farthest I got was around my block. I walked at least a mile every day, but that didn't bring me close to my goal of 2.8 miles/day. 

I realized last week that I needed to get outside more, both for my mental well-being and for exercise. It might only encompass sitting by myself on a bench at the park a block from my house, or it might mean walking the almost one mile to Central Park. It doesn't make up for being alone, but sunny days and seeing people outside -- while being socially distant and wearing a mask -- cheered me up a lot. I wasn't happy the first few days I wore a mask. I got hot, my glasses fogged and my hair got in my eyes. But I very quickly realized that a mask kept me from touching my  nose and mouth and that made me feel better about going outside. I now wear a mask, carry gloves -- some of the stores require it -- and always have hand sanitizer with me. 

Some of my friends have not left their houses since we began to shut down in New York City in mid-March. Others are essential workers and are out regularly and others -- like me -- feel comfortable from time to time in small groceries or the drugstore and skip larger stores. Every store -- including Trader Joe's and other big grocery stores -- has limits on the number of people who can enter at any one time, and there is store personnel enforcing the limits. I've found people courteous, keep a social distance and are aware of those around them. What I haven't done since March 13 is take the bus or subway or use a taxi, so my world has become very local. 

Nessie and Pep hope you had fun on Cinco de Mayo

Nessie and Pep thank everyone for their good wishes. Initially we thought it would be a very small wedding, but so many people, monkeys and bears have asked to be part of the wedding celebration, it's made us go back to planning to make sure to include friends and family around the world. Of course our Buttercupland family will be part of all of the festivities.

I've got a surprise for tomorrow. I won't give any hints, except to say it's a big week in Buttercupland, and no, I'm not getting engaged. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take care. Much love and wash your hands!  

Monkee Monday and (A Big) Relationship Change

Big Monkee Monday news!

We've got very exciting news in Buttercupland. Pep LeMonkee and Nessie Scotland 

are engaged. An autumn wedding is planned. 

There's nothing like romance to put some sunshine into our days and we're smiling for Pep and Nessie. They've sensibly chosen to skip getting an engagement ring, but Pep will  be looking for another piece of jewelry as a token of  affection for the cute little sea monster who won his heart. When Nessie came back from Scotland with me last June I didn't think that she was just the perfect one for Pep, but love knew better. They officially became a couple  in December and Pep has once again changed his status. 

The wedding plans are up in the air right now. They've been planning a destination wedding for November, but they both know that the location chosen may not be possible. An alternate pick would be a ceremony in Central Park -- so romantic! -- and a Zoom reception for friends and family around the world. 

As with any newly engaged couple there are still so many details to be arranged. Nessie is focused on what to wear. She's been watching "Say Yes to the Dress," and wants her own bridal moment. She's leaning to a mermaid style -- naturally -- and is excited about searching for a dress. There's still the registry to choose, bachelor and bachelorette parties, the ceremony and details for the reception. 

 Pep and his friend, E. Bunny

E. Bunny will be planning the bachelor party. He's giving us a hint about the refreshments. Pep has been an able assistant to Bunny for years and they've forged a close bond. 

Miss Fluffy and Paws are ready for a party. Miss Fluffy is searching Pinterest for fun ideas for Nessie's bachelorette party. She welcomes suggestions from Buttercupland friends. 

Pep and Nessie are thrilled to share their news with their Buttercupland and Facebook friends. If you'd like to become Pep's friend, just click the link. They also plan to visit Instagram from time to time, and their hashtag is #pepness. 

I know all of Buttercupland joins me in happy wishes to Pep and Nessie!

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands. 

  

Pink Saturday Goes to the Tulip Festival

A perfect pink tulip for Pink Saturday

I finished the Around the World A to Z on Friday and spent the next 36 hours floundering around for topics to blog about. Many of my blog posts in the past included pictures I'd taken during my trips around New York City, and now my trips don't go beyond walks around the neighborhood. I was totally stuck for a post yesterday, but as I walked in my neighborhood I realized there were some extraordinarily beautiful places that I wanted to share. 

 It's tulip time at the West Side Community Garden

One of my regular excursions for the last few years was a walk to Trader Joe's. On the way home I'd buy an iced coffee at 7-11 and then stop at the Community Garden around the corner. The only time I'd skip my garden stop was during the very worst days of winter when it was too cold to sit out. I'm skipping Trader Joe's and 7-11 for now, but I walked up to Central Park -- pictures for another post -- this afternoon. On the way home I passed the Garden and got to see the Tulip Festival, sadly through the fencing. 

   I loved these beautiful pink tulips...

...and these lovely purple tulips

I posted these pictures on Facebook and one of my friends mentioned the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI, which I promptly added to my "someday" list of places to visit. I'd love to spend time surrounded by fields of tulips. Is anyone else a tulip fan?

Besides the local sights, I've got a list of posts to get ready for this week. There will be monkeys, mileage and money this week, along with a birthday celebration. I hope you'll all stop by and visit.

As ever, thanks for visiting and take care! Much love and wash your hands! 

Y Is for (the former) Yugoslavia And a Postscript for Z

Welcome to Rovinj, then Yugoslavia and now, Croatia

Our last destination in our Around the World A to Z tour is Rovinj, Croatia. During my visit to Venice in 1989 I took a two hour hydrofoil trip across the Adriatic to then Yugoslavia and spent the afternoon in the seaside fishing town of Rovinj. I remember a clear summer day, lunch at an outdoor cafe and a charming Mediterranean town. History was about to be made in Rovinj and all of Croatia. Even as I enjoyed my lunch and iced coffee changes were happening in the political structure and in 1991 Croatia became an independent country. 

  The baroque Church of St. Eufemia overlooks all of Rovinj. Eufemia is the patron saint of the town. 

August 28, 1989, Rovinj

And then there's Z...

I thought of writing about AriZona for Z or perhaps Zambia or Zanzibar, neither of which I've visited. But I've decided to leave "Z" as a marker for all the places I've never been. For the last several decades I've always had a trip scheduled. It may have been a long weekend with friends in Connecticut or upstate New York or a destination half-way around the world. This year started the same way and I had a lot scheduled. I took two trips, canceled two others and there are two more still scheduled for the fall. No flights are scheduled for those trips and though, I'm hoping they will take place, it seems unlikely now. 

At this time eight years ago I was about to be diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor. I went on to have neurosurgery in June, 2012 and wasn't permitted to fly for six months. Between my surgery and recovery and Super Storm Sandy in October, 2012, I didn't travel -- excluding long weekends in Connecticut and Rhode Island via train -- for over a year. It wasn't clear how much mobility I would recover and travel seemed far, far away and not all that important. I remember thinking that if I could just get around New York City, I would be happy.  

Thankfully, I was able to do a lot more than just get around New York City, and in the last seven years I made up for lost time. I was able to visit six continents, and if plans had continued, I would have made it to all seven continents in seven years, with a visit scheduled to Agadir, Morocco next week. One day, one month, one year, travel will again be possible, but for now I will once again be happy when I can get around New York City.   

I'm sad that we've come to the end of our Around the World travels. I've had such a good time re-visiting some of my favorite places and I'm so grateful for the wonderful company I've had. But as my mother always said when we'd come home from vacation, "It's good to go, but it's better to come home." As always, Mom was right. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take good care. Much love and wash your hands!