Fourth of July in New York City

 

Rockefeller Center 

Actually the photos on this post were taken on the third of July, but let's not quibble about the dates. The weather forecast for this weekend was at best iffy, and I wanted to make sure that I got to Rockefeller Center to take photographs on a sunny day. I went yesterday and it turns out today is just as lovely as yesterday. The entire weekend has turned out to be a great weather weekend and I've enjoyed a less-busy New York, at least in my neighborhood. The Rockefeller Center vicinity was hopping and lots of fun to visit. 

Love the "stay dry" fountains!

I'm not sure what the technical term for these fountains are, but in Buttercupland they're to be known as the "stay dry" fountains. The water stops and people step into the circle and then the water begins again. This is a new addition to the area and it's the same area where the Christmas tree is displayed in December.  

One of my favorite parts of Rockefeller Center are the fountains that begin at Fifth Avenue and stretch for half a block going west to the skating rink. They are decorated for every season and these summer decorations are particularly lovely.

 

I'm about to do some walking and enjoy this beautiful day in New York. I treated myself to my favorite summer treat, soft ice cream, yesterday and if I'm feeling especially indulgent I just may treat myself again. What's your favorite summer treat?

As ever, thanks for visiting. Heart and prayers are in Highland Park. Take care and stay safe, my friends.  

Note: I'm not sure what's with the quotation marks, but I'm figuring it's just today's quirky Blogger issue.   

(Too Few) Kodak Moments

 

Baker Library, Dartmouth College at twilight

I've got some nice "scenery" pictures of my fiftieth reunion at Dartmouth. The one above is perhaps my favorite building on campus, Baker Library. Besides my very architecturally undistinguished dorm, I spent the most time on campus in this beautiful building. I studied here just about every day and I had a job here three days a week. The inside has been  perfectly preserved and there's a modern addition at the back of the building, but when I stand in front I easily return to the twenty-year old I was during my year at Dartmouth. 

I took a number of pictures of Baker, day and night and certainly no regrets for that. But what I didn't do was take pictures of the people I met during the days I was at reunion. I have a lot of "Kodak moments" of buildings and the campus, but very few of friends. I was telling this to my friend, Lucy, who is very accustomed to me snapping pictures all the time, and she was very surprised. Her response was "You didn't take many pictures?" 

No, friends, I didn't take many pictures at Dartmouth and this aging pup learned something valuable. Take the pictures of people. Don't skip the scenery, but it's the pictures of people that mean the most. Before my Mount Holyoke reunion I thought about a few pictures that I definitely wanted to capture and despite a few sighs, I've got pictures of all of those friends I cherish. But at Dartmouth, with a few exceptions, I didn't know that the people I met on Friday and Saturday, I would consider friends on Sunday.  

Baker Library at night

 

I love this photograph of Baker Library taken the last night of reunion and I'm so glad I took it. But I'm sad I didn't also take a photograph of the two classmates I spent the evening talking to. That, too, would have been a Kodak moment to cherish. 

Fortunately, friends snapped a few pictures of me and this is my favorite. It was taken before the Commencement exercises on Sunday morning. 

Buttercup in Hanover, June 2022

It's a wrap on the first half of 2022. Though the summer days are less hectic and there's less scheduled, as we start to get closer to September the year starts racing as though it's a runaway train. Labor Day goes into Rosh Hashanah and then it's Halloween and then and then. But let me stop here and not get ahead of myself. I've got some plans for July and August that I need to focus on first and I guarantee that there are Kodak moments ahead. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and wishes for a great weekend. 

Pink Saturday Loves Hydrangea

 

My new favorite flowers of the summer, hydrangea

One of the few genuinely unmixed blessings of the last few years is my love for hydrangeas. I began to fall in love with them last summer and twelve months later I  am on the lookout for hydrangeas everywhere they may appear. My all-time (thus far) favorite place for hydrangeas is in the beach community where dear friends have a house. They graciously invited me to visit this weekend I had a great time laughing and catching up, enjoying my barbecued hot dog of the season, as well as the ocean view. I also had the opportunity to take photographs of their neighbor's fabulous hydrangea. 

I'm not sure what combination of sea air, perfect soil and loving care 

creates these beautiful flowers. 

Most likely to be a favorite place to read and drink iced coffee. 

These are the first hydrangea photographs for Pink Saturday and Buttercupland of 2022, but I don't anticipate that they will be the last. I've been snapping pictures closer to home and I'm fairly certain the hydrangea of Manhattan will be making an appearance later in the summer. I don't think anyone will mind. 

It was a great weekend with my beach visit and a birthday celebration for my painting friend, Carol. That, too, was a great time catching up with friends, many of whom I've only seen via a screen for the last few years. 

As ever, thanks for visiting. Good  wishes for the week ahead. 

 

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

 

Stonehenge, as seen in a visit on June 22, 2014

I don't know if the builders of Stonehenge used the phrase "make hay while the sun shines," or its prehistoric equivalent. Actually we're not quite sure who were the builders of Stonehenge or its exact purpose, though the "interpretation of Stonehenge which is most generally accepted is that of a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun (from an article from the website for English Heritage)." Because of the relationship with the sun, it's a site that was visited by many today, the longest day of the year.

My cousin who on a business trip in Poland wrote that the sun was just setting at 10:30 PM and my friend Linda, who is in Iceland north of the Arctic Circle noted that sunset yesterday was at midnight and sunrise this morning was at 1:30 am. The sun set at 8:30 PM here in New York and now the days begin to get shorter. We will still have lots of sunshine in New York and I usually don't begin to notice that the days are growing shorter until some time in September, which is just about the same time it becomes necessary to put on a jacket at night. 

One of my father's favorite songs was "September Song" and its haunting lyrics begin to come to mind as the days grow shorter, just as the song says. I've been somewhat melancholic since I've been home from Hanover, with an awareness that the days grow shorter in every way. I didn't feel this way after my Mount Holyoke reunion, but in Hanover I discovered a trove of new friends fifty years out of college and realize that our days together are not infinite. 

But I'm taking to heart the injunction to make hay, or rather memories, while the sun shines and to keep in touch with my new friends and enjoy their company as often as possible. I got a letter today from my friend Charlotte and what a sweet feeling it gave me. 

Dear friends, enjoy the sunshine and enjoy the precious days we are blessed with.     

As ever, thanks for visiting! Yours, Buttercup

Pink Saturday Goes to White River Junction, Vermont

 

Though it's not pink, I couldn't resist featuring this neon sign for this Pink Saturday.

 I felt as though it had been made for me. 

Before I got to Hanover, NH for my Dartmouth reunion I spent the night across the river in White River Junction, Vermont. Hanover has very few places to stay and whatever was there had been booked for months by the college and visitors for reunions and graduation. I've been to White River Junction many times, but had only for quick visits or simply driving through. I was very pleasantly surprised by the downtown area, with new restaurants, stores and street art. 

I enjoyed the Hotel Coolidge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places

I booked the Coolidge for its very convenient location from the train station and reasonable price, but was delighted with its window to local history. The hotel was built during White River's major railroad days and was named for President Coolidge's father. The rooms are simple and pleasant, but it was quiet and spacious and I loved the visit into history. 

Main Street, White River Junction, VT

My room included a voucher for breakfast and I had an excellent iced coffee while I enjoyed this beautiful view. The sunny morning was an omen of the good weather for the area for the entire weekend to come. 

The pink frames caught my eye as a definite choice for this post  

I had a great walk around the downtown area. There were a number of well preserved historic buildings and interesting stores.  I didn't expect to find as many interesting spots in White River and was very pleasantly surprised. I've thought for a long time that I could find interesting things just about anywhere I went and this visit definitely reinforced my belief. 

I will be doing at least one post about my second 50th reunion. The Dartmouth campus was even more beautiful than I remembered and it was a great time of revisiting and making new friends. I'm sure I will say it many times, but I'm awed and delighted that I can still make new college friends. I never thought it was a possibility after fifty plus years. 

After my two reunions it's been tough getting back to my routines. I did get to the gym and Weight Watchers, as well as my synagogue's annual meeting. I decluttered my inbox -- a major project -- and did the usual bunch of errands, visiting the drugstore, grocery and bank. I'm also glad to be back to blogging and hope to catch up on blog visits in the next few days. 

As ever, thanks for visiting and good wishes for the week ahead.  

Happy Father's Day, 2022

 

My father, grandfather and grandmother, circa 1922 New York City

My last post was entitled, "One Hundred Years," and somewhat to my surprise this one could also have the same title. I've spent the last month rummaging through old pictures and have come across some family photo treasures, including this one of my father and grandparents. There is no notation on the back of the picture, but I'm dating it via the absence of my aunt, who was born in 1925. 

Forever grateful to my grandfather (and grandmother) who sailed to America in August, 1914 and in the midst of the turmoil of a World War, the Depression and then another World War created a family. Both my grandfather and my father were incredibly hard workers and devoted to family, and I am blessed and grateful to be granddaughter and daughter to them. 

I've been thinking a lot about the thin and fragile unbroken chain that links the generations. It was in my thoughts about the classes of 1922 and 2022 at Mount Holyoke. I also thought about it after meeting members of the class of 2022 at Dartmouth and being part of their Commencement weekend. But the most abiding of thin and fragile chains is the one bound by DNA and centuries, our families. 

Here's to fathers and grandfathers and all the greats that came before. We wouldn't be here without you. 

I'll be back later today with a Pink Saturday post and I'm hoping that will return me to a more regular posting schedule.

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy Father's Day. 

One Hundred Years

The Mount Holyoke Class of 2022 

My fiftieth Mount Holyoke reunion is now slipping into history. I've been home for almost three weeks and all that's left are memories, photographs and renewed and new friendships, which is more than enough for one weekend. But before it slips totally into memory I'm doing one more post with reflections on our sister classes of 1922 and 2022. Traditionally we are linked with the 50 year class at our graduation, which is a wonderful thread of sisterhood and education. Unfortunately I didn't get to spend time with members of our sister class of 1922 during my graduation weekend. But it was very different at this reunion where we had a great afternoon to get to know the class of 2022, and what a thoughtful and impressive group. 

I'm going to share reflections on our sister class of 1922 that I put together before my 50th.   

 I was chatting on line this week with a classmate about reunion and the conversation turned to the Class of 1922, the fiftieth reunion class at our graduation. We both remembered thinking how "old" they appeared to us in our callow youth.

But now I am that "old" and I have boundless respect for the women of '22. I did a little research and found that the lifespan in 1972 was 71.5 years. so the women who came back to celebrate were among the hardy. They'd grown up in an era without antibiotics, when childhood diseases were the norm and polio and tuberculosis were commonplace. They had just lived through a world-wide epidemic and a devastating war.

The Nineteenth Amendment giving women the right to vote was only two years old and the opportunity for women to attend college was an immense opportunity. The Class of 1922 lived through the Depression and a second devastating World War.

They left us a tremendous legacy of courage and determination. When I wear my whites on Saturday morning, my thoughts will turn to the graduates of 1922, who blazed a trail for us to follow.

Tomorrow I'm off for my 50th reunion at Dartmouth, where I spent my junior year. The decision to grant undergraduate degrees to women was made in 1972. It was too late for me to get my degree there, but it opened opportunities for women for the last fifty years, and we'll be commemorating fifty years of co-education. I haven't been in touch with my Dartmouth classmates as much as I have with my classmates at Mount Holyoke, so I'm expecting a different experience than I had a few weeks ago, where there were many friends of long standing to catch up with.

I'll try and share photographs, especially on Instagram and I hope to do a post or two as well. I'll be sure to catch up with all of Buttercupland when I'm back from New Hampshire next week.

As ever, thanks for visiting and see you soon!