It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

"It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play..." (Oops, wrong song for this occasion.)

Rick & Lynn - Saturday August 31, 1991.

Today is the 20th anniversary of my wedding with Lynn. The weather was beautiful: pleasantly warm with a sunny blue sky. We had a simple ceremony: no fancy outfits or huge bridal party; no lavish reception with a disc jockey or band; and no drunken dancing. We wore clean Sunday outfits; Amy brother Mark was Best Man, Lynn's friend, Diane, was Maid of Honor. The reception was held immediately after mass. We had it in the dining room of the private school where Lynn's mom worked; the wedding cake was a carrot cake made by the chef at HSB; instead of a band, we had a string quartet composed of high schools students.  What a day!

Group picture on the steps of St. Joseph Church after the wedding (8/31/1991).

"Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end,
we'd sing and dance for ever and a day;
We'd live the life we choose, we'd fight and never loose,
For we were young, and sure to have our way."

"And they lived happily ever after..." (hahaha).

The Wrath of G*D

Hurricane Irene approaching CT 8/27/11 (Courtesy of NOAA)

Is the "Almighty One" trying to get a message to us? (I'm confident there is a constant communication that we are largely ignorant about).

During the past week, the area I live in experienced a noticable earthquake and, this morning, Hurricane Irene swept through the region. Shakin' all over; Rock-n-roll; Did you feel it? Good Night Irene....(and all the other cliches).

On Tuesday (August 23, 2011), shortly before 2 p.m. Eastern Time, a Magnitude 5.8 earthquake occurred near Mineral, Virginia. I was at work in the office (Westchester County, NY). Although several of my colleagues felt it, I didn't see it, feel it, or hear it. I did hear them shouting, " What the **** is happening?" I instantly concluded that an earthquake was happening. Fortunately, no one was hurt and there was little damage. Unfortunately, not much has happened since in order to prepare for a more serious quake.  I guess we were distracted by the approach of Irene (see picture above).

Yesterday (Saturday) was a day of preparation. Lots of running around to make sure we had everything needed in case power was lost for 2-7 days. When I went looking for jugs of spring water at 5 p.m., I found virtually bare shelves in the stores. I ended up buying (an extra) gallon at Wallgreens for their normal everyday friendly price of double of what the grocery stores normally sell it. If you wanted a C or D-size battery, you were out of luck (need those for flashlights). Lucky I had a little flashlight that uses AA batteries. I also had my clock radio with a backup 9V battery.

We started feeling the wind and rain about 10 p.m. last night. Irene passed through the NYC/Tri-state area this morning about 11 a.m. Things now appear to be calm. I didn't lose power and don't see any fallen trees. Pretty much everything is cancelled for today. We're supposed to stay off the roads due to fallen tree branches. Richard's 9 a.m. roller hockey playoff game was cancelled (they won the first of three games yesterday by a score of 8 to 7). Next game is Tuesday evening.

I guess I should thank G*D for his mercy in that we survived both earthquake and hurricane. Thank You!

How does your garden grow?

Recently, Lynn has been harvesting produce from her garden. See the picture above of her holding a large zucchini she picked. She also has had success with tomatoes. The last two weeks I have enjoyed a couple freshly picked tomatoes she has shared with me. I like making a sandwich with them, with mayonnaise, white onion, and a slice of cheese (e.g., swiss, havarti, etc.).