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.).

Civil War Reenactment

For a long time, I have been interested in attending an historical reenactment. This Saturday (August 13, 2011), Richard and I went to "On To Richmond" in nearby Woodbury, CT. Ironically, Lynn and Richard had driven by the area the day before and saw all the signs and preparations.

We parked our car at a local school and took the shuttle bus to the "battlefield." They had two encampments: Union and Confederate. The enactors actually camp out there for the weekend. The camps included camp fires, tents, horses, and cannons.

Richard (with Union camp in background).

Rick in the Union camp (Confederate camp in background).

The weather was REALLY hot and sticky. We had several lemon fruitsicles to try to keep cool. But the result was short term and they didn't go well with the delicious fish and chips (sweet potato fries) that Richard had for lunch.

We listened to a surprisingly interesting explanation of women doing laundry for the troops. The highlight of the day was the "battle" - Action at Ball's Bluff.

View from the Confederate artillery looking toward Union.

While the battle reenactment was not totally accurate, you did get a flavor for what combat might have been like during the civil war.  It's a good thing we went on Saturday because it rained during the evening and all day Sunday. I bet that was a mess.

View of the Confederate camp.

On our way back home, we passed by Quassy amusement park. I wanted to try out a new wooden roller coaster that is designed for beginners. Unfortunately, it was not working that day, so we just kept going.

BDS Tempest

Richard was involved with the Hartford Stage performance of Breakdancing Shakespeare - The Tempest. Originally, we signed him up for a summer "camp" program for technical theater but it was cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Instead, they invited the three kids to become "Student Tech Interns" for the performances.  Richard went to two rehearsals and two shows. The day of the show, 8/8/11 was a very long day that started at 8 a.m. and didn't end until about 10 p.m.   Lynn attended the 6 p.m. performance and had a great seat-about 4 rows from the stage. Alas, she found the play to be almost incomprehensible. Ironically, about a year ago, Richard and I attended an outdoor performance of "The Tempest" in Stratford. We left after the first act because we could not follow the action, even with the script. Nonetheless, BDS was a good experience for Richard to work in a professional environment with access to theatrical professionals.