Summer Solstice Father's Day

Today is the Summer Solstice. June 21st. The longest day of the year. It is also Father's Day this year. Our three grandchildren and their parents were in town this past week and this morning they packed up their things and headed back home to Philadelphia. We miss them already. We did have a great time yesterday and today they were able to say Happy Father's Day to me before they left. Poor Todd has to spend most of today driving his family home from Buffalo to Philly. I know that trip very well.

They had a very beautiful day to drive home and it was wonderful weather here too. I cut the front lawn this morning and did a couple of loads of laundry... mostly sheets and towels. The rest of the day I took it easy doing some reading on the front porch or in the backyard. It's been so beautiful. Earlier this afternoon Becky and I took a walk through the neighborhood and through the Martin House complex as usual. Later on we watched some World Cup soccer. Had a nice phone conversation with Sean too wishing me a Happy Father's Day.

It was a spectacularly beautiful sunset this evening at around 9:15 pm. 

Zoo with the Kids

Went to the Zoo today with the kids. It was a beautiful and perfect day. We walked over there about quarter after 10am and when we got there the zoo was already crowded. The parking lot was almost full too. Well, it was a wonderful sunny Saturday morning on the first weekend after the schools closed for the summer.

The kids wanted to see everything and spend a lot of time looking at the animals. Of course the kids got hungry and wanted something to eat so we stopped for lunch. Well, the kids ate but not the adults. We were there for three hours. Finally Becky and I left a little before Katie and the kids. We were worn out.

They have also had a special dinosaur exhibit over the past several weeks that has been attracting visitors... Destination Dinosaur.

Overall we had a great time. It's so nice that we have the zoo just a short walk away.

Bunny Walk - A Record

Every time the kids are in town we go for an evening bunny walk where we are looking for the rabbits on lawns throughout the neighborhood. I think the previous record of bunny sightings was 14. We went out a few days ago and saw 12 on a walk that included going into the Martin House site where we saw several. And then continued walking over to the park along the zoo where we never see many bunnies. Then the kids spent some quality time at the new playground in the park.

This evening we went on another this evening at prime time... around 8 pm. We set a record with the number of bunnies we saw just walking around the block. 22 bunnies including 2 in our neighbor's backyard. Overall a great evening for bunny sightings.

Kostas for Lunch

This afternoon we went over to Kostas Greek Restaurant for lunch with the kids. When Katie and Todd are in town we usually get over to Kostas for a meal. Mostly dinner but today it was lunch and we had a good time and nice meal. I had a gyro wrap, Becky had a chicken sandwich, Katie and Todd both had their always good chicken souvlaki salads. Henry had a huge BLT and the girls both had pancakes with chocolate chips. We had lots of French fries on the table too.

We got there right around noon on a Friday and it was very busy. We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table and then we had a great table on the patio. It was such a beautiful day.

 

Fairport Convention - Kitchen Listening

Kitchen Listening. Fairport Convention. Meet on the Edge: The Classic Years 1967-1975, 1999. A nice two and a half hour set from one of my favorite British folk bands covering their peak years. I have quite a few of their albums in my collection including several compilation and live sets and they have influenced my musical taste over the years. This band also included two of my favorite singer/songwriters... Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny. I was fortunate to see this band live several times in 1969 and 1970 and the last concert I saw them was in 1975 at the Phila. Academy of Music when Sandy Denny rejoined the band. I've also attended solo shows from both Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny.

Still Life - A Novel

Still Life - Sarah Winman, 2021. Just finished reading this amazing and beautifully written novel of historical fiction with some incredibly developed characters and narrative. The story takes place during and after World War II and is mostly located in London and Florence.

This book was hard to put down and I read it in about ten days. The parrot was one of my favorite characters.

Stormy Sunday

Stormy June 14th, Flag Day. It was always an important day for me because it was my mother's birthday and my sister Betsy's birthday. It was a special day all my life.

This particular June 14th was also very stormy. It was rain and high winds off and on all day. Mostly on. Thunderstorms too.

The other situation happening that was affected by the weather was trump's 80th birthday celebration on the white house lawn that got mostly rained out. LOL.

Kate Atkinson - Authors List

Kate Atkinson - Authors List. Her first novel I read was Life After Life in 2014. I then read a second book in that series. Then sometime last year I came across a review of an earlier series of her Jackson Brodie detective crime novels and I then read three books in that series which I enjoyed very much. I also liked that they are set in Edinburgh Scotland.

• Life After Life, 2013 - Mar 2014
• A God in Ruins, 2015 - May 2016
• Case Histories, 2004 - Mar 2025
• One Good Turn, 2006 - Apr 2025
• When Will There Be Good News?, 2008 - Jul 2025

Robyn Hitchcock - Kitchen Listening

Robyn Hitchcock - Kitchen Listening. I started off with his first solo album from 1981 and then followed it up with the next three albums. I ended the set with his live album Gotta Let This Hen Out from 1985.

Very interesting and quirky music. I recently started reading his memoir 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left, 2024 which I am enjoying very much.

• Black Snake Diamond Role, 1981
• Groovy Decay, 1982
• I Often Dream of Trains, 1984
• Fergamania!, 1985
• Gotta Let This Hen Out (Live), 1985

Ray Charles - Kitchen Listening

Ray Charles - Kitchen Listening. The Birth of Soul: The Complete Atlantic Rhythm and Blues Recordings, 1991. A 3 CD box set of his years recording with Atlantic Records 1952 to 1959. We've been listening to this collection over the past couple of days and just finished it this evening.

I was surprised at how many of these songs were so familiar. He had a tremendous amount of crossover hits during his career. Becky and I both really enjoyed listening to this collection which ran for about two and a half hours.

Ray Charles was a musical icon during my early years of listening to the radio. We heard him all the time. He was also on a lot of TV variety shows like Ed Sullivan.

I'm looking forward to a couple of additional sessions. One with a 2 CD Rhino collection that covers his career through the 1990's and another collection of his country western albums.