More NYC Pictures

When we went into New York City two weeks ago to see "Pass Over," we also visited New York's newest park: Little Island.

Little Island is located at Pier 55. We took the PATH to World Trade Center and walked and walked and walked past all of the piers until we finally arrived at Little Island. It was a perfect day for walking around the city.

"Only" 29 more piers to walk past ... note the kayakers

Funded primarily from Barry Diller and the Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation, it is a welcome addition to New York City's parks. One caveat, they are requiring free timed tickets after noon, so plan accordingly.

This singer performing a children's play was as good as any Broadway performer.

Gotta take a picture where it looks as if the person is wearing an Empire State Building hat.

Random NYC pictures, just because.

I think we wore her out

Back on Campus!

What a year it has been! Yesterday we brought Ashley back home to Muhlenberg. Unlike last year, at no point did we question whether or not she would be returning. Even with the Delta variant making numbers climb, mandatory vaccinations plus last year's success meant we knew she would be back. A year ago, we had no idea what to expect.

What we didn't know until recently was that the school would try so hard to welcome the class of 2024 in a manner similar to how they wanted to welcome them last year. They made move in fun, and provided the orientation they missed last year (or held virtually). Parents met other parents. Parents had a chance to ask questions face-to-face.

The program is called SOAR: Sophomore Orientation and Reconnection. A brand-new, one-time only program designed to right the wrongs of a year ago. They will sign the book every other student has signed before the class of 2025. They will have their own candlelight ceremony (after the class of 2025). One fun thing they added in was they had students volunteers (mostly athletes) helping other students move in while piping music and having fun. Parents stepped back and let them do all the work. We know this is usually only a freshman perk, so we appreciated it all the more as we remembered the fridge nearly flattening Don as he carried it around the bend in the stairs last August.

The atmosphere on campus was so different from a year ago! We all commented there were people on campus. We had been told you have to allow time to say hi to people on the five minute walk from one end of campus to the other -- and that's what we finally saw after a year. At one point I was carrying something into her room and I saw her RA. As I was apologizing for forgetting to lift my mask, she was cool with it (after shifting the pillows I was carrying, I fixed that). A year ago no one was vaccinated and they were afraid they might have to shut the campus down early. Those feelings have relaxed in a new normalcy.

Ashley moved into sophomore housing. Her room felt enormous compared with last year's room. The area rug that filled up the space between beds is now a speck on the floor. She has a car. She knows where Target is. She'll figure it out. She is loving the large closet -- much bigger than the armoire she had last year.

Unlike last year, we did not have a set move in time. She did have to fail a COVID test (negative result), but she no longer has to fill out a daily health screening, or be limited to dining with four friends hidden behind Plexiglass, or wear masks in the dorm, or be assigned a sink and shower. As with last year, though, I don't expect to be allowed back in her room until move out day, but that year it will be in May and not in November! 

Us parents were forgotten as she caught up with her friends. That was really good to see. We met other parents at orientation sessions. Steve Dutton talked about SOAR and how different schools are handling the class of 2024 -- some are merging them with class of 2025, but Muhlenberg wanted them to have their own experiences. 

By 2 we were kicked out of the dorm. By 4 we were ready to go home. Ashley walked us to the car for a last hug and pep talk.

Of note for those of you with good memories, the car did not die on the way home, but we took it to the mechanic after it made some odd noises on the drive home. The mechanic gave it the all clear.

A small post-script. Muhlenberg posted the following picture on their Facebook page. It is of Ashley's friends Paige, Greg, Ashley, and Abby. I could not have taken a better picture had I been given the chance.

That week she sent me her first day of school picture -- and so the tradition continues.

May she have a wonderful semester.

Back to Broadway!

Last weekend we returned to Broadway. It felt as amazing as we imagined it would be.

New Broadway restrictions include having to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test before even being allowed inside the theater. Once inside masks had to stay on, except when actively eating or drinking.

You know what -- EVERYONE followed these rules. Everyone was excited to be back in a theater. No one complained or cheated (i.e., wearing their masks around their chins instead of covering their mouth and nose).

I'll admit "Pass Over" is not the play I imagined would be our first one back to Broadway. The last non-musical I remember seeing on Broadway was "Arsenic and Old Lace" in the mid-1980s as part of a high school field trip, or maybe it was "Brighton Beach Memoirs" (same high school group). The subject is gritty -- two young black men constantly calling each other the N-word, and a white man who plays a stranger in the wrong part of town, and returns as the "po-po" (police). It is thought-provoking and deep, not light and fluffy.

But the feels of being in a Broadway theater. Hearing the pre-show announcement that we are among the first audiences back in a Broadway theater. Knowing this is historic. Reasonable ticket prices helped, too (tickets started at $39, but we ended up paying more because those tickets were for handicap seats). 

Still, before I bought tickets to the August 15th show, I read a review after it opened to previews on August 4th. The play was written by Antoinette Nwandu following Treyvon Martin's murder in 2012, and rewritten during the Trump presidency when it played at Lincoln Center. Both versions had darker endings. I read a quote where the playwright said she can only write what she can envision. In one version, one of the black males was murdered by the police. Following a pandemic and a new administration, she sees a more hopeful and optimistic future for black men. It is the type of play you just want to turn to your neighbor and talk about it -- especially if that neighbor knows more about theater or the culture than you do. It begs for a talk back. If the show makes it to McCarter, or someplace local, I hope to see it again and have that opportunity.

I was struck by the lighting, and felt it would really photograph well. I was happy to see this link to a Playbill article with some pictures.

The curtain call thunderous. The cast came back for another bow. 

We left the theater and walked up to Times Square, where I bought a souvenir ticket.

With owner, Tim.

Running ... or rather, not running

 Sometimes I use my blog to help me think out loud. This is one of those times.

I haven't been running lately.

I'm at the point that I'm embarrassed when someone asks me about my running.

Why am I not running? Let me list thy excuses:

1) It has been too hot

2) It has been too humid

3) I am not signed up for any races, therefore I have no motivation

4) I am not enjoying it

(More later)

Later is now ... I just cleaned up from my second run in August. It is nearly the end of the month.

I wore my Trenton Half Marathon skirt from several years ago to remind myself I really can do it, and paired it with a Sparkle Skirt to remind myself I really do enjoy doing it.

It was slow.

But, I did it.

I found it hard to find a good breathing pace and to melt into the motion.

The cooler weather helps.

I think I'll have to return to Couch to 5K to get back into it mentally, because once I can do it mentally, the physically part will fall into place. Running is a lot more mental than non-runners give it credit.

MusikFest 2021 -- or, You Can't Go Back

This has been quite a summer. Much of the world accepted 2020 would be the summer of cancelled activities, that once enough people were vaccinated we could return to Living La Vida 2019. Well, it hasn't turned out that way. Instead in June we were told fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear a mask, and we'd use the honor system that the others will continue to wear a mask. It should have surprised no one that those not honorable enough to get vaccinated for the good of the entire world would be honorable enough to wear a mask without complaining. (In my experience, those not vaccinated for health reasons continue to wear a mask.)

One event we have enjoyed in past years is Musikfest -- a mostly outdoor music festival in Bethlehem, PA. When we learned they were happening live again this year (instead of virtually), we quickly looked at the schedule to see when the Red Elvises would be performing and were disappointed to see they would be on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights at 9 pm -- not an ideal timeslot for people who work. We figured they were so popular that this would help keep their fans down.

As the event drew closer, Don and I decided to go. It is a 75-minute drive. If need be, we'd go into work late the next day.

Half-way to Bethlehem, PA the skies opened up, making it my turn to drive in a pop-up thunderstorm, and creating my first convertible "emergency" (need to put the top up). It seems we are getting a lot of these this year in New Jersey, more than usual. This revelation coincides with the Climate Change Report that came out this week.

The rain stopped long before we parked. Seemed everyone I saw had their eyes on their weather app as more storms were in the forecast. Would they hold off until after we got to our car following a 9 pm concert? Short answer, no. It started to rain a few minutes after the show started. Longer answer, it was only a drizzle, which felt good after a really hot day.

We had dinner in Bethlehem at Fegley's on Main Street, then wandered up and down Main Street, and the rest of the Musikfest area. Finally it was time for the much anticipated show!

The show started off strong with "Lovepipe," followed by "KGB," a song on their latest album that sounded a lot like something on one of their earlier albums. 

Bopping to music we've enjoyed since the late 1990s when we first heard them perform as Limpopo (famous for the "Give me a break" commercial). We were fans of the band before we started blogging, therefore there are no links to past posts, only memories.

Memories of seeing them at Musikfest, and, as Cousin Laura reminded us, once in Columbus. We were really excited to be able to hear them again. I remember meeting up with the Style Family when Ashley and Sophie were toddling more than dancing. That may have been the last time we heard them live.

The group we saw in 2021 wasn't really them. In 2009 Igor and Oleg had a split. The band we heard was Igor and the Red Elvises. I've heard Oleg sometimes joins them at venues, so maybe the split was amical? When a group with 12 CDs starts playing Beatle cover music three songs into their set because "it is easier than writing our own music," and continues to play other people's music, this non-musician came to the conclusion Igor does not own the Red Elvis music.

As it continued to rain, and we had a mile walk to our car, we left much earlier than planned.

We left feeling sometimes you can't go back.

Getty Museum

For years people would tell us we had to go to the Getty Museum when we went out to California. For years we ignored them. It was easier to walk across Harbor Boulevard to Disneyland than to get in the car and drive in LA traffic. On this summer's trip we decided to only spend three days at Disney, which left us with three free days.

The museum is free after you pay $20 to park the car. Of note, there are two parts to the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Center and the Getty Museum Villa. The intention was to go to both of them, starting at the Getty Museum Villa. Unfortunately I plugged the wrong one into the GPS, as we were meeting a friend who lives near the Getty Center, swapping the order was not an option.

COVID rules mean you must make a free reservation no more than two weeks in advance, and wear a mask. The timed reservation meant we could not go the next day instead, so we'll save the Villa for another trip.

The Getty Center has four main buildings called North, South, East, and West. There is also a research center and at least one other building. Mr. Getty collected mostly in European paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, drawings, and manuscripts from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. They also have amazing grounds. It was a gorgeous day, so I will definitely say I enjoyed the grounds the most.

The Getty Museum's biggest claim to fame is van Gogh's Irises. The pictures below show how famous this picture is. Mind you we hardly saw anybody throughout the museum, likely because they were all here!

It was a lovely way to spend a day. Overall, though, other than this room with Impressionist art, it was not my favorite style.

Trenton Thunder -- 2021

 The 2021 Trenton Thunder season will go down in history as the craziest, shortest season ever. Not only did it start about a month later than usual, it ended about a month earlier than usual. Plus they had two separate teams both call themselves Trenton Thunder in that time.

In May I blogged about the May 4th start of the season. At that point everyone had to wear a mask and sit in pods. About a month later Thunder called to say they no longer had caps on size, and encouraged me to go to more games. 

My plan was for the three of us to go to a game together, then use the rest of the 10-pack one at a time on myself. Finally on July 20 the three of us went to a game against the Syracuse Mets. The prediction in the park was that in 2021 we will become the hosts of the Mets AA team (now currently in Binghamton, the B-Mets). We'll see how that plays out.

Meanwhile the staff learned at first pitch that their current AAA team (the Buffalo Bison) would be shuffling off to Buffalo since the Toronto Blue Jays would be leaving Buffalo to return to Canada (due to the border being reopened). Somehow I missed the Buffalo stadium's construction finishing and the Blue Jays moving from their spring training home in Florida to Buffalo. 

Crazy, huh?

This meant the last home game for the Buffalo Bison (playing in Trenton Thunder jerseys) would be Sunday, July 25. After a much needed week off, the Draft League version of Trenton Thunder would play their last six games at Waterfront Park (thankfully the draft league team was on the road that week, or the turnaround time would have been even quicker). The announcement was only made a few days earlier. Thunder scrambled.

I think that sums it all up.

The game on July 25th was insanely minor-league fun. They celebrated Christmas in July and the last game with the Bisons. Many staff wore Bison attire (hat or shirt). The Bisons ended their time with Thunder with the best at home wins in all of the minor league. Fans were sad to see them leave.

The Draft League had much success -- sixteen players advanced either to an MLB team, as a free agent with MLB, or to the independent league. They succeeded in their goal to move to the next level. Oh their games were PAINFUL to watch after seeing the solid, tight work at the AAA level.

Here it is only three months after the start of the season (instead of five months) and the season is over at home. I'm looking forward to more games next year.

Of note, original ticket collector Walt retired.

Random photos:

Note: in 2020 Major League Baseball approved the "man on second" rule. The gist is, if there is a tie in the 10th inning, each side starts with a man on second, usually the one who batted last in the prior inning. They also eliminated two 7-inning games in a double header. In the draft league, rather than have the teams play extra innings, they allow their games to end in a tie.