Williamsburg Bridge {New York City}

 

It may not be as famous or as picturesque as the Brooklyn Bridge, but the Williamsburg Bridge is a nice alternative trip to the now-crowded Brooklyn Bridge. Walking the Williamsburg Bridge takes you from South Williamsburg to Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

On the Brooklyn side, the Williamsburg Bridge has two separate entrances to the bridge: one for pedestrians and one for bike riders. The lanes aren’t side by side like they are on the Brooklyn Bridge. Word of advice, and this is mainly to the pedestrians, make sure you’re on the correct side. The cyclists travel fast, it’s dangerous to be in their lane, and they will let you know that you are an idiot (that's putting it mildly...usually f***ing idiot or something involving the f-bomb is more like it) for walking on their side.

Other suggestions:

• Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes. The incline to get on the Williamsburg Bridge is steep, the walkway is made of concrete, and you are most likely walking to a destination. Make sure your feet feel good. High heels aren't a smart choice. Cute, yes; smart, no.

• Remember to bring your camera. Looking downtown, you will see the Brooklyn Bridge. Looking uptown, you’ll see all of midtown and the magnificent Manhattan skyline. Look back and you’ll see Williamsburg and the graffitied buildings next to the bridge. And be sure to look at the bridge. The graffiti artists are quite bold in the placement of their art. It is everywhere!

Nice to know...

Graffiti spanning the bridge

I took a big risk taking a pic at the end of the bike lane.
This guy almost ran me over!

Brooklyn Bridge {New York City}

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most famous and magnificent landmarks in New York City. It spans the East River and connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Traffic going to Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Bridge walk is about 1.3 miles long so use some common sense as you take this memorable stroll.

It has designated pedestrian and bicycle lanes. If you are a pedestrian, STAY IN THE PEDESTRIAN LANE. Most of the bicyclists are not leisurely riding. They are on a mission to get to the other side and if you are in their lane, they will yell and cuss at you. The bicyclists are not nice if you’re in their space.  

Everyone's staying on their side

Since it is a long walk, wear comfortable walking shoes. High heels are always cute but they don’t work on this walk. Small heels get caught in the planks of wood.

Beautiful views are everywhere so DON’T FORGET YOUR CAMERA! Take time to admire the Brooklyn and Manhattan skylines, the Statue of Liberty, and New York Harbor. Notice the massive cables that hold this bridge up, look up at the tower to see the American flag blowing in the breeze, be amazed where graffiti artists have tagged the bridge, smile at the love locks along the way, and just be glad that you are walking rather than being in the traffic madness below you.

The cables and Old Glory

The love locks

Brooklyn, traffic and love locks

The beautiful Manhattan skyline

First Dog

A couple months before my 40th birthday, my first real pet, a chocolate lab, came into my life.

I was not an animal lover and at that time in my life a dog was the very last thing that I needed or wanted. My daughter was on vacation with her best friend when I got THE phone call. 

"Mom, Sally had her puppies and Campbells said I could have one since I helped deliver them!" 

My reaction was not an excited one. I was not happy about that 40th birthday staring me in the face, I was working on my Master's degree, my four kids were in 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th grades, all playing soccer and involved in lots of other activities, Hubs traveled a lot. All of them wanted a puppy. The kids PROMISED they would take care of the dog. I would not have to do a thing...I was outvoted 5-1. I tried my best not to like this puppy but he was persistent and would follow me around, giving me the look that said, "You know you like me." It took very little time until he found his spot in our crazy family routine and in my heart. 

Fast forward to 15 years later and another first. Old age had taken its toll on Coby and his legs gave out on him. He was not able to walk. I tried to call the vet but I could not get the words out to make the appointment to euthanize him. Hubs had to make the call.

The whole family was devastated. Coby had been my oldest child's dog for over half of his life. My daughter brought him into this world. My third child wanted a puppy more than another sibling. She followed me around the house with a cheer she made up: "P-U-PP-Y, Get one, Get one!" The youngest was in 2nd grade and he and Coby grew up together. My mom loved Coby. She called him a fine, fine dog. And he was. 

Today is the first year anniversary we said good-bye to our beloved first pet. I miss seeing him on his spot on the lawn. I miss him cocking his head when I would talk to him, me thinking that look meant "I love you," but it probably meant "When are you going to feed me?"I miss him always being ready to go bye-bye...such a great car companion. I miss his gentle, sweet demeanor. I miss seeing him laying in the corner in my bedroom.

Loving Coby brought great joy to our lives and saying good-bye to him brought great sadness. But we were blessed to have him be a part of our family for 15 years. That treasure will never be forgotten.

Coby and his spot

So happy to be going bye-bye

See how everyone changed in 15 years ~

Snaaaaaake!

I was in the grass cutting "zone"...thinking about cutting the grass, planting my vegetable garden, and compiling a list of chores to get done that day. All at once I see this. 

First thought, "Oh my God a snake." 

I was going at a pretty good pace and my second thought was, "Don't run over it because there will be snake guts all over the yard." Ew. 

Third thought, "Get a grip. It's a stick." 

Yep. It's a stick.

The Color Purple

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it."

~ Alice Walker, The Color Purple

I love to take the time to notice...
Make sure you do, too. Enjoy your day ~

Little Black Book

My unassuming little black book is filled with delectable and luscious information...things that I will never forget and don't want to forget,  some tasteful and some spicy memories, goodies that people beg for. 

It's my handwritten recipe book where I copied recipes from my mom's little black book, wrote down recipes from my mother-in-law's collection, got recipes from friends or from a magazine that was in a waiting room. It sits on a shelf with other recipe books, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Yotam Ottolenghi's Jerusalem, and lots of other cookbooks collected over the years.

For Mother's Day, hubs, first child and I went to FIndlay to visit my in-laws. Mother's Day is one of those days where restaurants are busy all day long and waits can be horrendous, especially if you don't have a reservation because this was a last minute trip. I wanted to make an egg casserole and a coffee cake in advance so we could have a nice, leisurely meal at my in-laws' house, sitting around the table and chatting as long as we wanted.

Nowadays it's so easy to hop on the computer, type in what you want to make and voila!...thousands of recipes pop up. I searched for a coffee cake recipe and the perfect Mother's Day coffee cake was no where to be found in cyber-space. And then a bolt out of the blue hit me. My mother-in-law used to make a danish at Christmas. The recipe made two buttery, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastries that are frosted with a powdered sugar icing. And I knew exactly where that recipe was...in my little black book.

Danish 

(recipe shared as exactly in the little black book. Where the directions say to use margarine and oleo, I substituted butter)

Cut 1 stick of margarine into 1 c. flour. Add 2 T. water. Mix into ball. Divide and spread dough on ungreased cookie sheet into 2 long strips.

Mix 1 stick margarine & 1 c. water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat & add 1 t. vanilla or almond extract. Add 1 c. sifted flour immediately. Beat in 3 eggs, 1 at a time. Beat until smooth & spread on dough. Bake at 350, 50-60 min. until raised and golden brown. Frost while warm.

Frosting

2 c. powdered sugar

2 T. milk

4 T. oleo

1 c. vanilla

                             

Palindrome Week 2014

Palindrome...a word, line, verse, number, sentence, etc., reading the same backward as forward. Familiar examples include Madam, I'm Adam and racecar.

Bring on April 2014...the 4th month and the year 2014, which in a standard dateline format is 4/14 and right there is a palindrome. Add in the dates that have ones in them (10 through 19) and there you have datelines that are reversible.

It seemed like lots of people were all abuzz about palindrome week but there were 10 days of palindromic dates in April. A bit of heaven for those of us who savor symmetry!

Some cool tidbits for April 10 through April 19:

April 10 is written 4/10/14 but can also use the entire year to make yet another palindrome: 

4/10/2014

Yep...look at that and it's the same going forward and backwards. Pretty cool...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

April 14...4/14/14...it's the 4th month, the 14th day, in the year 2014. Lots of 4s in that one. Maybe the "palindromiest" day of the year?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

April 15...4/15/14...an eventful day: last day to send in taxes on time, a lunar eclipse and a spring snowfall (hopefully Mother Nature's last hurrah until next winter comes around).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

With this series of reversible datelines comes some math fun, too. Adding up every digit in that day's dateline equals the same number as that day of the month. For example:

4/17/14: 4+1+7+1+4 = 17

Try it with any of the dates. It works. And it's the only month every 100 years that does that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So those named Hannah and Anna and Bob were totally on the "level" when they celebrated these palindrome dates by listening to ABBA. 

Leaving you with one last palindrome...

Taco cat