Ode to Summer from My Neck of the Woods

Summertime... and the Livin' is Easy from Porgy & Bess opera, 1936, by George Gershwin

Wood's Hole, Massachusetts

As seen from the Shining Sea Bikeway, Falmouth, Massachusetts

Seagull Beach, Cape Cod Massachusetts

Crane Beach Reservation, Ipswich, Massachusetts

A Hazy and Hot View to Portugal

Enjoy your summer!

Flying: Time to Leave the Nest

"There are no birds in last year's nest." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, 1807-1882

So this is it. That time one never imagines to come so... soon. Yet as every mother can attest, 'the days are long and the years are short'. For me, this has been an especially difficult change to embrace - The Empty Nest...Even writing it seems to trivialize it. Yet, I had help with this one as Mother Nature saw fit to provide a safe haven for a Robin to build her nest right in view of our kitchen window. It took all of three days for this industrious female to construct a sturdy home with sticks and mud nestled securely in the crotch of a Juniper. It took another three days to lay two eggs, and two weeks for those lovely aqua blues to hatch. Of the two babies, only one survived, despite the mother's valiant and tireless effort with feeding and keeping them warm. What a sight to see, up close and personal, with her wing spread out umbrella-style protecting the hatchlings from heavy rains. Her sharp eyes never left our gaze as we ooggled and aahhed at the antics that came so naturally. And, so the day came a mere two weeks after hatching, when it was time to go... Just... like... that. Time to go, giving us the privilege to witness the very shaky maiden flight. Certainly the parallel was easy to make as the last of my brood flies the coop. We love, we nurture, we raise to send them on their way...There will be no birds in this year's nest...but it will always be feathered and safe when they return.

To learn more about the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), check out All About Birds, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

'A robin feathering its nest has very little time to rest..' from Spoonful of Sugar, Mary Poppins

E is for Economy Glass

Round Robin pattern

Economy Glass started out as Morgantown Glass Company in Morgantown, WV, 1899. It became known for high quality, hand blown glassware. In 1903, Morgantown Glass changed its name to Economy Tumbler Glass and introduced colors into its repertoire. From its inception, the 'Continental' line was popular and continued to be manufactured until the company closed its doors in 1937. 'Round Robin' was the only Depression Glass pattern made by Morgantown under the Economy Glass logo. Economy Tumbler Glass reopened as Morgantown Glassware Guild in 1939, introducing bar and stem ware with unique shapes and cool colors including jade, pink, 'Ritz' blue, magenta, amethyst, and black. In 1965, Morgantown Glassware Guild was purchased by and incorporated into the Fostoria Glass Company. Fostoria Glass was in business until 1983, when it too was bought out by Lancaster Colony. Competition from imports effected sustainability and that company folded in 1986.

The Round Robin pattern is so thoroughly modern in its simplicity it is hard to believe it is 75 years old - and still so much in vogue. Happy hunting!

Independence Day

'You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism!'

Erma Bombeck, American Humorist, 1927 - 1996