T Stands for Visit to the Aquarium

At the top of the hill was the Aquarium. It was a very hot day and cool inside the building. And also very crowded. Sometimes we felt like salmon swimming against the current.

Starfish and anemones, I think. 

Feeding time for the penguins was popular. It seemed like the entire zoo/aquarium was crammed into the viewing hall.

Jellyfish under black lights.

Giant seahorses.

Small, blue seahorse

Small, yellow seahorse

Reef tank.

It was a very hot day, so either before or after visiting the aquarium, we stopped for a refreshing glass of ice, cold lemonade. Only someone inhaled her drink so she didn't get a picture. So an mage from Pexels.com will have to do.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

It's All Happening at the Zoo

The Eldest thought it would be fun for us to spend the day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium. A two hour ride West from where she lives.

The plan was to ride the tram around the zoo. We ponied up $2 per rider and got a paper bracelet that would allow us to get on and off the tram to see the exhibits. The driver said we wouldn't have to walk up hill all day. Cool!  Trams made the rounds every 20 minutes or so.

The Merry-Go-Round was closed.

The Pink Flamingo Club

Perfect pose.

It's too hot. Maybe it's cooler closer to the ground.

Elephant on parade.

The Koi pond

Does this pole make my neck look fat?

After seeing the animals of the African Savanna, we waited for the tram. And waited. And waited. Finally, the tram came to the stop, but no one got off! So a pretty good take for the zoo. They just don't tell you, you may never be able to get back on the tram. Caveat emptor. Buyer beware.

A Madagascar Ring-tailed Lemur

There were lots of primates, but it was dark inside the exhibit so though I took lots of pictures, it's hard to make out what's in them.

You can pick your toes in Pittsburgh as well as Poughkeepsie.

Black stripes on a white body or white stripes on a black body?

Chillin' Cheetahs

A Red Hydrant contemplates a break

This polar bear was happy basking in the sun.

This polar bear, not so much.

Tyger, tyger, burning bright.

So ends the trip to the zoo.

How Does Her Garden Grow?

The Eldest's hanging basket and garden flag cheerily welcome visitors.

Her garden frog rolls in the clover and weeds.

She's allowed to plant in the area under her front window and along the side of the entryway. She bought some impatiens, sweet william, and  marigolds to plant. Her hours at the hospital and hot weather kept her from working in her garden. Her birthday outing with us would keep her away from the garden and would have to wait another day.

How does your garden grow?

Saturday Afternoon at the Movies

This idea came from a Facebook meme:

Over 10 days, post your 10 all time favorite films. What movie has really made an impact on you or what films can you watch over and over and never tire of? Post either the movie poster, DVD cover or even a screenshot on your timeline. No need to explain.

Only I had a hard time picking out just 10 movies so my favorites over the next few hundred Saturdays 😸 in alphabetical order:

The Bedford Incident (1965) Richard Widmark 😻, Sidney Poitier

If you haven't seen the movie, it's available on Amazon:  

https://www.amazon.com/Bedford-Incident-Richard-Widmark/dp/B00455KWKE

And if this movie isn't your cup of tea, check out Kathy's recommendation

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. After running errands, we stopped for lunch at the 99 Restaurant.

2. Celebrated the Young One's birthday with blueberry cake with lemon cream cheese icing.

3. Crossed off a couple of tasks on a long to-do list.

4. Got a card from my cousin with the tease she had a surprise for our annual lunch

5. Caught up with Nan through the magic of Skype

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

A group of men discussed the European war in front of the Parkman Bandstand
from Census Records Bring 1940s Boston to Life
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/07/05/census-records-bring-life-distant-time/rQ5oOavtT0ySznXx4VAd4O/picture.html

 To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

On Saturday evenings I would leave Waltham for my visit to East Boston. Sunday Monday. Tuesday morning I would leave early to get to work.

Sometime in August of 1939 when Mary happened to come by she invited me to her 21st birthday. But I did not go. At the time my interest was in Betty.

On Sept. 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland thus starting WWII. And Sept 3rd 1939 France declared war against Germany.

The Germans disposed of the French in a matter of weeks. At that time the British were also fighting the Germans on the sea side. Things got to the point that the British should get their troops out of the main land of Europe. They didn't have enough vessels to do the job and word went from the Government that it needed citizens who own power boats to volunteer.The response was great. The citizens did a great job. Some vessels were damaged as they had to get into dangerous waters. It was a great feat. The British got all of their army out of France.

The French surrendered under German conditions. And the French and most of Europe came under control of the Germans. Italy was an ally of Germany and it did not sit well in the USA. And the Government became leery of its US citizens.

From time to time I began seeing Betty. And after each date we seemed to get closer together. At time Charlie would leave the Club in charge of one of our staff. I would invited Doris to go to the movies with me. She accepted.

Throughout this period the Government did a number of things. One was that all 21 to 35 year old males were to register for military duty. Everyone who registered was given a number. And numbers were pulled every now and then. At the same time, Land Lease went into actions and the USA gave Great Britain something like 60 destroyers.

Economically things also began to pick up. The German also declared war on Russia and we helped them [ed: Russia] as well as other allies.

My job in the Fall go to the point where I had to do janitorial work as well as working as a teacher in the afternoon.

I began seeing Betty more and we began to slowly get serious.

The draft did not bother me at the time since I would be 21 in March 1940.

In the Winter of 1939, I got a raise and it helped a lot. I was able to save more and also help pay Danucci, the grocer, a bill that my mother had run up. I also registered with Calvin Coolidge College for courses on Monday. I had 2 or 3 courses. Each aimed at social work. I was doing well.

I moved up to Assistant Director at the Club. I had a budget to order games, hold staff meetings, and training them.

Wordless Wednesday

T Stands for The Start of the Journey

We left on our trip the day after the Fourth of July. The Fourth celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on 4. July 1776. Even the gas pump wanted in on the celebration when we stopped to get gas.

We made a detour which would add an extra hour to our trip and stopped at the cemetery to visit my folks. The Fourth of July would have been their 75th wedding anniversary. As is custom, I greeted Ma first and brought a bouquet of flowers. She was the Queen of the family and would get her nose bent out of joint if we said hello to 

Dad first.

While at the cemetery, a few rows over from the folks, I noticed a symbol on the headstone I had never noticed before. The Department of Veteran's Affairs only allows approved graphics on the headstone. I thought this must have been the Angel Gabriel, but looking up the symbol, it is the Angel Moroni, the designation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We got back on the road and stopped at a Friendly's restaurant for lunch.

I had an unsweetened ice tea and the Young One had a Sprite, a lemon-lime soda.

Turkey sandwich and fries for the Young One and a chicken sandwich and waffle fries for me.

Don't eat!

Hanging on the wall in the restaurant: "A balanced diet is a vanilla cone in one hand and chocolate in the other." Wise words to live by. Back on the road again. We left on a Thursday to avoid heavy vacation/Summer traffic on the Mass Pike. We also decided we wouldn't rush to get where we were going. 

The Eldest was working the second shift ( 3 PM - 11:30 PM) at the hospital so we wouldn't get much of a chance to see her before the weekend. The trip to where the Eldest lives is 9 hours without stops. We stopped at the halfway point in Wilkes-Barre (pronounced Barry), Pennsylvania.

Across the parking lot from the hotel is a Perkins Restaurant. We had their Duo Combo. Half a Sandwich and a slice of pie. I had ice tea with lemon, a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich and a slice of Lemon Meringue pie. I don't remember what sandwich Himself ordered, but he had the Chocolate Silk pie.

There was a fund raiser for Give Kids the World so I made a contribution and chose this funny chicken duck which reminded me of Henery Hawk from the Warner Brothers cartoons.

In the evening, I like to have a last cup of tea for the day. When I travel, I bring my own fixin's for tea. (I usually carry a couple of tea bags with me in my purse in case I visit friends who do not drink black tea. I'm not a big fan of herbal teas.) For this road trip:  English Breakfast tea, cream that doesn't require refrigeration (the powdered creamer makes me dizzy and sick), and bottled water because the Little Princess is spoiled and doesn't like chlorinated tap water. Not even to brush her teeth. I must have left the bottle of liquid Stevia in the car and was too lazy to go out to get it so used a packet of sugar that is left with the coffee machine in the hotel room.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

I've Been Everywhere

I've been away for two weeks, but through the magic of scheduling blog posts you wouldn't have known I was gone. We went on a very long trip.

We left home

Drove across

Passed through 

to

to visit with The Eldest and to celebrate her birthday

Then we dropped The Young One off in 

so she could visit with her friend.

Then we passed through the mountains of

and

Passed through

to 

to visit with Moopa (Himself's college roommate) and Mooma on their farm.

There were warning signs on  I-77 South that the return trip would have significant delays because of road construction. Road construction was all over the place.

For the return trip home, Moopa gave us an alternate route to avoid the traffic that took us through

back to

to retrieve the Young One.

Then onto 

to spend the weekend with The Eldest

Then we drove across 

and finally home.

 I'll bore you with tell you all the details later.