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Attitudinal Modification in the Metro

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , on April 18, 2010| 1 Comment »

The week hasn’t been going the way you want it to; annoyed with your boss, one of your friends has been thoughtless, an unexpected bill arrives, you have to go to the dentist, your child has not called in two weeks, you haven’t seen your grandchildren in months, spring sprung and then it got cold again, the cat knocked over the new plant just after you watered it and now wet mud is on the carpet, you went to get a bottle of red wine from the cupboard and there is ONLY room temperature white left, you’re making dinner when you realize you’re missing a necessary ingredient, your husband didn’t leave you enough milk for your breakfast, the green paint you bought to spray paint one of the wicker chairs is definitely NOT the same shade as the cap, you cut your finger while slicing onions and you’re crying aleady, he forget to set the DVR to record Grey’s Anatomy, your accountant charged you more for preparing your taxes than you thought he would, one of the cats threw up a hairball in the hallway and you stepped on it, your computer screen keeps jumping around like it has the jitters, you put dry cat food out at night for the cats and in the morning there are ants in the dish, after you insisted that your husband put some of the screens up, the weather turned cold, your husband tells you he lost his wedding band, the renter for whom you spent 2 days researching pied a terres shows up and tells you his wife has a dog she always travels with, you show up at an estate sale that has been cancelled, you actually knit an inch longer on the sweater sleeve than you were supposed to, your husband left the steel wool he was working with in the sink and now it has rusted, the lawn service guy mowed your lawn after you told him not to, oh no! there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom, you realize your husband forgot to get the oil changed on the SUV, the landlord promised to get you a new sink 3 months ago and so you buy the damn thing yourself and now have to haul it back to NYC, you discover that the DVD’s are overdue at the video store, you filled the bird feeder hoping the pair of cardinals would show up and instead three pigeons arrive, you open the door on Sunday morning and the New York Times is NOT there and when you arrive at Starbucks for your morning fix of a Grande Americano and you have no money left on your Starbucks card.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

Metropolitan, 1958 Metro, Christmas morning,SO CUTE, Lois Lane, Ocean Grove, Nash Metropolitan

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words



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An Almost Full Moon Means We Are Only Half Crazy

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , on March 29, 2010| 1 Comment »

The moon won’t full until tomorrow night BUT as the weekend wore on and the moon inched its way to fullness; “things” just sort of happened!  Some weekends are just high drama or maybe Mercury is in retrograde!

Fridays aren’t Fundays here in Ocean Grove; The first problem is that we never leave the house early enough and being a Starbucks Grande Americano junkie the longer I am without caffeine, the more apparent it becomes to me that Peter is doing everything wrong and wasting time and we aren’t out the door.

Starbucks Americano

Got to have that espresso caffeine fix

First stop is Main Avenue where we pop into Ocean Grove Hardware and say a big THANK YOU to Dave who graciously removed the two huge tree branches that landed in our yard weeks ago.  We had no idea how we were going to get the tree branches cut up small enough for the town to pick it up.  Peter firmly believes that Jews shouldn’t use chain saws and I agree with him especially when the moon is almost full.

Friday night I have plans to go to the Fashion show and dinner at Bia with Trish, Heide and Jim and Susan.  The idea was to be there about 6:45 so we could get a good table.  I don’t think we got home until after 5pm and I have 10 lbs. of chicken breasts to divide up between 2 houses.  I portion and bag all of them and realize I can’t get them all into the freezer. I call the Lilligaard Hotel to see if I can use their freezer and no answer so I left a message  and run around to get dressed and put on make-up and see if I can re-scrunch some curl into my hair.  I flip on the light in the bathroom and poof, first the overhead light goes out and then the fixture over the sink blows.  I think it’s a fuse so I yell to Peter who is outside on the phone that I blew a fuse – his comedic friend George who is on the other  end of the line says “Tell Lori to calm down”. ha ha ha, I’m not in a laughing mood as the time is ticking away.  In most houses when you blow a fuse you can go into the closet or hallway and open the box up and flip the circuits. NOT HERE.  The circuit breaker box is in the basement which I wouldn’t call  a basement because a basement is where you can store things; where you can put a washer and dryer, a Christmas tree stand, bikes in the winter and hundreds of other things.  We have what is known as a Yankee cellar. To access it I must move the litter box, the big plastic bottle of litter, the container for the litter, a dust mop, a sponge mop and a Swifter.  Then I have to move the stool and the recycle bin, the bag of newspapers and a BIG box (read Costco) of black garbage bags and oh yes the cat litter scoop and the rug under the litter box – ALL THIS so we can open the trap door and Peter can go down not really stairs but more like a ladder to check the circuit breakers. Once the trap door is open, there is always the possibility that a cat might decide to explore the nether regions of the cottage so I close them both in the bathroom with me which significantly reduces the amount of natural light I am using to put on a happy face.  Still no lights – I yell downstairs to ask if he tripped the breakers?  He says they’re  all on -I repeat the question unaware that I was speaking in tongues.  After he  does flip the breakers and still no lights,  I ask the obvious question-“Did you flip them all?”   “Yes” “Are you sure ?”  “Well there’s one not next to the others and it says ‘push to test” and I don’t need to tell you what I said next, you can fill in the blanks.  Alright, I give up –  still no lights and I’ve got to put my make-up on in the fast descending dusk.

The March lamb is nowhere to be found, it’s cold, my knee hurts, I’m late and I have a bottle of wine, canned goods for the food bank and my knitting  so I need a ride. You may be wondering why the knitting is going to dinner and a fashion show?  Just more manic multi-tasking? No I’m not actually going to knit during the show but I do need Susan to look over yet another error and see if she can fix it . I have to say that none of us were thrilled with our meal, the four of us that had ordered the fish sent it back because it was cold. New entrees arrived but the meal just wasn’t great except for the Bistro cake which was one of those molten chocolate in the middle, so decadent that there’s no point in eating it – just put it in your pocket because it’ll end up on your hips anyway.

Saturday morning we called Jim and Susan for electrical help and Jim went into the cellar with Peter and soon we had lights BECAUSE Peter had  never touched the one that was not quite next to the others!!! We ended up going to Home Depot to buy a new fixture for over the mirror and it will look better with the new wallpaper.

Sunday morning brought one of those domino effect events.  Peter was working on the wallpapering of the bathroom and installing the light fixture which required him to shut off the electricity in the bathroom which required him to go into the cellar and you know what that entailed.  When I came into the room I was disturbed by the mops leaning into the egg beaters – yes you heard me right, but it’s a long story.  So as I am muttering to myself (as I am wont to do) about how carelessly these mops were tossed aside and I decide to remove the one from the egg beaters, as I pull it away the mop head is behind the legs of the stool upon which a canister of cat kibble sits.  Uh huh, the canister topples over and kibble is everywhere.  !@%$#%@.

Vintage hand held egg beater mixer

Vintage Egg Beater

After I cleaned that up, I went to wash the dishes but in the dishpan was brown water and coffee grounds-more distress and in my anger about this disgusting mess, I try to empty out the pan and not lose all of the dishes and silverware in it.  I stabbed myself with a paring knife that was in the water. More !@%$#%@


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Spring Has Sprung in my yard

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , on March 21, 2010| 1 Comment »

The first photo was taken on Sunday March 14th, a bleak misty day at the shore.  The second photo was taken yesterday March 21st.  Mother Nature  is freaking amazing.  You see this is why living in a place where there are 4 separate seasons is so great.  Just when you think the doldrums of winter have robbed your soul of life, your spirit of a sense of well-being, Mother Nature rewards you a clouldless blue sky, crocuses and snow drops peeking their heads out from under dead brown leaves, the grass looking a shade greener, the sound of birds chirping the morning call to rise and signs everywhere of perrenials reappearing.

The rose bush has new growth buds all over it.  The forsythia, which on Friday had green buds appearing on its lanky branches, today had slivers of yellow peeping out on those same buds.  But best of all, I think the rate of growth of the daffodils is truly unbelievable.  Check out these photos.

Daffodils March 14th

Daffodils March 21st

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Last Look at the Remains of the Fire

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged on March 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Only The Manchester Inn's Mini Cooper remains

Sunday afternoon, we walked over to Ocean Pathway, where lots of people were standing around.  It was eerily quiet – bystanders gathered in groups of two or three and everyone talked softly, as if not to wake the dead…embers.  The sound of the giant shovel clawing at the rubble and remains was surreal.  The gray mist shrouded the ghastly site and we walked on sooty ground and noted hundred of black spots where burning embers had landed.

The remains of The Manchester Inn and the houses on either side of it.

The Shovel and the Rubble

Next door to the house next door to the INN

This is where 3 houses stood on Bath Avenue

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Amazing New Fire Photos By Edward Wyzykowski of Ocean Grove

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG on March 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Amazing New Fire Photos By Edward Wyzykowski of Ocean Grove.

I had planned on posting some photos I took on Sunday of the aftermath of the fire – but before I do, I wanted to share these amazing photos that were published today on Blogfinger.  These were taken at the height of the conflagration.  Unnerving to say the least and after seeing them and knowing my own pictures were taken around 6:45am it illustrates how quickly the fire was able to consume the properties.

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Dire Fire Pre-Dawn Disaster

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , on March 13, 2010| 1 Comment »

5:00 am – still snuggled under covers, we hear sirens wailing down Broadway.

6:15am – my cell phone rings downstairs and I don’t get to it in time.  Look at the missed call and it was Susan.  Call her back – she is yelling into her cell phone over the roar of the wind and called to tell me that the Manchester Inn burned down and several houses were burning too.  In two minutes I know I ‘m not going back to sleep and I tell Peter I’m going.  He really doesn’t want to get up but doesn’t want me to go alone.  So believe it or not (and those of you who know us, know….) we got up, threw on some clothes and drove over to Main Avenue.  Stepping out of the car we were hit by the smell of the smoke.  And looking farther west down Main we could see a wall of smoke that extended from the fire on Ocean Pathway to Main Avenue  We left the car in front of the Hardware Store and made our way down Pilgrim Pathway.  There were orange cones on Ocean Avenue at Main, at Central Avenue and Main, at Pilgrim Pathway and actually almost anywhere you looked north of Main Ave.

The wind was howling, it was raining and as we stood in front of the Auditorium we could only see about 50′ in front of us. The wall of dark gray smoke was more like a house, not a wall.  Everything was enveloped in this ominous gray cloud.  We encountered a man who was walking around the Great Auditorium with a coal shovel and he told us he was looking for embers that were landing close to this famous structure.

Next move was to the Auditorium Pavillion to change batteries and assess just how close we could get.  Walking past the tent structures up to Central Avenue it was difficult to see anything – so many fire engines, so much smoke.  Some people were moving left and we followed them to Bath Avenue, the street that runs parallel and to the north of Ocean Pathway.  There the horror and scope of what was happening was made real for us bystanders.

Bath Avenue is a narrow street and we were able to stand on the sidewalk opposite the houses on fire.  This had to be about 6:45am and 3 of the houses had already burned beyond salvage.  The firemen just kept pouring water on these houses and the fire would keep popping up along a roof line or somewhere in what was left of a house.  The firemen tried to stop it from spreading but this was fairly impossible.  I saw one house, a green house with siding and it was scorched so badly,  I wondered if it would just ignite some place too.

I stood there crying, this was such a tragic scene and one every Ocean Grove homeowner dreads and fears and knows “that there but for the grace of God goes…”.   Looking at these burnt out shells, emotions running in high gear, the house, yes – BUT the belongings, the treasures, the photos, the memories all gone up in smoke so to speak.  Dear God, my heart goes out to these residents.  Finally cold and wet through and through, Peter and I walked around to Ocean Pathway to see if we could now see anything of the ruins of the Inn. Not really, just the eerie sight of the Manchester Inn’s little car still parked out in front.  The labyrinth of hoses was mind-boggling – running east to west on the Pathway, south to north from Main Ave to the Pathway, hoses up and down Bath Avenue, hoses laying along Beach Avenue.  Then as I was walking back to our car, I noticed the firemen laying ladders alongside the big beautiful house on the northwest corner of Beach and Ocean Pathway.  I couldn’t bear to watch another historical Victorian go up in flames.

We thought we might have breakfast at Nagle’s but it hadn’t opened yet.  Then we got word that the water pressure on Main Avenue was greatly diminished and the water was running out brown.  Thinking better of that idea, I assumed that our cottage was far enough away not to be affected by the water situation – WRONG!!!

The cats got bottled water and I hope to shower before bedtime.

This has been a day of anguish, of introspection, of concern, and a deep appreciation and thankfulness for the bravest of the brave – The firemen and I assume some of the many companies that responded to Ocean Grove’s call for assistance, are volunteer fire houses.  Thank you West Long Branch, Neptune, Asbury Park, Spring Lake, Allenhurst, Bradley Beach, Shark River Hills, Avon , Deal, Belmar, Ocean and please forgive me if I omitted some, there were just so many trucks and firemen everywhere.

Just like a victim of 3rd degree burns, our town has been indelibly scarred.

Saving the big Victorian on the corner

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

A House is Not a Home Anymore

Relentless Fire in Spite of the Rain

A Burnt Piece of a Column Amid the Omnipresent Hoses

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Eight on Main at Seven

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on March 13, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Pecan Pie

And they call this Pot Luck? What a meal! Eight of us gathered Friday evening at the home of Trish & Ron who live on Main Avenue.  They have a big beautiful home with a fantastic dining room and a table large enough to seat eight comfortably and Editthat wasn’t even with all of the leaves.

Guests included Heide, who divides her time between Belgium, Ocean Grove and California, Carol, a full-time resident who runs The Ocean Grove Trading Post, Jim and Susan, full-time entrepreneurs (I’ll be doing a blog about their business in the near future)in Ocean Grove, and Peter and I, the Ocean Grove part-timers.

You had to know with this group, Pot Luck wouldn’t be your Ham & Bean, Macaroni & Cheese church supper type.  We started the evening off with liberal libations and small gourmet pizza slices – delicate and delightful.  Oh and I forgot to say right up front that our hostess is a baker of renown and when we walked in, the table was set beautifully and two enormous racks of individual pies were flanking the centerpiece of flowers and the aroma was mouth-watering.  And then we sat down to an array of delicious dishes.  While we were chatting away before dinner, Ron and his guest chef of the evening, Jim, were in the back yard grilling lamb chops that had been previously marinated in Ron’s own special marinade.  So rare, so beautifully charred on the edges,  a real treat.   We had a chicken dish that I truthfully have no idea how Heide made it or what was in it besides chicken.  What I can tell you is that I had two helpings and the flavor was so familiar, it took me to the second helping to remember where I had savored this kind of dish before – my Grandmother Schmidt used to make any meat delectable with the same kind of sauce and seasoning that Heide used, and I have had steak at Heide’s home and she did some similar magic with that too.  I think it’s some kind of Germanic thing that these great cooks do. Carol created an artful arugula salad that was crisp and fresh and chock full of good things.  Susan was on vegetable duty and she brought us seasonal vegetables (almost locivore) -they were roasted to perfection.  With 3 of the 5 woman having Italian ancestry, of course we had a pasta dish but no ordinary red sauce (a/k/a gravy to those who know) for this group.  I contributed a rigatoni and cannellini bean and broccoli dish and I thought it was very good.

And then the piece de resistance – the pies came out! Two big trays; mini pecan pies and apple pies.  Well anyone who knows Trish knows that her apple pies are not only to die for but we all tell her she should sell them – so I immediately said, “I’m only having apple and besides I don’t like pecan pie, it’s too sweet”.  WRONG – Jim, our N’awlins native proclaimed the pies to be perfect.  Was it curiosity, arm-twisting ( lol,lol) or an insatiable appetite for dessert, well maybe all of the above – even though I made the arm-twisting part up!  I took half of a mini pecan pie and the flavors just swirled around in my mouth. This was not the sticky, sweet, gooey glop that I always thought all pecan pies tasted like- Oh No, this was smooth, creamy, flavorful and not  too sweet. Trish let us in on her secret but unless given permission, far be it from this blogger (who wants to be invited back!) give away any culinary secrets.

And after many hours of laughter and even some after dinner cordials, we all went home and that ladies and gentlemen is Pot Luck in Ocean Grove.

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And Just Where Would They Park Their Cars Anyway?

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , on February 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

The title of this blog is just one more rationale to think about while you are reading this excellent blog from Blogfinger. http://blogfinger.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/blogfinger-editorial-sleeping-watchdogs-in-ocean-grove/feed/ The Manchester Inn wants to sell out to a Developer of condominiums. Precedent is being set and if not kept in check, you will be astounded how quickly quaint Ocean Grove is no longer.

Where once many neighborhoods of Manhattan were populated with numerous Mom and Pop stores; the local dry cleaner, news stand, coffee shop, drug store, toy store, candy store, pet shop, pizza place, dress shops, bakeries and more – now there are large chain pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid,  national brand clothing stores; Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy.  We have Petco, Home Depot but most of all – where some of those stores stood, the footprint of a 20 story apartment building stands.  And it is really simple math to go from there; the more people – the more services required.  Soon the need for more commercial space will be necessary and then????

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So You Think I’m Having Fun???

Posted in BY THE WAY, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on February 21, 2010| 1 Comment »

It’s a weekend house (read relax on weekend), it’s in a vacation area. BUT it is a house, not an apartment with a Super, Handymen, an elevator and a laundry room.  In Manhattan, that means someone else shovels the sidewalk, you don’t have to make 8 trips from the car to the house carrying bags of groceries and I don’t have to transport the dirty linens and clothes from NJ to NY and then back again.

Friday: Breakfast at Nagle’s because there is no milk or orange juice in the house (we arrived last night). Go to hardware store to buy more salt -they are ALL OUT.  Bought a shovel to chip the ice away and a shovel for the car because next time if we arrive after a snow storm, we might even be able to dig our way out of the car and onto the sidewalk and up the stairs and to the backyard where the snow shovel is stored! There was also this handy little gadget up at the counter that I thought was ingenious – an extension magnet. It looks like a pen and instead of a point has a small round magnet on the end and you can telescope the pen-like case out.  So next time I drop and earring back or hair clip down between my dressing table and the bookcase,  I won’t have to ask Peter to move the heavy furniture so I can retrieve it.  There is another upside to this – I don’t have to acknowledge all the dust bunnies underneath the dressing table!!

Next we need to go to the storage area so we can put away the Mardi Gras beads, bring back a bin of stuff from our now defunct antique booth so I can photograph it all and put it up on eBay.  Also we need to check the oil in the Metro because it does leak a bit.

A quick stop at Habitats for Humanity to see if we need or must have some treasure we find there and we always do.  Down the road apiece and the next stop is the liquor store to buy wine as there is a dire need of red wine in Manhattan as well as gin for the shore house.

Next two stops: buy my Grande Americano at Starbucks today so I can have it tomorrow morning and not have to go out – again, this just isn’t New York City where I need only to walk a block to get to a Starbucks.  And while we are in that plaza,  might as well stop at Harmon Discount Beauty Supplies and get Peter the gooey stuff he puts in his hair and some hair clips for me.

Costco is next, gas is $2.45 per gallon – should we fill up here and now or wait till tomorrow or Sunday and hope that Citgo is the same price? We opt to wait, because unfortunately this is not the last stop.  Costco is a trip in itself.  You can never just go in and say you are only going to buy one thing. It doesn’t happen that way.   I went to pick up a prescription and if you don’t know, you should – Costco has the best prices ever on drugs.  And while we are here, we need to buy seltzer, blueberries and bananas.  We’re not done yet, the Costco ladies are hawking their food wares and who can resist having a nibble here and a bite there.  There was pizza, yogurt, dried blueberries, your choice of shrimp, salmon or crab salad, veggie chips, protein drink and salmon and cream cheese on cracker.  Sampling works on us – we left with some canned salmon and the yogurt as well as sardines and cranberry-grape juice.

I am already tired and can’t believe I still have to do grocery shopping at Wegman’s.  Both households need the essentials which are so much more reasonably priced in New Jersey so shopping is a weekly errand.  I LOVE Wegman’s and even if I didn’t LOVE it, I would still shop here in NJ because I totally detest and freak out in Gristede’s at home in NY.  Having lived most of my life in Connecticut where the grocery stores are CLEAN, bright and the shelves filled with multiple choices, I find grocery shopping in Manhattan almost impossible unless of course you to Agata and Valentina or Eli’s and there you will definitely pay for the quality.

Back in the car and on our way home, I remember that we need to go to Michael’s so I can buy some yarn.  Susan has promise to design a pattern for me so I can make something for Miss Finny, hopefully a sweater.  Susan has been very encouraging and helpful in getting me back to knitting, something I haven’t done in years!  Peter offered a comment about the knitting idea and said between the blog, Mah Jongg and now knitting, there would be no time left for him, lol lol – although I don’t think he was kidding.  Anyway, he has told me he does NOT want to be in the blog – that’s pretty difficult to do since so much of what we do is done together and I can’t always write in the first person singular when clearly there is another person involved.

Home Depot was on the errand list for today and we forgot to stop at the tile store also to check on finding tiles that match some we bought in South Africa two years ago.  As you can see, most projects take a very long time in our house.  He who shall not be named ( I love Harry Potter) and who does not want his name in this blog has to get some half inch round molding for yet another little project I have planned for our apartment in Manhattan.  I strongly suggest Home Depot and the tile store be put off till tomorrow.  Believe it or not, it is already past 5pm and I still have tons of stuff to put away when we get home.

Finally home, 6 trips from the car to the house, 45 minutes to put away the groceries, trying to sort what stays and what goes to New York and repacking the freezer so I can fit some frozen food I want to take back to Manhattan.   My freezer is something like Fibber McGee’s closet so anytime you want to put something in you literally have to take many somethings out.  I found a way – I took out a at least packages of left-over hamburger buns,  hot dog rolls (yes from last summer) and a few dinner rolls hanging around since Thanksgiving!! I tore them all up and threw the bread out for the birds and squirrels and now the snow in the backyard looks like it has freckles!  Seriously, I had a little talk with myself and likened my keeping fifty cents worth of rolls in precious freezer space to the argument I often pose to you know who about how much expensive New York City real estate certain videos, old magazines and lots of record albums occupy in our den.

I LOVE Wegman’s and even if I didn’t love it, I will still shop here at the Super Shop-Rite or Foodtown because I absolutely hate going into Gristede’s at home.  Having lived most of my life in Connecticut, I am used to large CLEAN, bright stores with shelves stocked with multiple choices.  Actually I won’t buy anything at Gristede’s unless it is prepackaged or non edible.  I know that sounds terrible and snobbish but I think the store smells bad.  I would rather go to Agata and Valentina or Eli’s and pay more but know I am getting great quality.

So, do you think I’m having fun?

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Robin Redbreast Wearing Winter White

Posted in Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , on February 19, 2010| 3 Comments »

A Harbinger of Spring? Yes well supposedly that’s what robins are and do.  Usually  it occurs on a

Robin Redbreast

day in late March or early April and by chance I happen to look out the window and yippee I am so excited – a ROBIN is in the yard! Is there anything more beautiful than seeing that big plump rosy breasted bird pecking away at the ground – it’s not lawn yet but sure ain’t snow anymore!! Well that’s what usually happens. SO HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN the fact that yesterday after we shoveled, cursed, dragged downed tree branches to the side of the house, swore, rehung the bird feeder, moaned, chipped away the ice, whined, salted the walkway and finally went into the house to get out of wet shoes and warm up cold hands – – there they were!!  At first it was just one, and then three and then I looked up into the tree in the yard behind us and it was dotted with  what looked like black silhouette blobs in the branches.  ROBINS EVERYWHERE!  I grabbed the binoculars to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or had gone snow blind and yes they were big, they had red breasts (although most of theirs were orange-red) and gray tail feathers with white corners SO they must be robins.  Even checked the Birds of North America book.  There was a robin on the fence between our house and Mary and Mitch’s.  There was a robin on the walkway in front of the trash cans, there were a couple of robins in the tree that dropped the big branches in our yard.  There were robins all over the place.  Nicky (the cat) was sooooooo excited.  He sat in the back window, eyes darting back and forth, fascinated by the activity going on in his backyard.  When he spotted the tail feathers of one who was in the gutter, I thought he would fall off of his perch on the windowsill.  There is a foot of new snow on the ground and about 20 robins are hovering around and only God knows why.  Either they made a wrong turn or consulted a goofy groundhog because they were definitely in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There would be no worms for them today.  I felt really bad about the fact we had just refilled the bird feeder, put new suet up and hung corn for the squirrels but robins prefer worms and grubs and although they also eat berries, we had nothing for them.  After all the tsuris seeing them was a lovely treat. I did find an interesting fact in the bird book about their habits;  apparently robins will flock together in a winter roost, sometimes in the hundreds and even in the thousands. And then later in the evening while I was relating the bird incident to my brother-in-law Matt, he mentioned that I already told him about this (which I hadn’t) and then remembered that his daughter, Dani who lives in Virginia had just told him about a flock of robins landing in her yard a day or two  ago – so what’s going on here? Are the robins migrating north too soon? With nothing to eat, what will they do?  Turn around?

See new post: Baby It’s Cold Outside! Hello Robin Redbreast!!

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