LANCASTER COUNTY — from the porch

LANCASTER COUNTY — from the porch.

LANCASTER COUNTY — from the porch

I can’t help it!  Whenever this time of year rolls around, my thoughts always stray to Lancaster County.  Hmmm — I wonder why that is?  Could it be that the colors of the autumn leaves are more vibrant?  Could it be that I have a hankering for some really GOOD root beer?  I know that I crave whoopie pies and wet bottom shoo fly pies that should ONLY be served with Bryers Vanilla ice cream — 🙂  I’ve heard some people say that shoo fly pies are for tourists, but I think that my Nana Blake would fling her apron across the room if she heard that.  Shoo fly pies, especially in the Fall, are just the best treat ever, with or without the pretzel crust — 🙂

Just being in Lancaster County, so close to the Philadelphia area but so far from our bustling reality, makes me feel warm and cozy all over.  It is such a beautiful area of Pennsylvania with lots of farmed fields and plenty of natural wonders to take in and appreciate.  I love seeing the horses and buggies as the Amish families clip-clop along on their way to market or family visits.  It reminds me of the days when my own family would be all piled into our car, going to the store, to church, or to visit our relatives on weekends.

Luscious Leo and I have made many trips to the Lancaster area, especially when our sons were little.  We’d go camping, usually in a family-type environment, for long weekends when Leo was off from work and the kids were out of school.  I had a 1972 Volkswagon bus that was outfitted with a camping package in that the interior would cleverly convert to beds.  It was loaded with lots and lots of cabinets plus an open area in the back, so there was plenty of room to store necessary items as well as the stuff that the boys couldn’t live without.  There was no way we could travel without at least one ball especially with two very active sons in tow. Included in my “must pack” list were board games, decks of cards and I can’t tell you how many match-box cars — 🙂

So, we’d pack up our cooler with just enough food for dinner the first night and breakfast the following morning.  Who on earth would take lots of food with them to Lancaster?  One of the reasons we’d go was to stock up on some the freshest fruits, veggies, and meats that have ever hit this planet!  We would always try to go on a Friday so that we could go to the Green Dragon.  This is a huge farmer’s market/flea mart and it is only open one day a week — and that is Friday.  It is located in Ephrata on North State Street.  They have a website, so you can easily Google the directions from wherever you are coming from for your visit.  If you are in the Lancaster area on a Friday, make it a point to visit this place. It’s pretty cool and there is lots to eat and drink while you are making your purchases.  One of my favorite lunches there is an Italian hoagie.  It is made with the freshest cold cuts with no preservative, so the meats don’t taste salty.   And the cheese is so fresh that sometimes you can actually see a sheen of milk still on the roll as it’s being sliced.

We’ve had many memorable family vacations in Lancaster County, but the one that sticks in the minds of our sons was the “Great Tornado” trip.  I remember that day so clearly in my mind.  We had all gotten up bright and early to do a bit of sight-seeing and, of course, shopping.  It was well into our vacation and we only had two more days to play and relax.  I had suggested that, since we would be gone most of the day, we would also go out to dinner.  The kids were all for that and they decided on pizza. I guess they had enough “plain and fancy” type of dinners for a while.  So off we went on a bright, sunny morning.  As the day got longer, the sky became more gray.  We weren’t concerned about rain since we had been camping in rain before and none of our stuff ever got wet or ruined.  We spotted a pizza place and went in to get a bite to eat.  As we were enjoying our dinner, the winds picked and the sky started to glow a sickening shade of yellow.  I recognized that color and said, “I think that we are in for a tornado!”  Of course, my family being all men, thought that I was crazy!  “We’re in Pennsylvania, not Kansas”, said Bill.  Leo said, “There’s no tornadoes in Lancaster.”  Bobby just sat and ate his pizza, which was pretty smart on his part.  Well, I KNEW I was right — I’ve seen that color sky before when people told me there’s no tornadoes in Runnemede, either.  However, Bobby (my son) and I know that’s not true since one of those pesky things threw us both across my girl-friend’s front yard!!!!  Anyway, back to my story.  While we were sitting in the resturant, the winds became louder and louder — like a freight train was passing right next to us — and I knew then that we were better off where we were.  The kids were OK with that since, when the waitress asked if we were having desert, I responded with a resonding, “YES!” — 🙂

The weather finally settled down and we went back to our campsite.  “Well, well, well”, I said.  “Just what do we have here?”  I know — a bit snarky, but I couldn’t help it.  Apparently, one of those thingies that only happen in Kansas musta taken a wrong turn and decided to stir things up in the Keystone State.  Our site was totally destroyed and the boy’s tent was tossed to the other side of the campgrounds.  All I can say about that is that it’s a good thing I like to go shopping –LOL!!  Our Volkeswagon was just sitting there are pretty as could be without a mark on it — gotta love it!  So, we went throught the process of gathering our belongings, tossing stuff that was either too muddy or messed up to pack, and home we came since we live so close and it was near the end of our trip anyway.  I took some photos of the aftermath, but they are now tucked away in one of my kagillion photo boxes (this was before “digital photography made easy”).  Nobody got hurt and this is a vacation that we still talk about to this day.

We’ve made lots of trip to the Lancaster area over the years.  One year, Leo and I treated ourselves to a long weekend after the Christmas holiday season.  We stayed in the Steamboat Fulton close to the outlets.  On one of our trips, we discovered a sweet little resturant that offers buffet dining with the huge prices now being charged by some of the other resturants in the area like Miller’s or the Shady Maple.  The name of our great “find” is Dinier’s (I think that’s how it’s spelled).  It is in a little row of shops next to the Dutch Haven on Lincoln Highway in Ronks, PA.  This is a pretty cool little complex.  Behind the Dutch Haven is Jakey’s Bar-b-Que, the Outhouse (a totally fun place to visit!!) and a few other gems that you don’t want to miss — 😉

In 2009, we took a trip in October to visit a place called The Christmas Museum.  It’s a place that was recommended to us by some good friends of ours, so we were looking forward to seeing it.  We had invited our son, Bob along with Melissa and Bobby to join us — and they said “YES!”  Off we went to spend yet another few days in Amish country.  We stayed in this really great hotel that even had an indoor swiming pool and play area for kids.  Bobby had a great time there.  Then the next day we went to the museum and it was AWESOME!!  Inside, there are tons of displays from Christmas celebrations around the world.  There’s a Santa’s workshop display and even a “Five and Dime”, complete with older toys and ornaments on display.  There is also a huge room dedicated strictly to all things trains.  It’s really a great place to take kids of ALL ages — 🙂

Speaking of trains, you can’t leave the Lancaster area without taking a ride on the Strasburg Railroad.  The day that we went was picture perfect. It wasn’t crowded so we were able to get our tickets without any fuss.  Bobby wore the perfect “let’s go ride the rails” outfit and he was totally thrilled with the fun of it. 

Lancaster County is not only a place to take a trip to see the foliage this time of year.  The entire area is full of fun, interesting, and memorable things to do.  Just the enjoyment of eating fresh food from the Amish farmers is worth the trip.  A bonus is the various outlets stores in Tanger or or the Rockvale Center.

My view from the porch today has woopie pies written all over it. 

Sounds like a road trip!

CHANGE — from the porch

“Change brings opportunity”.  You’ve heard that expression before, right?  So I am wondering, “Whose opportunities will benefit from change?  Does it depend on what’s being changed or who is doing the changing?” 

I know that our lives change all the time.  Sometimes, we are fully aware of these changes, like when we change our clothes, change our minds, change our cash money into — change.  Most of these events are beneficial opportunities to the individual “changer”. 

 I read that Face Book is going to undergo yet another change — and this time around it’s supposed to be a biggie!  What do I think about that? “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  Or how about, “It does not belong to me, so change away!”.  Honestly, what I think about any Face Book changes is this, “It’s not my toy!  As long as I can still be in touch with my family, I don’t really care”.  That’s true — it is not mine to worry about and if Markie wants to keep changing it, that’s totally up to him.  My role is to control my life as best as I can — and to recognize that I can’t control anybody but myself and my reactions to all this change.

Mother Nature is a big “changer”.  She goes from season to season without consulting anybody to see if it’s a good change, a bad change, or a somewhere-in-between change.  It’s her domain and she handles it as she sees fit.  We, as the dwellers and the care-takers, have many opinions on the changes of seasons.  Some of us are thrilled when Spring arrives in all her glory after the long cold winter.  In the front of our house is a huge, old red maple tree.  I love this tree.  My kids used to hang in the branches of it and swing upside-down.  Sometimes they would climb it and yell, “Hey, Mom!!  Look at me!!”, which I did with one eye open and the other closed in prayer — 🙂  In the Spring, the tree becomes full of buds –  a bit messy when they fall off onto the ground, but so sweet to see.  Then little baby leaves appear.  They are tiny and bright red in color.  In the early mornings, my living room is bathed in soft pink light as the sun rises and the light is reflected off the leaves.  It is one of my life’s favorite views as it holds the promises that only newness brings.  Spring is the season of life being reborn. We participate with enthusiasm in that renewal with religious celebrations, a new Spring outfit, or decorating eggs.  What could signify renewal more than that, right?  The incredible egg — a sign of renewal all throughout nature.

Then Spring changes into Summer — my favorite time of year.  By now, the leaves on my tree are big, shiny, and wine red.  Their backs are a lush green and they all whisper and dance in the early Summer’s warm breezes.   Like the tree, I relish the warmth of the sun on my face.  I thrill at the opportunity that nature has given me to spend my time outdoors again to work on my “Jersey” tan — a real tan, not the sprayed on type favored by those posers from New York.  I love to feel the cobwebs that have clouded my brain during the long winter shake free as I sit and plan my summer activities.   Many of us take our vacations during the Summer months since our children are out of school.  Our locations range from a trip to the mountains, an excursion to the shore, or that fun-filled, exhausting jaunt to a theme park.  Sometimes we do the shore one season, the park another, and the mountains yet another.  Gee, look at all that changing going on — LOL! — 🙂

Next is the season that Mother Nature uses to dress herself in her finest.  I’m talking about Fall – with all of its colorful splendor, lots of pumpkin patches, beanie-beanie Halloweeny — and so many craft shows I just can’t get to them all!  This year’s Fall season is a little slow in coming — a change in our weather patterns brought on by the storms, hurricanes and earthquakes of the recent past, I am sure.  It kinda hit home for me the other day as I went out to our front yard to get our mail.  I was wearing my flip-flops as I tramped through the numerous leaves that had already fallen from our red maple tree.  I looked down at my feet and was stuck by the visual contradiction of the view.  It’s been warm and terribly muggy lately.  The air is so thick that I can actually feel a fine coating of moisture as soon as I go outdoors.  While I don’t mind having the warm weather around for a little while longer, it is a bit weird seeing fallen leaves — with no color change, I might add.  These poor little leaves just fell to the ground all dried up and crisp without having had the opportunity to show off their finery.  Usually, the leaves turn from that deep Merlot red to paler shades crimson.  Sometimes, they turn completely  green, then fade to the speckled patterns of oranges and golds that make this season so beautiful.  Fall is supposed to be full of splendor and apple cider.  Right now, I just don’t feel it.  Maybe those earthquakes did have something to do with this.  I remember reading that the Indian Ocean quake a few years back was so powerful that it caused the earth to stop spinning for a teeny-tiny bit of time — so short that we didn’t even realize it.  The same apparently happened when that huge quake recently rocked Japan.  I know that we are all connected by a “circle of life” kinda thingy, so who knows?  Maybe those quakes and the resulting effect that they had on our planet is the cause for our severe weather patterns that we’ve been experiencing. 

Change is a by-product of our world – just ask the dinosaurs, if you can fine one.  Or double-check with one of the  guys who stood on the assembly line for the Model-T Ford.  Ask Freddie Flinstone how he feels about phones that also can show movies. Yabba-dabba-do, right Barney?  With each day, we are exposed to newer and, sometimes, better technology.  With each day, Mother Nature will have a hic-up somewhere on the planet.  Those little twitches effect us all as we share our days on this spaceship we call Earth.  Soon the temperatures will begin to cool and Fall will arrive in all of her glory. 

Now our only challenge is to have our wisdom and common sense get up to speed with our changing world.  You don’t want to go back to rubbing sticks together to make fire, do ya’??

CHANGE — from the porch

CHANGE — from the porch.

Magic from the Porch

Magic from the Porch.

Magic from the Porch

A couple of weeks ago, I read a story about three galaxies existing in relatively close proximity to each other, give or take a few light years or so.  Dubbed the “Leo Trio” ( how cute, right Luscious?), I was amazed once again at the spectacular beauty and mystery of our universe and beyond.  I am never disappointed when I come across something that makes me go, “OOOOO, AAHHH”.   It gave me a sense of inner peace that makes me feel that I am more than just a grain of sand in our vast universe — 🙂

 

The first time I held my June Bug, Bobby -- he was 2 days old

The first time I held my little Tadpole, Shane, at 4 days old

The truly amazing thing about this particular feeling is that I’ve had the opportunity to experience it many times in my life here on terra-firma.  These are the moments that take my breath away in their beauty, simplicity, and pure wonder.  It isn’t just brought on by viewing other solar systems and recognizing that my universe is more vast than my little back porch.  These emotions can be stirred by simpler things, like the instant feeling of love the first time I held my children.  I was given the opportunity at both of their births to actually see them coming into the world — an oppportunity that I grabbed ahold of with both hands.  I had never in my life seen anything so amazing, wonderful, and totally pure.  Then when I held my little miracles for the first time, I felt over-powered by the strength of the complete love I felt for them.  And don’t let me even get started on my grandsons!  Whew!!!  That’s a horse of a different color, let me tell you — and a brightly colored one at that — 🙂

EEWW — this nasty white stuff is getting on me!!

The world is now be treated to a story about great strength of character and a bond of totally pure affection.  We’ve been introduced to an entity that takes pleasure in every little gesture, every little touch and, in return, gives back hope and joy to those who are teetering on despair at some of life’s more difficult challenges.  There are so many things that occur in our lives that we sometimes ignore,  just take for granted, or simply toss aside as non-important.  But this creature that I am speaking of takes nothing at face value.  Everything thing, little or large, is important to her.   She exists for the sheer happiness of living.   I am talking about Winter — not that bitter cold spell which brings that nasty white stuff to us in our northern states.  I am talking about a remarkable dolphin who lives in the Clearwater Aquarium in Florida. I know, I know.  Some of you are probably thinking, “Here she goes again, up on her soapbox about dolphins and how they are in danger at the hands of us selfish humans”, blah, blah, blah — 🙂   While all that is true, I am thinking more along the lines of, “What a remarkable spirit this little dolphin has in her heart!”. 

I can’t honestly remember when I first became captivated by these mammals we call dolphins.  Perhaps it was a story I read or a photograph I saw in one of the many National Geographic magazines that we received at our home.  Whatever the case, it just seems to me that all things dolphin have been a great part of me since, well, forever.  I even have a room in my home that I call the Dolphin Room.  It used to be my son, Bill’s, nursery/bedroom, but now it is all mine.  Anyway, I learned from those long ago magazines that dolphins are air-breathing mammals just like us.  They mate for life and enjoy mating not just to procreate, but also for the fun of it, just like us.  Their young are born live,  just like our babies.  They come in many different colors, sizes, and origins — spotted, bottlenosed, spinners,  pink river dolphins — again, just like us.  I was fascinated to realize that these wonderful creatures of the sea are, in a short burst of words JUST LIKE US — 🙂

One of my “bucket list” dreams was to get into the water and actually swim around with these magical creatures.  When I turned 50 years old, that was my birthday gift from my sons — to swim with dolphins.  I did lots and lots of research on where the best spot would be for me to do this.  I didn’t want simply a touristy experience.  I wanted to be an actual part of their environment — to be up close and personal with them — to enjoy their free-spirited ways and to have them share that with me.  I decided on the perfect location.  It was at a place called Dolphin Plus in Key Largo, Fl.  My hubby and I made our plans to take the long drive to the Keys to include this swimming excursion as part of our trip.

You’ve heard the quote, “the well laid plans of mice and men oft times go astray”, haven’t you?  Well, this time around, our plans were taken out of our hands by a hurricane — another Irene, if I recall correctly.  Just what is it about that name Irene with me and hurricanes?  A storm of her namesake just recently followed us home from our most recent trip to Florida!  What a coincidence, huh? But I digress — ;).  Our trip was planned for October of 1999, but after making some phone calls, I discovered that the Florida Keys were essentially closed for business.  At Dolphin Plus, I was advised to cancel and reschedule.  The folks there are so gracious and understanding.  We were not charged any fees for our cancellation as some places tend to do.  After all, this situation was totally out of our hands.  I explained to the woman on the phone that we were simply postponing our trip, offered best wishes for her safety, and would give a call back at a later date.

Little did I know then that my “call back at a later date” would actually be 2 years!  That’s right — when I turned 52, we planned our trip again.  There really wasn’t much planning involved since we had all of our particulars lined up from before.  So off we went with our little pop-up camper in tow for our long-awaited two-week vacation in the Florida Keys.  It took us a few days to arrive, but we were in no hurry.  We stayed at a state campground — Bahia Honda.  Our site was just perfect!  We were right near an area by the camper’s marina and a fantastic view of the Atlantic.  On one side of us was the water and the other was a huge cluster of mangrove trees.  I didn’t know it then, but I soon discovered that egrets roost in these trees — and every morning, they would swoop over our site in great flocks screeching and calling to each other.  When I got up to greet the day, my first vision was these beautiful white birds nestled among the vibrant greens of the trees.  It reminded me of someone just tossing a handful of pearls onto Emerald green velvet.  What a stunning way to begin our every day in paradise — 😀

See how the mind wanders?  OK — back on track.  We had previously made arrangements to be at Dolphin Plus on a specific day and time.  When the day finally arrived, off we went for the long, but beautiful drive, back up the Keys into Key Largo.  The facility is a pretty remarkable place.  Not only do they offer a variety of dolphin swim experiences, they are also heavily involved with an onsite non-profit called Island Dolphin Care.  This organization offers beneficial swims for physically challenged and special needs children.  Getting ahead of myself a bit here, I remember when our time in the water was over and a child entered for her turn.  I noticed that she was severely physically challenged and that her mom was in the water with her.  They both floated around the area as calm as could be when suddenly I heard the little girl laughing and laughing.  That’s when I saw that the dolphins were swimming close to her, letting her touch them as they passed by.  It was quite a remarkable vision to see this interaction between the little girl and the dolphins — such a bright and wonderful site — 🙂

Anyway, back to us — ;D  Before entering the water, we were given a brief lesson on how to behave with the animals.  After all, we would be entering in their environment as guests and there are always certain protocols to follow.  After a short lecture, it was our turn to enter the water.  At first, I was quite a bit nervous.  I had never experienced anything like this before and was unsure of what to expect.  I actually had to force myself to be calm and to control my breathing.  We swam around quite a bit with no interaction at all other then hearing the clicks and whistles of the dolphins.  These sounds are quite loud underwater, let me tell you — :).  I was becoming a bit discouraged until one of the trainers had me and Luscious Leo swim around while holding a retangular shaped trash can lid — seriously — 🙂  We tapped on it as we swam and all of a sudden, three dolphins came flashing past us.  They were a blur at first, and we were so excited we started laughing into our snorkels.  We kept up the tapping and soon, the dolphins (Tracy, Jessica, and Nana — can you believe that?? — by name) actually slowed their speed and swam next to and all around us!  When I tell you it was like a religious experience, all I can add is WHEW!!  I remember that when our time had ended, we got out of the water to a standing ovation!  The trainers told us that they were so amazed that these three dolphins actually slowed down to keep pace with us so that we could all hang together!  IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

Now, back to “Dolphin Tale” and Winter.  Her story begins with an accident at the hands of man — an accident that almost killed her.  She was found stranded on the beach in 2005 hopelessly tangled in the ropes of a lobster trap.  I won’t give away any parts of her inspiring story except to say that she is alive and well and living it up in the Clearwater Aquarium.  But how she wound up there to live is what makes her and the aquarium so special.  I will tell you that I did have the opportunity to “meet” Winter.  In 2010 (one of the greatest years of my life since that was when I retired from the old grind and got my life back — LOL!),  I went to visit the aquarium along with Luscious Leo, my brother, David, and my grandson, Bobby.  His Mommy and Daddy were in Jamica to celebrate their wedding anniversay, so Bobby was hanging out with the old folks.  We had heard about this little dolphin from my sister-in-law, Marlene.  So we went to visit Winter in her home.  What a great treat it was!  You know how there are people in our lives who always smiling, always upbeat, in a good mood ALL THE TIME?  Well, that’s Winter — she is probably the happiest mammal on the planet.  Her positive disposition and “never give up” attitude has made quite a mark on many people’s lives.  She has survived against some pretty tremendous odds.  The creation of her prostetic tail with all the medical and engineering technology that goes along with it is nothing short of a miracle.  

Go see this movie about Winter.  It may sound corny and hokey, but let me tell you — the feelings that I had after my swim with Jessica, Tracy and Nana came back to be in full force.  I hope that you can also come away feeling lighter, feeling more calm, feeling more hopeful in your every day lives. 

The view from my porch is full of wonder and magic today — 🙂

Matinee — from the porch

OK — so yesterday, I went out to see a movie and have dinner with some people I know.  I met these ladies at the local YMCA where I go for arthritis swim classes.  This is a terrific bunch of gals and I always enjoy myself when I go there.  I take my girl friend’s Mom and she gets a kick out of it, too.

Luscious Leo calls us the “bathing beauties”.  If he could only see us splashing around in the water, I think he’d call us something else.  But for now, we will take his sweet compliment and keep our antics to ourselves — 🙂 There’s not a Marc Spitz or Ester Williams among us, but we sure have a lot of fun together!

Lately, there has been a casual gathering on Tuesdays at the local AMC movie theatre.  It seems that it is “senior day” and all movies are $5 — what a bargain!!!  It is finally paying off being an older, mature type of lady now — LOL!!!  So every week, some of the gals pick out which movie they want to see.  It’s a very democratic discussion ranging from, “I don’t care” to “I don’t want to see that one, so I’ll just meet you guys at the restaurant afterwards”.  It all works out and everybody is happy — 😉

So, yesterday we met at the movie theatre to see “Contagion”.  What can I say about this movie?   Well, one thing — it is NOTHING like I expected it to be.  If you want to see a movie filled with action, be scared or thrilled, then this is not the movie for you.  The scariest visual parts you’ve already seen in the trailers on television.  Trust me on this — the movie was interesting, highly plausible, but definitely not a typical horror flick.  Most of it seemed to me to be a lecture on how a virus is transmitted.  Top that off with some long and drawn out rhetoric about the pros and cons of holistic treatments vs traditional medicine.  Throw in another lengthy and repeated dialogue regarding how to create, process, and approve a vaccine and you’ve got the movie in a nutshell. 

Too bad about that — this could have gotten across the same messages with a bit more action, I think.  As consumer’s, we are just used to have some fun at the movies, but this just didn’t deliver that punch, at least on the surface.  The cast was filled with big names from the Hollywood elite — Matt Damon, Jude Law, Lawrence Fishburn, Gwyneth Paltrow — all usually very good at delivering an entertaining performance.  But this film was so heavy with opinions and the above mentioned rhetoric, that even they couldn’t save it.

It is true that the depiction of a pandemic infection from an unknown source is unnerving (i.e., H1N1, the Swine flu, or the Avian flu).  The numbers that flew across the movie screen during this film was pretty mind-boggling.  But after the show was over, there were not too many people commenting on it other than, “That sure wasn’t what I was looking for”, or “Totally not what I expected”.  There is no argument from me that the subject matter is a serious one, especially now with the cold/flu season getting ready to hit.  Most of the dialogue that I heard while watching this film I have heard before and agree that some of it is worth repeating.  But not for the extreme lengths that Jude Law’s character, who rages on his blog about big medicine and big government.  He made me grit my teeth after a while and I actually began to cringe when he was on the screen.  His is the kind of character that throws out question after question while giving you no time to think.  Then he pounces on you with his opinions — a real “in your face” situation which always turns me off even if I agree with his opinions.  In my mind, there are countless ways to get a point across without verbally attacking a person.  This character wasn’t a bad guy — and not even a mis-informed guy.  It’s just that it seemed to me that he acted as if his opinions were more valuable to him than the message he was trying to convey.

The rest of the cast was strong in their individual roles.  Damon was a husband who lost his wife and then spent the rest of the film keeping his step-daughter safe from harm.  He went through the usual “battening down of the hatches” to allow no outsiders in the small world he created for them.  Fishburn was credible in his role as the Head of the CDC.  His job is to bring the word’s population back from the brink of extinction by assisting in creating a vaccine to halt the spread of the virus.  Paltrow, though not long in the film, was acceptable as a high-placed executive type for her international company.  Elliot Gould had a very small — but extremely important role.  I think that his part was quite under-rated, and if you see the film, you will know what I mean.   The rest of the cast is as talented in their roles, so that won’t disappoint.

When we were leaving the theatre, I said to the girls, “This movie is a real thinker”.  They just looked at me for a moment and then began to nod their heads in agreement.  Don’t expect this to be a physically active film .. it’s not.  But after sleeping on it and remembering the speed of the spread of this virus, it is frightening in its simplicity.  Keeping in mind that our world is smaller and smaller every day and that not every country maintains the same methods of sanitation, this story can actually happen to us.  Couple that with the fact that there are many other species that we share our planet with and the wheels can be set into motion for a viral pandemic such as this one in the film.

My advice?  Wash your hands — 🙂

AMERICA’S GAME — from the porch

Greetings and salutations to all of you on this glorious morning!  There’s that incredible blue in the sky again today — and at 54 degrees, it’s a little bit of a “sweater weather” kinda start to my day. It’s a good thing that my coffee is hot!

I just spent a terrific weekend with some of the people in my life whom I love dearly.  On Friday, I went to a double-header baseball game at Cambell’s Field for the winding down of the Riversharks baseball season.  Last PM, I went to the final game — such a bittersweet event since I just love baseball and am a big fan of the Camden Riversharks.

This team is part of an independent baseball league, the Atlantic League.  The games are fun, fresh, exciting — all the stuff that makes baseball great without the astronomical prices that are charged at the big league parks.  In this league, there are no million dollar contracts involved, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to take your family to the park and watch America’s game.  To me, this league is a best kept secret — baseball AND change in your pocket.  What could be better?

The game of baseball is unique to the United States.  It was created here some say by Abner Doubleday in 1839 in Cooperstown, NY.  Some now are saying that Doubleday was not even in the village in that year.  The origins of the game have been debated time and time again over the decades since.  In all of Doubeday’s personal papers, there is not one mention that he had anything to do with the creation of this sport.  As a point of interest, the game as we know it today has been tweaked and revised and updated quite a bit.  So even if Doubleday did create baseball in the 1800’s, there is no way he would recognize it as it is played today — ;D

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, baseball is described as “a game played with a bat and ball by two opposing teams of nine players, each team playing alternately in the field and at bat, the players at bat having to run a course of four bases laid out in a diamond pattern in order to score”.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/baseball#ixzz1YOyD9XLz

Here is my definition of baseball, “A game played by a bunch of guys on two different teams with two different colored uniforms.  They pitch, hit, catch, run and score to win the game.  It is my opportunity to have a hot dog and a beer or two while watching the action on the field.  There is a 7th inning stretch, a sort of intermission, where I have my soft pretzel.  Then everybody in the park sings “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and the games resumes till one team wins”.  Being at a baseball game is one of my life’s little pleasures.  Over the years, in terms of the Riversharks, I have not missed an opening day.  Now, I have my grandson, Bobby, going to the games and he’s been attending since he was two years old — he is now 5 and also has not missed an opening day.  I’ve taken family members to a game when they visit and the Sharks are in town.  They always walk away with a smile on their faces and a good baseball game under their belts — 🙂

Like everything else, all good things must come to an end.  The Riversharks season ended at 8:34 last evening.  I will spend the winter months just waiting to get an EMail notifying me of the next opening day at Campbell’s field.  It will help me get through the cold, snowy days — 🙂  In the meantime, we have another local team — maybe you’ve heard of the Philadelphia Phillies??  LOL!!  Anyway, with a bit of luck and good karma, we will be enjoying baseball well into October.

AMERICA’S GAME — from the porch

AMERICA’S GAME — from the porch.

A CHILL FROM THE PORCH — :)

A CHILL FROM THE PORCH — 🙂.