NYBG labor day weekend

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the end of august

The morning weather outside is delightful.

All the windows and doors are open.

We are between the hot and cold seasons

Enjoying our temperate climate.

It’s a good day to be under the open sky

Feeling the breeze and sun on my skin.

The fair weather clouds move overhead

Billows of cumulus below, wisps of cirrus above.

The clouds in the sky are like a facial expression.

You can read the mood if you know how

And know what’s coming next most likely

Later today, tomorrow and the next day.

But who knows how to read the clouds these days?

People get the weather report from the computer

Like needing a calculator to do basic mental arithmetic

Like asking the chance of rain today without looking up.

The afternoon heats up and I turn on the fan.

I’d rather be a little hot than insulated from the day.

A late afternoon thunderstorm brings cool air again

Washing the air that now smells fresh and clean.

On our evening sunset walk in the park by the lake

Admiring the sky new and different every day

We see the migrating terns circling and diving

Splashing as they feast on the surface fish.

We see the specks of starlings flying in flocks

Gathering by the hundreds and thousands.

In autumn they will be like black leaves roosting

Whistling their sing song community calls.

…

We find serenity in the seasons turning in the natural world.

The birds don’t read the newspapers.

The clouds are oblivious to human affairs below.

As Fidel wrote this week about the impending attack…

“Very serious events will be happening very soon.

In our times, our species hardly spends ten or fifteen years

Without facing a true risk of disappearing...

I say this from a realistic perspective,

Since only the truth could offer to us

A little more wellbeing and a breath of hope.

We have come of age when it comes to knowledge.

We have no right to deceive others or ourselves.

The overwhelming majority of the public opinion

Knows enough about the new risk ahead…

Our biggest mistake has been not having been able

To learn much more in much less time.”

minnewaska castle point

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skylands late august

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august on the delaware west branch

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cloud appreciation day

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Looking up at the panorama of sky around us As we drive the interstate highway You read from the book explaining what we see. We learn the finer points of cloud appreciation. Some clouds are created by thermals Rising up in the morning of a sunny day We see them appear like cauliflower. These are the various cumulus cloud types. Some clouds are created by mountains Forcing the air up as it flows past the ridge Making a kind of standing wave cloud on the backside Something like what boulders do to a stream. Some clouds are created by weather fronts advancing Moist air condensing as it chills The storm clouds lowering down upon us Immersing us in precipitation. In northern Australia in the Gulf of Carpentaria Sometimes a giant cloud wave rolls in The locals call it the Morning Glory Delighting the waiting glider pilots who surf all day. I hear this story while maneuvering in the traffic As you provide our entertainment. What fun to go for a drive like science class Sharing a greater appreciation of clouds.

those who listen

Hearing foreign languages spoken around me

Living in a multinational community

I hear the tone of voice but understand little

Except a few words in Spanish and fewer in Korean.

Going for a walk beside the lake in the park nearby

Hearing many other languages and seeing the person

I make a tenuous guess where the speaker was born:

This one perhaps Eastern Europe, the other perhaps South Asia.

As I try to understand what they are talking about

A strange remembrance passes through my brain

Before I understood language, when words were a jumble

Before my first conscious memory.

The awareness is something like a waking dream

Like when some smell or sound takes you back

A strong feeling that you can’t place exactly

That has no words but takes hold of your thoughts.

Half awake first thing in the morning I hear the fish crows

Calling kwok kwok through the open window

Speaking their familiar language I do not understand.

For a moment I have a vague memory of some time before.

This indistinct recall is a recurring experience for me

Different particulars but somehow the same elusive recognition

Like feeling someone looking at you

Who looks away when you look at them.

I think this is not an early symptom of memory loss

Since I remembered well the details from 60 years ago

Last month revisiting my childhood home

Talking to another kid who grew up on the block.

Is this what happens to the older brain?

Daydreaming more, letting the mind wander

What’s happening in this moment not so important

When millions of moments have come and gone.

Like a reverie looking out the bus window

Traveling the same familiar route

Catching a glimpse of someone or something

Imagining being off the bus and in that other place.

We soon move on to the next thought.

The river of time takes us along asleep or awake

Babbling away to those who listen

Who may understand its tone like a voice.

brooklyn bajan birthday

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Four daughters, a son and a grandson;

Your dear girlfriend since childhood;

Your daughter-in-law and her mother;

Your daughter’s good friend and me:

We are all together to celebrate you

Making a party in your honor.

You bring us all together.

That’s the main thing, being there for you.

Wilma had to work but got off early

Making a happy surprise when she arrives.

Dondre and Deon shop and cook all day

Having a good time as mother and son.

Michelle shows the video I made of you

Telling your black cake recipe to her and Sharon

Delighted to see that it has 2700 views

That makes her mom a kind of famous person. 

We are all proud of you for what you accomplished

Against great odds as an immigrant here

Remembering your years of struggle and sacrifice

Raising a family every child grown into a good person.

You worked hard.  You made an honest living.

You are still the strength at the center of the family.

Today you are the birthday girl in a special pink dress

Still a good looking woman with goodness in your heart.

Neville and Roseanne are admiring the photo of you and Deon

That I took of you two working together in your kitchen

Bandannas on your heads like the bandanna on his head.

You stay relaxed not minding as I snap pictures to show your love.

Smiling Eleanor tells us of your childhood years together in Barbados.

Josephine dances in her special way.

Dondre lights 24 candles and directs the cake cutting. 

Neville listens closely as you read each card again.

But tonight to my dismay I forgot to bring my camera.

The best I can do is cell phone pictures in the dim light. 

I make a video of the cake and candles and Rhonda’s toast:

Here’s to 76 years and many more to come!