Boynton Restaurant And Spirits

On our vacation in New England, we wanted seafood. This was day 2, and still no seafood.

So we went looking in our area of Massachusetts. We found a well known restaurant in Worcester, MA, that had great reviews on Google.

Boynton Restaurant And Spirits. It was almost an hour wait for our table, but we were OK with that.

Unfortunately, no New England Clam Chowder, so we got fried calamari, instead.

For the entree, I got Shrimp Scampi, and my Son got Basil Scallop and Lobster (yeah, he knows how to get his mother to buy him lobster).

It was not the best seafood meal I have ever had, but we were happy.

Makenna Watching Me On The Phone

I was on my normal Wednesday call with my sister, and for some reason, Makenna decided to come out from the bedroom and sit on the couch.

After I finished my call, I took this photo.

Just to show my family that the cat was also on the phone. :-)

I am trying a new way to feed her, so maybe that is why she is more present this day.

Whatever, she can go where she wants, when she wants.

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

Our first hint that something was going to go on, was an increase in the outdoor lighting at my neighbor up the hill's backyard.

We just figured they were getting ready for summer, or something.

Yes, it was "or something" and Friday night we heard talking out in the backyard, no big deal, and it ended when the sun went down. Looking back, that must have been the after rehearsal dinner.

It was Saturday that gave us the final hint as to what was going on. It was a wedding reception.

The DJ was loud enough for us to hear what was being said, including the musical question "What trailer park did the bride and groom meet at?" Just wow.

When I took out the trash, I caught the song "Celebrate" being played and actually thought that was nice. Some hip hop later on, was not so nice.

They finally stopped at 11PM.

Good thing because I needed to go to bed.

Michael McDonald - What A Fool Believes: A Memoir

I will start this review with the obvious. I am not a Doobie Brothers fan, at all.

I like the song, Black Water (flashback to the mid-seventies at Nassau Community College).

I saw the Doobies (minus Michael McDonald) as opening act for an evening at The Forum in 2018. If you click the link, you can see the Setlist, which did not carry many Michael McDonald songs (as far as this non-fan can tell).

I also had the pleasure of attending an evening of Michael McDonald opening with Steely Dan at the DTE Energy Music Theatre. It was a totally different experience than the Doobie Brothers, and after reading his memoir, I now understand why.

I guess I need to get on to my thoughts on the book now.

First off, things that surprised me... actually shocked me. He was using drugs and alcohol constantly for about 15 years of his life. Constantly.

He does not sugar coat the situation at all. Now, I know it was the 70's and stuff like that went on, but I made a decision that I could move to LA and have a career, or I could just be a drug addict at home. He obviously took the move to LA and do drugs, constantly, road.

I enjoyed his days touring during Pretzel Logic with Steely Dan. I had actually heard about some of the problems on the tour by a woman who met (and married?) Royce Jones. She had stories to tell about the drug use and lack of being present, in regard to Donald and Walter. It was interesting to me to hear someone in the band mention all this.

I was less impressed with a story he told about him and Walter Becker and cocaine. Not like I did not know Walter used, just look at the man during the recording of Gaucho. It's a miracle he made it to the other side, as did, eventually, Michael.

The Doobie Brother years were interesting, but it was sad how little he trusted his own talent in songwriting. It was another thing about him that drew him to the drugs. He was insecure about his playing, song lyrics, and position in a group he did not start. He blames his work while in the group, to making a few of the original members of the Doobies leave. How sad is that.

The second half of the book, by comparison, is even more sad. Yes, he got married, they had 2 children, they both got clean before having them, which is the first smart thing they did. Moved to Santa Barbara, and eventually Nashville for many years.

He had many opportunities, but still that insecurity encroches into everything he was working on. Sad.

I am glad I read the book, but it was a bit of a slog, at times, be warned.

Pawcatuck River, Westerly, Rhode Island

My Water Post For Today.

After our lunch at The Cafe, we were trying to find a canal (the street was named canal street). According to the signage we saw, the water seperates Rhode Island from Connecticut.

It ended up being the Pawcatuck River, and we stopped by the bridge on US Hwy 1,and took a few photos of the river.

It is in Westerly, Rhode Island, the most western part of the state.

Right there, on the riverside, was a small pocket park called Donahue Park (technically in Connecticut).

It had musical instruments for people to play, but it also had some unsavory types hanging around it. We left in a hurry.

Otherwise, Pawcatuck, was a calm river, and I hope you enjoy.

McNamara Vs Evans Terminal

On my recent trip to New England, I stopped both ways, in Detroit.

With my son, it was no real problem connecting up, but on my own, I ended up having trouble.

Delta is the huge presence at the airport and they have an entire terminal, McNamara, AKA: Terminal A.

I have never flown out of any other terminal.

On the van from the hotel, I see there seems to be another terminal, Evans.

Even though 3 people said the same thing to the van driver, (Terminal A), he dropped us off at Evans.

I wasn't too worried, since I had other people, and as we all took the walkway, I caught the sunrise. It shows how unworried I was at that point.

I get to the terminal gates and the major mistake comes to the forefront. Every airline, minus Delta, was there.

I have no idea what those other people did, since I had taken that moment to shoot the sunrise, but I turned around and went back the way I came.

Thankfully, a couple of Alamo workers were at the end of the walkway, and they pointed me to a shuttle downstairs, that goes between terminals.

The man who drove the bus said that this happens all day long. (really?)

He got me where I needed to be, and I made my flight. Though my Son commented that I was late checking in to him. :-)

Seen At Green

A few photos taken at TF Green International Airport in Rhode Island. Picture 1 is the official welcome sign.

Picture 2 is the tin man. He is on top of a building, just outside the terminal area. It is a sheet metal business. I caught this photo through the windows of the travelator (moving walkway) between the rental car return parking structure, and the terminal gates.

I thought he was very cool.

The final photo picture 3, is of some of the more interesting (and inexpensive) souvenirs at the gift shop.

I believe the small ship in a bottle was under $2. I debated getting one, and decided not to, due to the pressurization of the cabin during flight.

A much less used airport, but a very nice one. I highly recommend it for easier travel to the Boston area.

Irish Famine Memorial On Riverwalk, Providence, RI

As we walked along the Providence Riverwalk, we came upon a memorial remembering the Irish Famine of 1845-1851.

If you have heard of it, the situation in Ireland was caused by a blight on the potatoes that grew there.

The poor ate them, basically, for the their diet, and when they ran out, year after year, the situation got worse and worse.

Ultimately, the Irish government paid many of them to immigrate to the United States and other countries, to drop the population in Ireland.

Over 1 million Irish died during the famine, and this memorial is there to remind people of the history of Ireland...and Rhode Island.

You can read the words on the plaques, HERE.

Chili And Spaghetti

I made chicken legs and pork country style boneless ribs on Saturday.

Unfortunately for me, I was on a Facebook chat, and could not easily get off.

To my dismay, the ribs came out way overdone. The chicken was perfect, btw.

Hubby was not happy, so yesterday I cut them into slices and cooked them in a can of chili and beans for about an hour or so.

Cut them into small pieces, and added a 2nd can of chili, along with onion.

Cooked a pound of spaghetti and we had dinner, without my Husband complaining about how hard and overcooked the pork was.

I take my victories where I can find them.

Taro Finds My Son An Interesting Cook

My Son sent me a bunch of Taro photos and one was with his dinner.

He says it is Miso Soup with Bok Choy and noodles.

I don't know about you, but it looks so delicious, to me.

Hard to tell what Taro thinks. :-)

Love that kitty.

No official Recipe, but this is what my Son said.
it was just:
tofu
bock choy
scoop of better than bullion chicken
scoop of miso
chili oil
green oinions
oh and the noodles.

Directions: soak the noodles in cold water first. then put the rest in a pot after cutting etc. by the time the stuff is heated up drain the noodles then add to pot till the doneness you want. its like 10/15 min total

Me: Did it have bean sprouts?

Nope, but it could.

More Trees On The Hill Gone!

It's an ongoing problem...the pine trees the developer planted on the large hill behind my property.

A few years ago, we came back from vacation and several of the back neighbors trees were gone. Good riddance.

Our next door neighbor to the right of our house, still had his.

He decided to finally get rid of them, for good, yesterday.

He also told my Husband that the neighbor next to him (on the right) is also getting rid of their trees, too.

They just need to watch out during heavy rain times of the year.

Of the two things they could have done over the years, they could have trimmed them back each year...like someone I know. :-)

At least I still have roots and ground cover protecting my hill from coming down.

Penguin Pavillion

My Water Post For Today.

Penguins get the star treatment, at the Penguin Pavilion at Mystic Aquarium.

Quite a group of them, and lots of water to play in.

My great niece was enthralled with them, and she and her father, spent lots of time watching them.

I am glad the weather was so nice that day.

I hope you enjoy.

30 Dollars To Check Your Bag!

On my latest journey, I paid the least amount of money, (which was still expensive) on the two legs of the journey where I was traveling alone.

Due to the fact that I did not pay extra to get an assigned seat, I ended up in the final boarding group (with a center seat, to boot).

I managed to sneak my larger of the two bags onto the plane and managed to find a spot for it, in the overhead compartment.

I did not expect my good fortune to hold out on the return flight, so I decided to check the bag.

What I found out is that to check the bag at check-in costs $30.

Bring it to the gate, and they request people above a certain group number to voluntarily check the bag for free.

So that's what I did.

Thankfully, it came back to me in baggage claim, almost immediately, and all went well.

All Better Now

It took 8 days to finally test positive.

Just in time to go shopping at the grocery store (my Friday errand).

I tested in the afternoon on Thursday, figuring that if I could not yet go, I might change the shopping list a bit.

I was mostly worried about Long COVID, not regular COVID.

Thankfully, 3 days of symptoms, and 8 days in total, I am now free of COVID, once more.

I do not understand people who go around unmasked everywhere. Thanks a lot folks.

The Joy Of Chilling

Some of the best times I had during our 3 day whirlwind visit with my family, was the time we were just alone, with my nephews, wives, and children.

As much as it was interesting to see everyone together, it was exhausting to experience at the time.

This moment was brought to you by the fact that we arrived about 90 minutes ahead of the rest of the family.

My nephew's oldest child was being put down for a nap, and the remainder of us were enjoying watching the baby.

Even Scout got into the act.

Scout And Cee Cee

As we traveled to the different houses, to visit our relatives, we ended up meeting their cats.

My Son, who was missing Taro, loved meeting Cee Cee and Scout.

They are both very laid back cats, that can live harmoniously with very young children.

I was very impressed with their cat choices, and enjoyed my time with both.

Top photo is my Son with Scout, and the bottom photo is with Cee Cee. I believe he was dressed up by his oldest cousin, Lucia.

Updates On Our Cats As We Traveled

Both my son and I, got updates from our respective cat sitters, during our journey.

My Son was more worried then I was, in this regard.

My Husband pulled through like a champ, and got Makenna to eat (upon occasion).

My Son was not as sure and definitely appreciated the occasional photos of Taro.

He is such a mommy to that cat.

FYI: Taro is the top photo, and Makenna is the bottom photo.

Isla

This is my Great Niece, Isla. She is the youngest one of the 4 children.

If I had planned to hold her, I would have made sure I had a cookie in my hand to distract her.

Unfortunately, life got in the way and someone, I assume my nephew, or his father, needed to be elsewhere, so they threw the baby over to me.

I knew what the eventual outcome was going to be, but I took her anyway.

She cried, but I did get to hold her for a few seconds.

I love her.

Northern Lights At Mackinac

My Water Post For Today.

Of the many pictures of the aurora, the one that caught my eye, was the Mackinac Bridge.

Definitely beautiful, with the lights of the bridge, the reflection in the water and (of course) the northern lights themselves.

I am sure there were many people treking to the area, for that once-in-a-lifetime money shot.

I hope you enjoy.

Photo by Keith M. Brown.

COVID-19 Returns To The Angel House

I have no idea how I got it this time, but COVID-19 showed up, the day after I returned from the East Coast.

My best guess is either Mystic Aquarium, or one of the family get-togethers. I did not mask for either one of those.

Airports and shuttles, totally masked.

It's all water under the bridge, and hopefully, I will recover swiftly.

A total bummer, but I will not forget how wonderful it was seeing my family, for the first time in a decade.

The Trees Are Trimmed Again

We finally got the pine trees in the back yard trimmed on Friday.

What a differeence it makes.

There is just no way I could go up on the hill anymore, so it is so worth it to me asking my landscaper to do it.

It took about 3 hours for this, and the bottle brush tree in the front of the house.

Money well spend, in my humble opinion.

Murano Glass

At TF Green airport in Providence, Rhode Island, they have a stand that sells Murano Glass made in Italy.

If you know anything about Murano Glass, it has been made on an island off Venice, Italy.

From what I read, the glass is sometimes sent to America, and the craftmen there make jewelery to sell.

I can only use 14K Gold jewelery, not gold filled.

So I could only look at it.

Darn! I would have loved to convince my family to splurge on a pair of earrings.

A Few Photos From The Gathering

My family got together, for the last day of our visit.

My nephews all came, as did the 4 children, their wives, and the proud grandparents.

My Sister-In-Law made homemade Lasagna with extra small meatballs for the children.

Lots of desserts, including CVT Softserve, that I picked up at Wegmans.

I don't think anyone went away hungry, and it was wonderful getting to see them all, especially the four cousins together.

Thanks to all my family for giving up an entire weekend, to spend with us.

J and M Diner: Take 2

Just over 10 years ago, my Son and I went to this little out-of-the-way diner called J and M Diner.

It was a foggy day and it was extremely hard to find. We loved it though.

My Son has followed them on Facebook, ever since and knew they had a fire in the shopping center (you can see the half burnt sign in photo one).

So we were very happy that the new location was only about 15 minutes away from our hotel.

We had breakfast both Sunday and Monday, and were extremely pleased that it was how we remembered it.

Out of tragedy, came a bigger, more beautiful Diner, that is right by the industrial area of Framingham, MA.

The Cafe

After our morning looking around Providence, Rhode Island, we stopped for lunch at a place called The Cafe in Westerly, RI.

We knew Chinese and or Thai food was on the agenda for dinner, so we chose other foods.

I chose tzatziki-chicken naan hummus, tomato, pickled red onion, feta & cucumber.

It was very Tasty.

My Son chose a salmon burger (not pictured).

We both recommended the restaurant to our cousin/nephew.

Providence, Rhode Island

My Water Post For Today.

We spent Friday morning in Providence, Rhode Island.

A very beautiful place called Riverwalk, situated along the Providence River.

Lots of history along the way, (more on that another time), so we were glad we took the time to visit it.

This view is looking toward the tallest buildings in the Downtown area. Hey, it's what they have.

I hope you enjoy.

Mystic Aquarium

Here is my Nephew (and Godson), with his family.

They suggested spending the day at Mystic Aquarium, to give the children something to do.

We went for it, and had a lovely day there.

It is much smaller than the Odysea Aquarium in Phoenix, Arizona, but with young children, it was perfect.

Tomorrow is the big family get together, 13 relatives. Wow.

It's Star Wars Day Again

It's Star Wars Day Again, so I bring back a post I wrote for KCET's 50 Anniversary, back in 2014.

The first Star Wars was shot back in 1976 and 1977. People had no idea what it was, when it came out in theaters, or how much it would become a cult classic.

Let's go back to a small part of that original movie. Star Wars: A New Hope, and the KCET connection to it.

=================================

Originally posted on KCET's Website, for the 50th Anniversary. We are now coming up on our 60th, in September.

I am here to set the record straight on piece of "Star Wars" trivia: If you want to destroy Alderaan, Princess Leia's home planet, the person you would want to call was our longtime KCET engineer, the late Cal Slater.

Cal was one of two technical directors that we had in the 70s, 80s and 90s, so he worked on many KCET productions over the years, including "Hollywood Television Theater," "Visions," "Cosmos," "The Merry Widow," and even "Penn and Teller Go Public." (Of course, countless pledge drives and news shows were shot throughout the decades, too.) Not a single one of those shows ended up being the thing he was most famous for, however. As much as he worked all those productions, his biggest claim to fame came from the fact that he was in the right place at the right time.

George Lucas needed to shoot footage of someone destroying Alderaan, in the original "Star Wars" film. Lucas came to the KCET lot to shoot some footage, and he asked our technical director, who happened to be Cal, to move the fader bar on our Grass Valley Switcher back and forth. Cal had no idea what they were making him do this for, but he complied and they got their footage that day. George went back to the studio and put that little shot in "Star Wars." It is one of the more dramatic scenes in the film, too.

Note: Alderaan's Destruction video has been taken down since this post originally turned up on KCET's Website.

When the staff at KCET saw the movie, they knew immediately what the shot was and whose hand had destroyed the planet.

It became a part of KCET lore that we passed on between us.

As the decades passed and computers became more prevalent, new generations of tech types would post notices up on computer bulletin boards and places where people hang out, mentioning that it was a Grass Valley Switcher in that shot. Knowing the answer to these people's questions, I could proudly post that I knew the man who had destroyed Alderaan.

It's an obscure trivia question, but now you know the answer.

Spending A Day In Michigan

Leg 1 of my journey went as expected.

We got in almost an hour early, so I had a few minutes to meet Taro.

OMG! what a wonderful cat my Son has.

She is much smaller than Makenna, and is so soft!

I am in love, and am glad my Son has a constant companion in his life.

Semi-sorry the visit is going to be so short, but better than nothing.

I love you, Taro.

Taro, In Person

I will get to meet this sweety today.

This photo was taken around the 8th of last month, but I think it's pretty cool.

Taro, and an eclipse on the computer screen.

I intend to sleep downstairs, so I am not sure how the cat will handle me sleeping on the futon or couch.

More later, when I know more.

I Am On My Way Today

It is time.

I am going to visit my family in Massachusetts this week.

First off, I am flying to Detroit, to pick up my Son.

I will get to visit with my grand cat, Taro. I can't wait!

He will be working from home, and after he finishes, we will fly over to Providence, Rhode Island.

It should be an interesting trip.

The photo is Nashville, Airport, the last time I flew.