I walked outside on Friday, and this is what I saw.
A beautiful Fall sunset happening, right in front of my eyes.
I was glad I got to see it, because it was stunning.
Sometimes, getting outside to water my plants at the exact time this is happening, is pure luck.
I was happy.
The Summer has been absolutely horrid for the Arizona/New Mexico area of the Country. They deal with extreme heat, Haboobs, Thunder Storms, Fires, Flooding, just to name a few things.
I booked a mini vacation, the last weekend of October, and I am hoping that I manage to not have any of those things. El Niño, should hold off until late December, or Early January.
I would definitely not book train travel, during any of those months, since there is a large chance of flooding.
As it is right now, my one night at the Grand Canyon is within 2 days of being canceled. The last day they currently have a definite cancelation, is October 31st. My trip puts us in the Canyon on November 2nd. I have no idea if that date will move again.
What caused this, was extreme flooding in the canyon itself. It took out a critical pipeline that brings water to the hotels on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, mine being one of them.
I am waiting to hear more from AAA travel, about alternate lodging, for that one night. They may have some rooms booked just outside the park, in Tusayan. We shall see.
El Niño may cause other lines like that, to have problems, at least out West.
They are: The Coast Starlight, especially up in Northern California.
The California Zephyr going through the mountain passes.
The Empire Builder if the storm track goes north.
Down South, the Sunset Limited/Texas Eagle.
You might want to book a journey a few days before departure, knowing what is going on, and what the 10-day forecast is for your route.
As always, please mask if you don’t feel safe. There are a lot of things in the air.
It has been just over a month, since I baked bread.
I did not want to bake it just before a trip, so I waited until I returned.
Then, it comes down to finding a day we are not busy.
Sunday was the day, and I made it, again, with bread flour.
I have decided that using just bread flour, makes it too dense.
Next loaf will be half and half, and I will see how that does.
It is nice to have bread in the house, once again.
I saw some really good mushrooms, the other day, and decided to make Stuffed Mushrooms.
I am not sure if I have ever shared the recipe with you, I looked on the side of my blog, and don't see it. So here goes.
Stuffed Mushrooms
1 lb of Ground Beef
1 egg
1/2 cup or so of bread crumbs (Italian or plain, or both).
Grated Cheese (yes, I used the green container)
Parsley, if you feel like it.
The mushroom stems, cut into small pieces
Mix all ingredients together. If not holding together, add another egg to the mixture.
Stuff each mushroom cap, then shake a small amount of the cheese onto the tops. I sprayed them with a little olive oil, if you have a oil sprayer, it works well.
Into the oven at 350 degrees, for an hour.
Serve immediately.
My first three ceramic pots are done!
I was so interested in seeing them with glaze, so it was a big moment, for me.
First thoughts, I need to make the bottom area (where you can't allow the glaze to touch the kiln), smaller in size. These were all done together, so all of them have the same problem, I waxed them the width of the brush I was using. It is obviously, too much.
I am totally in-love with the white glaze, that I used for the 2nd pot I made, out of bits and pieces of disgarded clay. I did not think that one would come out good, but look at it! I am so proud of it. Another lesson learned.
The 3rd pot I was most proud of, and I made blue. I think I might like to give it a second coat of glaze, if I use that color again. I showed it to my hairdresser, and she liked how it looked.
My first pot is way too thick, and I used an indian red glaze, but it came out more like white, than red. I have no idea why.
All in all, I am happy with how they came out, and it makes me happy that I signed up for Ceramics ll.
They are gearing up for the 2028 Olympics at LAX, so things are a bit hectic for travelers.
The Skylink is almost ready to receive passengers, and I wish it would be certified already, so people can use it.
They are modernizing Terminals 5 and 6 right now, so that area is a mess.
I was glad I was in Terminal 1-ish. Our gate was actually over in Terminal 2, but I went through security in Terminal 1.
I was first out of the bus, and first onto the bus, going back to Union Station.
BTW, they just made buying a ticket easier for travelers who make a transfer at LA Union Station.
You buy your Metrolink ticket with the destination of LAX, instead of Los Angeles Union Station. It is just shown to the bus driver, for the 2nd part of the journey. On the way back, you do just the opposite, buying the ticket from LAX to (your destination station). No scanning, no credit cards, no nothing.
Photo is LAX. The tower is over to the far left.
My Water Post For Today.
An under the bridge view of the Blue Water Bridge, in Michigan.
We visited it back in 2022, and enjoyed seeing what the streaming cameras had showed us, on our computer at home.
So many ships pass through the area, on their way to Lake Superior, so you can sit there for hours watching.
One of the few places where it is shady, is exactly where we were...under the bridge.
I hope you enjoy it.
I came back from my trip on Wednesday, and I had an email about ceramics classes in October.
I never got any of my pots back, I believe they were in the oven waiting to be fired.
So I have nothing to show you, in that regard.
I decided to sign up for the October classes, to finish my learning journey.
I hope that the pots (seen above) are still there, 2 weeks later.
I was ready to give up, a few weeks ago, but being on vacation gave me a bit of a different perspective, and I decided to try it, once again.
Wish me luck.
I have so many photos from the Long Island Museum, that I decided to bring a few on here, that are personal to me. The original post is HERE.
I saw Star Wars, the original (not known as A New Hope Yet), at the Mann Twin Theatres, in my home town of Hicksville, NY. The poster mentions that we had the longest lines since they aired The Godfather.
The second photo is about how things changed during the 70's, with high inflation, the gas crisis (2 of them), loss of the defense contracts (in our case, the fact that Grumman, who built the Lunar Module, lost the contract to build the Space Shuttle). It went to Nixon's home state of California. We also were overdeveloped, with Nassau County built out, and Suffolk not wanting that same fate.
The final photo is of a situation that hit home, for us. The protests that shut down Shoreham Nuclear Plant, in Suffolk.
My Brother worked for LILCO and was one of the workers at the plant. He lost his job, when the public succeeded in closing it down.
A neighbor was one of the protesters, if I am not mistaken. Though I did not hold it against her. 3 Mile Island was going on at that time, so they had every reason to be worried about it.
My Brother ended up moving to Massachusetts, which changed our lives. I was already in California by then, so my family was used to missing some of their children.
Yeah, I got out of town before things got even worse, I guess.
Thanks Long Island Museum for putting things into Historical Perspective.
I am much older than the person who wrote about THIS abandoned gas station in the Dix Hills area of the Northern State Parkway.
I remember growing up, that there were several gas stations, along all the parkways, and I believe that my Dad once pulled into one of them, because he needed to get gas.
They eventually disappeared, one by one, with this one at the very end of Northern State, still there.
Every time I pass it, I am driving, so when we used the Ambulette to bring us to the cemetery, I took that opportunity to attempt to get a photo of it.
I was only partially successful, but you get the idea.
As the person who wrote the article mentions, it closed because cars go too fast now days, so it is unsafe to stop there.
To me, though, it harkens back to a simpler time, when things were less complicated.
I hope you enjoy a bit of history of Long Island.
I am back home, and I am so glad to be here.
I left LA in the midst of a very high humidity day, but I return to our normal weather.
Though I see it will heat up again, in a week.
I took the LAX Flyaway to Union Station, and when we reached the Century Freeway and Harbor Freeway Interchange, we ended up all the way on the top level, so I got this photo of the Downtown area.
I normally don't travel down to that area of South LA, so I enjoyed seeing it.
Jet Blue and the TWA Hotel worked out so well, I got to my gate and they began boarding about 5 minutes later. Wow!
Almost as good as sleeping in.
I am currently back at the hotel, where I started my journey, the TWA Hotel.
I was never so happy to see something.
Sometime tomorrow, if all goes well, my Husband and I will be reunited.
I miss him, and he misses me.
TWA is such a wonderful hotel, but my bags don't handle the floors very well.
At least most airports have floors that rolling bags do well on.
Wish me luck getting home.
I visited my Sister on the anniversary of my Brother-In-Law's death.
On Monday my family hired transport, for her, and her wheel chair.
Amazingly, I was allowed to ride with her.
It was an hour drive over, and when we got to the cemetery, we rolled her up to the headstone, which she could then touch.
We asked the driver if he remembered Geoff, and amazingly he did.
He said one time, he was trying to fix something that was broken in the van.
That was so my Brother-In-Law. He could fix anything, clocks, audio, cameras, computers, were just a few things he was paid for repairing.
He is greatly missed by us all.
The photo was taken in the courtyard of her current residence. A rainy day turned sunny, and I so appreciated being able to spend time in the sun with her.
My Water Post For Today.
I wanted to get over to the North Shore, but so far, that is not happening.
We will be next door to Eisenhowser Park, so you get a photo I took many years ago. 2009 to be exact.
I love the "ducks" in the water, by the shore.
So cute, and I swear that decades ago, (maybe early in the 60's) my family waded in that very pond.
No matter what, enjoy the birds and water.
I went right, instead of left, as I exited, after visiting my Sister.
I didn't know where I was going, but I knew Long Island Sound was toward the north.
I ended up on 25A and turned right. If you are a Long Islander, you know that is the furthest north road that goes east and west.
I saw a sign for something called the Long Island Museum, and I pulled into the parking lot.
They said the admission was free for 9/11, and it was about 45 minutes to closing, so I went in.
Their temporary exhibit was Long Island in the 70's!
I was so in, since it was my teenage, and young adult time.
It was small, but each picture, or exhibit, was something I remembered.
Here are just a handful of photos from the exhibit.
Enjoy.
