The Honeymooners

The Honeymooners

by Cole Scott

When I first saw this photo I thought it was a capture of a whimsical sculpture.  We had been to Shelburne Farms in Burlington,VT. and viewed some incredible sculptures in the basement of the Round Barn which is quite a piece of architecture in itself..  Anyway, I asked my husband about it and he said,

"No.  It's Rockefeller Center.  I took it on my trip to New York in August." 

He and our eldest son made an overnight trip to NY to pick up a large format printer he'd bought on ebay at a huge discount.  They spent one night in the city and he clicked away then created this very cool image out of one of his shots.  He was always a "Honeymooners" fan, hence the title.  I asked why he didn't put a face on the moon like the tv show but he said it would be "overkill". 

That's why he's the artist. 

Rain Rain Please Get the @!*#! Outta Here!

Just finished nytimes.com article "In New York, It's the Summer That Isn't" and it's chock full of interesting tidbits, historic and ecologically.

1) Depending on today's high, "this will be the second or third coolest June and July recorded.." since 1903 or 1881.

2) July's average temperature, as of yesterday's high, was 72.6 degrees, "nearly four degrees below normal."

3) In June 2009, Con Ed produced 5.5% less power than June 2008. There were no
black-outs, brownouts or conservation calls.

4) Daily peak use average 10,934 megawatts. The projected high was 11, 945.
Electric bills have shrunk by 6%.

5) Attendance at city beaches through July was down 30%, from 7.1 million to 5.5.

6) In July 2008, the EMS answered 134 heat-related calls. This year there were
41.

7) Seattle, on the other hand, hit a record temp of 103 degrees last Wednesday.
It's been hot hot hot up there.

While the overall consumption of kilowatt hours, water resources and the like are down in a big city like New York, they are soaring in the usually more moderate climates of the country.

The meteorologist referenced in the article said most scientists attribute the cooling patterns to a "persistent high level jet stream" of cool air from North to Northeast as well as the heating and cooling of the atmosphere by the ocean temperatures. But he doesn't think they understand things all that well.

All I know is, it rained all of June. It rained all of July and if it rains all of August, summer will be over and I'll be living in a tropical rain forest. I hear tell of mountain trails usually clear and bushwhacked that have completely closed up and grown over again...much like the maze in the Harry Potter movie. The Shasta Daisies in my garden grow in large beautiful clumps and are divided by a footpath of granite stepping stones. I keep clearing the path by cutting flowers but no sooner is that done then it closes again.

My annuals are drowning, there are slugs everywhere, we're having an infestation of Japanese beetles which may have, hopefully,drowned by now. My dogs and cat are listless, cranky and full of gas from lack of exercise. The only good thing is the bugs seem to be drowning too. I think the super cool nights are killing them as they hatch. We don't have standing water around our home. Others who do say the mosquitoes are ferocious.

Photo is of one of my Gerbera Daisies from last year. This year's should look so good.