The Crow's Nest
NEW YORK, NEW YORK!!! What a fun, fun long Labor Day Weekend I had in New York City with my daughter, Kris, Kris’ mother-in-law Pat, Kris’s sister-in-law Lisa and Lisa’s cousin, Janelle. Janelle is Director of Catering and Revenue Management for the Waldorf Astoria so she lives in Manhattan. What a terrific tour guide she was. Our accommodations at the Waldorf weren’t too shabby either.
I enjoyed every minute in NYC. Ate breakfast in Greenwich Village, hiked around Central Park, “ooohed and aaahed” at Trump Towers, had some “shady” dealings in Chinatown, ate wonderful pasta in Little Italy, knelt in St Patrick’s Cathedral, saw “The Producers” on Broadway, walked toe-to-toe with everyone in Times Square and shed a tear when I saw “Lady” Liberty while riding the Staten Island Ferry. I know the most impressionable place we visited was “Ground Zero”! People mingled around the area very quietly. I could feel the reverence of those standing at the fence just trying to grasp the awfulness of what happened there on Sep 11th, 2001. Tears welled up inside me as I looked skyward at what used to be. It was a trip to remember.
The weather has been gorgeous these last few days. I can smell ‘autumn” in the air. The leaves are starting to turn. A quick drive out to Tiber Coulee testifies to the promise of winter around the corner. The leaves are beautiful in their colored hues.
I hope if you all try very hard you can almost smell turkey baking in the ovens along with the mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy and all the “fixings”. Our annual Turkey Supper is next Wednesday. The preparation is more work than the actual supper. Next Tuesday will be a big day as 115 lbs of carrots need to be scraped and sliced, onions and celery chopped and bread cubed and toasted. Thankfully, we have a great group of people that come to help. Tuesday is a fun day as lots of visiting takes place also.
Grain harvest seems to be slowly coming to an end. A couple of weeks ago trucks filled with wheat, oats, barley and such were constantly going by our house on their way to the elevator. I haven’t seen any lately. Now the area will move on to potato and bean harvest. Beyond that it will be beet harvest and sunflower harvest. It just seems like yesterday I was watching the green rows sprout out of the ground. My herb garden looks like a crotchety old lady all weathered and wrinkled. I need to get out and tidy it up.
Today I canned 28 quarts of grape juice. The grapes were from our arbor in the back yard. The orioles will be happy next summer when I will use the juice for jelly. We still are feeding orioles grape jelly every day. They are still here along with the hummingbirds. I imagine their migration is not too far away.
Have a wonderful day and thank you Janelle for showing us such a great time in your great city.
