Our Scotland adventure in photos

As I wrote about in my recent post: https://paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com/2019/10/our-scotland-adventure.html , our Scotland adventure was a memorable trip--three good friends exploring Scotland. Here are some photos from the week we spent traveling around the country.

Edinburgh Castle

the Kelpies

Loch Lomond

Stirling Castle and gardens

 

Anstruther

Anstruther

St. Andrews--the old golf course

St. Andrews Cathedral

the beach in the film Chariots of Fire

Falkland Palace 

Falkland Palace garden gate

another interesting gate

Falkland Palace gardens

St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh

Canongate kirkyard--cemetery on the way to Calton Hill 

Calton Hill, Edinburgh

Salisbury Crags, seen from Calton Hill 

view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill

Lowdown by Boz Scaggs

Loved this song when it first came out in 1976, and love it still. I just felt like hearing Boz Scaggs today.....

Lowdown

Boz Scaggs

Baby's into running around
Hanging with the crowd
Putting your business in the street
Talking out loud
Saying you bought her this and that
And how much you done spent
I swear she must believe it's all heaven sent

Hey boy you better bring the chick around
To the sad, sad truth the dirty lowdown

Taught her how to talk like that
(Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who)
Gave her that big idea

Nothin' you can't handle
Nothin' you ain't got
Put your money on the table
And drive it off the lot
Turn on that old love light
And turn a "maybe" to a "yes"
Same old schoolboy game got you into this mess

Hey son, better get back on to town
Face the sad old truth, the dirty lowdown

Put those ideas in your head
(Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who)

Yeah

Come on back down, little son
Dig the low, low, low, low, lowdown!

You ain't got to be so bad, got to be so cold
This dog eat dog existence sure is getting old
Got to have a Jones for this
Jones for that
This runnin' with the Joneses, boy, just ain't where it's at, no, no

You gonna come back around
To the sad, sad truth, the dirty lowdown

Got you thinking like that, boy
(Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who)

I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who
Said I wonder, wonder, wonder, I wonder who
Oh, look out for that lowdown (ohh, I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who)
That dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty lowdown

Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who
Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who

Got you thinkin' like that
Got you thinkin' just like that
(Ooh I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who)
Lookin' that girl in the face is so sad
I'm ashamed of you

I wonder, wonder, wonder, wonder who

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: David Paich / Boz Scaggs

Lowdown lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Reflections on hypocrisy in the world

We live in an age where everything about a person can be googled, dissected, and disseminated in the time it takes to empty the garbage or clear the dinner table. If that person happens to be a politician, they should know they are prey for the media and social media predators just waiting for them to make a mistake, say the wrong thing, feel the wrong feeling, express the wrong facial expression, hug the wrong person, write the wrong email, curse under their breath, and so on. The list of sins is long, likewise the punishment for transgressions against some code of behavior that has careened toward the bizarre, as in, no one could possibly live up to it. You'd have to be an angel. Some people can respond as Trump does, with a Twitter tirade that shuts most people up and out, but most people do not. Most people have a sense of shame, a sense of guilt, a sense of hypocrisy, a sense of ethics. Most people will say 'mea culpa' and mean it. But it surprises me how many public personas seem to be clueless when it comes to understanding that they are prey. They think they can live as normal human beings (who are at least afforded a modicum of anonymity). It surprises me that anyone would want to be a politician or public persona these days. Why would you willingly expose yourself to the intense and withering scrutiny of the media and social media organizations that will nail you to the wall within two seconds for any perceived hypocrisy, even though they fail to see their own hypocrisy. Christ said “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.” But hypocrisy has rooted itself firmly in the world; it is so often the way of the world. I would like a return to a time when dissection and public shaming were limited because there were boundaries for what was decent reporting and what was not, because we risk moving toward a world of politics inhabited only by sociopaths and psychopaths--those who are immune or impervious to what others think of them or their actions, those who will retaliate in a swift and cunning way. If we reach that point, we can kiss democracy goodbye.

I do want truth in media, and I want to believe that the media are interested in the pursuit of the truth and of facts. The reality however often seems to be something quite different--the pursuit of money, ratings, and reputation seems to be paramount for many such organizations, whether they are arch-liberal or arch-conservative. I am sick to death of having the pot stirred each day, of being perturbed by the endless onslaught of crises, hypocrisies, dramas, soap operas, and sins on a daily basis. I don't see the point of it, unless it is to destroy faith in democratic government and principles upon which most Westernized societies are based. Our democracies seem to be undergoing dismantling from within our own countries. We are continually forced into polarizing positions, into a 'divide and conquer' mentality. I cannot ever remember it being this bad. I cannot ever remember that I woke up each day dreading watching the news or reading the newspaper, dreading any form for political discussion or polarizing conversations. Because I dread all of it at present, and I walk around with a foreboding of bad times to come. If I let all of the nonsense in, life will become joyless, depressing, and hopeless. Life will become faith-less. I believe that faith and hope are necessary for life to continue. If there is only hopelessness and despair, there is no point in continuing, and no point in working to save the planet. We cannot continue to appeal to 'crisis mode' in people; it is not a way to motivate people to change. It only creates anger and frustration. The way to get people to change is to educate them with the facts--rationally, clearly, calmly--without hysteria, panic and aggression, without a dangerous flock mentality, without infantile behavior on the part of politicians and leaders of the free world, without a media hell-bent on destroying all that is good in society. We don't need more positive thinking, we need more focus on the good people in the world, who are going about their lives in a rational and good way, who live modestly and who give back to the world what they take from it, who understand that doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, is the best way to live life.

Our Scotland adventure

I've been meaning to write a post about our visit to Scotland during the first week of September. Jean, Maria and I decided to take a trip to Edinburgh already last summer, and plans began to firm up during the winter months when we booked our flights and the hotel apartment. We arrived in Edinburgh on the last Saturday in August; Jean and Maria had direct flights from Newark, NJ, whereas I had to fly first into London Heathrow and then get a flight to Edinburgh from London. The flight from London to Edinburgh was a bit bumpy, and the nearer we got to Edinburgh the bumpier it got. The stewardesses took it all in stride, saying that they were used to the turbulence due to the winds around Edinburgh. I could have done without it, and was hoping for a turbulence-free takeoff the following Saturday when we left, which luckily was the case.

The week offered us a variety of weather conditions--heavy rain, light rain, wind, sun, and cloudy days. There was no point in complaining about bad weather; we realized fairly quickly that Scotland has unpredictable weather. I got used to borrowing one of the many umbrellas that the hotel provided for its guests. We stayed at The Knight Residence by Mansley located at 12 Lauriston St, which we can recommend as a very nice and friendly place to stay. We rented an apartment for the week, which included a living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. The apartment had free wifi that worked well, and a kitchen welcome basket of cereals, coffee and tea. Bread and milk were also included in the welcome package. We bought some more breakfast items, fruit, and snacks to stock up; all other meals were eaten in local nearby restaurants or on the tours that we took. The hotel was conveniently right next door to a Catholic church--the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart, so we were able to attend mass on Sunday.

We spent Saturday in and around the neighborhood of the hotel, visiting Grassmarket Square where we ate a pub dinner at The White Hart Inn. Sunday was spent wandering around Edinburgh, visiting the Castle and taking a short tour there, walking along Princes Street and through the Princes Street Gardens. We ate dinner at Fiddlers Arms on Sunday evening--another good pub dinner. In my experience (England), pubs tend to offer pretty decent food at reasonable prices; I would say the same about the Edinburgh pubs. In contrast, some of our restaurant meals left a lot to be desired. At the end of our long days when we walked around the city, we were usually pretty tired and ready for a cup of tea and some snacks by the time we got back to the apartment.

We didn't plan any day trips outside of Edinburgh until we actually arrived in Scotland, although we had some ideas of what we wanted to see before we booked the tours: St. Andrews, Loch Lomond, and Loch Ness and the Highlands. We decided to take our bus tours on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and to have Wednesday and Friday free to tour Edinburgh further on foot.

On Monday, we took the first of our two bus tours with Rabbies Tours (which we can recommend highly for their knowledgeable and amusing guides) to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle (https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-tours/from-edinburgh/day-tours/loch-lomond-national-park-stirling-castle-day-tour). Our first stop was The Helix Park, which is located between Falkirk and Grangemouth. This park is home to The Kelpies, which are 30-meters high horse head sculptures--the largest equine sculptures in the world. Our tour guide told us that the Kelpies were designed to honor the horse-powered heritage across Scotland, but their name is the Scottish name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lakes of Scotland, which usually takes the shape of a horse (and sometimes human form). We then drove onward to Loch Lomond, which is the largest lake in Scotland by surface area, but it was raining so heavily that we did not get a chance to walk along the lake. We drove onward to Aberfoyle, where we ended up eating a very good lunch at The Forth Inn, and after lunch we did some shopping at the gift store nearby. We then drove onward to Stirling Castle, one of the largest in Scotland, which took us several hours to go through completely.

On Tuesday, our second Rabbie's Tour took us to St Andrews & the Fishing Villages of Fife on the east coast of Scotland, north of Edinburgh (https://www.rabbies.com/en/scotland-tours/from-edinburgh/day-tours/st-andrews-the-fishing-villages-of-fife-day-tour). Our first stop was the beautiful fishing village of Anstruther, with its lovely quaint buildings, fishing boats, and low tide at the time we were there. After Anstruther, we drove further to St. Andrews, 'the home of golf'. It is a lovely town, with a famous university, cathedral ruins, a famous 'old' golf course, the beach where the beach scene in Chariots of Fire was filmed, and some really good restaurants. We ate lunch there, and then drove on to Falkland, where we stopped to visit the Falkland Palace Gardens, which were lovely.

On Wednesday, we stayed in Edinburgh, and walked the Royal Mile, visiting St. Giles Cathedral along the route. The Royal Mile is a series of streets that connect Edinburgh Castle with Holyrood Palace (the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II when she is in Scotland). We did not tour Holyrood Palace, but opted instead to walk up Calton Hill, which we did not regret. The weather turned from cloudy to sunny almost at the same time as we arrived at the summit, which gave us some gorgeous views of Edinburgh and the skyline.

On Thursday, we took our third bus tour with Highland Experience Tours to Loch Ness, Glen Coe & the Highlands (https://www.highlandexperience.com/tours/edinburgh/Loch-ness-tour-scottish-highlands.htm). We can also recommend this company. We took the boat trip on Loch Ness, did not see Nessie, but we did visit Urquhart Castle, which was well-worth seeing. Again, the weather became sunny immediately after we disembarked at the castle pier. It was actually quite warm walking around the ruins of the castle. And the Highlands were absolutely stunning--pictures cannot do them justice--they must be seen.

One of the most memorable things about all the bus trips was that the guides played Scottish music many times during the trips; both folk music and rock music. I especially liked the folk music (e.g. Dougie MacLean's song Caledonia), but it was interesting to learn that some of the rock musicians we grew up with come from Scotland. It was also interesting to learn that J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame) lives in Edinburgh, and used some of the public schools as inspiration for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, particularly George Heriot's School.

On Friday, we walked to Dean Village, a quiet residential area in Edinburgh that borders the Water of Leith (a small river). In my opinion, this is one of the most lovely and idyllic places in Edinburgh. We walked around the small village, and then walked along the river path, called the Water of Leith Walkway, to the Royal Botanic Garden, where we spent the better part of the afternoon. We also ate lunch at the Garden cafe. The garden itself was lovely and quite large, and we did not have a chance to walk around the entire garden. But it is well-worth a visit, as is its gift store, which had so many unusual and interesting items for sale.

Overall impressions of our week in Edinburgh and Scotland--Edinburgh Castle is impressive, Calton Hill was lovely, Dean Village and the Leith river walk were idyllic, and the Princes Street gardens were also lovely. Princes Street itself was busy, noisy, and touristy--ok but not my favorite place. The Royal Mile was also quite touristy, but worth doing. Our bus tours can be recommended--the prices were reasonable, the guides were knowledgeable and very nice, and the places we visited were memorable, historic, and lovely. But most of all, it was nice to see Scotland together with my oldest and dearest friends--a wonderful Scotland adventure. Hopefully we'll be able to do more traveling together in the coming years.

I'll post some photos soon of our Scotland adventure.

Overpowered by Róisín Murphy

This song is from 2007; strange that I don't remember it from that time. A good song in any case, regardless of how old it is.....

 


And the lyrics.....

"Overpowered"

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered

Your data my data
The chromosomes match
Exact as in matter
A matter of fact

These amaranth feelings
A cognitive state
Need the love object
To reciprocate

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

A chemical reason
If reason's your game
A chemical needing
Is there in the brain

With preprogrammed meanings
Like a little more pep
Alien feelings
We have to accept

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

I'm overpowered

A look back at this year's gardening season

And suddenly, just like that, summer is over, although you can't call what we had this year, summer. It was just a temperate rainy season with very little sun. In previous years, there has been a gradual movement toward autumn, with September days that have a hint of autumn in the air. Not so this year--just rain and more rain. Temperatures during September stayed mostly in the low 60s, so I cannot complain about that. But there was no real summer this year, and there has been no real autumn either. Now it's just cold. In some places right outside of Oslo, it's already snowed. This year's gardening season was less than stellar due to the rainy summer. The outdoor tomatoes rotted, as did three of my ten pumpkins. The string bean plants did not do well either. Too much rain and too little sun will rot plants, since the roots never have a chance to dry out. Or they develop mold, as did my outdoor tomato plants, producing tomatoes that were mottled and mealy. The greenhouse tomato plants did fine; that's how I know that the amount of rain we had this year was no good for the outdoor tomato plants.

We got the allotment garden in 2016, and since then, not one successive season has been the same. It is impossible to predict from year to year how the next season will go. I imagine that causes farmers much consternation; a farmer's life is far from idyllic or romantic, that's for sure. Last year, the summer was very warm and there was very little rain; that was true for most of Western Europe. But it was a banner year for the garden. Looking back, the 2016 gardening season was the best in terms of a good balance of sun and rain. I know that because the pumpkins grew well, and to a good size. This year, I've gotten one large pumpkin; the rest are small to medium-sized. The only plants that produced well this year were the zucchini plants--six large zucchinis from three plants. But zucchinis grow fast and for some reason were not affected by the overly-moist soil as were the pumpkins. Strange, because together with other types of squashes and pumpkins, the zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo, and you might think that they would all react similarly to the weather conditions. The berry plants all produced fairly well this year; berry plants seem to be quite hardy. The only problem was a blister aphid infection on the red currant bushes that sucked the juices out of the leaves so that they ended up looking wrinkled and blistered, hence the name. But the infection did not affect the actual berry production, which was something to be thankful for. 

The Folva potatoes did well this year, so next year I will plant more of them. Based on this year's experiences, I've decided that next year I will plant potatoes, zucchinis, pumpkins, and will try string beans again. If they don't do well, I'll skip them in the future. I'll only plant greenhouse tomatoes. In the end, you end up planting what works, because in truth, it is heartbreaking to watch what you've nurtured from seed end up dying due to frost, too much rain, too little rain, slugs, or mold. I know that how I feel pales in comparison to what farmers must feel when the weather is unpredictable. For example, this past April was a warm one, and the apple orchards started to bloom early. Then came May, with several weeks of cold temperatures, and the resulting frost killed the apple tree blossoms and killed the chances for the trees to produce any apples. The farmers who were interviewed were heartbroken. This is the ruthlessness of nature. It doesn't care what lives or what dies--there are no feelings one way or the other. It is us humans who feel sadness or elation at watching our plants die or grow, depending on the unpredictable weather. You either develop a thick skin and continue to plant the same things, or you learn and plant only the things that work.

Some thoughts on computers, writing, and travel

I've been having laptop problems for the past several weeks; turns out it's not so easy to replace a power adapter for an Acer laptop in this country, at least not for the type of laptop I have. The plug no longer fits snugly into the laptop, and the loose connection means that the battery won't charge or charges only intermittently. But suddenly the original adapter worked again after not working for several weeks, so I'm making up for lost time while it still works, as there's no guarantee that it will work tomorrow. I've ordered a new adapter from an online 'store' but it's impossible to know whether these stores are reputable or not; they take your money (as confirmed by Paypal) and tell you they've shipped the item, but that was eleven days ago and still no new power adapter. So I ordered another one from another online store and am hoping that they will deliver. You would think too that Amazon would offer this adapter, but no, not this time. I wish they did, because Amazon delivers. You can criticize the company as much as you like for my sake; I will continue to do business with them because they deliver when they say they will deliver, and because their customer service is dependable.

This entire situation has shown me just how dependent I am on having a working computer at home. It is my connection to the outside world and to the States, and as a writer, I feel lost without it. Tablet computers are no substitute; they're fine for reading e-books and email and for catching up on social media, but for writing, they won't do. Even for writing emails, I find that tablets are limited because the keyboards are too small. And I cannot use my workplace computer to access my Gmail; that is no longer possible in my workplace, since the IT department blocks all programs that even remotely resemble social media. Websites such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, some newspapers, and the like are forbidden to access at work. So it's not possible to use my computer at work to send personal emails. Not that I ever really did, but now and then it would be nice to be able to do so in a pinch, like now. I refuse to use my work email program for any sort of personal communications; personal and work emails should be separate, like personal life and work life.

I've missed posting here as well. My blog has become an extension of me. When I look at the body of writing that I've produced during the past nine years, it's overwhelming and amazing at the same time. But mostly it's important, to me, because it's given me an outlet and a megaphone to voice my opinions, share my writing, poetry and photography, share my reflections, and my travels. As I grow older, I see that this has been my way of 'publishing' what I write. Not all of what I've published is good, but a lot of it is. There are hits, and there are misses. When I read articles that find their way into major newspapers at present, I don't feel that my writing is necessarily of lesser value. If I wrote for a living, I would have had the chance to perfect the work I produce. As it is now, one of the nice things about having a blog is that one can always go back to a published post and edit it. That's important because sometimes, upon reflection, one finds it necessary to rephrase a sentence, correct a grammatical error, correct a factual mistake, and so on.

I've been wanting to post an article about my recent Scotland trip together with two of my closest childhood friends. Despite some recent health problems (not major, but a bit bothersome), it was possible to do the trip, although I was fairly exhausted afterward. I don't find being in a new place tiring, I find the actual travel to and from a place tiring. I find airport security procedures tiring--jackets and shoes in one small bin, laptop/devices in another, knapsack in another, and so on. Retrieving them all and restoring order are bothersome. This year, I thought it would be easier to travel with carry-on luggage; not so, because you have to remember to place all cosmetic items in the correct type of plastic baggie, and if you don't do so, your luggage is flagged and you must open it and present it to security. I found the whole experience exhausting, and will check my luggage the next time I travel. Plus not all airlines have enough overhead compartment space to accommodate everyone's carry-on luggage, so some airlines offer you priority boarding and that your baggage will be unloaded first, if you check it instead of carrying it on board. And so it goes.

So hopefully my next post will be about Scotland, if I retain access to my laptop. Hopefully the new adapter will show up any day now, and the problem will be solved. But given the current state of the postal system in Norway, even that is up for grabs. Mail is delivered sporadically; what was once a well-functioning system has gone the way of most everything else--in the interests of saving money and making it more efficient, efficiency has been lost. I no longer am even sure what days of the week mail is delivered; all I know is that I'm happy to see mail in the mailbox. Express mail delivery works, but the logistics of delivery are complicated. You're either rushing home from work to receive a delivery, or making a deal for them to come to your workplace so that they can deliver packages. Some will do that, others won't. There is no rhyme or reason for most things anymore. I'm used to it, as I suppose everyone else is. The question is rather--where does it all end?

The hypocrisy of the Green Party here in Oslo

I've translated this article from Vårt Oslo (Our Oslo) from Norwegian to English, so that you can read about the hypocrisy of the Green Party politicians and urban environmental agency here in Oslo. This is a typical stunt from them; usually they chop down healthy trees to make way for their beloved bike paths. But this time, they chopped down healthy trees so that they can plant cherry trees in their place. Is this hypocrisy? You bet it is. This has happened in other parts of Oslo, where trees have come down to make way for bike paths. And of course we need bike paths so that the entire population of Oslo can bike year-round and not use their cars for transport (the real agenda). We don't need any more bike paths in Oslo; it is not a bike-friendly city and it is nonsense to think that it ever will be. I don't believe for a minute that these lovely trees were sick. I do believe that these 'green people' have an agenda, and that they will stop at nothing in order to achieve their goals. These people are ruining Oslo.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The protected lime trees in Thorvald Meyers gate have been cut down. What's happening?

By Anders Høilund    15. September 2019 00:16

The linden trees (also called lime trees or Tilia) in Thorvald Meyers street, from Nybrua to Olaf Ryes plaza, are history. The annual rings on the 70-80 cm high stumps show that the trees were 20-30 years old.

"I often pass by here, and suddenly one day the trees were gone. I thought, oh my God, what happened. I had previously read in the zoning plan that these trees were to be preserved", says Tom Ole Bergerud.

Bergerud understands that if the trees were sick, it was right to fell them. But the stumps tell a different story--that these were mostly healthy trees.

The stumps left behind after the trees came down are dry and fine and show that the trees were healthy and had a steady growth.

"I understand that sick trees must be felled, but all these trees did not become sick all at one time. The stumps left behind look mostly fine. If the reason for felling them is that the trees interfered with the power lines, then any new trees will do so as well" says Bergerud.

The Thorvald Meyers street zoning plan states that trees to be preserved are marked on the zoning map as 'not allowed to be removed' unless there is documented disease or significant damage to the trees. The lime trees that were felled were marked as preservation-worthy.

The lime trees in Thorvald Meyers street were felled one recent September evening. "The trees that were felled will be replaced by new trees in the spring and autumn of 2020. We will plant cherry trees that have a beautiful pink bloom in the spring. There are no plans for more trees to be felled now", writes Hilde Elisabeth Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.

Assessment of tree health was carried out by an arborist in the urban environmental agency. There are also requirements in the zoning plan for independent control of the arborist's assessment. This is done by AB Trepleie AS, according to Håve.

“The trees that were felled had poor growth conditions and were characterized by disease. The Urban Environmental Agency applied for an exemption from the regulations, which was granted because the trees' health was so poor, and because it would facilitate the planting of healthy trees in the future. Exemptions from regulatory plans in Oslo are handled by the Planning and Building Agency, Håve writes to Vårt Oslo.

"The trees that stood here were lime. They are easy to prune. Cherry trees are also fine, but why switch to that tree species? I would like to know the reason for that" says Bergerud.

Håve explains that cherry trees were chosen because the municipality has good experience with these trees in streets with limited space, as they are significantly smaller than lime trees.

"Since we had to replace the trees anyway, it was desirable to replace them with smaller trees that are easier to maintain. We do not see that the regulations provide any guidance for species selection or that this is something to be exempted from. The Urban Environmental Agency does not specify that one specific species should be planted or that it must protect those that stand there already, rather, the overall aim of the regulations is that there should be trees in the designated locations" she writes.

One of the reasons the lime trees had to be felled was that they became too large for the pavements in Grünerløkka despite sub-optimal growth conditions. They had grown out to the tram line, and at the same time came too close to house walls, according to Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.

Tom Ole Bergerud thinks the upgrade of Thorvald Meyers street is commendable, but that the trees could have been kept.

"New trees need time to grow big, which of course will not happen for many years" he says.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remembering The Cars

Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of The Cars, died this past Sunday; he made it to 75, despite his heart disease. Benjamin Orr, the bass player, died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer. They were the co-founders of The Cars, a band that has special memories for me. About the time I started graduate school in Manhattan (1978), I started working part-time in Greenwich Village at a company that resold collections of books and magazines to libraries and other organizations. I worked in the basement to start with, unpacking the large cartons of books and magazines that were shipped to this company from around the United States. The basement was large, dimly-lit, and packed with boxes. But one memory stands out, and that was that those of us who worked in the basement could listen to the radio, and we did. Two bands stand out in my mind from that time--one of them is The Cars, the other is The Police; their songs got a lot of airplay, and to this day, they remain two of my favorite bands.

I cannot hear their songs without being reminded of that time. I disliked graduate school, but enjoyed my job at this small company. Eventually I made my way up to the office floors, working as an administrative assistant. My boss liked me and I think she would have hired me permanently had I wanted that type of career. But I didn't. In retrospect, who knows? Perhaps I could have been just as happy working in the publishing/book world as I have been in science (at least before it became a bureaucratic world to rival any other). In any case, songs by The Cars and The Police got me through my days, and through that time in my life, which was the beginning of many changes for me, many good, some not. But as always, music got me through the bad times, and The Cars were one of the bands whose songs (still) put me in touch with a myriad of feelings.

Here are some of the ones I really like:

Caledonia--a beautiful song by Dougie MacLean

I'll be writing a post soon about our Scotland adventure, but before I do, I wanted to post this song--Caledonia (the Latin name for Scotland)--that one of our tour guides played for us when we were driving toward Loch Lomond on the first bus tour that we took during the week we were in Edinburgh. I fell in love with this song; although MacLean wrote it about Scotland, it is a song for all of us who miss our home countries, who feel that longing 'for home' intensely. I can absolutely relate to it. I'm also including the lyrics.





I don't know if you can see
the changes that have come over me
In these past few days I've been afraid
that I might drift away
So I've been telling old stories, singing songs
that make me think about where I came from
and that's the reason why I seem
so far away today

Oh Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Oh and I have moved
and I've kept on moving
proved the points
that I needed proving
lost the friends
that I needed losing
found others on the way
Oh and I have tried and kept on trying
stolen dreams yes there's no denying
I've traveled hard with conscience flying
somewhere with the wind

Oh Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Now I'm sitting here
before the fire
the empty room
The forest choir
the flames have cooled
don't get any higher
they've withered now
they've gone
and I'm steady thinking
my way is clear
and I know what
I will do tomorrow
When the hands have shaken
And the kisses flowed
and I will disappear

Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Untermyer park and gardens

When I was in NY in August, Stef, John and I visited Untermyer park and gardens, which are located off of Broadway in Yonkers. The gardens have a lovely Hudson River view. This is the link to their website if one wants more information about the gardens: https://www.untermyergardens.org/

The website states that "The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is a non-profit organization that in partnership with the City of Yonkers is facilitating the restoration of Samuel Untermyer’s gardens in Yonkers, New York". 

The gardens are a work in progress, and are already quite lovely. What surprised us was that admission to the gardens was free; we would absolutely have been willing to pay a small fee to enter the gardens. In this way, there would be even more money available for restorations.

The day we visited was a very warm summer day, so we weren't there for more than a couple of hours since it was almost too hot to walk around. Perhaps the best time to visit would be the spring or autumn, when the weather is a bit cooler. But we took a fair amount of photos while we were there, and I'm posting some here so that you can get an idea of what the gardens look like.

one of the pools in the Walled Garden

The Vista

view from the Overlook

The Temple of Love

Our garden in mid-August

I haven't posted many pictures of our garden this year, but that's because it took so long for it to really take off. But during the past several weeks, it has grown like wildfire--the pumpkin plants have long trailing vines now and the pumpkins are looking good, the zucchini plants have already produced three large zucchinis, the greenhouse tomato plants have produced a few tomatoes, the dahlias look lovely, the gladiolas and hollyhocks likewise. The marigolds, cornflowers, and sunflowers are also doing well. My bean plants are producing string beans, and the carrot and potato plants are growing well (hopefully they'll produce well). It's been a banner year for berries of all sorts--strawberries, red currants, black currants, gooseberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but strangely enough, not raspberries, at least not in our garden. I planted two panicle hydrangeas, which are hardier than the usual hydrangeas and which seem to bloom for quite a long time, and two potentilla shrubs, which produce lovely small yellow flowers. They also seem to be quite hardy. I hope the warm weather continues into September so that the tomatoes, potatoes and carrots can grow to full maturity.

Here are some photos of the garden that I took yesterday and a few days ago......

Cinderella pumpkins growing happily

Lavender, gladiolas, dahlias, and Coreopsis flowers

one of four giant sunflowers 

Cinderella pumpkin patches

entrance to the garden

panicle hydrangea

tomatoes growing on the outdoor tomato plants

Scientist forever

I saw this saying on a coffee mug that was advertised on Facebook, and it struck a chord, apropos my previous post. I think I will buy this mug as a reminder that no matter what, I will always be a scientist. In a more serious vein, as long as we continue to read, learn, discuss, hypothesize, gather and summarize data--we remain scientists.......

The image credits are as follows: Copyright:© Illustrator Georgie Retzer #illustratorg - http://www.redbubble.com/people/illustrator
Information extracted from IPTC Photo Metadata

Traveling, gaining new perspective, and life changes

Traveling opens the mind to new ways of thinking and looking at situations. I don't know how many times I have returned from a trip filled with renewed hope, enthusiasm, and motivation to tackle certain aspects of life that may have appeared complicated or tricky before I left. While I am away, I seem to be able to let go in a much better way than when I am continually faced with the same situation day after day. Sometimes it IS good to get away in order to get perspective. What may seem overwhelming on a daily basis becomes manageable after getting distance from it. That is my experience and I'm sure it has been the experience of others.

Traveling allows the mind to relax and focus on the now. When I am traveling, I don't think too much about the past or the future. I enjoy the present, because the things I am doing are enjoyable and fun, and I am doing them with people I love and care about.

This will become ever more important as I get older. I know now when I want to retire, and I am moving in that direction, moving my daily life in that direction, so that all my actions translate into a gradual rather than abrupt transition into a life without a daily work schedule. Some days I think about what I will do when I retire, other days I realize I don't need to plan it all now. Perhaps it's best to let life happen, to see what life brings at that point. Many of my American friends have retired already. Those who have not, have unusual work schedules; they either have home offices or they travel a lot and are not office-bound. They've had that alternative work style for a number of years now, and seem to function quite well. They haven't had the social camaraderie of a daily workplace and they don't seem to miss it, with one exception. I don't know if I will miss it; I don't think I will. I've had it for a number of decades now, and I find it tiring to think about continuing in the same vein for another ten years.

What I will miss is my career as a scientist. As I wrote to my close friend recently about starting to clean out my office and getting rid of old files and papers I don't need anymore, I find it freeing, but a bit sad at the same time. It makes me realize that those days will be no more, those fun days of science, and that my career is ebbing. But then I remind myself that it's not impending retirement that took the fun away or caused the ebbing. It's the fact that academia turned into a huge money-making business about a decade ago, and so many of us were just blindsided by it. It's never been the same since. And that is true. It's not the getting older that changed things, it's the fact that academia is akin to the corporate world now, where huge sums of money are involved and necessary if you want to survive in it. If you don't have a business plan, or plans to patent your findings, or plans to grow your research group into a huge conglomerate, or plans to create a center of excellence, there really is no place for you anymore. You are a drain on the system if you don't bring in large grants or obtain many PhD and post-doc positions. So it seems right to plan on leaving it behind in the near future. I know it won't happen without conflicting feelings; I have accepted that major change is accompanied by uncertainty, anxiety, sadness, happiness, exhilaration, and confusion. Life is messy and it's just to accept that and live it and live through major changes in the best possible way. Many others have done it before me. I have their experiences and wisdom to guide me.

A visit to Bannerman Island

Bannerman Island, also called Pollepel Island, is located in the Hudson River near Cornwall, New York. It is the site of Bannerman Castle, which was once a weapons arsenal and ammunition depot, but which suffered a major explosion in 1920, leaving only the shell of the castle standing. The island is open to the public via organized tours. Beacon, New York is the embarkation point for the ferry boat that takes you to the island for the tour. The boat trip takes about thirty minutes, and is a pleasant ride, especially on a hot summer day like the one on which we had booked our tour. I'd been wanting to visit the island for several years now, and on this trip to New York it became possible for Maria, Jean and me to do so. Visitors are not allowed to walk around the castle ruins as the structure is too unstable and is currently being held up by large supports, but the rest of the island is open for exploration. We enjoyed the tour and can recommend visiting the island.