Over 60…And Getting Younger: July 31, 2009

Returns

I have always been annoyed and uncomfortable when a fellow diner makes a “fuss” at a restaurant. I sink a bit lower in my chair and wait for the incident to be settled and finally be resolved.

Usually I am not the aggrieved party and I am only an impatient observer. Last weekend I was the culprit. Let me present my case.

Letter: Bottle vs. Tap

In light of the recent discussions surrounding bottled vs. tap water, the Plainview Water District Commissioners thought it would be beneficial to highlight some of the facts that were reported on during the July 9 airing of ABC’s Good Morning America.

According to the report, bottled water manufacturers are not required to disclose where they get their water from, how it is purified or whether it is treated at all. And yet with all of this uncertainty, Americans spend about $16 billion a year on bottled water.

Letter: Writing in Protest

(Editor’s Note: The following letter was sent to the Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Sudan and is being printed here at the author’s request.)

I write to protest the atavistic treatment meted out to the 13 young women arrested at a Khartoum café for wearing trousers, 10 of whom were publicly flogged and fined.

The Republic of Sudan will never be a great nation so long as such bizarre, demeaning and humiliating punishments are imposed in purported courts of law. If, however, the objective is to perfect a national image that is rife with intolerance, misogyny, cruelty and masochism, then such protocol has attained its goal.

I ask that you refer this letter to President al-Bashir and Dr. al-Turabi.

Thank you for your consideration respecting this matter.

 

Over 60…And Getting Younger: July 24, 2009

A Summer Weekend

Who says you have to leave Long Island to have a great time in the summer? We have everything right here!

On Friday night we had reservations at Peppercorns Restaurant on East Marie Street in Hicksville with Paul and Jerilye Streich. The four of us were placed at a corner table, and it was cozy and easy to have a conversation. The service was gracious and the food was delicious.

Over 60…And Getting Younger: July 17, 2009

Crustaceans

On one of our earliest dates, Lorraine brought along a large newspaper wrapped container. We were babysitting for Caren, Lorraine’s niece, then 2 or 3 years old, now 48 with three grown children. What was in this surprise package?

Lorraine neatly spread the newspapers on the living room floor. She asked this question of me, the sophisticated New Yorker. “Have you ever eaten spiced crabs?” she queried.

Letter: Athletes Deserve Full Punishment, Too

Stanley Greenberg is right about the sports press often making “heroes” of star athletes; only to eventually tear them down.  He’s right that most of these superstars don’t deserve the man of the year-type labels they get. However, I’d like to point out that those who “are caught carrying illegal guns, or brutalizing women, or taking unlawful drugs”  do deserve to have the press begin the tearing down process.

It’s just too bad that such athlete-criminals usually do not receive all the punishment they deserve from our court system.  For instance, the token 30 days  that football player Donte Stallworth will have to spend in jail for killing a woman while driving drunk.  After those 30 days are served, he will be “free”, while she will, of course, remain dead and buried.

 

A Bird’s Eye View: July 10, 2009

Savoring Jamaica Bay

The Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens is one of the premier birding spots in the NYC metropolitan area. In the invigorating early morning air during the annual spring migration it offers a parade of colorful birds and a chance to ponder the mystery of avian DNA at work.

Last year I went there with a small group of veteran sharp-eyed birders. As soon as we arrive someone points out several white-crowned sparrows pecking at the grass adjacent to the parking lot. The black and bright white streaks on their crowns scream for attention. By contrast their breasts and bellies are pearl gray while their stout little bills appear almost orange. This bird’s designer made its creation simultaneously striking and soothing. Three brown-headed cowbirds are in a nearby tree. They are parasites that put their eggs into the nests of other birds among the occupants’ eggs, usually one per nest, hoping that the unsuspecting parents-to-be will incubate them.

Over 60…And Getting Younger: July 10, 2009

Two Clean Cut Guys

As Roger Federer and Andy Roddick battled it out with tennis rackets at Wimbledon, I realized that both these gentlemen could be role models for ourselves and for our children. Both are happily married (whatever that means) and speak intelligently and have a reasonable lifestyle.

Roger was kind to Andy when he was quoted with “Sports, or tennis is cruel sometimes. We know it.” We have been attuned to brash, insincere, brazen heroes of the gridiron, basketball court and the pastoral green fields of baseball. It is usually “me, me, me” in their quotes to the media. How refreshing it is not to hear Mohammed Ali sniping at his opponent before a boxing match.

Check It Out at the Pob Library: July 3, 2009

The Plainview-Old Bethpage Public Library earned its distinction as a “Five-Star Library” because of the top quality programs and services it provides to its customers. During the months of July and August we offer an even greater array – especially for our younger visitors.

This season’s summer reading initiative, “Be Creative @ Your Library,” features programs that make reading fun for kids from infancy through high school. In fact, every year the Library awards a trophy to the school that has the highest percentage of its students reading three or more books over the course of the program. Old-Bethpage Elementary School, last year’s winner is angling to take the trophy for the second year and the competition is just beginning to heat up!

Over 60…And Getting Younger: July 3, 2009

 A Sense of Money

It is possible to know a person and not know that person’s “sense of money.” We do not always readily see where that person grew up and if there was poverty in the home. Later in life, growing up poor may have different consequences.

In one scenario that person may become a spendthrift and react totally against all things that remind him/her of the years of deprivation. Poverty is not pretty and it may burn scars into the psyche that are not evident at a quick glance. “I’ll show the world that even though I came from a poor home I won’t allow anyone to see my inner feelings,” is one way of reacting.