Sunday, July 29, 2007
A Day at the Beach
I had a wonderful time at the beach with my nephew yesterday. We golfed and then swam. I love the ocean!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Baldwin
Magazine: Baldwin among best places to live
BY STACEY ALTHERRstacey.altherr@newsday.com
Money magazine has named Baldwin one of the top places to live in the country.
The magazine calls Baldwin "a haven for families" and says it "draws a diverse population who move to the town for its schools, and its proximity to healthy job markets and beaches." It comes in 25th out of 100 "Best Places to Live" and is the only Long Island community to make the annual list.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The LIRR
Mr. Butler, who lived across the street from us in Bellmore, worked for the Long Island Railroad. I always looked with awe on his work growing up there. The LI double "R" as it sometimes calls get us LIers where we need to go. It has come a long way.
Yesterday, after a pastors meeting in Massapequa Park, my friend George dropped me off at the station. I got my ticket through the automated machine. I was heading into Flushing to meet Lucy. She was coming out of the city at the time I was heading in. I got on one of the new trains, complete with air conditioning. I was able to relax and enjoy the jaunt along the south shore where I grew up. Visible from the train were some of our old fishing spots- we would spend hours there day after day in the summer. Strangely enough but not surprisingly really there were no kids. Computers, DVDs, air conditioned houses (an absolute luxury when I was a kid) have kept the kids of today locked up, leaving the outdoors to itself. They do not know what they are missing and I would not trade my memories of fishing in Twin Lakes for all the money in the world... If MasterCard made commercials back in the 60's... a fishing rod at Robinhood's- $1.95, all the hooks you could ever use- 49 cents, fishing line- 59 cents, memories of days spent fishing in Bellmore and Wantagh- priceless! Sorry for the digression. Back to the LIRR... I arrived safely at my connection in Woodside and jumped on the 7 train and met Lucy. It is always an adventure to travel by train for me. I love trains. I guess that is why every Christmas for the past 50 years a set of Lionel Trains have been around our Christmas tree. My dad bought them in Queens coming out of the subway in December 1956. I was 5 months old. He said he bought them for me. Yeah right!
Yesterday, after a pastors meeting in Massapequa Park, my friend George dropped me off at the station. I got my ticket through the automated machine. I was heading into Flushing to meet Lucy. She was coming out of the city at the time I was heading in. I got on one of the new trains, complete with air conditioning. I was able to relax and enjoy the jaunt along the south shore where I grew up. Visible from the train were some of our old fishing spots- we would spend hours there day after day in the summer. Strangely enough but not surprisingly really there were no kids. Computers, DVDs, air conditioned houses (an absolute luxury when I was a kid) have kept the kids of today locked up, leaving the outdoors to itself. They do not know what they are missing and I would not trade my memories of fishing in Twin Lakes for all the money in the world... If MasterCard made commercials back in the 60's... a fishing rod at Robinhood's- $1.95, all the hooks you could ever use- 49 cents, fishing line- 59 cents, memories of days spent fishing in Bellmore and Wantagh- priceless! Sorry for the digression. Back to the LIRR... I arrived safely at my connection in Woodside and jumped on the 7 train and met Lucy. It is always an adventure to travel by train for me. I love trains. I guess that is why every Christmas for the past 50 years a set of Lionel Trains have been around our Christmas tree. My dad bought them in Queens coming out of the subway in December 1956. I was 5 months old. He said he bought them for me. Yeah right!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Long Island Sailor Man
Bay Shore sailor grinds out America's Cup win
Matt Welling, of Bay Shore, never doubted that his longtime dream of crewing on a sailboat that won the America's Cup would come true this year -- even when the competing boat took an early lead in the series.
Under contract to his team for another month, Welling hopes to be signed on for the next race cycle, which could keep him with the team for two to four years. In the meantime, he said, "We're looking forward to moving home at the end of this month" and staying in Bay Shore for at least a year. After some rest, he said he would engage in other professional sailing events until Alinghi calls.
He's anxious to return to Long Island. "I miss the bagels," he said. "We can't get good bagels here in Spain."
Under contract to his team for another month, Welling hopes to be signed on for the next race cycle, which could keep him with the team for two to four years. In the meantime, he said, "We're looking forward to moving home at the end of this month" and staying in Bay Shore for at least a year. After some rest, he said he would engage in other professional sailing events until Alinghi calls.
He's anxious to return to Long Island. "I miss the bagels," he said. "We can't get good bagels here in Spain."
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Long Island Clams
Yesterday our friends Mike and Linda brought by some fresh clams. They were absolutely delicious.
It is amazing how many memories a single taste can evoke. As I savored those treasures of the Great South Bay, my mind went back to places we had talked about together: Nathan's in Oceanside, where you could get clams on the half shell and some fresh lemon and seafood sauce. Then there were summer cookouts in the 60's and 70's. Clams always showed up and there was someone there who knew the fine art of shucking them.
One of my favorite clamming stories has become a favorite of my granddaughter's, Emma. We were at Jones Beach, somewhere around 1967. There was one of those sandbars that often form in the summer. People were running on it. Some kid started to dig and then a gold rush began. It was a bed of clams! people were running from every direction to dig. We got 90 clams as we filled buckets and bags and any other container we could use. I remember a Coleman gallon jug being used as one.
Later that day and into the next Mom made up everything from fried clams to clam chowder and stuffed clams. It was incredible.
Thanks Mike and Linda for bringing the clams by and for all the memories they brought to the surface.
It is amazing how many memories a single taste can evoke. As I savored those treasures of the Great South Bay, my mind went back to places we had talked about together: Nathan's in Oceanside, where you could get clams on the half shell and some fresh lemon and seafood sauce. Then there were summer cookouts in the 60's and 70's. Clams always showed up and there was someone there who knew the fine art of shucking them.
One of my favorite clamming stories has become a favorite of my granddaughter's, Emma. We were at Jones Beach, somewhere around 1967. There was one of those sandbars that often form in the summer. People were running on it. Some kid started to dig and then a gold rush began. It was a bed of clams! people were running from every direction to dig. We got 90 clams as we filled buckets and bags and any other container we could use. I remember a Coleman gallon jug being used as one.
Later that day and into the next Mom made up everything from fried clams to clam chowder and stuffed clams. It was incredible.
Thanks Mike and Linda for bringing the clams by and for all the memories they brought to the surface.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
You Know You Are From Long Island If...
You live in the shadow of the greatest city in the world,
but you almost never go there.
When you're away from Long Island , you love it
and when you're there, you don't.
You think if you're not from Long Island or NYC,
you're not really from New York
You know the exact point at which Queens
turns into Nassau simply on intuition.
You don't go to Manhattan , you go to "The City".
You never realize you have an accent till you leave.
Everything north of the Bronx is "upstate." New Jersey stinks.
At some point in your life you've gone clamming.
Either your parents or your grandparents lived in the city.
You'd pay $11.50 for a movie.
You don't live in Long Island You live ON Long Island
Your distant future might involve the state of Florida
You can correctly pronounce places like
Ronkonkoma , Hauppauge, Wantagh , Mineola, Islandia, Massapequa and Islip
You know the location of 6 malls and a dozen McDonalds, 20 Chinese Restaurants
and 36 7-11's.
You never, ever want to "change at Jamaica..."
You've tried to find the Amityville Horror house.
No, you don't want mustard on that burger!!
You can't understand why a diner would ever close.
You've had a seagull crap on your car.
You have or someone you know has fallen asleep on the LIRR
and ended up in one of these three places;
Babylon , Port Washington or Hicksville .
You know White Castle is terrible for you
and the food is terrible but you periodically "Get the Crave".
You want the Yankees to stay in the Bronx,
but would probably go to more games if they moved to Manhattan
You think that somehow, the Jets and Giants still play in New York
You've missed that "Drunk Train", the 2:42 out of Penn
and had the dreaded wait until 5:30.
You or someone you know has owned an animal
that came from North Shore Animal League.
Quick! Who's your county Executive ? Don't know do you?!
You've never taken an MTA bus.
The Long Island Expressway isn't really as bad as everybody thinks.
You don't associate Fire Island with gay men.
You know which parts of the Godfather were filmed on Long Island
You think Islip MacArthur airport is cute
and you enjoy watching it grow up.
Billy Joel said it best,
"either you date a rich girl from The North Shore,
or a cool girl from the South Shore ".
You don't really see the big deal about the Hamptons
When people ask "where are you from?"
you answer Long Guy Land and automatically assume everyone in the world knows that answer means New York.
You've always liked Billy Joel and you own several of his "records."
The Belt Parkway is a nightmare. You've been stuck in a traffic jam
for more than 2 hours (without moving).
Your parents took you to All American, Nathan's or Carvel
(on the way home from the beach).
Regular gas - $3.29 and you still pay it!!!
You hate paying tolls.
You don't have to go far to see your family .
You remember Grumman.
You know the color of the water at Jones Beach is not BLUE!
You were upset when all the Roy Rogers turned into Wendy's and Arby's closed for good.
You can spout off all the LIRR stops between
Penn Station and where you live.
Paying $35 for a haircut doesn't sound so crazy.
You think the people from Brooklyn are
"da wunz dat tawk wit a accent."
You went sledding in the sumps or at Bethpage State Park.
You knew of Massapequa before
the Amy Fisher-Joey Buttafuoco nightmare.
You think going to Queens is a hike.
The first time you heard the term "Long Island Iced Tea"
you were somewhere else and you laughed.
When you visit somewhere else you are astounded
to see that people actually stop at yellow lights.
When you just sort of presume that wherever you visit,
you'll be able to find good delis, good pizza, and good bagels...
then the horrible reality sets in and you can't wait to get home!
You can name at least three bands that came from Long Island
When you walk in the city and you see two men holding hands...
you don't stare.
No word ends in an ER, just an AH.
You actually get these jokes
and pass them on to other friends from Long Island
You are smiling now.
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