While this happened last Tuesday - I thought I'd share.
Again, just simply walking to work when a very forceful and bulletproof motorcade passes by me and then stops in front of my building. Heavily armed guards get out and point big guns at the sky, the surrounding buildings and above our heads. But some are held in the ready position to the hoi polloi as well.
Of interest to me were the men in suits that travel with the windows open, facing outward, scanning the crowd. No seatbelts, but still at the ready with earpieces, weaponry, and the ability to call anyone into action. Then, out of the big black car comes the foreign minister of iran. Here to be interviewed by AP - and he travels well protected.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Summer Camp produces Cheers, not Tears
Newsflash.... the boy likes summer camp. Well, summer day camp run by the fab adult school in the town we live in. His schedule, which he helped select, consists of fencing, good books/good times, computers, mosaics and karate. He is loving karate and fencing - and happily models fencing and karate moves each night. He is also all about a good book - and happily told me about a polar bear who eats ice cream, and disclosed that they all got dixie cups of ice cream in class. What's not to love?
The end of camp. That's what not to love. This doesn't mean that camps are over for the summer. It means the patchwork activities have begun. He'll travel out of state with his cousin to visit grandparents. Said grandparents are sending the kids to zoo camp. That's right - the zoo hosts a day camp from 9 - mid afternoon. Said kids go together, play in the zoo and then get picked up. By 5 they'll be in the pool. By 6:30, eating dinner, and by 8:30 back to bed for another round of meaningful dream preparation for the next day.
Oh - and the next week he's off to museum camp. I don't think it's going to go so well - but we'll see. It's called harness the wind - and it's all about kites, mobiles, wind chimes and art work. They will get to actually turn on the fan that moves the calder sculpture - which might be interesting. I fear the week won't go so well...but we'll see. Anything can look better with air conditioning.
After that week, a repeat of last summer's favorite activity - the Bronx Zoo day camp. A terrible commute - but he's so happy he doesn't even complain when we are on an unairconditioned subway for 50 minutes - and that's just to get to midtown. Wow.
Summer's here. Camp is fun. And the beer is cold. Sweet.
The end of camp. That's what not to love. This doesn't mean that camps are over for the summer. It means the patchwork activities have begun. He'll travel out of state with his cousin to visit grandparents. Said grandparents are sending the kids to zoo camp. That's right - the zoo hosts a day camp from 9 - mid afternoon. Said kids go together, play in the zoo and then get picked up. By 5 they'll be in the pool. By 6:30, eating dinner, and by 8:30 back to bed for another round of meaningful dream preparation for the next day.
Oh - and the next week he's off to museum camp. I don't think it's going to go so well - but we'll see. It's called harness the wind - and it's all about kites, mobiles, wind chimes and art work. They will get to actually turn on the fan that moves the calder sculpture - which might be interesting. I fear the week won't go so well...but we'll see. Anything can look better with air conditioning.
After that week, a repeat of last summer's favorite activity - the Bronx Zoo day camp. A terrible commute - but he's so happy he doesn't even complain when we are on an unairconditioned subway for 50 minutes - and that's just to get to midtown. Wow.
Summer's here. Camp is fun. And the beer is cold. Sweet.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
And the Rains Came...
So, the Friday before Memorial Day was a "give back day". The states that have no snow in the winter, but plan excessively for it, have give backs. This means school was closed in order to adjust the very special you-must-attend-every-day calendar, but half days count for attendance as well... So we all scrambled for childcare - because of course, 9 days notice is enough for any reasonable person.
And then Tuesday, June 10th came to be. And as June 10th was ending, possibly the weirdest weather this little town has seen struck - and struck hard. We ended up in the basement, with no power, cell phones lit, and waited for the worst to pass.
Our beloved tree - the big one in front of the house - fell apart. It didn't hit the house - but most of the branches fell onto the wires onto the street...and we took out 10 houses worth of power. That's okay - the rest of the neighborhood was out as well. We could see between lightening flashes that big branches were down and that wires were arcing. And then foolish people went out into the dark, into the streets, with downed wires all over the place.
We also discovered that the boy actually knew where something was... in the midst of T and I trying to find our way around the house guided by cell phone light, the boy piped up and said he knew where his headlamp was. Really? Because he can't seem to find the underwear that's in his top drawer - every day. Except - in this case - he was right. He knew - because he's been using the headlamp (as he later revealed) to read after lights out.
Armed with one flashlight, one head lamp and two cell phones we eventually slept downstairs - in case the rest of the tree fell into our bedrooms. Just a bough resting on the roof - nothing like what another neighborhood faced... The best part - it was 90 degrees for 3 days, and the power finally came back on late Thursday evening - with a breakdown on Friday - and then returned for good on Friday afternoon.
I will post a picture of the mess once I get the computer and the camera to talk to each other. It sounds so simple, yet, there is one tiny little link missing and until I can find it - you'll have to use your imagination. And get this - I looked forward to going to work each morning because I could count on power, air conditioning, and a place to recharge my phone. Sad, but true.
Wednesday morning school was cancelled via the reverse 911 system - for those people with power, working phone lines and the like. Our neighborhood had none of those things - so the police drove in as far as they could, and then walked with bullhorns announcing the state of emergency and school closings. Don't you really want to be home with a neighborhood that has more than 9 first graders... and none of them can find a safe outdoor place to play because of wires, widow-makers (big broken branches resting in the trees, just waiting for a breeze so they can drop), and hot, humid air? Oh yes - it's pretty. But shortlived -and really, considering the rest of the country was dealing with other, worse natural disasters, this was just annoying.
3 days without power is enough for me. It's not like we were trying to live off the grid. Or had planned a weekend of camping. We just happened to be the last ten houses in the 'hood that were turned back on - and if our neighbor hadn't literally flagged down a tiny utility company truck and started crying, we might not have gotten power until Saturday. They actually told her they had moved on so they could restore bigger sections and reduce "overall total power outages". Our ten houses meant nothing...until the worker actually stopped.
The upside - a lovely, clean fridge. The downside - school was extended an extra day...that's right - after the give back vacation day - the kids were in school until the 25th. And I'm not sure anyone was happy about that. First grade's over - and summer has begun.
And then Tuesday, June 10th came to be. And as June 10th was ending, possibly the weirdest weather this little town has seen struck - and struck hard. We ended up in the basement, with no power, cell phones lit, and waited for the worst to pass.
Our beloved tree - the big one in front of the house - fell apart. It didn't hit the house - but most of the branches fell onto the wires onto the street...and we took out 10 houses worth of power. That's okay - the rest of the neighborhood was out as well. We could see between lightening flashes that big branches were down and that wires were arcing. And then foolish people went out into the dark, into the streets, with downed wires all over the place.
We also discovered that the boy actually knew where something was... in the midst of T and I trying to find our way around the house guided by cell phone light, the boy piped up and said he knew where his headlamp was. Really? Because he can't seem to find the underwear that's in his top drawer - every day. Except - in this case - he was right. He knew - because he's been using the headlamp (as he later revealed) to read after lights out.
Armed with one flashlight, one head lamp and two cell phones we eventually slept downstairs - in case the rest of the tree fell into our bedrooms. Just a bough resting on the roof - nothing like what another neighborhood faced... The best part - it was 90 degrees for 3 days, and the power finally came back on late Thursday evening - with a breakdown on Friday - and then returned for good on Friday afternoon.
I will post a picture of the mess once I get the computer and the camera to talk to each other. It sounds so simple, yet, there is one tiny little link missing and until I can find it - you'll have to use your imagination. And get this - I looked forward to going to work each morning because I could count on power, air conditioning, and a place to recharge my phone. Sad, but true.
Wednesday morning school was cancelled via the reverse 911 system - for those people with power, working phone lines and the like. Our neighborhood had none of those things - so the police drove in as far as they could, and then walked with bullhorns announcing the state of emergency and school closings. Don't you really want to be home with a neighborhood that has more than 9 first graders... and none of them can find a safe outdoor place to play because of wires, widow-makers (big broken branches resting in the trees, just waiting for a breeze so they can drop), and hot, humid air? Oh yes - it's pretty. But shortlived -and really, considering the rest of the country was dealing with other, worse natural disasters, this was just annoying.
3 days without power is enough for me. It's not like we were trying to live off the grid. Or had planned a weekend of camping. We just happened to be the last ten houses in the 'hood that were turned back on - and if our neighbor hadn't literally flagged down a tiny utility company truck and started crying, we might not have gotten power until Saturday. They actually told her they had moved on so they could restore bigger sections and reduce "overall total power outages". Our ten houses meant nothing...until the worker actually stopped.
The upside - a lovely, clean fridge. The downside - school was extended an extra day...that's right - after the give back vacation day - the kids were in school until the 25th. And I'm not sure anyone was happy about that. First grade's over - and summer has begun.
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