The Final Curtain Call

…There used to be a ballpark where the field was warm and green
And the people played their crazy game with a joy I'd never seen
And the air was such a wonder from the hot dogs and the beer
Yes, there used a ballpark right here…

- Frank Sinatra

As I write these words, Yankee Stadium has closed its gates at the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue in the Bronx where it has proudly stood for the last 85 years. While the countdown clock may remain infinitely frozen at “1,” we all know it won’t be quite the same experience next season when we cross the street to take in our first game at the new ballpark.

Talk to Strangers

How many times have we all been admonished not to talk to strangers? On countless occasions, I’m sure.

While this advice surely has its practicality, it also limits that human contact which is so integral to living and learning. Should we talk to every random person we happen to encounter on the street? No, of course not. But anyone with even a hint of decent judgement should be able to ascertain the difference.

Being There

There is something to be said for being present at an historic, once-in-a-lifetime event.

Two weeks ago, I had the good fortune to be in attendance at two of them.

Edward Scissorhands Goes Online

A running joke in my family has been to compare my father to the “Edward Scissorhands” of movie fame, our tongue-in-cheek reference to his…how to put this delicately…less than stellar history, shall we say, with the hedge trimmer.

There were several instances of nearly mangled bushes, the time when he cut all the flowers off the lilac shrub by mistake - and, the all-time classic, the day when the power suddenly cut out in mid-trim, causing my father to frantically gesture that one of us must have knocked the cord out of the outlet, only to find it lying there, severed in half, on the grass.

Forever in Our Hearts

“Forever”
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom and make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. Some people stay in our lives awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.”

– Flavia

LEFT Through the Lens of Time

Talk about a trip down memory lane…

I was recently invited to attend one of Lindenhurst School District’s LEFT for Juniors field trips, “LEFT” standing for “Lindenhurst Environmental Field Trip.” This program, an outgrowth of the original (designed for high school Advanced Placement Biology students), is geared especially to the elementary school’s 4th graders. It was founded in the early 1980’s by one innovator, Mr. Lee Paseltiner, Lindenhurst High School teacher and adviser.

That Was the Time

“This is the time to remember, ‘cause it will not last forever. These are the days to hold on to, ‘cause we won’t although we’ll want to.”

Poetry. Pure poetry.

Those lyrics, from Billy Joel’s poignant This Is The Time, played incessantly at my senior prom, having been designated as the “official prom song” for the Lindenhurst High School Class of 2000. It was ironic, even back then, that a bunch of 17 and 18-year-olds would select anything but the most modern, up-to-date hit to capture their little moment in time.

The Agony and The Irony

I’m beginning to think that neither I, nor anyone in my family, should ever entertain the thought of traveling farther than the corner store again - maybe not even that far.

On a recent road trip to Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania – just outside Lewisburg – to attend the high school graduation of a close family friend, we became victims of what can only be adequately described as “the trip from hell.”

Adventures in Mass Transit – Part II

I have reached the conclusion that no one in my family can ride the train and/or subway uneventfully. No matter where we’re going, how simple and direct the route, or what time of day or week we set out to travel, something always goes wrong.

Something.

Always.

Waiting for the Sign to Change

Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen! It’s time for another installment of your favorite mini-thriller: Driving On L.I. – Adventures in Transit. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, someone, somewhere, decides to go and do something so spectacularly dumb that you simply can’t believe your eyes.

Adventures in Mass Transit

My family and I recently made a trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. One train ride, 87 subway stops (give or take), one shuttle bus ride, an hour-long wait on a five-mile-long line in Battery Park, and one swaying ferry ride later – we arrived.

It was about 3 p.m. We had taken a 10:04 a.m. train.