The holiday weekend thus far

[mojosmom]

I had the day off yesterday, and a lovely day it was, too. I did some chores around the house in the morning (my stove is sparkling!), and shortly after noon decided that it was much too nice a day to stay inside. I had a couple of small errands to run, so went to the bank, and then over to the shopping center, thinking I'd get lunch at the small café there. As I headed to the courtyard, I heard music. There was a jazz trio playing!


I got my sandwich, and sat outside in the sun listening to music. A very nice surprise, indeed, and I told the guys that afterwards. Apparently, the shopping center will be doing this regularly. It's just too bad I don't always have Fridays off!

On the way home, I noticed a sign in the window of the barber shop (excuse me, "barber studio") near my house, advertising Summer Jam Sessions! The next one is July 15th; I shall have to check it out. This seems a rather cool place; there are always guys in there playing chess.

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The Fourth

As usual, I went down to watch the neighborhood parade go by. It's always the same: bagpipers at the front, the usual politicians in costume and neighborhood groups, kids on bikes,

dogs and horses, etc. Also as usual, it was fun.

I then went over to the 61st Street Farmers' Market, where there was grilling going on. I had lamb sausage with onions and bell peppers, and then I had hand-churned ice cream with fresh berries:


There was good stuff available. I came home with some nice flowers, a cucumber, baby lettuce mix, and black raspberries. Not blackberries. Black raspberries. I've never seen those before. The guy let me taste them first; they are a bit tarter than red raspberries. They also stain. I just ate a bunch with my fingers and noticed that the tips turned dark purple! My tongue, too. So be careful. Probably not a good idea to wear white while eating them.

After I got home and got everything stashed away, and the flowers in a vase on the hall table, I headed out the door to go to a local park for more festivities. But it was raining a bit, so I stayed inside, putting my head out the back door every so often to see if there was any improvement. Shortly, there was, and I threw a folding umbrella in my bag and went off to listen to music and have some more fun. There was a Madeline Ring Toss:

and you could make a mummy or spill milk, or learn origami, or spit watermelon seeds, or see a magic show.

Everyone, young

and old

was dancing to the music and having a good time.

Umbrellas were in use occasionally, but it was pretty much just drizzle off and on, until towards the end of the blues set, at which point I headed home for dinner.

Comments

[fancyhorse.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you had a wonderful Fourth (and third, too!). I hope the rest of your weekend is lovely.

[holmesfan.livejournal.com]

As always your postings make me feel so good. Each photo had its own special story to tell. Loved the colourful bikes, and specially liked the Madeline Ring Toss. What a neat idea. The contrast between the young and old dancing was heartening too.
You've just given great joy to one of your readers.

[mojosmom.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad I was able to do so.

I think that one of the reasons I love these small community events is that there are so many things that are shared by all different kinds of people!

The two older folk are my friend Eugenie, a retired bookbinder who came to this country to escape the Holocaust, and Gene Williams, known as Gendu, a magician (that's why he's in a tux - he was doing a couple of magic shows).

[greedyreader.livejournal.com]

I love your picture and word write ups.

What a great day.

[cathepsut.livejournal.com]

Looks and reads like a very nice day.