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| On Sunday morning, April 17th, I walked to church. It was warm and sunny. The ground was still swampy after all of the precipitation (snow followed by rain). There are a lot of wetlands in Grand Island. Because the majority of the soil here is clay, the water sits on top of the ground. Clay soil absorbs water slowly. So we get lakes and ponds where there were never lakes and ponds. |
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| I really believe that we have seen our last snowfall. It looks as if spring is here to stay. The daffodils are all blooming, and the wintertime drab is being replaced by springtime pastels. |
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| On Sunday afternoon, I went to the Grand Island Historical Society open house at River Lea in Beaver Island State Park. I got there early so I took a walk. I saw a large group of geese and chased after them to take their picture. Alas, geese have a lot to learn about posing for the camera. They aren’t good at it. They just keep moving. Here is one of the geese, heading to the water, human with camera following. |
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| Human with camera arrived at the river. This is the dock for River Lea. It needs some repair. It was too difficult to get on the dock so I took the picture from the shore. |
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| After going to the dock, I walked down the trail and took a few pictures of the river. |
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| It was a good day to be outside. People were fishing, bird watching, walking dogs, and enjoying the park. I met a couple on the trail who told me about the black crowned night heron. They showed me the birds, which were perched high in the trees. They were large birds, and they could be easily seen, once I knew where to look. It was fun to see the birds through the binoculars. The birds were too far away for me to take their pictures, however. |
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| This is the view from the lagoon at Beaver Island State Park. |
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| A long time ago, there were houses where there is now a trail. They were the houses of wealthy people, who also had homes in Buffalo. All of the houses but River Lea were torn down to make space for the golf course. |
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| This is the gate to River Lea. It’s the end of the trail. In 1962, the Grand Island Historical Society was formed. It was formed to protect River Lea, which was slated for demolition. Everything that was connected with the house was gone… the furnishings and even the gates. Eventually, the gates were returned and they now stand at the end of the trail. |
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| The garden at River Lea is blooming with early spring flowers. Lots and lots of daffodils are planted there, along with some hyacinths. It would be nice to see tulips but they don’t get planted because they wouldn’t last. Deer, which thrive at Beaver Island State Park, seem to see tulips as delicacies. They gobble down the plants and even eat up the bulbs. |
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| This is the shadow box with memorabilia from Electric Beach. The little squares in the shadow boxes have the words Electric Beach and numbers embossed in them. They could have been attached to baskets or to lockers. The light bulb is a typical early 20th century light bulb. The bottle could have come from Electric Beach or from Magnus Beck Brewery, which was located at the same place after Electric Beach closed down. |
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| This is a little tea set that’s on display in the hutch in the living room of River Lea. |
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| These are also on display. |
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| This is Adele. She is a retired teacher who arranges to get speakers for the meetings of the Grand Island Historical Society. She is a quilter and a gardener. She is making a holder for an iron. If you are traveling and you need your iron, you can bring along an iron holder like this. You can place it on the table and put the clothing item on top of it and then iron. You can also carry irons in this before they’ve completely cooled down. |
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| Many things have been donated to the Grand Island Historical Society. |
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| Well, I had to photograph this just because it exists! |
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| Really pretty. I wonder how this was done. |
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| Gardening hat. |
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| Mirrors and reflecting surfaces! So much fun! |
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| Shiny, shiny silver. Here is my reflection in the shiny silver. |
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| On Monday, I went to the library for the monthly book club meeting. The book that we discussed was Little Black Lies, by Sandra Block. The author is a neurologist, who lives in the Buffalo, New York, area. She is going to be the speaker at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Grand Island Memorial Library on May 12th. The main character was a young doctor who was working as a psychiatric resident in a hospital in Buffalo. |
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| Tuesday was primary day. I spent the entire day working as an election inspector at a fire truck house. The fire trucks were moved to the parking lot for the day so that we would have adequate space for our polling place. |
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| People brought small children, who were fascinated by the fire trucks. |
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| It was a real pleasure to work with this group of people. I enjoyed spending the day with them. |
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| Half of an orange and a clementine. |
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| I walked to my doctor’s office, about three and a half miles away, for my regular appointment. It was a lovely, sunny spring day. |
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| I’ve seen all varieties of daffodils but this is the first time that I’ve ever seen an all-white daffodil. I checked on line and discovered daffodils with bright red centers. I would love to see that in person! |
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| Notice how the center is shaped with very curly leaves. |
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| This is another color scheme for a daffodil. It sort of reminds me of an egg! |
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| Floral arrangement on an ornamental gate. |
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| This is a close up view of a hyacinth. |
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| My visit to Dr. Haq was very good. He said that I am quite healthy. In February, on the other hand, I visited his office, feeling very sick. I had the flu, despite having had a flu shot. He said that the flu shot this year was “ineffective.” I was so grateful that he saw me on short notice and that the medication that he gave me (Tamiflu) worked so well that I sent a thank you card. Mrs. Haq, who works in the office, told me that I was the first person ever to send a thank you card. She had the card on display on her desk. |
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| As I was walking home, I saw this helicopter, which I first thought was a low-flying UFO. |
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| The helicopter was visiting a pre-school. It was very adventurous and exciting for the children, as well as for the adults. |
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| A good time was had by all. |
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| Vivid color in flower pots. |
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| Lovely arrangement at Stella Niagara. |
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This is a different view of the same arrangement.
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| This week’s painting was an imitation of stained glass. |
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On Thursday evening, I went to Daemen College to listen to Kathy Kelly give a talk at the Latin American Solidarity Committee event.
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| Vicki Ross, the executive director of the Western New York Peace Center, introduced Kathy Kelly. |
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| Kathy talked about her travels in Iraq and Afghanistan and her observations about what war does to human beings. In Afghanistan, explosions have become almost routine. Despite the constant dangers, the Afghan Peace volunteers continue to work to bring about peace in their country. They’ve created a school where street children can get an education. They have had 4,000 heavy blankets made and distributed to people who have none and who were in danger of hypothermia during Afghanistan’s very cold winters.
“There is no indoor heating in Kabul,” Kathy said. “It is cold.” |
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| The war in Afghanistan has gone on for fifteen years. “Afghan mothers still weep because they cannot feed their children,” Kathy said.
Kathy talked about the bombing of the Doctors Without Borders trauma hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, on October 3rd, 2015, by U.S. forces. The doctors called the U.S. military and told them to call off the bombing; they were hitting a hospital. The bombing continued for an hour. Khaled Ahmed, the pharmacist, was in the hospital when it was attacked. He “took shrapnel. He had pain and was dizzy, and was losing blood.” He called home because, in his culture, when you are at the hour of your death, you ask your father for forgiveness for any wrongs that you may have committed. His mother answered the phone. “My son, where are you?” “Mom, I must talk to dad.” Because Khaled was on a cell phone, his family was able to find him. They took him to a clinic. He had lost blood and was in shock. The clinic did not have the resources to help a critically injured patient. He finally ended up at the emergency surgical center for victims of war. He has survived. He asked Kathy, “Why would your government try to kill us? We were only trying to help people.” Doctors Without Borders wants an independent investigation of the bombing attack. |
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| On Friday, I walked to Huth Road Elementary School to take pictures of the Viking Values lunch. It is a time for kids to have some relaxation at school. They can buy little trinkets and they can play games at lunchtime. |
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| I walked back home and saw that, across the street, a tree was being cut down. |
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| On Friday afternoon, I went to the high school for the five hour driving class. These are some “people” in the classroom. |
Next week: More adventures. The next entry may be late because the computer has to go to the “computer hospital” for treatment of an ailment.
Amazing pictures, I have to say my favorite has to be the goose
All the best
Barry
Love the "egg" daffodil. I collect tea pots and the ones you photographed were pretty!
Yvonne V
LOL about the geese who could learn a thing or two about posing for pictures! And, oh, those flower pictures were so GORGEOUS! I hope you are right, that spring has come to stay where you are.
Jeanine
Love the photos of the flowers – and the peacock feather. Thanks for sharing
Love daffodils – first, because there are so many types, and second, because they are so reliable here in the Southern Tier of upstate New York. We don't have deer problems but you are right – deer love tulips, but don't like daffodils. I hope spring is finally here for you. Cross fingers, I think it is finally here for us.