A Day in Philadelphia

Last month His Madness and I decided to make an adventure out of a road trip. Mostly it was to deliver a lot of stuff to our son, Andy and his wife, Kristin. They had just bought a house so we assumed they would have room to store a few extra things and it gave us a good excuse to snoop around their new place. Since we just celebrated a national holiday, it reminded me of the time we spent in Philadelphia driving home. Our first stop on the journey was supposed to be a quick look around Sleepy Hollow, NY but Siri sent us off in a completely different direction and we ended up inching our way through the Bronx and upper Manhattan before we knew what was happening. 

Much later than we had hoped, we arrived at the Fairfield Inn and Suites in Philadelphia, chosen because it was close to all the historic sites and they had valet parking. It happened to be a newly redone, 1920's Art Deco style building with this cute bunny motif everywhere. Turns out, the new owners have a really great sense of humor. In its previous life as the Parker Spruce Hotel, it had quite a notorious reputation, to which the bunnies allude. The former gay, sports bar is now a hip place called The Libertine. Happily, the big screens are almost gone. The staff was great and it was a fun and interesting place to stay.

The next morning we decided to tour Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The tickets are free but when we tried to reserve them online it kept showing that all of the tours were full. There are only so many tickets given out each day so we took a chance and went to the Visitors Center first thing in the morning and surprise, there were tickets available after all - with a group of fifty-six middle school kids, ha! 

The tour was short, there are only two rooms to it. The one above is where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Our guide was knowledgeable and gave a thorough explanation about it and the importance of the Bill of Rights. He covered the 13th through the 15th Amendments to the Constitution that ended slavery and granted equal rights to former slaves in detail and then the tour was over. What? As we were leaving I thanked him and mentioned that I'd noticed he'd left out the 19th Amendment. He apologized and said he felt bad about that but they were doing more tours now so he didn't have enough time to talk about women not being allowed to vote until 1920. So, the fact that our government denied half of its citizens the right to participate in what is supposed to be a democracy, for the first 144 years of its existence, is no big deal? I disagree.

Meanwhile, back outside, on the opposite end of  Independence Hall, HM is advancing the film in his cardboard camera. Nearly all of the historic buildings are clustered in one area so it's really easy to see everything in a short amount of time. I think the Park Service could do with some funding to spruce the area up a bit. The buildings looked a little shabby and a couple of them were permanently closed. The courtyard across the street is where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the citizens of Philadelphia. Wonder if they allowed any women to listen? 

I have to say the zoning is Philadelphia is very interesting, this is the very edge of the historical park area. This photo was taken from the Magnolia Garden across the street. There are a lot of shade trees and quite a few gardens in the park that provided us with a welcome relief from the 90° heat. Unfortunately, there was no escaping the sauna-like humidity.  

Next, we headed over to the Betsy Ross Museum for a feminist view of colonial times and some excellent air conditioning. This museum has come under scrutiny for many years because its premise is based on oral history. Whether or not she designed and made the first flag or even lived in this house really doesn't matter, it still offers an interesting look at how people lived in the late 1700's. 

There is an actual record of her being paid for making flags for the Pennsylvania navy in 1778.  Although Francis Hopkinson probably designed it, Betsy Ross is credited with changing the star from a six points to five and arranging them in a circle. She was an upholsterer by trade and had to hand sew the flags at night, alone in her room, to avoid being seen. If she had been caught making flags for the revolutionaries she would have been arrested for treason. Luckily, no one turned her in! Throughout the 84 years of her life she ran a successful business, had three husbands and produced seven daughters. I think she deserves a museum just for that!

Having cooled off a little we headed for Elfreth's Alley, the oldest continually inhabited residential street in the United States. It was named after Jeremiah Elfreth, a blacksmith and property owner. The homes were built between 1702 and 1830 as working class housing for tradespeople like glassblowers, silver and pewter smiths, furniture makers and shipwrights.     

Today there are thirty-two residences, two serving as a museum and is all residential but 300 years ago the ground level rooms were used for business with the residents living above. In the 1770's one third of the households were headed by women. The museum recreates a colonial-era home of a pair of dress-makers but unfortunately it wasn't open the day we visited. 

In fact, we pretty much had the place to ourselves, apart from a very friendly kitty. We hand just wandered off a side alleyway when I decided to take a photo and who walks into the picture? 

A Minuteman dude. He was leading a tour of European tourists who were looking around skeptically and probably wondering why anyone would think these building were that old.

It's a cute place, if the cobblestones would have been more even, it could be in a Disney park! Given what the rest of the buildings look like in the surrounding blocks, it's a miracle it has survived.Thanks to many dedicated people, working diligently over the years, it was saved from real estate development and Interstate 95. 

We finished off the day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art because they were open late that evening. This is the view from the top of the steps. Thankfully, the cheesy statue of Rocky has been moved to another place. There's a whole lot more to see and do in Philadelphia but we managed to get in quite a bit in just one day. Hopefully we will visit again, the gardens should be spectacular in the spring. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

It's Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, I hope everyone had a great day!

We were invited to a Thanksgiving Feast last weekend and today it's just us. Can't say I wasn't tempted to blow the whole thing off! I knew I wouldn't miss the cooking and cleaning but the thought of not roasting a turkey felt a little strange - and I don't even like it that much!  

"Please don't make me cook the turkey, it's five times bigger than me!

So the preparations began with His Madness turning a pumpkin into a pie.

While I made the easiest thing on the menu.

We stuck with the traditional dishes because we knew if we didn't make the same dinner we have been making for all of the past Thanksgivings, we would be completely confused about what holiday we were actually celebrating. Who knows what might happen next, we might forget to go shopping!

It all worked out in the end. We got to talk with Andy and Kristin over FaceTime and now, much like everyone else, we will be eating leftover turkey for weeks. How do we always make too much?

Of course, no Thanksgiving is complete without falling asleep watching the afternoon rerun of the Macy's parade. It's hard to believe it was colder in New York City than it was here, burrrr!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Sorry for being late in sending out good wishes to everyone.

To all of you who don't celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great Thursday!

Some Silliness on the Change of Seasons

HM and I went for a walk one day,

to enjoy all the autumn color.

We were a little late for the show

but that's how it goes,

at least it was beautiful weather!

Fall leaves disappear in the blink of an eye

but crabapples stay around forever.

Their bright colors attract lots of critters, in fact,

which turns out to be really quite clever.

It's been a lot colder than normal this fall,

although that's not really something I dread.

It brings out the autumn colors quite well 

and all of the mosquitoes are dead!

Dark clouds usually hang in the sky overhead

so the bright blue was quite a surprise.

For now I'm quite happy with things as they are  

but it's kind of hurting my eyes! 

Leaves float on the top of the Frog Pond,

eventually to sink in the end.

Bare trees are reflected on the surface

and photobombed by HM. 

Sometimes you can't see the forest

because there are too many trees.

That's what's special about autumn,

we get to them all differently.

It's nearly the end of this season, 

another one soon will begin.

Mother Nature is laughing her ass off

 and planning a do-over again.

Though the gold of the birch and aspens

was swept away weeks ago,

the oaks and maples around,

kept our spirits from getting down,

about the inevitable snow. 

Back at home there was still lots of color,

unfortunately, primarily in the street!

Then white arrived on the scene, 

putting an end to the green,

and poor orange was overcome with grief!

As this very strange blog post is ending,

there's one thing that's important to know,

this can't be a good start to winter 

 with leaves on top of the snow!

Thanks for stopping by and

THANKS FOR VOTING!!!!

A Long Rant on Why it's Important to Vote!

Uncle Madness wants you to

VOTE TODAY!

There used to be a joke going around that if you had a Mom there was at least one person reading your blog. In the summer of 2014 I began this blog as a way of keeping my mom up on what was blooming in my garden. After my dad died in 2007, she spent several months living with us and for the first time in my memory, started to take an interest in plants and flowers. To be honest, my mom and I never had a great relationship but at least it wasn't contentious. As long as I did everything the way she wanted and didn't offer up any resistance or opinions of my own, we were cool. Long ago, I had resigned myself to the fact that we would never be one of those cute, super close mothers and daughters I so envied but that was okay because I did sort of have that with my wonderful grandma. Luckily, there was one thing we could always agree on and that was politics! When it came to equal pay for women and reproductive rights, we were of the same mind and she was as excited about the possibility of our next president being a woman as I was.

Unfortunately, by 2014 her severe osteoporosis had confined her to an assisted living facility. It was important to her that she remained in the community where she had spent her entire life but it was a five hour drive from where I live. Thanks to the internet she was able to keep up with what was happening in my garden through my blog with an iPad and some very sweet care assistants. She never warmed up to Burt, though she liked that he played the piano, ha! 

So where is this long story going exactly? Well, our unscrupulous Governor and his gerrymandered State Legislature, passed a law to combat our totally non-existent voter fraud.  According to the new law, a person who wanted to vote had to either have a valid Driver's License or a special photo ID. Mom had stopped driving years ago so in order to keep voting she needed one of the new ID cards. Now this is where it gets insidious. Supposedly, in order to balance the budget, the DMV site, the place that issues the IDs, was closed in her town and the next closest place was only open on the fifth Wednesday of the month, that's just four times a year!

Sadly, she passed away before the 2016 election but I would have made sure she had an ID. Still, could it have been any more impossible? How long would those lines have been if you needed to renew your driver's license when there was only four chances each year? What about all those other people in assisted living? Why does the party that's always screaming about patriotism want to keep so many people from voting? Trump won our state by just 22,000 votes, I wonder how that happened. 

   

Do you every wonder why there are never any laws passed that would require background checks on individuals purchasing semi-automatic weapons? Even after hundreds of people have been murdered at concerts, the movies, schools and houses of worship, no significant legislation has been enacted to control the sale of firearms. 

The guy in the middle is Scott Walker, the Governor of Wisconsin. He's happily embracing two accused Russians spies at a National Rifle Association convention. Yeah, how many things are wrong with this picture? One Wisconsin Now has reported  that he's had a 25-year relationship with the NRA, beginning with his 1993 State Assembly campaign. Their contributions have now added up to $3.5 million. Sounds like they felt he was a good investment. 

Alexander Torshin, the man on the left, is a member of the Russian government and the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia. He is currently under sanction by the US Treasury Department. According to reports by McClatchy, the FBI is investigating whether he funneled money to the NRA during the 2016 campaign. The NRA spent $11 million dollars supporting Trump and $20 million attacking Hillary Clinton. 

As for Maria Butina, she is accused of trying to cultivate relationships with the Republican Party's presidential candidates and the NRA in order to gain access to those individuals with the best access and influence over the Republican Party. She remains in federal custody awaiting trial for not registering as a foreign agent. She reportedly used her NRA connections to cosy up to quite a few politicians and even managed to attend Walker's invitation-only announcement of his presidential campaign.

Scott Walker has always been a controversial figure in our state. Lately he has been running ads saying he will protect people with pre-existing conditions from losing their health care. Funny thing, according to the New York Times, Walker joined a lawsuit with 19 other states that could destroy major parts of the Affordable Care Act and allow insurers to deny people coverage because of their medical history. Ok.

Living in a democracy gets to be hard work every so often and it's not going to be easy to clean up the mess Trump is making of it. It's up to each of us to inform ourselves, make responsible decisions and to vote on them. As for the 52% of women in my demographic (college educated white women) who voted for Trump, all I can say is, this is your chance to redeem yourselves. So get your heads out of your asses and do the right thing!

Most polling places are open until 8:00 pm tonight and if you are in line at 8:00 pm you will still be able to cast your ballot. In Wisconsin you can register to vote at your polling site. If you have already registered but there is no record of it, you need to ask for a provisional ballot, or maybe demand it.

Thanks for putting up with my rant, or not - as the case may be!

Burt and Ivy will be back to their silly stuff soon.

Thanks for voting!

It's All Hallows Eve!

The big day is finally here!

We've put on our Halloween hats, some of us are more enthusiastic than others,

. . . brought the pumpkins up from the basement

. . . and went to work!

Now they're all lit up and ready for the Trick or Treaters to arrive!

A couple of years ago I found these LED lights that flash different colors. They have definitely saved the day (or night) when the candles wouldn't stay lit because it was raining or snowing or both. The weather is pretty decent tonight, sure hope I don't run out of candy!

While we wait for the trick to treating to start, Kibitz has decided we need some fortune telling on this spooky evening. 

He brought Ivy and Burt one of Edward Gorey's Fantod Packs from his recent travels. It's a set of cards that will tell all the dreadful things lying in wait for those who ask what the future might bring.

To have his fortune read, Burt takes the pack in his left hand and. . .

. . . flings it into the air, while keeping his eyes closed.

Then he picks up five cards from the floor, keeping them in order.

The cards are laid out starting with first card in the center, then top, left, right and bottom. According to the interpretive booklet, Burt first card, The Stones, indicates he is currently subject to falling sick with a sudden affliction, possibly anemia or paralysis. He could also suffer strife due to a forged letter, false arrest or a loss of teeth. There's also a chance that a misconstruction of evil communications could lead to an estrangement or even worse, a distasteful duty. Yikes!  

The Urn foretells harmful rays that attacked him in his past may return. On an upcoming Friday he should watch out for a forged invitation or perhaps a low fever, it's a little unclear. As for his inner self, The Blue Dog means that throughout October he's susceptible to weltschmerz or an accident in the garage. As for the outer world, The Waltzing Mouse says to expect corruption and brawls. (Guess that could apply to almost everyone.) Finally, The Plant forecasts that in July he could be afflicted with bad credit or worms. Hmmmm . . . that's probably more than we need to know . . . ever.

Was that someone at the door?

Maybe it's not a good idea to let Zombie Boris and Natasha answer it.

Now the real fun begins, let's just hope they don't meddle in the election!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Many thanks to Marfi at Marfi-topia for creating and hosting Haunted Humpdays.

She is the Queen of Halloween!