On The Water Taxi

It's a treat to visit the other communities on Fire Island by boat.

"The Twist", James Taylor and Band at Tanglewood July 2, 2012

Fair Harbor, Fire Island

We had dinner in Fair Harbor Sunday evening. Fair Harbor is located on the West end of Fire Island about half way between Ocean Beach and the lighthouse. It's a beautiful community of small and moderate sized houses. There are no massive houses being built that destroy the charm of the town as is happening here in Cherry Grove...at least, not yet.

Stormy Skies

A couple of photos taken by Dan in recent days.

Beach Dawg

Nobody loves the beach more than Bradley!

Stormy Day Sunrise

This was the sky this morning...we may have some weather coming in.

Our AIDS Quilt Panel From Around 1986

The partner of one of Dan's Community College of Philadelphia colleagues, a man named Carl Chew, died of AIDS in about 1985. Dan and I made a quilt panel in his memory over 25 years ago. We haven't seen the panel in decades but now you can view the entire approximately 50,000 panels on line. The photos show the panel that we made a long time ago.

Happy First Wedding Anniversary To Us

One year ago today, on July 24, 2011, Dan and I were married in Brookhaven, NY. The past year has been full of pleasant surprises now that we're legally married. The biggest surprise is the almost universal support and acceptance of our new legal status with two exceptions: my mother was not happy, and the federal government still doesn't recognize us as married thanks to DOMA. Mom will never chenge. At 86, she won't live long enough to see the light. But by this time next year, the federal government will recognize legally married same sex couples I predict. So happy anniversary to my sweetie...and many more!

Fire Island Dance Festival 18 Photos

Another beautiful day Sunday for the premier cultural event of the summer on Fire Island.

Cherry Grove Rainbow

We had a nice double rainbow the other day in Cherry Grove.

A Favorite Long Island Resaurant

This is the interior of Shiki, a Japanese restaurant located in Babylon, NY. It' sone of our favorite places to dine on Long Island.

Late Afternoon Sky Ocean Bay Park

Dan's Art Sells In Point 'O Woods

These two lovely paintings by Dan Evans sold tonight at the Point 'O Woods art show. The opening reception began at 5:30 PM and was well attended. Dan has four painting s in the show and maybe the two remaining works that he contributed will sell...we'll see. Congratulations, Dan!

Summer Delights

These are blossoms from our deck and lower garden. It's been dry lately so we have to water the plants regularly.

Hapless Obama Cedes The ELection To Hapless Romney

"Change You Can Believe In"...Obama's campaign mantra from 2008 quickly evolved into business as usual once Obama took over the White House. That's why he is just now fighting the tax battle with the Republicans rather than having stood on the very principle of tax fairness that he is articulating now last year or the year before. That's why we're still in Afghanistan, still maintaining Guantanamo, and the banks are bigger and as as crooked as ever, and why no one has ever gone to jail as a result of the 2008 financial meltdown. Next year we may see even a worse meltdown according to some economists (Roubini) with no tools left to fight our way out of it. We had to force Obama to act on DADT and we almost didn't get it. Marriage equality was a no-brainer that Obanma should have embraced four years ago rather than a half a year before he needs the GLBT vote and pocketbook to get re-elected. On and on we go, with mistake following misstep...it's no wonder Obama is dead even with Romney in the polls. What does he really stand for. What does he really believe? Who the hell knows. And this shows in the lousy White House communications that are issued. Drew Westin nails Obama for his incompetence and lack of vision at Huffington:

"The president and his campaign continue to make unforced errors because they don't have, and never have had since he entered the White House, either an overarching vision that would guide the way they communicate with the American people about the economy or anything else or a competent messaging team that could compensate for their over-reliance on polling where their vision should be...if the president doesn't have a vision for where he wants to lead the country -- not just during election season but for however many years he dreamed about becoming president - the least he can do is to hire a messaging team, because if he has one, and this is the best they can do, they shouldn't be there by close of business today if he believes his own rhetoric of accountability."

Full Moon Belvedere

Early last week we had dinner in Ocean Beach. We came back on the water taxi at about eight PM. There was a full moon, and the Belvedere Guest House looked particularly nice underneath it.

Invasion 2012 Photos

Krugman: Romney's Not So Great Business Record

Mitt Romney didn’t personally, single-handedly, destroy the middle-class society we used to have. He was, however, an enthusiastic and very well remunerated participant in the process of destruction; if Bain got involved with your company, one way or another, the odds were pretty good that even if your job survived you ended up with lower pay and diminished benefits.

Invasion Of The Pines 2012

Photos: Top to bottom - On board the ferry en route to the Pines, leaving Cherry Grove, the reception in The Pines, Ms. Flora Fauna. Yesterday July 4 was the occasion of the 36th annual Invasion Of The Pines. It was raining lightly in the morning, but the clouds magically disappeared by noon time. Hundreds of men in colorful, and imaginative drag costumes assembled in Cherry Grove. At about 1:30 PM they boarded a large ferry boat and departed for the short ride to the Fire Island Pines, where a huge and enthusiastic crowd was waiting for their arrival. Invasion originator Panzi entertained the crowd with her usual sometimes caustic comments. Free drinks for those in drag followed at the Pines Pool Deck bar. At 4 PM the boat took survivors of the Invasion back to Cherry Grove, where the festivities continued at several of the bars. It was my 13th Invasion, this year once again as Ms. Flora Fauna, and I had a lot of fun...what I remember of it, that is. :) I received a couple of very nice comments yesterday. One woman who took my photograph told me that "I have a whole collection of you." Another fellow invader on the boat told me in a quiet moment that when he sees me walking with my dog on the beach each morning in Cherry Grove that it signifies peace to him. I was very touched by that comment. The Invasion is not really something that I take very seriously or look forward to, but I did have a lot of fun this year.

4th Of July Preparations

The Cherry Grove Railroad was in full operation for the 17th annual garden tour this past weekend.