NoH8 Pasta Sauce

Bertoli has always been my favorite pasta sauce, even before Guido Barilla put his head up his you know what.

Montauk Daisy Blooming Marks Fire Island Season's End

Across the evening sky all the birds are leaving

But how can they know it's time for them to go?

Before the winter fire, I will still be dreaming

I have no thought of time

For who knows where the time goes?

Who knows where the time goes?

Sad deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving

Ah, but then you know it's time for them to go

But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving

I do not count the time

For who knows where the time goes?

Who knows where the time goes?

And I am not alone while my love is near me

I know it will be so until it's time to go

So come the storms of winter and then the birds in spring again

I have no fear of time

For who knows how my love grows?

And who knows where the time goes?

Songwriters DENNY, SANDY

Read more: Sandy Denny - Who Knows Where The Time Goes? Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Me Underwater

Scuba diving in Croatia near Dubrovnik in August.

Liberty Bell - Interior

For those friends who have not visited us on Fire Island, this is a photo of the inside of our little cottage.

Autumn Must See Short Film: The Cop And The Anthem

Fall is here and one must figure out how to survive winter without having to end up in Florida, that tawdry Coney Island of the tropics!

Is An Economic "Perfect Storm" About To Hit?

The almost five year long bull market is overdue for a serious correction. Right wing nutcases in Washington, DC are determined to shut down the government and risk the full faith and credit of the United States in order to stop millions from getting healthcare. October is a notoriously bad month for the stock market. The so-called recovery only benefits the wealthy while the rest of the economy limps along. The stock market is propped up by the Federal Reserve. Does all of this sound like a house of cards to you? It does to me. Time to move to all cash.

Autumn Observance

The autumnal equinox is my most important celestial event of the year. A new beginning in fall and a time to note the death of all that was so alive just so few days and months ago but with the promise of new life once again after the winter winds have passed. Today is a time for reflection and for memories, and a time for positive hope for the future.

Donate To A Good Cause: Wiki

Please consider making a small donation, even $3.00, to Wiki. It's a great source of information and an aid to world wide knowledge and democracy. Go to Wikipedia today and click on the donation banner.

Thank you for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation. You are wonderful! It's easy to ignore our fundraising banners, and I'm really glad you didn't. This is how Wikipedia pays its bills --- people like you giving us money, so we can keep the site freely available for everyone around the world. People tell me they donate to Wikipedia because they find it useful, and they trust it because even though it's not perfect, they know it's written for them. Wikipedia isn’t meant to advance somebody's PR agenda or push a particular ideology, or to persuade you to believe something that's not true. We aim to tell the truth, and we can do that because of you. The fact that you fund the site keeps us independent and able to deliver what you need and want from Wikipedia. Exactly as it should be. You should know: your donation isn’t just covering your own costs. The average donor is paying for his or her own use of Wikipedia, plus the costs of hundreds of other people. Your donation keeps Wikipedia available for an ambitious kid in Bangalore who’s teaching herself computer programming. A middle-aged homemaker in Vienna who’s just been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A novelist researching 1850s Britain. A 10-year-old in San Salvador who’s just discovered Carl Sagan. On behalf of those people, and the half-billion other readers of Wikipedia and its sister sites and projects, I thank you for joining us in our effort to make the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Your donation makes the world a better place. Thank you. Most people don't know Wikipedia's run by a non-profit. Please consider sharing this e-mail with a few of your friends to encourage them to donate too. And if you're interested, you should try adding some new information to Wikipedia. If you see a typo or other small mistake, please fix it, and if you find something missing, please add it. There are resources here that can help you get started. Don't worry about making a mistake: that's normal when people first start editing and if it happens, other Wikipedians will be happy to fix it for you. I appreciate your trust in us, and I promise you we'll use your money well. Thanks, Sue Sue Gardner Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Male Nudes From A Century Ago

An upcoming exhibit at the Leslie-Lohman gallery in NYC will feature the work of Sascha Schneider from 100 years ago.

Nice Dinner At Friends In Cherry Grove

Last weekend our friends Hank and Kate from Long Island rented a house for a long weekend and brought their daughter Katie along. The top photo shows Kate in the kitchen preparing delicious lobster tails. Kate and Hank invited Dan and I and our house guest Ed over for dinner. It was a great evening.

Rocky!

This is Rocky. He lives with Hank and Kate Heissenbuttel in Patchogue, Long Island, NY. Rocky made his first visit to the beach last weekend.

New Art Gallery In Cherry Grove

Dan with our good friend and house guest Ed Mallon this past weekend at the pop-up art gallery at Hunky-Junky in Cherry Grove.

Verdi's Nabucco Opera Co. of Philadelphia

We'll be seeing this great traditional production of Verdi's masterpiece "Nabucco" in Philadelphia soon!

Obama & Nutter: Difficulty Doing The Right Thing

Photo: Another Beautiful Fire Island Late Summer Sunrise

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize yet he seems to crave going to war. Hopefully the rejection of his plan to go to war by the international community and the American public will insure that we do not get involved in the Syrian civil war. War crimes committed in Syria should be addressed by the United Nations and the International Court of Justice. America is not the world's policeman.

Mayor Nutter has declined to perform a same sex marriage for a couple who obtained a valid marriage license in Montgomery County. This is the latest disappointment from a man who has not distinguished himself in office, as far as I am concerned.

Tough Job!

When we bought our beach house one of the first things that I did was to install a whole new bathroom. I installed a floor flange for the toilet, and I figured that I would never have to do that job again. Boy, was I wrong. The toilet became loose recently and when I tried to tighten the nuts holding it down I discovered that the floor flange had disintegrated. It's a tough environment out here and I must have used cast iron or steel in 1999 which cannot hold up at the shore. So it was necessary for me to replace the floor flange and re-set the toilet. I had to go off island to obtain parts but the job went well once I git started. The new flange is made of stainless steel so hopefully it will last a long time!

Pretty Hanging Basket

These look like mini-petunias. I bought one basket at the beginning of summer and split it. Both did very well all summer and survived while we were away.

Carole's Quilt

Our dear friend Carole, who lives on Long Island, gets some help finishing a beautiful quilt from her two kitties and granddaughter Kallie.

Ocean Sunrise

It'sice to see the sun rise over the ocean once again as it does this time of year.

Downtown Day

Enjoying the great Wanamaker organ at Macy's Philadelphia.

Home Safe!

We had a great time in Venice and on our cruise...this photo was taken on our last evening on board our cruise ship, the Celebrity Silhouette.

Beautiful Celebrity Silhouette

Fun In Corfu!

At a Greek tavern on Corfu.

Snorkeling In Corsica: Sanguinaires Island

Different locations in the world feature different particular forms of sea life. The star attractions for me in Corsica while snorkeling were the pretty little jellyfish that I found in the protected cove on Sanguinaires island where we went to snorkel.The island has an old lighthouse and watchtower that was used long ago as part of a warning system when pirates approached. It was a fun day in the water!

A Second Visit to Corsica

Last May we visited Corsica on our Seabourn cruise. It was a heavy rain day, and Dan had a cold so he stayed on board. Jim took a bus tour to the Calanches, a spectacular range of mountains. Monday September 2 we returned to the island, and Jim went snorkeling, while Dan took a bus tour to the beautiful mountainous area of the Prunelli Gorge. His tour also included Lake Tulla (see photos) before returning to the capital of Ajaccio. It’s easy to see why the ancient Greeks in the 6th century called this place ‘the beautiful one.’ Enormous granite mountains rise over rivers, gorges and lakes high into the stratosphere. The natives have managed to keep the beauty of their island intact for the most part. –Dan

Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, and Amalfi

Our tour on Sunday, September 1, 2013... Last May, as those of you who regularly read this travel blog might recall, we took a cruise that stopped in Naples. At that time we visited the magnificent Royal Palace of Capodimonte. On this cruise we decided to take a full day’s excursion driving along the Amalfi Coast. We left early in the morning at 8 AM and returned at 5 PM. Our first major stop was in Sorrento, where we had free time to see some beautiful Baroque churches, shops and the great Hotel Excelsior, where the famed tenor Enrico Caruso died around 1928. From there our bus traveled along the sea coast passing through Positano and many other charming towns, on the way to Amalfi. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant with a magnificent view of the coast (see photo) and enjoyed cannelloni, a baked chicken dish and an apricot tart all washed down with sparkling prosecco and a white wine from this region. Then we drove into Amalfi where we had a lengthy stop. We toured the magnificent Cathedral complex. It combines several major buildings: a Moorish bell tower, a Medieval cloister, the 12th century Romanesque Basilica, the ornate Baroque crypt, and the Cathedral itself, which was also decorated in the Baroque style in the 18th century. Vast steps lead to the Cathedral, and this is a unique site on the Amalfi coast. Amalfi in the Middle Ages traded with Constantinople and the orient, so it enjoyed the privilege of being a maritime Republic. We shopped after we left the cathedral. Jim bought ceramics and a new, embroidered shirt. From Salerno we then drove back to Naples, ending a day in a uniquely beautiful part of southern Italy.—Dan

View from the terrace of the Excelsior Hotel in Sorrento with Mt. Vesuvius in the background

The port at Amalfi

The great cathedral complex in Amalfi

The baroque interior of the cathedral at Alamfi

View of Alamfi

Dan & Jim Along the Alamfi Coast