Have a great 4th of July!

I was looking around for something to post about the holiday. Perhaps at one time in my life I knew the Star Spangled Banner has 4 stanzas but I don't recall ever hearing the last three sung... so should you wish to sing the entire version here are the entire lyrics.

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light.
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet waveO'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner!
Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slaveFrom the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.O!
thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.' And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave![

A couple of fun pictures I took the other day - Bailey and Jenna stopped by on their way to softball looking cool and one of my little dog Coco looking down our driveway where Miss Kitty was walking around on the stone wall. Just some cute stuff to share!

Happy Father's Day to my dad and all the dads!
This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago when great-niece
Ava came to visit Papa and us. She is such a sweetheart! She brought
a great smile to Papa's face. The second picture is of Ava in my high chair! I was so happy to have a baby visit to sit in it. I keep it in the kitchen always just in case! I have my grandkids squeeze into it now and then and be my babies again. This was my high chair when I was a baby and I believe it originally belonged to my cousin Wanda. Wanda passed away in a tragic auto accident before I was born but her brother Darwin is one of my blog readers and can hopefully confirm the origin of the high chair. It is a treasure to me.

Wow! Friday again! The weeks are just flying - it will be the 4th of July in the blink of an eye! I found a joke that really fits my mood these days. It explained our current situation in easy terms.... hope you like it. And if you would like to buy a monkey... just let me know! Enjoy every minute!

Once upon a time in a place overrun with monkeys, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and as supply started to diminish, they became harder to catch, so the villagers stopped their effort. The man then announced that he would now pay $20 for each one. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. But soon the supply diminished even further and they were ever harder to catch, so people started going back to their farms and forgot about monkey catching. The man increased his price to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so sparse that it was an effort to even see a monkey, much less catch one.The man now announced that he would buy monkeys for $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf. While the man was away the assistant told the villagers. 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has bought. I will sell them to you at $35 each and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.' The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys. They never saw the man nor his assistant again and once again there were monkeys everywhere.

Now you know how the stock market works.

I had a happy day last Saturday as I met up with friends, many I had not seen in over 15 years. We gathered to pay tribute to a former colleague of mine, Jack Skinner, who passed away last fall. Jack captured the Adirondacks with a video camera in extraordinary ways.

I met the group at Casa del Sol in Saranac Lake, Jack's favorite restaurant where Jack's mentee and colleague Paul remembered Jack interviewing the late filmmaker Fred Sullivan not far from where we sat. Jack often planned his shoots in Saranac Lake around Casa's schedule.

It was sad that we met because Jack is gone but we all felt his presence and spirit. It was evident in his friends and family and especially his daughters who joined us after hiking Jack's favorite peak in the Adirondacks, Indian Head. It was a joyful day because we knew Jack has gone to a better place and he would be pleased to have his loved ones and old friends remembering him fondly. I could see him beaming and his eyes twinkling as I looked around the table. It was very cool that his daughter's husband wore one of Jack's favorite shirts. He's inherited a nice collection of comfy shirts. Jack would like that too. Rest in peace Jack.

Thanks to Marco (left with Jack's tequila) for sending these photos along. I had not seen Marco since he left WCFE-FM many years ago and it was great to see him again. It is nice that we get to hear him on "The World" on public radio.

http://www.theworld.org/

I miss the days when he was covering this area as the news director for Mountain Lake Public Radio. We had a great station and we did some great work there.

Another Friday already! What a week it has been. Some of you know already; my husband became a jobless statistic this week after 29+ years at his job for a Chevy dealer. So with that theme in mind, here ya go! We may as well laugh. Thankfully, our Victory Garden is growing nicely. David is certainly enjoying these sunny days for now. We'll see what comes next. Have a safe and fun weekend! Enjoy every minute.

Circuit City laid off 30,000 employees this week as it gets set to close its doors. When picking up their termination papers, the employees were asked if they wanted the extended two-year warranty.

And news from the NY Dept of Labor: With so many people unemployed, they will have to hire people to process unemployment claims.

Looks like the Obamas have already helped the economy. J. Crew stock has gone up 10%, because First Lady Michelle Obama has been spotted wearing their clothes. Which begs the question, Mr. Obama, how would you feel about wearing a Buick?

General Motors announced that they are ending their endorsement deal with Tiger Woods. When asked why, a spokesperson for General Motors said, 'Tiger Woods is successful, competitive, and popular. And that's just not us.'

Saturday was a fun day! I drove up to

Lake Placid to support the North Country Life Flight fundraiser, "SitDown, SmackDown," sponsored by WSLP-FM. Along the way I was hungry and I remembered reading that Paul Johnson Bakery was going to be open that day and he was serving big homemade meatloaf sandwiches on his bread with Romaine and Thousand Island dressing. I couldn't resist the detour thru Upper Jay to Paul's. I walked in and the meatloaf had just come out of the oven so I ordered a sandwich to go, I bought a loaf of Paul's oatmeal bread and he had this beautiful chocolate cake in the case. I had to buy it for my friend MJ, her birthday was yesterday. Paul decorated the cake with strawberries and pansies for the occasion and off I went to Lake Placid. I stopped along the Ausable river and ate my meatloaf sandwich.

By the time I made it to Placid all 7,700 seats of the Olympic Arena had been sat in so I gave money in support of the effort at least. It was a great event and next year we will collect $1 for every one of those 7,700 seats to make it even better in support of North Country Life Flight's lifesaving mission.

But about this chocolate cake! It reminded me of the cake I enjoyed with friends long ago at the now gone D&H Restaurant in Plattsburgh. It was dark, chocolaty and moist just like Paul's. Stop by Paul's bakery on Route 9N in Upper Jay. He is open on Saturdays for now and has a wonderful screened porch where you can sit and enjoy pleasant classical music and great food. Very civilized and always delicious!

This weekend (June 5 & 6) Paul is open Friday and Saturday - get there early for the best selection! Here's his post from the recent Jay Community News!

Paul's Bakery for Friday the 5th and Sat the 6th.Fridays Soup is Roasted Beef Vegetable with slice of homemade bread. Saturdays Soup is Traditional Manhattan Clam Chowder slice of homemadebread.This weekends Lunch Special is Piled High Cesar Salad with homemadedressing. Served with Grilled Toast and can be with or without GrilledChicken Breast. Open 7 am to 2 "ish" pm both days and I will have a wide selection of good things for breakfast! Hope to see you, Cheers, Paul

Find Paul's Bakery on Route 9N in Upper Jay. You will be so glad you did.