The other day, as I was walking past the Beatles crosswalk on Abbey Road, these folks were doing the famous John-Paul-George-Ringo pose so someone could take their picture. I love this. Is there any better testament to the universal appeal of the Beatles, and of music in general?
I only wish they'd been facing my direction. But I can't have everything.
So let's see -- what's going on around here? Winter, mostly.
We've run out of nuts and seeds for the bird and squirrel feeding saucer in the back of the garden, and I'd really rather not buy a huge new bag of it -- especially since I'm not sure it's a good idea to be feeding those critters at all. Most recommendations discourage pigeon feeding, and they are by far the predominant bird at the feeder dish -- though we get crows, too. We still have a gigantic, disgusting bag of dried mealworms, so I've been putting those out in the mornings, and they get eaten. But when they're gone we'll have to reevaluate the feeding saucer. It may be best to just use the hanging feeders, which attract smaller, more interesting birds.
I don't want things to starve out there, but I also don't want to encourage a pigeon population explosion. It's a delicate balance.
Yesterday I moved our sorry-looking marigolds off the front porch and onto the patio. Dave intends to do a garden cleanup this weekend, so they'll probably become mulch. It is time.
Apropos of nothing, I came across this certificate in one of my boxes of papers. I got it in third grade, when I and my classmates not only visited but climbed the Florida forestry lookout tower near Gowers Corner, in Pasco County. These towers were all over the state, used to monitor forest fires. I'm not sure this one even exists anymore. Can you imagine having a bunch of third graders traipsing up those stairs? Something tells me lawyers would frown on it nowadays! Anyway, it's kind of a cool certificate, even though they misspelled my name. (I'm a Stephen, not a Steven. It was a common mistake.)
I have very dim memories of that trip, and the experience of being up in the tower. But memory is a funny thing. Sometimes I wonder if I just think I remember it -- if every time I looked at this certificate I imagined what it would be like, and the imagination gradually became the memory. Know what I mean?
Fantastic shot of the Beatles' imitators! I love it!
ReplyDeleteYes. I do know what you mean about the authenticity of memory. As years pass, memories seem to get stretched and moulded like clay till the boundary between truth and imagination is almost invisible.
ReplyDeleteI like the word "towernaut". Could there be other "...nauts" I wonder? Laddernaut, congestionaut, libranaut...blogonaut?
Of course I had to break away from LiveJournal long enough to congratulate you on the Towernaut certificate! I'm pretty jealous of that one. (The lookouts out here used to award visitors with a membership card in the "Ancient and Honorable Order of Squirrels," and I'm thinking of getting some new ones printed up for my lookout volunteering next summer.)
ReplyDeleteHope you continue to enjoy "Eyewitness" ... it won't make my top 10 list, but it's actually quite a bit better than I expected it to be. Surprisingly, I'm finding the relationship between the sheriff and her partner to be more interesting than the one between the two cute teenagers! I must be getting old.
BEAUTIFUL shot of the Beatles' crossing. I love that so much!
ReplyDeleteI climbed one of those towers when I was a kid. At least once. Didn't get a certificate though. I can't remember the context of it the climb at all. But yeah, they were all over the place when I was a kid.
That is a great Abbey Road photo. I visit the web cam from time to time and that has to be the best group I've seen posing on the street. I did see a group of models in flowing gowns one time but this takes the prize.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about memories. I have one from when I was very little but, something tells me it's based off of a photo that my parents had more than a real memory.
Love the photo...Your 1975 certificate reminded me where I was and Florida was the furthest thing from my mind...if only it could be so now...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you. I wouldn't feed pigeons as they are such a pest. Yes feed the little guys .
ReplyDeleteThat IS a great Abbey Road picture!
ReplyDeleteI read that if you're going to stop feeding the birds to do it before the cold weather hits, so they have time to find an alternative source of food, or - as they do here - fly south. Apparently the food supply determines for some birds whether they migrate or not. If food is withdrawn abruptly it could mean death for them because they need to eat a lot of the right kind of food (high fat) every day to stay alive in the cold. It's something I hadn't considered when I was feeding the birds here. So I kept it up until the following spring and then stopped. Just a thought.
My early memories have stayed the same all through the years. I can't dredge up any new ones, and the old ones don't change!
we don't have pigeons out here. apparently they prefer urban living.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that everyone who visits Abbey Road has to imitate that old pose of the Beatles. There must be thousands of pictures taken there.
ReplyDeleteThe crossing photo does indeed show the universaal appeal of the Beatles music. And such small boys climbing that tower! That's how life should be for kids, an adventure.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
The Abbey Road crossing has to be like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, where there exist millions of pictures from people around the world all doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteMy memory is so random and questionable that I have given up and just accept the version of things my head offers up. I Which is fine but you might not want to trust me about anything I say of my past.