long island for a year

Driving through the Flanders we got (finally) to see the so famous landmark.  I didn't stop by the duck, this image is from www.lukecole.com The Big Duck used to be a store where one could find ducklings and duck products; this is a fun example of road-side architecture, but what I didn't know is that the word "duck" specifically defines a kind of building which shape refers to its product; in other words, if you had a peanut-shaped store  you'd immediately know where to buy peanuts, peanut butter, reese' s, P&J sandwiches...and that'd be a duck. Ducks don't need any ads (like decorative shed do): their shape is the ad itself. The idea of a duck-store wasn't an original of Long Island but it was  patented here: the inspiration for it was a Californian coffeepot-shaped coffee shop, but the triggering motivation was that in the '30s the duck commerce on LI was so huge one had to stand out among the masses of farmers selling ducks. Far...

As a Bnl employee's spouse I take part in some activities connected with the Lab, mainly a playgroup where my kids meet children their age and with a similar background. The playgroup has a designated meeting place but sometimes moms and kids would meet outside, or decide on some specific activity. Bottom line, because of the kids I get to go to places I would not dream of going to - or I wouldn't be allowed in. One of these is the CMEE, the Children's Museum of the East End in Bridgehampton, designed by Lee Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership . What an amazing place! On a beautifully arranged mix of interactive spaces  children can dress up as princesses or pirates, explore the interior of a submarine, fish, play in the ice-cream parlor, sit in the library, exercise or do crafts. Just to give you a sample of the choices offered . I forgot the fire fighter truck, a hit for Bastian When they say that TV substituted the fire place ...

For a week or so now, it has all been around Earth Day. If you ask me, it doesn't take a day, or a week to become aware of what the planet needs: it takes a cultural shock. The one where you realize that some Countries are allowing themselves privileges and economical growth at the so called third world's expenses and with an enormous impact on all the planet. Today we were at the Indian Island County Park in Riverhead to celebrate too; it's a bit contradictory that we were driving half an hour to learn how much plastic you can save buying one large chip bag instead of ten small bags...Not true, there were many hikers who could share precious hints . Carlotta got a lot of gadgets from the stands which were promoting awareness about nature on Long Island and the earth altogether... and I am very proud to say that she can read the words "Save Planet Earth" all by herself. She has being learning about environment and recycling in pre-school; she has of course a fou...

As if there weren't enough things to take care of, last week our (landlady's) fridge broke; we had it repaired some hours later, so we didn't have to take extreme measures concerning the food that was in it. But now I want to know!!! What would YOU do, if your fridge broke and you had to wait for a couple of days until it could be repaired? Would you throw away fridge and food? Only the food (so you can start a new diet)?Or only the fridge (because yours didn't have a nice design anyway)? Would you ask a neighbor (or ten) to keep some of your stuff and meanwhile curse in Aramaic because you had just bought so much perishable food? Or would you find the time to cook for your friends and their cats?

This title sounds like that of a toddler soap-opera...now seriously: I got bitten by a tick ten days ago. This brought some disappointment because I wasn't incautiously hiking; in fact I wasn't hiking at all. My only fault was to have spent 10 minutes in our garden, where the grass is low, to prevent the kids from running on the street, while Ralph was removing the last fall leaves. Guess the mischievous beast had been on my body no longer than a couple of hours before I found it, still... not a nice feeling; am I a bit paranoid about ticks? This is because I have seen one (plus hundreds of pictures) and there are definitely nicer species on earth. Yes, I do feel alright, no symptoms at all but anyway it is too early to decide whether or not to test and see if I got Lyme disease. And no matter how much people tell me ticks aren't a big deal: it sucks! After this brief introduction, I come to the point. There is a lot going on recently: we might prolong our stay in the US...

 Looking east... Traditionally Italian people say you should  spend Christmas with your family and Easter with whom you please. In the last five or six years, living in Berlin and having there my "new" family, I was spending Easter - or at least Easter Monday - with them, which is actually nice and fun, because Ralph has a pretty large family too: with uncles and aunts, cousins, some of whom have kids as old as our kids; plus Ralph's grandma is still alive (103 years old and rather healthy), so there is a  four generation get together eating delicious homemade German Kuchen (lucky me). Anyway, this year it was just the four of us, and we enjoyed the two beautiful sunny days to be outside and explore more of Long Island. Since Carlotta was wishing so much to ride her bike, we needed a place which was not the usual Heritage Park in Mount Sinai and still bike friendly, so we headed to Sunken Meadow State Park, which has a 3/4 mile boardwalk wide enough to practice biking...

I changed the blog template because I really am a springtime (actually more a late springtime) person but don't think all of those flowers make me a hippy happy quiet soul - because I am not. And it's because I wanted to wish Happy Easter, but it feels a bit strange in these times of catholic crisis... Me, I am just a recovered Catholic, like my maid of honor, and I kind of had problems with the Church from the very beginning. That is because I don't let anyone tell my which WAY I have to go. But let's start from, let's say...Sunday school. This is when I first met nuns (as an abstract object). I do remember very well this old lady asking everybody if they ever went to church and of course everybody went to church, because their parents were church people. My parents never were, especially my dad ...so what I could tell was, more or less "On Sundays my parents sleep". It must have sounded like heresy, but think about it: they were both waking up every m...