Osama Bin Laden is Dead - Scenes & Sounds from the White House

I was in the bathtub when the news broke that the president would have an important national security announcement at 10:30 pm on a Sunday night.  

I wasn't expecting this news.  My Turkish friend, Tulin, who is a journalist asked if I wanted to go down to the White House with her.  I did.  

The feeling on the streets was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.  Honking and smiles.   I was celebrating those in the White House who had worked so hard to get justice.  The lights were still on in both the White House and the Old Executive Office Building.  We were there to support them, the military, the Navy Seals that did this.  Occasionally and rarely there were some tasteless utterances, racist or jingoistic, but the rest of the crowd looked askance at that and them.   In my experience, that kind of thing was rare.

More broadly - I, we, were there to feel good about our government not being feckless and ineffectually.  Not being a victim.  I just felt happy about that.  There lots of happy tears.

And then a young man in a spiderman costume climbed a tree along the fence to the White House.  The crowd laughed and cheered and cried.  All with joy.

I am glad I was there.  

Here are my photos of that night, at the White House, between the White House and Lafayette Park. 

Some videos first.  The videos are dark and hard to see, but the sounds...the sound reveal what it was like too.  

Here are some photos, brightened up.

Questions About Raid

Slate's William Saletan asks 8 questions about the raid that killed Bin Laden yesterday in What Really Happened in Abbotabad? All very good questions. Such as - if Obama approved on Friday, why didn't operation happen on Saturday? (Imagine if so - given the White House Correspondent's Dinner)

And at the bottom, he has updated his piece with some answers. Apparently cloud cover caused the delay.

A Lighter Note

A Vassar classmate posted this on her Facebook page. thanks Kristen!

Diana's Beauitful Nieces

Diana's nieces are beautiful.  These three are the offspring of her brother Charles.  Note that the one in the foreground has been mistaken for Prince Harry's girlfriend Chelsy Davy.  The resemblance is striking!

From Hello!

Oprah Discusses How Her Design Tastes Evolved

Pretty interesting and true...

Why I LOVE NYC

Mimes in Union Square subway.   So fun.

Cathedral in the Spring

I just had to pull over and take these photos....

Wind Surfing

I love watching this.  I see it all the time on these windy days and I find what they do - dancing with the wind - just stunning.  I met someone who teaches wind surfing, and who wanted to teach me. I am too weak right now, but maybe some day.  I would love to do this, to be able to.  

For now, I can take pictures.....

My Birthday!

On my birthday, I wanted to honor my mother - who really did all the work that day.  So, I hosted a dinner party with a menu organized around her Polish and Italian heritage.  

I made my first periogis on my own (yeah!)  Here are some pictures as proof!

First, I set the table the night before.  I was so excited about the party I woke up early and took pictures of the table before dawn.  Flowers hadn't been delivered yet!

Here is the printed menu I made up -

Okay here it is so you can read it!

Hors D’oeuvres

Pierogis

Ricotta & lemon filled dumplings with butter-seared onions

Fontina Crostini al Prosciutto di albicocche

Toasts with ham, apricot and cheese

Three G Cocktails (Canton Ginger, Gin and St. Germaine)

First Course

Chlodnik

Cold Polish Cucumber Soup

Vorberg Riserva Pinot Bianco 2005

Main Course

Agnello al Rosmarino
Seared Herbed Lamb Chops with Rosemary

Risoni con Pimmaduori Siccati
Orzo with Rosemary & Sundried Tomatoes

Fagiolini alla aceto balsamico

Roasted Green Beans with a Balsamic Splash

Pane Toscana
Tuscan Bread with Olive Oil

Venezia Guilia Indicazione Geografica Tipica Rosso 2006

Dessert
Torta Agli Albumi con cioccolata & la fragola
Angel Food Cake with Chocolate & Strawberries
Champagne Louis de Sacy Brut Grand Cru
Coda
Italian coffee & tea
Grand Marnier, Hennessy V.S.O.P, Cognac Courvoisier

A little later in the morning the perogis are in progress!  I confess I took much pride in these!  We used to make them every Christmas Eve morning.  They are so yummy and mine came out just as they should (after a few calls to my sister and my niece when the consistency of the dough wasn't coming out quite right.  I'd followed mom's directions in her recipe book she made for us.  Really!  But it wasn't quite right so I can to consult the experts)

My birthday cake.  Yum!  (I did NOT make this - but Blackburd Fine Cakes & Pastries did.  Thanks Samantha Burdman.)

Ready to serve!   Monica Thomas of Tailored Taste catered the rest of the meal for me and did a fabulous job, as she usually does (She comes in for me periodically and prepares meals for my freezer for days when I am too ill to cook).  The Cucumber soup was amazing and layered and just as I remembered.  

Finally pictures of the table.  Set for eight originally, but one guest cancelled on me at the last minute.  And then another potential guest, a dear old friend - the one who would have known me the longest - texted me and asked for my address.  So I kept it set for 7.  But alas, he didn't make it either.   Next year.

I had just a wonderful time with those who were there - Erik, Gabriel, George, John, Nickie, me.  Really a lot of fun.  All with people I've loved and known for 15 years at least.  Thanks all for celebrating with me, making me laugh and loving me.

"Ages of a Day," or 5 Years

I'd just returned from FL earlier in the day yesterday, but I still managed to do this, as I have every year since she died on her birthday.  I released them with tears and prayers from the Common Book of Prayer while on the roof of my new building.  

On Valentine's Day in 1995, my dad gave my mom a book of poetry by Robert Frost and cited specifically this poem:

Flower Gathering by Robert Frost

I left you in the morning,And in the morning glow,You walked a way beside meTo make me sad to go.Do you know me in the gloaming,Gaunt and dusty grey with roaming?Are you dumb because you know me not,Or dumb because you know? 

All for me? And not a questionFor the faded flowers gayThat could take me from beside youFor the ages of a day?They are yours, and be the measureOf their worth for you to treasure,The measure of the little whileThat Ive been long away.

Dawn on a February Morning

A particularly stunning dawn in Fort Lauderdale:

A Private Party

I am celebrating, privately and alone, some exciting personal news.  Can't say what, but I can share these photos of the elements - some champagne, my journal, strawberries, a baguette, and some humus.   Oh yes, and that is incense ash.  

And beams of sunshine.  

Finally, after much longing, some sunshine in my life.  Yeah!