More rugby, starting with the hot man's kick

As promised at the end of the last post, let's take a look at the follow-through on that kick...


















Look at those legs!









And we'll hold it there for now. Still more to come!

Continuing last week's rugby photos

There was rugby yesterday, but I still have lots of photos from last week to share. So I'll keep sharing those photos, and we'll get to yesterday's shots eventually. Let's continue...

(As always, click on the photos, if you want to see a larger version.)



























I'm not sure if you can tell from those two photos, but that man was HOT! Anyhow, I'll stop there. There's one more photo to go with those two, and I was impressed, both with his athletic prowess (you'll see!) and my capturing it. So I'll save that shot and open the next post with it! :)

(One of) Mom's tree(s)

You may recall that the public library in our town planted a tree in honor and memory of my Mom. There also was one planted in a nearby County park by the county, and there's one that was given to us by friends that we planted in our back yard. (My Mom touched a lot of lives and many people wanted to honor her memory.)

Yesterday, on my way home, I drove past the library and saw Mom's tree. I wish I had gone past a few days earlier, since the cherry trees are a little past their peak in this area. Even so, it looked beautiful... fittingly. (Sorry, I had to stop and dab a tear. There aren't a lot of things that get me that way, but I really miss Mom and Dad.)

So I went back there today with the camera and took a picture. Mom's tree is doing nicely...

Rugby!

On Saturday, Gotham played against the Brooklyn Barons at Tibbetts Brook Park in Yonkers.

Marc and I both went. Marc hung out with friends from the team, and I took photos of the matches which I'll now start to share...


No skinny legs here!



















Okay, I'll stop there for now. More to come!

Can we please calm down?

The media aren't helping things, of course, but I think everyone is getting a little too excited about this swine flu outbreak. Yes, sure, it could be a problem, but it doesn't seem all that deadly. Besides, everyone is worried about this strain of swine flu that has killed only one person within US borders, while no one bats an eye at the usual seasonal flu outbreaks every year.

Yes, this swine flu strain may wind up killing a bunch of people (and has already killed some poor folks in Mexico), but really! One person here. A hundred or so in Mexico. And our normal, seasonal influenza? Well, that kills around 40,000 people in the US alone every single year. 40,000! So let's keep some perspective. If it gets bad, we have treatments that weren't even imagined 90+ years ago during the Spanish flu pandemic. In the meantime, a bunch of people here in New York had or have this swine flu, and no one here has died. So it may not get too bad at all. I hope it won't. Yes, it's a worry, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it just yet!

One last note to the government of Egypt: you're all morons! Slaughtering every pig in the country won't make any difference! I know you have doctors over there. Have none of you listened to any of them? I'm sensitive to pigs being killed, ever since I learned that they're smart like dogs (that's why I don't order or buy pork--because an animal that smart will be in terror and can't be "humanely" killed), but this doesn't even rise to that level of thought. This isn't about whether we should kill pigs. After all, those pigs were, no doubt, headed for Egyptian dinner tables eventually. No, this is just about panicking and doing stupid things. Your pigs aren't going to give you this flu! No matter how/where it started, the pandemic fear has to do with people passing it to each other! Morons.

Wine tasting & the Equality Awards

Our friends Byrne, Andy and Nate came over Friday night to spend the weekend with us. We had a nice dinner Friday evening (filet mignon, salmon and veggies), and Marc made breakfast Saturday morning (matzo brei and blueberry pancakes), and we took our time getting around, since we were going to the Equality Awards Gala that night and didn't want to make too long a day of it.

Early in the afternoon, we headed east. We stopped at an outlet store in Riverhead that we all wanted to check out. Then we continued on, stopping at the fabulous Modern Snack Bar in Aquebogue for lunch. After that, we drove to Pindar Vineyards in Peconic for some wine tasting. I took a few photos there...


The front area at Pindar


Andy and Nate check out the tasting selections


Stained glass lets light in through the rafters


Marc and Andy


Nate samples some wine


Pink Champagne




Nate and Andy

And then, on to the Gala...


They clean up nicely, don't they?


Marc, Andy, Nate and Byrne gather for a group photo

Sunday was nice and relaxing, too. Andy and Nate had to leave pretty early, but Byrne stayed until mid-afternoon. Despite it being a relatively full weekend, it was over way too fast. We had a great time!

More rugby photos

Well, we certainly got pulled away from those rugby photos. Time to continue!





















More to come!