Art by Hart

Irving embodied all the qualities of a first class bubble pipe

Lucia found life in a goldfish bowl predictable and reassuring

Alexa loved her quiet early mornings on the lake

All it took was a jumbo poster, and Minerva had reinvented herself as a Life Coach

Dobbin wanted to look fabulous for the Belmont

Art and photos by Jane Hart

Out and About

An Unusual Visitor

Valerie Wallace’s son Andrew, who lives in Hartsdale, sent the following email and photos, around 8:15 pm:

“This afternoon — about 3:30 — I got back to the apartment from a run and was in our living room starting to take off my shoes and I looked up and saw this magnificent red-tailed hawk on the fire escape right outside the window.  He was there for a long time.  I watched him for about 15 minutes . . . about 30 minutes [later], he was still there.  He then left, but when I stepped into the living room while I was making dinner about 30 minutes ago, he was back! Seems very much at home.”

Watching You . . .

Handsome Profile

The Intrepid Traveller

Gerry Mahoney has been sailing around the British Isles and sending lovely pictures of her stops along the way. This group — her final before returning home — are from the Shetland Islands and Bergen, Norway.

Shetland Islands

For Shetland tv show fans, Jimmy Perez’s home

True son of the Isles: a Shetland pony

Bergen, Norway

Last stop: Bergen, a beautiful Norwegian city

Weird-looking guy, Ibsen

The TASH Farmers Market Celebrated Its #10

Be a Soft-Plastic Buddy!

Keep those soft plastic “contributions” coming! And the emphasis is on “soft”! Nothing hard-edged, nothing boxy, no soda or water bottles. YES to the following types:

And “Yes” and “Thank You” to all the intrepid souls who have been scouring their apartments for this stuff. Keep it coming! We have a June 30 deadline and it doth approach with speed.

Reminder: Yes, we’re doing this for the environment, but also for the kids of Washington Irving School. Be a soft-plastic-donating-buddy for the Buddy Bench! Our soft plastic can turn into their happy friendships.

Words, Words, Words . . .

Prison is just one word to you, but for some people, it’s a whole sentence.

I’m trying to organize a hide and seek tournament, but good players are really hard to find.

I got over my addiction to chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts. I won’t lie, it was a rocky road.

I went to the toy store and asked the assistant where the Schwarzenegger dolls are and he replied, “Aisle B, back.”

I’ve started telling everyone about the benefits of eating dried grapes. It’s all about raisin awareness.

Q:  What do you say to comfort a friend who’s struggling with grammar?

A:  There, their, they’re.

Q:  What did the surgeon say to the patient who insisted on closing up her own incision?

A:  Suture self.

Contributed by Joe Bruno

New to Residents Website: Book Review

We had an email from Norman Sissman the other day with a brilliant idea — and the kick-off for it. In Norman’s own words:

I was struck, recently, by the realization that over the course of 19 years of Kendal resident publications there has never been a book review. I am surprised by this, considering the high level of literary sophistication and intellectual curiosity that characterize our group!  So, of course, I am motivated to end this  tradition.

The subject of this book is a concern that most of us seniors have had although not always a welcome one. The author: Julian Barnes, a well-regarded British novelist.  The title: “Nothing to Be Frightened Of.”  It is a 250 page non-fiction search by Barnes of literature and history from which he attempts to find some relief from his dread of dying!  It is erudite and witty; it surveys the creeds of most religions and examines a large number of biographies, from Voltaire to Churchill, from Stendahl to Edith Wharton, from Stravinsky to  Shostakovich, often comparing their plans for death and what their final days were like.  Barnes also inserts vignettes of his family, from the deaths of his emotionally remote parents to the cantankerous comments of his brother, an academic philosopher.

 Barnes never succeeds in his search for consolation, but along the way, his work provides many merry macabre musings.

Title: Nothing to be Frightened Of

Author: Julian Barnes

Thanks, Norman, for a great idea! How about it, folks? Are you reading something interesting, provocative, fun, thought-provoking or any combination thereof? Reviews should be limited to 150 words. Send them to kohresweb@gmail.com.

I Never Knew That

We often don’t realize where nursery rhymes, some dating back centuries, came from. Some have evolved over centuries, bringing a whole new version to modern children. Others have remained tried and true since inception.

There was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead

When she was good,

She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid

Many curly-haired troublesome children heard this short-and-sweet rhyme growing up — but perhaps didn’t know about its relatively prestigious origins. Famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, known for works like “Paul Revere’s Ride,” wrote this goofy little verse about his own daughter. His son Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his book, Random Memories, that “it was while walking up and down with his second daughter, then a baby in his arms, that my father composed and sang to her the well-known lines.”

Art by Hart

With egg-laying now an official Olympic sport, Henrietta trained day and night

Coach could hardly believe how well his team was shaping up

Sherwin was certain that the new brood was something other than cicadas

Everybody loved it when Tabby played his kettle drum

When most people were just waking up, Leicester was already halfway through his to-do list

Art and photos by Jane Hart

Art and Poetry, by Sheila Benedis

“Circle of Life” Collage

Inspiration of Art

I start life in the left brain

Something I’ve not done

Is following me

 

I hear the footsteps

They move slowly

Like dancing shadows

 

I add the dream of creativity

To my heart

This dream keeps growing

 

Into a new reality

I become an artist

A right brain person

 

I enjoy creating in solitude

Never feel lonely

 

Nature gives me joy

New organic shapes

new life for my art

 

I keep growing

Until inspiration of art

takes over my life

* * * * * * *

THAT’S ALL FOR MAY 20, 2024

* * * * * * *

Out and About

A Star Is Born . . . at the Masters Obedience Trial, Westminster Dog Show

Photo by Carolyn Reiss

The High Life on the High Line, with the Abramovitzes

NYC: The American Art Show at the Bohemian National Hall

Photo by Edward Kasinec

Arriving Belfast . . .

Next stop on Gerry Mahoney’s sail around the British Isles: Belfast. “Still signs and symbols of a divided city in one area, with gates that close off neighborhoods at night, but a prosperous and bustling downtown city area.”

And On to Wales . . .

With Georgian Houses and 13th Century Castles, No Less!

Peonies, Peonies, Who’s Got the Peonies . . .

The Peony Garden at the Rockefeller Preserve was a 2002 gift from the Japan in memory of the September 11, 2001 attack.

Photo by Simone

Photo by Bob Abramovitz

Contributed by Mimi Abramovitz

Photo by Mimi Abramovitz

Photo by Mimi Abramovitz

Photo by Mimi Abramovitz

There Are Heroes Among Us

Jean McIntosh

So, we’re browsing the May 10 Hudson Independent. Ah, “Two Local Veterans Named to State Hall of Fame.” Oh, that’s nice. Wait! We know that face! That’s . . . that’s . . . that’s Jean McIntosh! Seems there was a special breakfast where NY State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins did the honors for her service both in uniform and to her community.

Excerpted from the The Hudson Independent:

“Nearly 200 veterans attended a breakfast Thursday in Ardsley where Stewart-Cousins announced World War II veteran Jean Wallace Otto Macintosh of Irvington and Vietnam-era U.S. Navy veteran Hugh McAuley of Greenburgh would represent Senate District 35 in the Class of 2024.

To Macintosh, 104, served as an air traffic controller in the Navy during World War II training fighter pilots to use radar for night missions.

“She has been a pillar of the community in Irvington for nearly 80 years, launching the Irvington Meals on Wheels Program, and even playing curling up to the age of 94. To be able to recognize Jean while she is surrounded by family and other veterans, and see them give her a standing ovation, was truly special.” Stewart-Cousins said.”

Source: The Hudson Independent, May 10, 2024

Congratulations, Jean! Well done, you!

Muriel Fox

On Monday, May 13, Muriel Fox received the Clara Lemlich Social Activist Award presented at the Museum of the City of New York. The award has been given since 2011 to “honor women who have been working for the larger good their entire lives.” A student prepared a poster for each of this year's five awardees. Here’s Muriel’s—and it says it all:

And, in case you’re wondering about the picture in the upper right-hand corner of the poster: Muriel's new book, The Women's Revolution: How We Changed Your Life, will be released on June 18.

Be a School Buddy: Bench Plastic Waste

It’s everywhere! Wrapped around dry cleaning, cosseting grocery items, storing food, bearing purchases, surrounding many items and filler for others shipped our way: soft plastic film! Trash containers are full of the stuff. Items like this:

Now you can rid yourself of this nuisance and help the students at Washington Irving School (WI). In each Kendal building, at the garage level, there’s a large container for collecting it all. NO HARD PLASTIC (which includes food containers and soda/water bottles). Note: make sure the plastic film is clean (give it a quick clean, if not).

The Challenge? If the total weight from us and around the Sleepy Hollow/Tarrytown communities is at least 1,000 pounds, WI gets a free Buddy Bench. What’s a Buddy Bench? It’s a way for a student to send a signal: I need a friend to play with or talk to. When other kids see someone there, they know that someone needs support. And it works!

WI students, faculty, and parents have already collected 850 pounds of plastic! Let’s give ‘em that extra push past 1,000 pounds! We have until June 30!

Come on! We can do this. Plastic waste is everywhere! What a great way to get rid of it!

It’s the Kendal Way!

Saying "Thank You"

We at Kendal get help of all kinds. Cooking, cleaning, taking out garbage, shoveling the walk, just being there when you need a sympathetic hand when you’re sick.

Because, at Kendal there’s no tipping, two times a year, we ask you to contribute to the Staff Appreciation Fund as our way of saying Thank You to the 200+ staff — those we see and those behind the scenes.

Fundraising ends May 31.

Please write your check:

Minimum: $250/individual; $500/couple.

(Or give more, just to show the gratitude we feel for staff who “keep Kendal running smoothly” 24/7.)

Depends on How You Look at It

Q.  Why does the Milky Way appear as a discrete band of stars arching over the sky?

A.  Because our galaxy is in the form of a disk. Looking along its diameter shows many of its components, while gazing at a right angle to the diameter one sees only a few stars through its thin height. Incidentally, the Milky Way contains about 100 billion stars. Astronomers estimate that the universe contains about 200 billion galaxies. Multiplying these two numbers is humbling, to say the least, and, for me, makes it highly unlikely that there aren’t a few other planets out there with the conditions (including the right temperature range and enough water) to foster life!

Contributed by Norman Sissman

I Never Knew That . . .

We often don’t realize where nursery rhymes, some dating back centuries, came from. Some have evolved over centuries, bringing a whole new version to modern children. Others have remained tried and true since inception.

Rub-a-dub-dub,

Three men in a tub,

And who do you think they be?

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,

And all of them out to sea

Most American children know a heavily revised version of this rhyme with only men in a tub. But you need the original version to understand the origins of this 14th-century phrase:

Hey, rub-a-dub

Ho, rub-a-dub

Three maids in a tub

And who do you think were there?

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker

And all of them going to the fair

According to author Chris Roberts, the “tub” here refers to a bawdy fairground attraction. “Today it would be perhaps a lap-dancing venue,” Roberts said in 2005. “The upper-class, the respectable tradesfolk — the candlestick maker and the butcher and the baker — are ogling, getting an eyeful of some naked young ladies in a tub.”

© Kendal on Hudson Residents Association 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 all rights reserved.  Please do not reproduce without permission.

Photographs of life at Kendal on Hudson are by residents.