Red all Over

The brilliance of a red azalea graces our front yard.
(Bergeron Image.)

Long ago, when we moved to Bridgewater at a time when the main intersection in the center of Pluckemin had no traffic lights, and Washington Valley Road looking east was covered in a leafy canopy right up to the Bridgewater line, I gave Priscille a small azalea bush nested in a small pot.

We enjoyed it in our home for a couple of weeks, until the time came to give it a permanent home, should we want to keep it alive.

I suggested planting it in the southwest corner of our home as a foundation planting.  It was just a tiny speck of a plant, not much more than ten inches high and perhaps eight inches across.

The Beauty of Books

For several years, Pris and I had been trying to coordinate our activities with the Potomac branch of the family so that we could time a visit to coincide with one of the annual springtime events that takes place in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

A small table in the vast collection of books
at the Stone Ridge used book sale holds a few
notable titles from the Shriver estate.
(Bergeron Image)

Each year, the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart conducts its annual used book sale, the proceeds of which are used to help its scholarship fund.  This year, we finally made it.

I love used book sales.  It’s one of the few settings in which a bookworm like me is able to browse while letting serendipity take over, because there is simply no way to know if a written treasure may pop up.

At Stone Ridge, thousands of books are arranged on tables set up in three large rooms, one of which appeared to be a gym. 

When we arrived, my daughter Denise, Pris, and I split up to go our separate ways to begin our book-buying journeys – nobody wants to wait for me.  I simply take up too much time at any given table where I may zero in on a particular classification of titles that captures my attention!

A Talent that Spanned Generations

Upon the death of a prominent entertainer, it’s not often that there is so much public admiration and respect for the person without any qualification having to be made about behavior and character.
 

 A star shines on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame."
(Credit, Screenshot from Fox News)

Yet, a few remain.  Such is the case with Dick Clark, a giant in the entertainment industry who passed away today at the age of 82 from a massive heart attack, after being admitted to a hospital for what was described as an “outpatient procedure.”
 
Clark became a living legend with his signature TV blockbuster, American Bandstand – the one that I most remember from my youthful days.  He also was highly successful as the founder of Dick Clark Productions, a company that generated a score of popular TV hits.

Christie Addresses Jewish Leaders in Bridgewater

When I pulled up to the Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center in Bridgewater late yesterday morning, the parking lot was full.  Cars overflowed onto the front lawn and lined the sides of the driveway.

The Israeli Prime Minister appeared on Greta
Van Susteren's show, On The Record, March 7, 2012.
(TV Screenshot by Dick Bergeron)

For a moment, I almost turned back – I’ll never get a lap lane today, I thought.  But the desire to get into the pool overcame any lingering doubts when a parking spot turned up.

Still, I wondered what activities were taking place that it should be so crowded. 

It was a brisk spring morning – more on the cold side – when I walked from the car towards the main entrance.  Inside, I didn’t see a lot of people.  But, as I walked down the main corridor, a closed and windowed double door leading into one of the large rooms caught my attention.

Peering through the glass I viewed a room full of people listening to Governor Chris Christie.  Media types lined the back wall.

Should I go in or not?

When Parenting Trumps Politics

GOP Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum, with his
young daughter Bella.  (TV Screenshot, Dick Bergeron)

At mid-afternoon today, Rick Santorum, a former member of the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, formally announced suspension of his race for the GOP nomination for President of the United States.

Although Santorum was far behind Mitt Romney who is increasingly viewed as the putative GOP nominee, Santorum surprised many political observers with his come-from-behind win in the Iowa Caucus and his subsequent, unexpected additional wins in other primary contests.

But Santorum’s victories still were not enough to close the gap between him and Romney to sufficiently offer a realistic challenge for the GOP presidential nomination.

By the End of June: An Historic Decision

I suppose that for some people, perhaps among many of us, the official buildings scattered about the heart of Washington, D.C. are just that – lifeless edifices constructed of marble and brick. 

The iconic building of the United States Supreme Court,
Washington, D.C., on the afternoon of New Year's
Eve, December 31, 2011

But for me, from the first time that I flew over the nation’s Capital a long time ago as my flight slowly glided over the city on a bright day towards a landing strip of what was then known as Washington National Airport, I immediately established a wonder for what must lay within the inside walls of all that sculpted stone.

I also pondered -- even then – of how  it must change an official or a bureaucrat’s viewpoint and lifestyle, if one is not on guard against the seductive siren call of the overwhelming power which is being dispensed gratuitously from inside the political nerve centers which lie within those governmental buildings.

There are so many of them, that it’s impossible to visit them all in a few days, let alone to establish an adequate grasp of how the activities taking place behind those closed doors affect every aspect of our lives.