My uncle, shown here, and my cousin Dave, both picked up the guitar and shared their talents with all of us at Plogerpalooza.

This was definitely the place to be yesterday. Paul and I drove down to Virginia to participate in the ever-growing, ever-popular Plogerpalooza. Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, mom, horse shoes, ping pong, potato ‘contraption’ (protecting the innocent), food, beer—all perfect ingredients to make this exceptionally beautiful day in Woodbridge, Va. a blast.

We’ve been spending a lot of time by the Hudson river (as Paul said it was an unexpected benefit to moving to the west village). There is a new, beautifully landscaped boardwalk where lovers can hold hands and families, musicians and dancers play. But this photo taken about a month ago, captures a completely different feeling with the old pier in the foreground and the New Jersey skyline beginning to light up after the sun has set.

Coming up on a year ago, I was hiking through Tent Rock in New Mexico. It is truly amazing to walk through this canyon of natural erosion where the sun rarely shines but the slight moisture in the air has an amazing cooling and soothing effect, providing shelter from the dry, hot sun of the desert.

It was a trip to the vet today with Ernie. True to kitty form, he did not make it easy, his caterwauls echoed throughout the stairwell of the apartment building. People on the street stared with the look in their eyes that I was an unfit mother. So hopefully, with a change in his diet and a couple of pills he will be back to normal. Hopefully.

Who knows how long this guy has to stand here and watch people go by. I think he, scooby doo and the playboy bunny are more interesting than the game itself (located on a sidestreet of Coney Island).

My neighborhood smells better and is generally cleaner than our old neighborhood in the east village, but I love this little remnant of the past just a couple of blocks down the street from us.