Judy Lynn Johnson's "Watching The Game"

According to Judy: "Finally, here it is, friends and family - my modest and very personal attempt to give something back to the game that I have loved for most of my life. available in hardcover and paperback at amazon.com." Can't wait to read it.

From the book jacket: Watching the Game is the stunning memoir of Judy Johnson-English teacher, mother, wife, and lover of the all-American game of baseball. As a preacher's daughter growing up in New Jersey, Johnson was inspired to love two things, God and the New York Mets. Equally fluent in the language of the game and the poetry of Shakespeare, Johnson's gorgeous stories bring to life each decade and transition of her existence: trading baseball cards with her best childhood friend, dating while attending an all-girls school, taking a newborn baby to the ballpark, saying goodbye to her son as he joins the military. While time and seasons dance to a rhythm of change, one scene remains the same-men in cleats on a diamond, the reassuring crack of the bat, and a field aglow in stadium lights.

The 1964 New York World's Fair

It will be 50 years ago this month that the New York World's Fair opened. The fair ran for two six-month seasons, April 22 – October 18, 1964 and April 21 – October 17, 1965. I'm not sure whether visited during the first season or the second, but my guess is the second as a visit required much walking and for small legs that could be difficult no matter how interested we might have been in seeing the exhibits like Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln.

Most of what comprised the fair was torn down long ago though a few items remain and the area itself is the well kept Flushing Meadows Park, not too far from where I now live. We have visited on more than a few occasions and the Unisphere, a 12-story high, stainless-steel model of the earth, remains a captivating site. The paths and their names remain almost unchanged from the days of the fair. It's comforting to have this park nearby where we can look at the trees, flowers, and water.

Here is what the site looked like in 2004, with the ruins of the Observatory Towers and the New York State Pavilion in the foreground: