In Pursuit of the Elusive Gopher Tortoise

(This post is a follow-up to my previous post dated May 18, 2011.)

Less than a week after learning gopher tortoises existed, I found myself in gopher tortoise territory. If there were enough gopher tortoises to warrant road signs, surely I could see one during our four-day visit to Sanibel Island to attend my cousin's wedding. I vowed to check out a few places where gopher tortoises might be seen in the free time between wedding events and family gatherings.

Gopher Tortoise and NASA Space Shuttle

Turtle Tidbit #1 (the first post in my new series) is an AFP photo by Bruce Weaver published by Yahoo! News. The photo, seen by clicking the link below, was taken at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  It depicts a gopher tortoise against the backdrop of a NASA space shuttle.  This photo is truly a contrast between the old and the new because the gopher tortoise originated in North America 60 million years ago, making it one of the oldest living species.

Waltz Me Around Again, Willie

Updated November 28, 2011

 

That's my song!

I sang it at Symphony Space on March 10th, backed by Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra, and three harmony singers ...

I sang it again on March 18th at the Blarney Star concert at Glucksman Ireland House to launch the WSHSO's new CD ...

I recorded it with the WSHSO in May ...

I sang it at the launch of the Mercy Centre fundraiser CD, In Partnership With The Poor, on November 14 at the Irish Repertory Theatre ...

And it's now it's available for purchase!!

To order, click HERE.

Since Maggie Dooley Learned the Hooley Hooley

The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra's FIRST CD is finished and released and available NOW on CDBaby and iTunes.  Entitled Since Maggie Dooley Learned the Hooley Hooley, it features a great selection of traditional tunes and songs, many from the Golden Age of Irish-American music-making in the 1920s and ’30s.

WSHSO on Facebook!

Here's the link to the Facebook fan page for my Irish music group, the Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra.  If you're a "Facebook person," please click on the image below and LIKE us.  Things are really popping these days, and we're posting frequent updates and lots of pictures!

© 2011, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

St. Patrick's Day Performances, 2011

(updated on March 20th with pictures and videos links!)

The season of St. Patrick actually began for me before I turned the calendar into March. The Washington Square Harp and Shamrock Orchestra started rehearsing quite some time ago for our upcoming concerts. Here's a list of all our gigs, including the March 18th launch of our new CD Since Maggie Dooley Learned the Hooley Hooley.

Three Days in the Olympic Peninsula

(Part I of a three-part series on my 2010 vacation in the Pacific Northwest)

I hate winter. One of my most effective coping devices involves either planning future vacations or reliving vacations I've taken in the past. In the spirit of getting through the winter, then, here's the first of a three-part series devoted to my excursion to the Pacific Northwest in September of 2010, when my husband and I toured through the Olympic Peninsula, Seattle, southern British Columbia, and the Mt. Baker wilderness.

Part I will confine itself to our three days in the Olympic Peninsula. Our route is depicted below. The various locations I describe will match the letters on the map.


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In memory of Kitcat...

As I admired our Christmas tree this year, I missed Kitcat. This was our second Christmas without him, without any cat at all. Although there are certain advantages -- no tinsel eaten and no ornaments broken -- I missed having a cat under the tree.