Our booth from the front

…with the AIO – APOBA booth.

I spent the better part of the past week in and around Suffolk County on Long Island. In all, things have gone smoothly with the installation of the organ we rebuilt for the church in Brookhaven. What was unique about this project was that we had an opportunity to do some pipe stencilling. You can see more pictures of that here. It was really rewarding to be able to enhance the appearance of the organ in such a personal way, and we all are quite proud of it. The organ should be done right after Thanksgiving.

Travel to Long Island always has mixed feelings for me. When I lived in New York I frequently called it “Wrong Island” because getting out there meant going over the Throgs Neck or Whitestone bridges, in addition to the fact that any destination meant contending with the Northern State, Southern State, Van Wyck or Cross Island Parkways (not to mention the dreaded Wrong Island Expressway). By contrast, travelling there by way of the Bridgeport Ferry is a relatively stress-free experience.

Despite it being an island, the outer boroughs and small towns can be difficult and confusing to navigate. To the unitiated, Queens can seem byzantine. Needless to say traffic can be pretty bad. One can at least take refuge in the knowledge that if you get lost, sooner or later you will run out of land and therefore be forced to stop. On the island, go too far North or South and you hit the shores, too far West and you end up in Queens. Too far East and you end up in the Hamptons. Which would you pick?

The added irony is that my brother Doug lives in Mastic, so after going out to Suffolk County quite a bit for both personal and professional reasons, I am finally getting a sense of how to navigate the area. And of course now Doug and Lynette are moving (hopefully, fingers crossed for you guys!) to Smithtown, where we happen to be looking at another organ job.

Once again Spanksgiving is upon us. This I have a lot to be spankful thankful for, including a happy and healthy little boy, who now enjoys (among other things) strained carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and green beans. I was interested to discover the choices when shopping for baby food, which includes veal. I am not sure about the ethical paradox represented by feeding baby (albeit delicious) cows to a baby human. Personally, I like veal on occasion, but some people have a real problem with it. My question is, where can I find the strained and baby-ready foie gras? Feel free to vilify me.