"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Monday, September 1, 2014

Boomers on Labor Day

     It's Labor Day, and here's what Baby Boomers are blogging about.

     Since moving to rural southern Colorado in June, the Midlife Crisis Queen, Laura Lee Carter, has enjoyed a number of drives down country roads all over Huerfano County. Last week she decided to take photos to share her world with you . . . . And also, last week on amazon, she lowered the price on her e-books to $4.99, which is just what you might need if your priorities are changing and you wonder what's next for you now.

Country road in Colorado
     Meanwhile, in the wake of recent events. Amy Blitchok at Modern Senior recognizes the lasting contributions of famous black Americans. These icons from our youth were incredibly influential, and the positive repercussions of their achievements continue to be felt by everyone all over America.

     For example, in her piece Blitchok serves up some interesting details about tennis great Althea Gibson. So . . . my son and I went to the Billie Jean King Tennis Center on Saturday to watch the U. S. Open. We got grounds passes which, at much less expense, allows access to all the courts except for the main Arthur Ashe Stadium.

     We footworked our way around the outer courts to see some of the lower ranked players, up close and personal. Then we hit Louis Armstrong Stadium and watched Andy Murray play an ugly match against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov. Murray double faulted to lose the third set, before stepping up to win the next set 6-2, and take the match 3-1. Then we stayed around to see the highest ranked American player, John Isner, lose to the German player Philipp Kohlschreiber.

     Now later today, 8th ranked Murray takes on the 9th ranked player Jo-Wilfred Tsonga. And Kohlschreiber goes up against No. 1 ranked Novak Djokovic.

     Which is all a warm-up to refer you to another Baby Boomer tennis great. He won the U. S. Open in 1968, then the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. And now the main stadium at Billie Jean Tennis Center is named after him. Opened in 1997, Arthur Ashe Stadium is the largest tennis stadium in the world, and is a fitting commemoration to the only black man to win the U. S. Open and climb the tennis ranks to No. 1 in the world. Bounce over to Remember Him? for more on Arthur Ashe.

     Meanwhile, blogger Meryl Baer spent this past week mourning the loss of her microwave/convection oven. But never one to wallow in grief, she managed to recover and buy a replacement. In her post she confesses that in the process of shopping for a new microwave, she and her husband also bought a second new kitchen appliance. Although her checkbook is depleted, she feels good knowing she helped out a worthy cause -- the U. S. economy. And now, if you go to her post A Patriotic Pair Step Up and Purchase New Stuff, you can find out exactly which second appliance managed to seduce her into parting with her hard-earned cash.

     Finally, to mark the Labor Day holiday, consumer journalist Rita R. Robison identifies the top 10 destinations for Labor Day travel. The list, featured on her blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide, starts with New York City, Chicago, and Las Vegas.

     You already know that I visited the No. 1 destination on the list. So now you can fly over to Top 10 Places and find out if your Labor Day festivities included a visit to one of the top spots.
 

8 comments:

DJan said...

My Labor Day will take me out to the garden, which I have neglected of late. It's at the end of the season and I need to prepare everything for the long winter. I always enjoy your posts, even if I'm not really a Boomer. Too old by only a few years. :-)

Anonymous said...

We live within 2 and 1/2 hours of Seattle, we prefer the burbs and the Ocean to Seattle, the city has priced itself out of our pockets, parking fees, food fees, taxes up to 15% on a dollar all for CenturyLink field, Mariners stadium, and other sports facilities we would rarely go to ticket prices not cheap only for people with more money than we want to spend. We used to live in a Denver suburb now it is all apartments, condos and lots of violence..We can get to the Ocean and to wineries in one day for cheap, and the people are lovely retirees and working people suite us just fine..We don't travel on the holidays too many traffic fatalities due to people rushing home to work the next day and drinking and driving, texting and going batcrapcrazy..We enjoy just chillin with childhood friends at the beach in a cabin owned by my gal friend since kindergarten!

Anonymous said...

I hope Washington DC is NOT on the list. It's time to take back our city from the tourists.

stephen Hayes said...

We won't be doing much traveling today, just to some local friends for a BBQ. I hope everyone has a nice holiday.

Rita said...

Hi Tom,

Nice job on the Best of Boomer Blogs article as usual. You are such a good writer.

Rita

Rosaria Williams said...

We avoid traveling on holidays. So, we travelled a week earlier visiting grandchildren.

Anonymous said...

We stayed home and barbecued a rib eye steak in our patio.
Hawaii is so over-developed now that I am amazed that tourists keep coming here.

Kmdennis17 said...

What a crock of shit.

Firstly, the parents of boomers are the JFK, RFK, MLKMjr are the special people who gave ALL to this country. Navigated through depression, through war and through development of this country. They took us to space!

Boomers have raised national debt, created the credit collapse, created unnecessary wars, ruined the health care industry and did nothing but drugs, man. George W Bush is a boomer.

Your argument and your blog is invalid.