A Snap, A Set and A Song - Hop

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Hop. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




When I first saw this week's theme I was stumped. I couldn't think of anything I had that would fit the theme. Then I remembered a visit to the small zoo we have here on Staten Island and its special exhibit in the summer of 2010. The exhibit was Down Under Summer, and it had received a number of Australian animals that were on display here all summer. The big surprise was that when they arrived here in the US, there was one more animal than was loaded in Australia - a baby kangaroo - a joey. No one expected it and he was the hit of the exhibit. After all, how often do you get to see a kangaroo? ;-). (This was back when I was still using a point & shoot and hadn't yet gotten my DSLR and you can see the lack of control that was inherent with that camera.)

The Snap

The Set

The Song

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Bush

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Bush. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

The Snap

This week Thea has picked the theme of Bush and specified that it be the Australian meaning of the word so I won't be showing any shrubbery, minor league baseball or images relating to two of our former U.S. Presidents. The closest I can figure that "bush" will translate into American is woods/forest/natural setting. So with that in mind, we know that Thea is a country girl ... a farm girl ... but what is this dapper urbanite, this New York City resident to do? I live within the city limits of one of the most densely populated cities in the world, but as it turns out, the borough that I call home - Staten Island - actually has a good deal of protected natural landscape which we call "The Greenbelt." As a photographer I often walk through areas of The Greenbelt with my camera - so let's join this couple along this woodland trail and take a nature walk through the woods.

The Set

Our nature walk continues ...

The Song

When I first heard about this week's theme (and it's restrictions), this poem came to mind immediately. The next day I was talking with someone, and something in our conversation prompted her to quote the same poem I was thinking of, so it seems appropriate that I should include it here.

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Irish

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Irish. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

The Snap

With St. Patrick's Day just past, Thea has chosen the related topic of Irish for this week's post. At first it puzzled me and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle it, but then I remembered that New York City has not only the largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the US each year, but more than one. In the days that my son and daughter were in their high school marching band, they marched in those parades - both in Manhattan and here on Staten Island. This is a shot of that marching band in my son's senior year ... and that is him ... the drum major with his back to the camera ... leading the band down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

The Set

As I mentioned, New York City has the largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the US, and it passes right in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

The Song

This traditional Irish folksong has been a favorite of mine since I first heard it over 45 years ago when I purchased the album shown below.

Here is an alternate version presented by the Dubliners in a more traditional format.

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Book

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Book. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

The Snap

Right from their early days, my grandsons loved books - both having them read to them and reading them by themselves. Here they were at their first birthday party.

The Set

This may be stretching a bit, but this is one of my favorite books - a video book containing a set of photos of the twins' first trip to Walt Disney World.

The Song

From the Broadway musical - You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Sky

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Sky. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




I have seen some very interesting skies in the past month. Allow me to share some of them with you this week.

The Snap

This is the skyline that I see whenever I take the ferry into Manhattan. There is something new taking shape on the site of the former World Trade Center - the Freedom Tower.

The Set

The Song

A Snap, A Set and a Song - Life

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Life. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




This is an appropriate theme for me as this week I celebrated my 60th birthday. The theme has inspired me to take a look at the life of my family itself.

The Snap

I guess as good a place as any to start is to have a look back at my mom and her mom, my grandmother.

The Set

The Song

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Grey

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Grey. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




On our recent cruise in the Caribbean, our stop at Castaway Cay in the Bahamas happened on a very grey day indeed, as you can see in the Snap and the Set.

The Snap

The Set

The Song

A Snap, A Set and a Song - Valentine

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Valentine. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

The Snap

My valentine for more than 40 years now ...

The Set

I saw this on Facebook and decided to share it here.

The Song

A Snap, A Set & A Song - Concert

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Concert. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




As you might know, we have just returned from a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. When it comes to concerts, you will see all kinds when you are there. Here are some of the ones we saw on this trip.

The Snap

A gazebo concert in an English garden. (EPCOT)

The Set

An unusual street concert (EPCOT)

The Song

Another street concert. This time the Dapper Dans - a barbershop quartet on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom.

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Heatwave

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Heatwave. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




Leave it to Thea to come up with a theme that I have to be creative to try and come up with a post. While she and her fellow Australians are complaining about 40° and above temperatures, we are looking at a forecast temperature of 47° here - quite a bit warmer than usual for this time of year. Of course, Thea's 40°C would be my 104°F ... and my 47°F would be her 8°C ... similar numbers - quite a different meaning!

A Snap

So since our winter would not produce any heatwave snaps, I reached back into the archives to one of the hottest days in my memory. That day was August 24, 2011 - my daughter's wedding. It was a Disney Fairytale Wedding held in Walt Disney World. For those of you not familiar with sub-tropical Florida in the summer, let me just say it was extremely hot and steamy ... even by Florida standards. Just have a look at my son's shirt (or my grandsons' hair)!

A Set

Don't let the tuxedos fool you - it was HOT!!!!

A Song

Now I know that Thea was expecting me to use a different song, but the Broadway person in me decided to go with this number from Kiss Me Kate. (The song in the set is from the musical, Pajama Game - the first community theater show I ever did.)

But just for Thea ... is this what you were thinking? :-)

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Fireworks

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Fireworks. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.




When I saw this week's theme, I was quite happy as for the last 2 years I have been trying to perfect my skills at taking pictures of fireworks. Now the decision was which photo to use as a snap, and which way to go for the set and the song.

A Snap

For the snap I have chosen a shot from Illuminations - Reflections of Earth ... the nightly multimedia show in EPCOT at Walt Disney World in Florida.

The Set

I have been lucky in that when I am in Disney World, there is a fireworks show (or two) almost every night. This set is a collection of photos I took of the nightly fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom.

The Set

While Wishes ... the nightly fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom is shown almost every night throughout the year, during the days leading up to New Year (and for a while after), Disney Presents Holiday Wishes ... have a look ...

A Snap, A Set and A Song - Family

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Family. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

A Snap

Whenever there are holidays, and we get together as a family, there are the family photos. Here is our most recent (April, 2011) four generation photo.

The Set

So you think it's easy to get that full family photo?

The Song

A Snap, A Set and a Song - Garden

Time once again to link with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Garden. Stop by her site to see her take - and possibly join us with your own post.

A Snap

Right now - as we are just one day away from the first day of winter here, gardens are not much to look at. However, back in April we visited EPCOT at Walt Disney World during the International Flower and Garden Festival.

The Set

Assorted views from the International Flower and Garden Festival set to Peter Paul and Mary's Garden Song (Live)

The Song