With Labor Day the official end of summer looming at about three and a half weeks away, I cannot say that this particular summer with the blistering heat waves, torrential down pours, and the blanket of thick smoke haze from the Canadian fires will go down in my record books as one of my favorites, but it did have a few bright spots. My friend Christine Martin from Barryville had a fabulous birthday party last weekend at her lovely home called the Diamond Ranch in Barryville. It was one of those “big birthdays” so her writer, radio host, musician and man-about town husband Mike Edison handled all of the party planning details so for the fifty or so guests who attended, the celebration was a charming and fun-filled event. True to the tradition of a classic summer lawn party, but with a very honky tonk rockabilly twist, there was food, music and many friends. The Birthday girl is an avowed vegetarian- so it was a wonderful vegetarian BBQ. The buffet was prepared by William Melette the Head Chef at Hennings Local in Cochecton Center (William.Mellett.18@gmail.com) with a perfectly amazing menu. I had a little bit of three very different delicious salads, cheeses, breads, Mexican roasted street corn on the cob, really good freshly prepared veggie burger which Chef William served on his homemade sesame rolls, and there were three different first rate homemade mayonnaises and garnish condiments for the burgers. The buffet featured other offerings which I was not able to try. There was a self-serve bar with all kinds of drinks to boot. Somehow, I missed the invitation clue about the rockabilly aspect of the party and many people were wearing their finest cowboy hats. Another marvelous feature of Christine’s party was the rockabilly country music of the Cliff Westfall Band (cliffwestfallmusic.com) from the heart of Kentucky by way of Damascus, Pennsylvania. With mostly featuring honky tonk country music classics the band can turn on a dime into rock music everyone loves. At one point Mike Edison joined the band and gave a soulful rendition of Blue Suede Shoes. He was then joined by Christine and they sang a duet “Jackson” made famous by June Carter and Johnny Cash. Everyone was singing and dancing around. Great food and live music with wonderful family and friends on a perfect summer evening to celebrate a remarkable woman. A summer season bright spot for sure. Happy Birthday wishes to the lovely Christine Martin and many thanks for such a magical evening.

Look up to the skies this week (August 11th through 14th) for the Perseids- the most popular meteor showers as they peak during the warm nights of August. This year is an opportune time for the circumstances are ideal for viewing the Perseids, one of the two strongest and most dependable annual meteor showers (the other being the Geminids which happen during December). NASA considers the Perseids the best show of the year. The meteors are very fast and bright and regularly leave long tails of light and color behind them as they streak across the night sky at around thirty-seven miles per second! The showers are active from mid-July to late August, but the peak is coming up this week. So, grab the kiddos and some blankets and enjoy the show. For more information you can use the Stellarium app or go to earthsky.org.