Springtime in Somerset, April 2026

1.    I wonder if TS Elliot knew about federal income tax when he opined, “April is the cruelest month.”

2.    Last month ShopRite had Devil Dogs on sale, and to add insult to injury for me, they had a display right at the entrance so I couldn’t miss them. I think they are the work of the Devil himself, and if I indulged in eating them, it would put me on the road to ruin. And, let’s face it, they aren’t even GOOD chocolate. (We can discuss the superiority of Yodels and Ring Rings among the Drake’s Cakes lineup.) As Dionne Warwick sings, “Walk on By.” And I did.

3.    I’m going to a formal event this weekend and I am planning to wear pantyhose. Who wears pantyhose anymore, you ask? ME. I don’t want anyone to see these pale legs sticking out of a fancy dress without hose. Not that pantyhose is easy to find. Those ubiquitous “Eggs” used to be in the supermarket, the drug store, and plenty of mass merchandise retailers, but now the supply is limited – a case of supply and demand, where they don’t stock them because we aren’t wearing them (except for me). If you are short, it is impossible to find a pair that doesn’t pool around your ankles. The wider the pantyhose, the longer they are. Leave out the control top type, please. My top can be out of control if that means that I can get them up over my hips without them hanging around the crotch. TMI?

4.    I hope whoever invented the blood pressure meter was adequately compensated for this old-time invention that is still found in most doctors’ offices. You know, the one with the cuff and the bulb that gets squeezed until you think your arm will explode. Some of my doctors have gone to electronic machines, but most still use the same device that Dr. Marcus Welby used on his patients. And it still works!

5.    Jeopardy has gotten so boring lately that I can barely watch it anymore. It’s not just that current champ Jamie, from New Jersey, is devoid of personality, but he is so far ahead of his competitors that by the time Final Jeopardy rolls around, the other folks are practically waving the white flag. He certainly knows a tremendous amount about a wide range of topics but watching him win every day without any real competition is just plain boring!

6.    I broke my cardinal rule the other day – I ate ice cream before Memorial Day. I was out for lunch with some bad-influencer friends on a beautiful day and we decided to stop for ice cream. I had a single scoop of delicious grasshopper pie ice cream and enjoyed every bite, even though for me, it is not ice cream season. I have heard from many of you who insist that there is no such thing as ice cream season, arguing that ice cream is fine to eat at any time of year. But I am always cold and the idea of eating ice cream with a blanket on my lap isn’t very appealing. I think I can hold off for another month. I wish I had this level of discipline in all areas of my life, instead of merely refraining from ice cream for much of the year.

7.    On a similar subject, why does an egg cream contain neither eggs nor cream? Just a little milk, some chocolate fudge sauce like U-Bet, and some seltzer make a delightful concoction. I have to change this subject!

8.    My branch of Chase Bank finally went back to using tellers again. For the past few years, all of my interactions have been with the ATM machine. I had to go into the bank and use the ATM in the vestibule as you enter. I could never use the drive-through because my arms are too short to reach the machine. There was no way to ask for $10 bills or change of $100. I have no idea why they got rid of the tellers, but it is nice to have them back, to engage in a conversation again, to watch them count the money on a machine and to thank me for my business. It truly is the little things.

9.    The King of England has people who iron his shoelaces. Why? Do they get wrinkled? It just goes to show that the rich are different. If I hit the Powerball, I’d hire a chef, a driver and someone to clean my glasses every day, not just when the fingerprints on them make it impossible to see.

10. I went to the dentist for my usual check-up and was told that everything looks great and that I have excellent oral care. I like going to the dentist because you don’t need to get weighed, but to be told I have excellent oral hygiene? I’ll take it!

11. Sometimes having Alexa in the house is like having my mother around. Alexa will alert me to the fact that it MIGHT rain, starting at midnight and going until 2 am, with an expected accumulation of 0.07 inches. Do I really need to know that? A hurricane warning I would appreciate but a minor rain? My mother definitely would have told me about that, too.

12. I wonder who decided that bananas tasted great and somehow knew NOT to eat the peel.

13. The trees here have flowered at last. I had thought they might have snow-laden branches until Memorial Day!

14. I’m not the only person who cleans the house before the cleaning service comes, right?

15. Gas prices for premium hit $5 a gallon last week. Only a few weeks ago, I was paying $3.49. Tell me again what this president is doing to address the economy.

16. Spring cleaning! I had the yard cleaned up, the bushes trimmed, the dryer vent emptied, the gutters cleaned and the sprinklers serviced. I’m happy to cross those things off the list without having to do that work myself!

17. My aqua aerobics class used the classic Don McLean song “American Pie” recently, but it was a sped-up version that moved very quickly from the Chevy to the levee. I doubt Don McLean had this tempo in mind when he wrote it back in the early 70s.

Tina's March 2026 Movies and More

I came up a little short this month due to March Madness basketball, but there were some movies I really enjoyed on the March list. Everything is rated on a scale of 1-5 cans of tuna fish, with 5 being the top rating. Movies not previously seen are marked with an asterisk and numbering picks up from previous months.

23. Back to School (1996, Cable TV) – I have seen this movie too many times to count, but it always makes me laugh. Comic Rodney Dangerfield is Thornton Wilder, an enormously successful purveyor of big and tall men’s clothes, who decides after his marriage fails to go “back to school” to accompany his son Jason at college. Of course, he knows more than the business professor because he has paid off the unions when needed. He redesigns the dorm room to resemble a luxury hotel, and his meals are catered.  It is Dangerfield’s twitches and quick-fire responses with memorable lines that brings this story to life. This is not high-brow entertainment, but I love it! 3½ cans.
24. Longing* (2024, Prime Video) – Imagine finding out that you fathered a son 19 years ago only to learn that he just died in a car accident in Canada. Richard Gere is wealthy Daniel, whose ex-wife tells him that she was pregnant when they parted 20 years ago and never let him know he fathered a son, Alan. Gere travels to pay his respects and to find out everything he can about the son he never knew. Some of what he learns is routine, but Alan had plenty of secrets and layers that Daniel is determined to peel back to get to know his late son. This movie is billed as a comedy/drama, but I saw nothing comic. Instead, it explores grief and fatherhood when the latter is too late. 3 cans.
25. Working Girl (1988, Cable TV) – Melanie Griffiths really captures the plight of the working girl in the 1980s. No matter how smart or competent she is, she is considered an appendage to “the boss.” Here, she is a working-class woman with aspirations, and her boss Katherine (Sigourney Weaver) barely considers her ideas or desire for a promotion. Instead, she steals the idea. But when Katherine is laid up after a ski accident, the assistant, Tess McGill, carries the project forward, reaching out to another firm and its hotshot wheeler-dealer, Jack (Harrison Ford). Things go swimmingly with him until Katherine blows back into town. I love the Carly Simon anthem, the small but memorable part played by Joan Cusack, the smarmy boyfriend (Alec Baldwin) and everything this movie says and does. If you weren’t there to see this time, you might never believe that this is exactly how things were then. 4 cans.
26. Train Dreams* (2025, Netflix) – This is the kind of movie that is hardly ever made anymore. A stoic man (Joel Edgerton) works as a logger, cutting down trees to make the way for the new railroad in the Pacific Northwest. He is a man of few words, just a loyal, dedicated worker, tolerating long absences from his wife and baby to make the money they need to survive. His life started out in tragedy and he continues to suffer, even as the world around him advances. This is a melancholy and beautiful view of a man, a country, loneliness, tragedy and grief. Edgerton shines. 4 cans.
27. Virgin River, Season 7* (2026, Netflix) – The 7th season of the popular family series returns with lead characters Jack and Mel married and trying to have – or adopt – a baby; threats to Doc’s solo medical practice from a larger medical organization; Charmaine (who I forget was in the show) missing; Preacher thinking of opening his own restaurant (the bar is kind of like his own place since Jack, the owner is rarely there anymore); someone named Marley is having a baby that Jack and Mel might adopt; etc. There has to be something for everyone to do, and I can’t help thinking there may just be too many characters to try to feature. Will modern medicine invade the town? Will Mayor Hope EVER take that look of disgust off her face? This is not by any means a good show, but I am hooked, so I am still watching. I could see the conclusion of episode 10 coming from a mile away, just to set up for next season – next year. And I’ll probably keep watching. 3 cans.
28. Breaking the Glass: The Pat Summitt Story* (2026, Hulu) – If you know anything about women’s basketball, you must know about Pat Summitt. The Coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols reigned over the unprecedented growth of the sport for 38 seasons, accumulating 1098 wins and 8 NCAA Championships (including a defeat of my beloved Scarlet Knights in 2007). Starting with nothing, she helped nurture the sport, developing players and making sure each one got her degree from the University. This film from newscaster Robin Roberts traces Pat’s career from the early days of women’s hoops thought her diagnosis – at age 59 – of early onset dementia. To see her decline after witnessing her triumphs was hard on everyone who knew her. Like Billie Jean King, she was more than a coach – she was an icon. I can’t speak for everyone, but I loved seeing her in action in this movie and seeing her players who went on to be Olympians (as Pat herself had done, in addition to coaching the 1984 US Olympic team) and professionals in basketball, coaching and other professionals. Well done. 4 cans.
29. Project Hail Mary* (2026, Manville Cinema) – This combination “ET,” “The Martian,” “Castaway” sci-fi/fantasy movie is an odd choice for me to see except for one thing – Ryan Gosling is the star. And somehow he pulls off the feat of being the hero scientist/elementary school teacher/creature’s best friend with humor and charm. He proved he was game for anything when he played Ken in “Barbie,” and here, he rises again to the occasion, trying to save planet Earth even if it means he won’t be able to go home. He is selected for this mission against his will, and having lost his space squad along the way, he makes friends with a creature that looks like a crab sculpted of stone that serves as his personal “Wilson” from Castaway. There are long periods where there is little dialog, but Gosling communicates with glances, subtlety and determination. The film poses the question of how to combat loneliness, what is friendship, and is there really someone how has no one in their life? I thought this movie would be better if a good 30 minutes were trimmed, but overall, it is interesting, different, and, did I mention, Ryan Gosling is the star? 4 cans.
30. American Masters (PBS): Bella Abzug, A Woman’s Place is in the House* – Bella Abzug, a brassy woman with a mission and a hat, was best known as an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, civil rights and human rights, both as a member of the US House of Representatives and as a strident citizen in the 60s. Politicians feared her, and she backed down from no one. Even after leaving elective office, she made her presence known and her causes celebrated. It disturbs me that 50 years after her activism shook the system, we are still fighting for more and better recognition for women, Blacks and human beings in general. Bella Abzug was one-of-a-kind, and we could sure use a few more like her. 3½ cans.
31. Audrey* (2020, Netflix) – I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary about the lovely Audrey Hepburn. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “My Fair Lady,” “Roman Holiday” and “Sabrina” were just some of the movies that made her an international star, fashion icon and Hollywood legend. No one could tell from her elegance and classy demeanor that, despite being born to aristocratic parents who supported the Nazis, she grew up in the occupied Netherlands, deprived of food and basic necessities. She wanted to be a ballerina, but by the time she could take lessons, it was too late. She moved quickly into films, where she worked with top directors and fashion designers. Despite her success, there were tough times, too, and this film covers it all. She was, indeed, my fair lady. 4 cans.