Spring Survival Checklist 2014

We like to think of What To Do as The Old Farmer’s Almanac for suburban yuppies. Each season we check in with them for need to know stuff like the weather, meteorology and astrology. If we asked the OFA to edit a Spring Survival Checklist for our towns, we think it would go something like this:

What To Do’s Old Farmer’s Almanac Report: Weather: April and May will be drier and much warmer than normal. Temperatures will be 4° warmer in April (56°) and 3° warmer in May (65°). Precipitation will be 1 inch above normal in each month. And summer will come on strong with some of the hottest periods for the season coming in early June. Sunscreen!

Astronomy: Full moon days for spring April 15, May 14, and June 13. (Remember if you talk politics or religion to your spouse on these days you may be lawyering up in the morning.)

Total eclipse of the moon: This eclipse will be visible from North America. The moon will enter the penumbra at 12:52am. Totality begins at 3:06am. The moon will leave the penumbra at 6:39am. About the same time that you will be opening the What To Do Weekend email newsletter. Sign up here.

Best Fishing Days: According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac the best fishing days are between when the moon is new and full. Here’s when the fish will be biting this spring: March 30-April 5, April 29-May 14, May 28-June 13. 1–15. Here’s some inspiration fishing music.

Astrology: Celeste Longacre’s Best Days: According to the OFA’s resident astrologer/radio personality and author Celeste Longacre, here are the best days each month to: Quit Smoking: 3/20, 28; 4/25; 5/22, 26. Begin Diet: /20, 28; 4/25; 5/22, 26. Have dental care: 3/15, 16; 4/11, 12; 5/8, 9. Start projects: 3/31; 4/30; 5/29, 30. Prune to encourage growth: 4/ 8, 9, 10; 5/ 6,7; 6/ 2,3. Can, pickle or make sauerkraut: 4/ 16, 17; 5/ 21, 22; 6/18, 19.

Moveable Religious Holidays: Palm Sunday, 4/13. First Day of Passover: 4/15. Good Friday: 4/18. Easter: 4/20. Ascension Day: 5/29.

Holidays, Observances, and other Celebrations: National High Five Day: 4/17. Earth Day: 4/22.  National Jelly Bean Day: 4/22. National Arbor Day: 4/25. Cinco de Mayo:Duh! Mother’s Day:5/11. Memorial Day:5/26. National Macaroon Day: 5/31.National Fist Bump Day: 6/3. World Environment Day: 6/5. Father’s Day: 6/15. National Ice Cream Soda Day: 6/20.

Spring Fashion: Ready to get fabulous? What To Do’s Spring Fashion Update is back! In it three local boutique owners told us what’s hot (and not) for spring. Is orange really the new black? Who is wearing the varsity jackets in the family this year? What runway trends are translating into everyday wear? We hit them up for their take on the latest trends in choosing colors, fabrics and shapes.  And they gave us their short list of must have separates that you can mix and match. Can you say cropped jackets, wide-leg pants and pleated skirts? Read more.

This is KOGA Fitness

KOGA Fitness™ at Westchester MMA-FIT In Mt. Kisco: Do you Koga? KOGA Fitness™is a new fusion fitness program that combines kickboxing and yoga into a high-energy workout that integrates the mind/body/spirit aspects of Yoga. Pioneered by Jon Koga, a martial arts black belt and certified kickboxing and Yoga instructor, KOGA Fitness™ has been featured in Self, Shape, Yoga Journal and on The Dr. Oz Show. KOGA Fitness™ classes are available for the first time in Westchester County at Westchester MMA Fit in Mount Kisco. Read more. 

Spring Entertaining: Hire your own Tribute Band: Want some special music for your next party, wedding, and bar/bat mitzvah? Now you can hire your own Cover or Tribute Band (from ABBA to ZZ Top) that plays right into your musical wheelhouse. At gigsalad.com you can find 231 bands that serve the Westchester area.  Pick between 13 Beatles or 8 Grateful Dead bands within 100 miles of Chappaqua, including Not Dead Yet, from Goldens Bridge, and Port Chester’s Stella Blues Band who have performed at The Capitol Theatre. They have bands that cover Buddy Holly, The Eagles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, U2, and The Who – even The Andrews Sisters. If you want to really keep it local, Music & Musicians Magazine called Chappaqua resident Mark Salore’s Tramps Like Us “the world’s foremast Bruce Springsteen tribute band.”

Spring Entertaining: Inside-Out Technology: It used to be that getting ready for spring entertaining meant taking a steel brush to your Weber grill, dusting off the beverage bucket and propping your speakers up against your window screens. Now when we man the decks we want to take the whole family room with us. Fortunately there’s a whole range of technology available to help you bring the home entertainment experience into the backyard. We asked Lou Gordon, of Soundworks, Inc., to give us some tips for the best in inside-out technology for spring and summer. Here’s what he told us:

Spring Grill Tune-ups and more: If your outdoor grill is more fun to use than to clean, Armonk residents David and Barrie Rakower and Jennifer and Joseph Cohen can help. Their company Firefly Propane, that delivers propane tanks so you never run out, offers a 20 point grill scrub and tune up that includes a hose, regulator and burner jet repair to keep your grill hot, efficient and safe. They also sell the Mosquito Magnet that silently traps and collects mosquitos and biting insects. With a service and maintenance contract they will even clean out the trapped insects so you never have to touch your unit. We like that. (980 Broadway, #123, Thornwood, 888.384.3359; www.fireflypropane.com)

Best days to buy gas: Everybody knows its Tuesday or Wednesday. But according to Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at gasbuddy.com the best days to buy gas are on the weekend. His recent four-year study, released earlier this year, showed that 65% of the states saw lower gas prices on the weekend (Fri-Sun) than during the week. Very few states saw lower prices on Tuesday or Wednesday. From 2010 to 2013 the lowest gas prices in New York State were recorded on Mon (2010), Sun (2011), Fri (2012). And Sun (2013).  So have yourself a wild weekend and gas up at your local service station.

26 Points of Interest in 9.6 miles: The Bronx River Parkway Reservation is Westchester County’s first park. Running adjacent to America’s oldest parkway, it stretches 9.6 miles from Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla to Palmer Road in Bronxville. Using your cellphone you can get a free interactive audio tour of The Bronx River Walk, narrated by Dan Rather. There’s information on 26 points of interest, including the 9-11 Memorial, “The Rising;” Garth Woods, designated an ancient forest by the Sierra Club; and the bucolic Duckpond, with remnants of the 1840s Haubold Gunpowder Mill, two waterfalls and a lake and the Crestwood train station that Norman Rockwell immortalized in a painting featured on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post in 1946. There’s also an app you can download powered by Pocket Ranger that offers rich GPS features including advanced GPS maps, a friend finder if you should get detached from your party, a built in compass, and emergency alert functionality cacheable maps, Call 914.517.5575 or go to friendsofwestchesterparks.com and download the tour and a map to your smart phone.

What’s up with the new SATs? The College Board recently announced a major overhaul to the SAT tests beginning in 2015. The new SATs are designed to integrate better with schoolwork and test real world knowledge. It is also, in theory, designed to level the playing field between affluent students who can afford expensive tutoring help and those who can’t.  But what’s really going on beyond the essay is out, guessing is in, obscure words are out and the test scores only go up to 1600? Meaning, are they going to be easier or harder? And are we going to have to study more or less? Read more.

Clean Green: Spring cleaning is a great time to recommit to an environmentally friendly lifestyle. You can find environmentally sound laundry detergents and cleaning products at Mrs. Green’s Natural Market in Mt. Kisco and Katonah, and Whole Foods in White Plains and Greenwich, CT.

Look for products labeled organic, bio-based, chlorine-free, phosphate-free, nontoxic, natural fragrance or biodegradable. Brands include Mrs. Meyer’s, Seventh Generation and Biokleen. Read the directions; sometimes natural products are more concentrated than the commercial ones.

You can also find basic cleaning products in your own cupboard:

Baking Soda: Use to scrub surfaces as you would use an abrasive cleanser. Also use as a deodorizer in the refrigerator, freezer or anywhere it’s needed.

Lemon Juice: Use to dissolve hard-water deposits and to shine copper and brass. Mix with olive oil to make a furniture polish for hardwoods (one cup oil with a half cup lemon juice.)

Vinegar: Mix one part white distilled vinegar and one part water in a spray bottle for an all-purpose cleaner. Also use as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Vinegar is acidic, so if it’s not diluted enough it can eat away at grout. Test first in an inconspicuous spot. Do not use on marble.

Last Spring Frost: According to the Cornell University Department of Horticulture, the last spring frost in our area is usually between April 20 and 30. The experts there recommend waiting several weeks before planting tomatoes or other frost- sensitive crops—ditto on transplanting shrubs and bushes. Anticipating a warm May, we’ll see you in the garden the second or third weekend in May.

Heirloom Tomatoes: Looking for that rare variety of tomato, melon, pansy or herb? Check out Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at www.rareseeds.com. They offer over 1,200 unique heirloom varieties of open-pollinated, pure, natural and non-GMO seeds. Including 200 varieties of tomatoes (like this Flame or Hill Billy Tomato from West Virginia that grows large and sweet) in white green, yellow, orange, red, pink, purple and over 22 varieties of striped tomatoes. Read more.

21 Kerry Ln., Chappaqua courtesy of Ted Holmes, Douglas Elliman

Spring Real Estate Report: With mortgage rates hitting record lows there was a lot of buzz about last spring’s local real estate market. How did that work out? Answer: Home sales good. Prices … meh.  And what’s the forecast for 2014? Zillow listed New York as one of the Top Ten Buyers markets in the country. (Boo.) We drew a smaller circle around Armonk, Bedford and Chappaqua and asked some some local experts to bring us up to speed on 2013 and 2014,  Read more.

How to hit a a baseball from Los Angeles Dodger Dan Gray: We checked out some lists of top “parenting” books and found titles like Unconditional Parenting andHow To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. Not one on how to hit a baseball. HA! Any baseball mom or dad knows parenting doesn’t begin until your kid strikes out with the bases loaded. We called Dan Gray, former Los Angeles Dodger and owner of ProSwing in Mount Kisco, for some tips on how to hit a baseball and deal with the roller coaster of emotions your child will discover when they try. Read more: