memories from a crossword

Coincidence is a strange thing.
I had been feeling a bit blue, looking at a busy week ahead and the shredding of my usual Tuesday schedule of fun.
Blue, blue, blue.
So I decided to pull up a puzzle page from the stack of papers in my living room.
I bombed out on the Sudoku.
I did well on the golf-themed Jumble, though.
That was good.
So I continued on to the Crossword Puzzle.
7-Down made me smile.
"Bird sounds" - that was Kevin's caws.
Funny!
49-Down brought another smile to my lips.
"Easy out, often" - clearly a baseball reference! Popfly!
Nice!
55-Across grabbed my attention then.
"Italian seaport", it gently beckoned, reminding me of the ferry to Salerno with the nursing students...
Ah, such good times!
62-Down called next for my attention.
Back to the present, was its demand to me, with its "Helium's atomic number" of two.
Time to make those Final Exams for next week!
But not until I was done with the very last clue in 73-Across.
"Top of many rating scales" - well, that would be Ten...
as in the movie from my youth that introduced me to the music of Ravel...
which reminded me of my dance at the Lucas a few weeks ago.
Joy!

When had this puzzle appeared in the newspaper?
Saturday, August 6, 2016.
I'm glad I had been too busy to sit with the paper on that day.
i thank You, God, for saving this as a lovely surprise for me.
(smile)