Is your yard looking tired?

A good idea spotted on a walk in the blocks surrounding the Little Bitty in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood perked up Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and I. I wanted to take a photo with my iPhone 6. My cherished rescue mutt wanted to breathe in its deep scent. This neighbor had found…

The sun almost also rises before 6 a.m.

Two weeks ago, I offered what I thought was a pretty picture of the sun getting ready to wake up at 5:51 a.m., outside the store before my opening shift started exactly nine minutes later. Yesterday I thought the view to the east was even more breath-taking. Yes, it was again 5:51 a.m. A lot…

Beware the deep hole

Some stop signs are just there. And some stop signs scream out for you to obey them. On a recent walk around the blocks surrounding the Little Bitty in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and I came up short at one particular marked street corner. Past the shouting red…

Thank you, burst of color

This is the time of year when on a day off from the store, I walk out the side door of the Little Bitty, take a left, and soak it all in. Spring is settling into the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood. I appreciate every little burst of color. My dear wife Karen predicts that…

Oh, those creative paint people

Over at the Blog of Funny Names, I tackle paint this month. As in … OK, readers of the Blog of Funny Names, today we dip our sticks into the world of paint. Yes, I may have been around too many open cans while working in the paint department at the store. But I can’t…

I love some more Richard Linklater coming-of-age brilliance!!

The buzzed kids in Dazed in Confused did end up going to college. Metaphorically, in the mind of terrific writer and director Richard Linklater, it turns out. And so a quick 23 years after that breakthrough coming-of-age film that drew up the extremely realistic final May 1976 high school days of a group of Texas…

The long and the short of it

I’m not saying I waited too long for the first mow of spring 2016 in the yard of the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood but … The back before I took out the red pusher mid-week was, shall I say, a bit tangled. The front wasn’t as bad, but it’s all…

Gas, Anyone?

Happy Sunday, everyone. It’s time for another helping of the weekly guest column from our friend Paul Curran. From Canada, why don’t you help yourself to a cup? Your Barista – Paul Gas Deliveries Welcome to the weekly coffee and tea garden. My name is Paul, I’ll be your barista today and I’m happy to…

A shining moment for our student

We gathered at Kelley’s 15 strong Wednesday night to break bread for Elisabeth, to show this amazing young woman how proud we all are of what she’s accomplished these past two years. The food was good. The smiles were better. We were thrilled to then head down the road apiece to Onondaga Community College. My…