Sally Hawkins captures the essence of Maud Lewis’ unbeatable spirit in Maudie

For the front portion of Maud’s life, oh, so much tried to tell her she wasn’t worth the effort. Her brother cut her out of the family money and sent her away to life with their aunt. Her aunt made her feel feeble and unwanted. All because her physical challenges made her different. But, no,…

Sun reflects a weekend mood

After a big work week at the library, I was glad to put the leash on Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle for a late Friday afternoon stroll through the blocks around A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. The path I chose this time around took us to the bottom of the block,…

She really doesn’t look it

Happy Birthday, Georgia! A whole, big, batch of family and friends got together to celebrate a round-number birthday for one of my dear wife Karen’s besties. Georgia is one of the crew of the annual girls getaway vacations. She and hubbie Bert also now are our neighbors in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, too. S…

A double dose of promise

As my dear wife Karen got ready to leave for school yesterday, she popped back into the front door of A Bitty Better. She proclaimed that the sky was blue in our Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, and it was raining. And there’s a rainbow, she added. I took my iPad Pro off my lap and…

Speaking of getting your gray on

The Syracuse Orange football squad wasn’t the only thing dressed in gray Saturday. The new building going up across from our usual parking lot down the hill had a new layer on certain portions of the outside wall, too. Dark gray. Charcoal, is the proper description, perhaps.

They looked in good form, really

I stepped out from buying my second cup of coffee from Nichols, striding back to the library from my short morning break, when I saw the runners approaching up Second Street. By the time I fished my iPhone 6s out of my pocket, they’d apparently reached their personal finish line. Don’t you think those orange…

The Orange started off looking sharp in the gray

The Syracuse Orange went with a different look for Saturday’s game in the Carrier Dome. Not the blue jerseys. Not the orange jerseys. For this important game against Wake Forest, the hometown squad put on the grays. My dear wife Karen and I thought they looked kind of sharp warming up for the game so…

Don’t wait for Tom Hanks’ version to meet A Man Called Ove

The momentum built, from touching Swedish novel by Fredrik Backman to vastly entertaining movie directed and written by Hanes Holm starring Rolf Lassgard as the cantankerous title character who rules his tidy suburban housing complex with raised voice, eyebrow and, occasionally, fists clenched at his neighbors and the world at large. And now Hollywood word…

I refuse to take the bait except for with my iPhone 6s

I rather enjoy what I spot on the 15-minute break walks from my workplace at the library. Indeed, you can get live bait 24 hours a day in the Village of Liverpool. No, the blocks of First Street do not include a true bait shop. Instead, the worms turn from a soda-like dispenser. It’s at…

This boat goes from here to there

The boat is back near the neighbor’s driveway near a Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. It’s a stretch to fit this baby in the front yard. I’m talking about the boat on the left, naturally. Although the boat on the right would suffice for a trip out on any of the waters…