Don’t expect to laugh large for Downsizing

If you’ve seen the trailer for Downsizing, you might have been swept away by Matt Damon’s impish little smile at the thought of being swept away to a land of little people. Cute comedy? Sometimes. Damon has range as Paul Safranek, a middle-class, Middle America sort who toils to reach modest dreams with his wife…

Our rose blooms are coming on strong

The long-running winter of 2017-18 changed a lot about spring and summer in our Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, I’m certain. But as we move through June, I’m happy to look in our backyard and report this fact: The roses are coming out strong. On both sides of our walkway, they prosper.

Hail to the Washington Caps, my second favorite NHL team

Back when my bowling league ended in April, I told my pal Al that I would would be rooting for the Washington Capitals to win the Stanley Cup. The playoffs were just starting. He raised an eyebrow, hearing enough about my allegiance to the New York Islanders as our bowling squads rolled against each other…

The kids continue our Hawaiian theme with a cool tree

Elisabeth and George brought over a perfect present for my dear wife Karen. A pineapple tree is exactly right, an homage for our time spent together in Hawaii for Karen’s family reunion in the summer of 2017. George found the pretty tree at the Walmart. And it’s thriving on our side alcove. I’m wondering if…

Hello to you, too, Anna

The big boat I’d been waiting for pulled into its Onondaga Lake Marina slip this week. As I walked on our work break with my colleagues, I happily pulled my iPhone 8 out to catch the craft with the so-clever moniker painted across the back. I’m glad to greet Me Anna You II from nearby…

There’s much to be done with the backyard pool

You’d think the second season of the backyard pool at A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville might be easier for my dear wife Karen. As you may recall, she’s taken on all pool duties. Well, the pool guys are sharing plenty this spring. The reason the water level is so low is…

No customers but plenty of merchandise at the yard sale

You never know what’s going to catch my eye as I stroll the blocks around A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. Recently I spied a Yard Sale sign at the corner of the closest apartment complex. Sometimes I walk without Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle, say, if it’s too hot and I…

The Post reminds us what publish or perish means

There is no fake news in The Post. Weak-kneed journalist need not apply, either, as the president and his justice department followers attempt to put the clamps on a free press. Sound familiar? But this ripped-from-the-news docudrama directed by Steven Spielberg from the work of screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer turns the calendar way…

My short days at The Post taught me so much, so well

Watching The Post tossed me into my own personal Wayback Machine. Tom Hanks as managing editor Ben Bradlee and Meryl Streep as owner/publisher Katherine Graham might as well have been speaking directly to me. Once upon a time, they did. Romanticize those short encounters with a copy aide from the sports department circa 1978/79 I…

Some days we can call the lake rough

On a recent work break walk, I thought maybe we’d taken a wrong turn and ended up at Lake Ontario instead of Onondaga Lake. The seas, she was a rough, my friends. And this was just one day after the crystal-smooth surface I showed you here yesterday. Oh, the changeable features of our nearest body…