Give me the green grass of spring training baseball

I set the DVR to take in my New York Mets’ opening spring training game this past weekend. When my dear wife Karen and I returned from Martinfest, we got to playing the contest on the living room flat screen. We saw a pitcher we did not know starting the game against the Atlanta Braves.…

Chip away at the Winterfest spirit

I knot of us took a stroll from Martinfest on Saturday, wandering from the downtown Syracuse parking lot to Clinton Square to take in the Winterfest ice sculptures. The sculptor with the saw was still creating. Hover over a gallery photo for a description. Click on an image for an enlarged slide show. We returned…

Another year of Martinfest brings more innovation

I never know what my dear wife Karen and I will find at Martinfest. The family that brings the big party to the little parking lot in downtown Syracuse for a winter break of friends and fun never stops coming up with new wrinkles. This year’s newbie was a portable pizza oven. I did enjoy…

Use your inside bark, dear dog

My dear wife Karen discovered that our cherished rescue mutt Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle had placed one of her Christmas toys just so on the living room couch. She does indeed favor this big set given to her by fantastic daughter Elisabeth and sensational significant George Three. There used to be more squirrels that…

A lovely job at The Preserve

The new food and drink place on Spencer Street in Syracuse won me over. The Preserve is lovely, outside and in. A Saturday visit by my dear wife Karen and I made my quite happy. We arrived a few clock strokes before 5, without reservations. The hostess seated us immediately at a barroom hightop after…

If this place had been open …

Once upon a time, Syracuse had two newspapers. The Herald-Journal came out in the afternoon. The Post-Standard came out in the morning. The news was digested, reported and printed from an area called Herald Square. For a bunch of decades, I worked for the morning daily. And so it was with some interest that I…

I didn’t turn into a pumpkin

My dear wife Karen really, really wanted to see Cinderella The Musical. She asked quite nicely if I’d accompany here to the beautiful Landmark Theatre in downtown Syracuse, two day’s after Valentine’s Day. Date! I told her I might even break out in song. “Oklahoma!” I started in the living room of A Bitty Better.…