When you must stay inside in Hawaii, it can be suite

When you travel from Central New York to Kona, Hawaii, you don’t want to stay inside much. But if you must, a suite at Aston Kona By the Sea will do the job quite well, thank you. That’s where my dear wife Karen set up ourselves, my wonderful daughter Elisabeth and her terrific significant George…

I can feel at home at Aston Kona by the Sea for a week

When we pulled into our place to stay for Family Reunion II, Kona was very dark. But the place my dear wife Karen had chosen in collaboration with several of her siblings lightened my spirits considerably. That first night, we dragged our bags in from the rental SUV, put them into our bedrooms, and checked…

Oh, Mama, The Meddler gives Susan Sarandon a juicy role

Don’t let the title fool you. Sure, The Meddler features a mom who sticks her nose into places that exasperate her grown daughter in all ways possible. No make that the brain, voice and moxie of mother Marnie, who followed her grown kid Lori to Los Angeles from the East Coast, only to have a…

Aloha, Kona’s open airport

We arrived at Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, N.Y., before the clock had hit 5 a.m., giving us plenty of time to check our bags, pass through security and board the first of three planes that would take us westward that day. Although the sun had yet to rise, somebody was enjoying the open restaurant…

New things are blooming up front

A tall, scraggly bush has coaxed some cuss words out of my dear wife Karen and I since we moved into A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville last October. We never thought it would amount to much. But instead of digging it out or cutting it down, we trimmed, pruned and hoped.…

What to do with that bothersome water pipe?

There is a common bond in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. We all deal with a stubby water pipe somewhere in our front yard. My dear wife Karen and I have been letting the rusty little thing just sit there between our walkway and the road. Inside, I seethe a little bit. And notice that…

Veggies and herbs, gotta hand it to them

My favorite garden in the blocks surrounding A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville is smack dab next door. My nexties know exactly what they want from their side patch of vegetables, herbs and more. They surely make the most of their corner lot. Bravo.

DeNiro does everything his way in The Comedian

Jackie Burke is a piece of work. As long as you accept that the guy played by Robert DeNiro in The Comedian will always say and do something that will make you cringe, cower or cry more likely than laugh, you’ll get along with the struggling-to-find work former sitcom star just fine. When we first…

Rocking the garden

A walk around our Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville in August allows me to chart some interesting aspects that surround A Bitty Better. Ideas to bring home, perhaps? Ahh … This is one interesting way to get the most out of small rocks and patches of flowers in a front yard.