In the butterfly garden, blossoms at last

It took long enough in this summer of 2014. But at long last, on this slightly gray Sunday morning of Aug. 3, I finally felt it was time to grab the iPad Air and take these shots of the backyard butterfly garden in the Eastwood neighborhood of the Syracuse city home of my dear wife…

The night before the Bash, fans and bands meet and eat

While putting together today’s Benny’s Lost ’80s Bash fundraising concert for the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of Central New York, Syracuse native Greg Ross came up with a different wrinkle. Fans of Benny Mardones were able to purchase tickets for last night’s Eat and Greet at the Gem Diner to meet the…

A pretty little golf course in the city

When my wonderful daughter Elisabeth and her terrific boyfriend George and I decided it was time for some Sunday golf, I suggested the little city golf course that’s just two miles from our house in our Eastwood neighborhood. They’d already been to Sunnycrest’s sister nine-hole, par-three course, Burnet Park, so they were eager to try…

Arts, crafts and the people who make them

People from more than 30 states and Canada descended upon downtown Syracuse last weekend for the annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The least my dear wife Karen and I could do was walk the streets around Columbus Circle when we got out of work last Friday night. I wanted to stock up on photos and…

You smell it before you see it

I woke up at 5 a.m. with a smell in my nose. Something burnt. Without opening my eyes, my groggy mind sorted the scent. Not a skunk, not wood, not food, not quite electrical, we’re safe … I felt Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle press close to my lower leg just as the final tumbler…

What’s that sound? A little dance, a little jazz

The second Friday night departure from my reentry into the 40-hour weekday working world saw me rushing out of the building to find my dear wife Karen waiting patiently around the corner, watching the traffic go by. Again. We chatted about our day as we walked the short way to the car up at the…

Where car lovers go to really love all kinds of cars

For the 15th year, the Syracuse Nationals brought car lovers to the state fairgrounds just outside of last weekend. By the tens of thousands they piled up at the center of the grounds where the the New York State Fair will settle in four weeks and a day from today, and I’m talking the amound…

A beautiful building, coming and going

The reaction to my lunchtime walk iPhone 4 photo tour through downtown Syracuse last week convinced me that you folks like a taste of what these blocks hold. This is the University Building, as in, built back in the early 1900s by Syracuse University. Now its 10 floors are used by numerous companies. Including the…

Welcome to Woofstock, a day of peaceful barking, loving face-licking and musical tail-wagging

Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle survived the Woofstock Festival Saturday afternoon. She mingled with mutts, listened to music, let two women wearing veterinarian scrubs scratch her head, ate only half a cup of ice cream and never had to roll through a mud puddle. The dog days of late July were pretty good in this…

Dinner with Daryl at Captain John’s

A week ago, my dear wife Karen and I took that short drive east for another exciting chapter of our Dinner with Daryl series. Not that barbecue in the backyard I’ve been rooting for since my wonderful stepson moved into his nice new house this winter. He’s yet to get a grill, and I know…