OK, you’re still the boss

Did this past week of 40-degree (F) temperatures raise my spirits and optimism here in Syracuse, N.Y.? Yes, indeed. Did I enjoy the magnitude of snow melt we’d experienced after 50 straight days of sub-freezing weather and snow that topped 100 inches? Sure thing. Did I think we’d escaped winter’s icy fingers? No, I’ve lived…

On what would have been your 78th, thanks for what you taught me, Dad

Happy birthday, dad. Seventy-eight March 13s ago, Frank was born in Brooklyn. He was a piece of work, just 20 years old when I was born, his wife Dolores just 19. I loved him. I feared him. I hated him. I loved him all over again. I understood him a little bit more all the…

Photo 101: Putting big in a new daily scale

The big daily was a constant in my life for 29 years, five months. Yes, my nickname for my former place of employment and the paper that got tossed on the steps of the Little Bitty shared by my dear wife Karen and I here in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood crossed my mind…

Delivered after the old, cracked, overstuffed bin was collected.

Binished Fusiness

Blue Bin success. My weekly garbage and recycling collection this morning in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood came with a delivery on the back end. When my dear wife Karen left for work, she poked her head back into the Little Bitty and declared, “the new blue bins are here!” After two months of…

The bruise will remain on the Orange, no matter

The big and heavy anvil dropped from the NCAA sky and landed flush upon the head of the Syracuse community Friday. After nearly a decade of investigations regarding multiple instances of running afoul of its rules, intercollegiate sports’ governing body released a 94-page report that ripped into Syracuse Univerity officials over that period of time…

I had to recycle my Blue Bin story on the phone

My dear wife Karen and I try to be good citizens of our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood and our dear planet Earth. So we follow the spirit of our local recycling laws, tossing our plastic and paper and cardboard and glass into the city-provided Blue Bins, which are picked up along with the regular…

Photo 101: Finding bliss in The Little Bitty

Assignment No. 4 in Photo 101 is Bliss. Open up the door a little wider, Cheri. What brings me happiness in life? Much, hopefully. Great grown daughter Elisabeth. Love to write, for this blog and the freelance opportunities elsewhere. Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle. My dear wife Karen on a line of her own. And…

Shade Of The Day

I have other friends that have this orphan disease, sister Angie. My dear wife Karen’s mother, Caroline, died suffering from MS when she was in her 50s, when Karen was just in her 20s, way, way too soon and before enough advances were made by medical science. So I am in your court. Let’s get…

A Palooza of a time for Donna Colton

The community came through for Donna Colton on Sunday. DonnaPalooza was a sweet and vibrant success at the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, from the rich music that filled the air from the volunteer bands and musicians on stage to the buzzing fans and friends who hugged, talked, ate, drank and wished well to veteran Syracuse…

At home in Syracuse: Why I’m sick of winter 2015

Happy home, home on the range on Monday, March 2, 2015? Not really. Allow me to explain, from the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood. I took the liberty of using my iPad Air for the first Photo 101 essay to lay out the extent of my discontent. Topic: Home. Still surrounded…