Operation Skunk Be Gone, so far, so …

I do not want to jinx it. The halogen light has been shining from the back porch for seven nights, flooding the area between the butterfly garden and the backyard shed, the space where our Syracuse city skunk shot its spray into Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle at dusk eight days ago. Saturday and Sunday,…

One more Supermoon from Good Neighbor Tim

I must have been too busy Sunday night. Writing my review of “The Hundred-Foot Journey” for my Syracuse New Times blog, to be posted later this morning there (and teased here). Catching up on the DVR, with the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at nearby Watkins Glen, and the horrifying news of Tony Stewart’s involvement in…

3 pretty bushes all in a row

In the last week, my three sturdy backyard garden butterfly bushes have changed personality a bit. The white, in fact, became the loudest of the bunch, with blooms so big, so long, so wide, they threatened to drown out their neighbors. But the pink indeed morphed chameleon-like into the multi-colored beauty of seasons past, and…

The skunk makes us miss the days of the gopher

My dear wife Karen let out Ellie B in the backyard for a few minutes just when the sun was setting Monday night. I heard the bark, the frantic one, the I’ve-got-an-animal-bothering-me pitch. I heard Karen calling my name with an equal amount of panic. I smelled the hint of trouble as I saw my…

A show for the ’80s in 2014

Organizers said the gates to the Benny’s Lost 80s Bash would open at 4 p.m. last Saturday at Onondaga Community College. It was held inside instead of outside. It did rain that night, so that was a great move. But they made us stand in line until 5 before opening the doors. I’m at 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…