I’ll walk you to your car, dear

With working downtown comes parking downtown. A year ago, the company that followed the big daily changed locations, and my dear wife Karen decided after a few months of parking in the old surface lot behind the former building to switch to a new multi-leveled garage blocks closer to the new office. It was good…

I agree, young man, live in the present

My dear wife Karen and I arrived with festivities under way Saturday to celebrate the third birthday of our little friend Evan at a pretty local park. We put our birthday bag on a table stacked full with similar goodies for the happy little man. Greetings came from mom Julie and dad Aaron, with the…

It’s time to name our teasing backyard gopher

The saga of the backyard gopher, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and I continues. Call it Chapter Too Many. When my dear wife Karen and I returned from a full and satisfying day of activities on the first day of summer yesterday — a 3-year-old’s birthday party, our annual trip to the Parade of Homes…

On June 21, a full day for the sun

The summer solstice puts an extra bounce in my step. Really, the first official day of the season doesn’t mean much in Syracuse, N.Y. It’s been warm awhile. It’s staying warm awhile. (Knock on wood.) But that’s the cynical way of thinking, and I’m no cynic when it comes to June 21. So this year,…

Bad news in black and white makes me look inside again

A New York State Attorney General’s report carried discouraging statistics about discipline and the Syracuse City School District, I discovered when I read a story by James T. Mulder, a friend and former colleague of mine at the big daily. Included was the statistic that black students are disciplined at twice the rate of white…

An old school hat at the golf league

Bird got a birdie after a gorgeous iron tee shot on a par three as I was back to my informal little formal golf league at Northern Pines in Cicero, N.Y., last night. He narrowly missed a second namesake. He was in a very good mood as the five of us filed into the clubhouse.…

What a good day for the roses

While my dear wife Karen and I spent a week in Cape Cod, the roses came out to play at our home in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood. In one spot in our hourglass front-yard garden, you can see a yellow rose, white rose, pink rose and red rose. They are of different sizes…