I happily growled

Terrific daughter Elisabeth and son-in-law-to-be George heard us when we said how much we liked the Blonde Ale from Hamilton Brewery Good Nature. Our Christmas gifts included a growler of that draft ale, cold from their fridge and short trip in their car. Does not that pour look lovely? Karen, George and myself shared a…

Nice folding, deer

On her web travels, my dear wife Karen discovered reindeer towel gifts. She immediately decided she needed to take on the project for terrific daughter Elisabeth and son-in-law-to-be George. I watched her watch YouTube during the creative process. The deer awaited the kids’ arrival for the holiday. They loved them (with some extra towels in…

A personal finish for the Advent beer present

Our final four Advent beers started off with a new style of Polish beer for me. My Zywiec certainly went down smooth. My dear wife Karen got a Fruit Fight light ale that day because Elisabeth and George knew she’d prefer that over Polish beer. Christmas Ale and Waschusetts Blueberry happily set us up for…

Time to reflect

Walking around the front lawn as afternoon threatened to give way to evening on a day off from the library Thursday, I noticed the sun hanging right over our lake view slice down the road. It reflected off the water just right. Oh, happy end-of-December moment it was.

Hello, it’s me, mid-80s style

Sometimes your photo roll travels back all by itself and up pops an image that screams … What was I thinking? That was almost 40 years ago! How much can I remember about that picture? Time for a Throwback Thursday. I know these folks flanking me also worked at the big Syracuse daily, in 1984…

Now that’s a great greeting

When I returned home from my library work shift on my birthday earlier this month, our cherished rescue mutt Ellie B rushed to the front door to welcome me. She was adorned with festive headwear, thanks to my dear wife Karen. And the darn dog looked proud to be touting the message. Go figure! Made…

Fifth advent beer segment means it’s going fast

Twenty beers sampled, four to go. I texted terrific daughter Elisabeth that this year’s advent beer present has gone by in a flash. This four featured another day in which Elisabeth and George Three decided that my dear wife Karen and I should have different beers to try. Mine was the Golden Nectar; she had…

It felt like winter already

You know, it doesn’t officially become winter until this day of Dec. 21. I caught this image out our front door during the first snowfall, come mid-November. Late for these parts, even. The seasonal distinctions with fall and winter do blur here.