Catchy name

Good one. I like to picture the boat owners gathered around with tightened brows as they figure out the perfect name for their vessel. And then I screw up my best face imagining tales about the boat … Coral Fixation, set up for a spin through the islands, right?!

Protected spot

Ready and waiting. The picnic table and benches are set up for lunchtime visitors outside the Onondaga Lake Marina, but, during my stroll, no takers. The shade looks perfect, too.

That August park feel

Busy marina season. Ah, August, and the boats fill the slips at the Onondaga Lake Marina. Some are out for a ride, I see, looking past the guarding tree.

Hint of a haze

Our place. The flags stay our all summer in our Village of Liverpool. Up in the sky, I notice a bit of the haze the weather folks talked about spreading east. Still blue, though, much more so than the wildfire hazes we experienced last year. Still awful for those who find them closer to home,…

Still lovely, this village

Come on down. It was a lovely August day for a Village of Liverpool stroll. So after I finished my book exchange at the library — two back, two out this time around — down I went toward First Street and then beyond, phone camera at the ready. As they did in the years before…

Hello back there

Rising to the occasion. What’s going on out back, I think as I arrive back home from dropping my dear wife Karen at work for her daily shift. Oh, yes, the white and yellow roses on the corner of the path are ready for another bout of blooming. Why do we need a purple kiddie…

Bring on the butterflies

Lovely result. Summer One for our backyard butterfly bush is turning out wonderfully, thought my dear wife Karen and I. Can an arrival of a winged creature to appreciate the intersection of nature be next?

Sprawl of the hibiscus

Quite a handful. Wow, thought my dear wife Karen and I as we took stock of the three plants we purchased for our backyard this spring at our favorite local nursery Ballantyne Gardens, the hibiscus keeps sprouting wider and wider. The trio of plants are doing quite well in year one, indeed.

Such a hardy hydrangea

Portrait of joy. The single blossom that kicked out by our new hydrangea in its first season in our backyard garden has hung on for, well, a month, my dear wife Karen and I admired as we took one of our late-afternoon strolls to admire the results of our years of planting. Next year, she…

Single, ready to mingle?

Peek-a-boo. The one daisy that pokes up this summer at the corner of our front stoop looks, to me, a little lonely. My dear wife Karen agrees. She’s already strategizing the best spot among our backyard plants for a fall transplant.