A butterfly can’t always wait for a garden

I’d say on this Sixth of July that our backyard butterfly garden in our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood is doing quite nicely. The three along the back fence, the purple eldest at left, the center white lady transplanted from my sister Frannie’s garden on Long Island, and the great multi-colored baby at right, are…

Diamonds in my dreams

We stepped off the top step at NBT Bank Stadium Saturday and I looked across the concourse and out over the beautiful green grass. It hit me again. Every time time I go to a baseball game at a professionally kept field or watch a major league game on TV. I have lawn pattern envy.…

Gopher gone, we have a lovesick dog

As we settle into the second day full day of the separation of Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and the backyard gopher, the sniffing and scratching continues. And my beloved 3 1/2-year-old rescue mutt looks up at me with puppy dog eyes again and seems to say: Where did my furry friend go? On Saturday,…

We gotta get rid of this gopher now

All those cute and funny names you offered for the backyard gopher my dear wife Karen have been attempting to lure into our humane trap so I can drive it away to a better life? I refuse to call it by a single one of them. I’m in no mood for cute, nor funny. X%$&@?!%^#…

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,…

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…