Wishful thinking, meet reality in Syracuse, N.Y.

When I pulled into my driveway this morning after a Vanity Appointment visit with my friend Theresa at Hairy Notions, here is what I saw on my car dashboard. Notable to me was the real-life temperature here in Syracuse, N.Y., a whopping 14 degrees. (The forecast for tomorrow lists a high of 2 and a…

A green rose bush and a white snow pile, together for a little while

Mother Nature gives us little reminders that she might be a little busy at these borders between the seasons. In my front garden in my Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, there is a rose bush that just won’t give up. Everything else around it is as brown as the dirt in the garden. This bush,…

Now that’s a big hole in your house

The neighbors across the street appear to be having a little work done on their house. Yesterday morning, that resulted in one humungous hole. In fact, it looked like the whole front wall was gone. Nice living room furniture you’ve got there. Smart to drape drop cloths over the couch like that. What a window…

A quiet holiday morning in the neighborhood, thank you

I would say happy Black Friday, but that’s one American holiday I don’t celebrate. In fact, this is one day that you definitely will not find me amid the bargain-hunting madness. Instead, I will share one more tale from a happy Thursday: It sure can be calm on a Thanksgiving morning, even in the middle…

Syracuse and snow, together again

We walked up the Syracuse University hill to the Carrier Dome yesterday in the fall. The temperature was in the 40s, the grass was holding onto some green and there was a bit of blue in the sky. We walked down the hill from the Orange’s bitter 17-16 loss to Pittsburgh in the winter. The…

One last mow turns fallen leaves into something smaller

Welcome to Mulch Madness. Most of the leaves around our house in Syracuse, N.Y., are down. Oh, there are some stragglers still up on the most stubborn of trees, but to my eyes, they’re far enough from our lawn proper to remain off our little piece of the earth after they fall. Saturday was indeed…

The stuff of a life gets put out to the curb

The first day that Ellie B and I passed the grass in front to the apartment house in our Syracuse city neighborhood, I had to pull our dear Dogamous Pyle and her ever-curious nose away from the stack of belongings. There were a couple of mattresses. Garbage bags packed with assorted clothing. And three TVs.…

A butterfly bush sends lone purple blossom high into the Syracuse autumn sky

Our butterfly bushes have always been the late bloomers. Slowly but surely in this backyard garden in Syracuse, N.Y., these babies become big achievers, too. The purple-blooming bush has always stood tallest as the growing season progresses. As autumn falls deeply at last upon this city neighborhood of Eastwood, one single branch has taken its…

A rainbow suddenly appears in golden hour of dusk

The rainbow curved majestically over the roofs of the houses across the street as my dear wife Karen pulled her car into our driveway, home from yesterday’s work at last. A drizzly late afternoon had just then given way to a slight break in the gray clouds. The rainbow was backdropped by that sudden golden…

A newly dug addition to our Syracuse front-yard garden will be ready to accept new occupants come spring

As our growing season here in Syracuse, N.Y., winds down for a long winter’s nap, my dear wife Karen and I have noticed what a really big year it’s been for the mid-yard garden in front of our house. In fact, It may have been too hardy of a second year for the forsythia. In…