As skunk season returns, I begin to wrinkle my nose and fret

As soon as I opened the back door to let Ellie B out to the backyard to do her morning thing, the scent hit me. Faint, this time. But as distinct in my mind as a slap to the face. Skunks are back in my Syracuse city neighborhood. Or maybe a skunk, singular. I surely…

On this walk, I decide, ‘Wish that was in my yard’

If you’ve clicked on markbialczak.com, you know I like to take pleasure in the gardens that beautify our Syracuse city plot, spaces planned by my dear wife Karen and put in the ground by us both. You also know how I like to walk Ellie B, aka Dogamous Pyle, every darn day. Let’s put the…

Out of the middle of the garden planted in its honor arose a butterfly

My friend Theresa brought daughter Althea by the house yesterday afternoon while running a chore through my Eastwood neighborhood. I brought them out back to show off our ever-growing butterfly garden. We have four butterfly bushes. And it is, you see, peak time for the blossoms on the bushes that serve as the centerpiece of…

Update: That empty lot is now rather sporty

A couple months back, I grumped loudly here about the folks who decided to use the empty lot between my house and the neighbor’s house as a dog-walking spot. You, friends, offered remedies such as motion-enabled sprinklers and stink bombs. OK, nobody thought of smell as a deterrent. It wasn’t my property, so I did…

Maybe I did play one round too many this week

As we swept through the aisles of Wegmans for our Friday night replenishment yesterday, my dear wife Karen stopped short. We already had the rice pilaf, bagged salad, chicken breasts, Shake N Bake … This was an unfamiliar department. Seasonal or households or some such. Karen was looking at a doormat. And laughing. She threw…

Spectacular ‘Strawberry Super Moon’ spotlights Syracuse

They called it a “Strawberry Super Moon.” The Strawberry term is given to the first full moon in June. It’s said to have come from Native Americans, who used the light from the full moon to harvest their strawberry crop. The Super label is given to the full moon that is closest to the earth…

Our pretty peony gets June off to a gorgeous start

On this first day of June, my dear wife Karen just came in from our front yard in Eastwood with one very pretty picture. The growth burst from the peony in the corner of the front garden has been prodigious these past few weeks. Year three for this plant has been a great one. Its…

I dig digging when it means more beauty in our gardens

We planted five new additions to the Bialczak Botanical Gardens this morning. OK, that’s a bit of a stretch for the oval in front and triangle in back of our Eastwood home, but my dear wife Karen and I love what we can grow on our city plot. A trip to Hafner’s Garden Center yesterday…

WoodFellas lend their hip-hop cool to video song for Syracuse Chiefs

There’s a new video out that pledges allegiance to the Syracuse Chiefs. It’s titled “Chiefsville,” and it weaves a pretty cool hip-hop mood throughout NBT Bank Stadium. You can find the video on YouTube. The stars of the show come from Syracuse hip-hop crew WoodFellas, Dan Ignacio and Danny Velez, joined by Nikki Feroni. They…

A boy falls off his bike, and our cell phone is ready

The scene across New Court Avenue looks at first blush to be a slice of urban Americana as Ellie B and I hit the homestretch of our Sunday afternoon walk. A mom oversees her helmeted young son riding his bike in the lot that stretches behind several businesses. Suddenly, mom is a flash of movement.…