Take a hike, gladly, ride a jeep with the gang

The first day we walked around the town of Estes Park, outside a storefront my wonderful daughter Elisabeth spotted a bunch of people hopping aboard a big jeep. We wondered about the adventure awaiting. The next day, we ducked inside, grabbed a brochure, and talked turkey with the woman behind the counter. Well, elk, actually,…

A little light in the Rockies

There’s an interesting relationship in Estes Park between the sun and the Rocky Mountains. We found out during my dear wife Karen’s Family Reunion in this little village at the foot of Rocky Mountain National Park. So, in this parade of pictures and posts that will continue daily from the Little Bitty in the Syracuse…

Now that’s a salutation

So many exciting moments crammed into five full days for my dear wife Karen, wonderful daughter Elisabeth and tremendous boyfriend George Three and the entire Miner clan. Yes, Estes Park, Colorado, was a fine place to hold her first Family Reunion. I have much to write about in the week or more to come. Today…

There are faces I’ll remember

It didn’t take long to know that this trip from Syracuse to Estes Park, Colorado, for my dear wife Karen’s family reunion was a success. All it took was one look at my beloved’s face. And the face of her sister Jana when we walked up to the place she and her family were staying.…

Rocky Mountains, hi, how are you?

I woke up this morning in rarified air. First person awake, I smiled at the thought of big family so close. My dear wife Karen soon to awaken from my stirring, my darling daughter Elisabeth and her terrific boyfriend George Three on the first floor below, sisters- and brother-in-law and nieces and nephews in other…

Sublimely, the seven savor the 6 p.m. sun …

Enough about the slow play and the waiting and setting sun and my grouchiness about all of the above. This week the little golf league got off on time, both foursomes from the first tee at Northern Pines on the northeast outskirts of Syracuse. Yes, there was a bit of a bottleneck at the second…

The girls let us get away with them to Jamesville Beach

Every year in August, my dear wife Karen packs her bags and says see ya. Almost a decade ago, her great friend at work, Chris, invited her to join a trip to Alexandria Bay for a weekend, an annual getaway in which a group of women who’ve known each other since high school age tell…

Cardinal caught at rest by Good Neighbor Tim

Last winter I had the good fortune to catch a flurry of Cardinal action between my backyard, that of Good Neighbor Tim and his wonderful wife Lorraine and the spot behind our fence. The red birds like this spot by the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Syracuse. But my iPhone 6 and…

A sunny day slinks into the perfect night for the Syracuse blues

You sure can have a wicked case of the blues with the sun shining, temperatures in the 70s and bands doing their best on the big stage non-stop in front of you. Food trucks at few steps away, too. Friday at the 23rd edition of the New York State Blues festival in downtown Syracuse’s Clinton…

Somebody needed a haircut in the worst way

Ten inches of rain in June. More on July 1. A whole bunch of writing and working on my busy schedule. I could practically hear the grass growing in the backyard of our Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood. Into every life a little rain must fall … yeah, right. The Lush…