Cape Cod reflections 08/29/10
Did you ever have an experience where you have so many thoughts & emotions going through you it's tough knowing where to start? Such is how I feel about our recent family trip to Cape Cod but here goes anyway... My first trip to the Cape was in 1982 with Marc, my roomate from college. My wife has been going since she was a kid. As a family we started going to Cape Cod in 1999 and went every year through 2006. This year was our first trip since then, largely due to economics. Never once did any of us ever take these trips for granted but oh my gosh I was starting to wonder if we'd ever get there again... More

What a trip 12/07/09
October 15th is a day I will remember for a long time. I agreed to be a chaperone on a day long field trip in my son's 6th grade class. The place we went to was Orenda Springs and the trip was designed as a team building exercise. We were divided into several groups and did various activities throughout the day. It should be noted I went into this trip with open eyes and an open heart...in other words, I did not find out in advance anything we would do that day. I did see pictures from the previous year's trip but again really didn't know what adventure lay ahead of us. What excited me most was it was a way to reconnect with some of my son's classmates that I've known since they were in first grade... More

Hole in One!! 12/06/09
My son has been golfing for 6 years now. While he likes a lot of sports, golf is king. He has an unquenchable thirst to play and compete and for his game to continually improve. West Hill Country Club is a Par 3 course near our house...a very challenging Par 3 course I should mention, especially some of the greens. Par is 54 and he has been getting so close to breaking 60 in the last few months. December 6, 2009 is NOT the day he first broke 60 but it IS the day he records his first hole in one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The round started off a bit choppy and it should be mentioned he played and I caddied in mid-30's degree type weather with a bit of a breeze... More

Happy birthday Mom 09/27/09
It's hard to believe how many years have gone by since Mom's (and Dad's) passing but, on a more positive note, I was able to celebrate her memory at Heron Hill winery. I've had a routine of doing demos in mid-July and late September the last couple of years. Last year the September demo was right on my Mom's birthday so I took a picture of her with me to Heron Hill. Trust me when I say if Mom had anything to do with it the picture would have stayed at home. She was not one to have attention drawn to herself!! The picture made for a lot of quality conversation last year and some folks even raised a glass to toast Mom's memory/legacy. One conversation really stuck out in my memory and it was with a young girl who I'd say was in her 20's... More

Must be something in the air 09/23/09
For the second year in a row I was part of Six Mile Creek's harvest festival. In what I believe is a statement of our slowly recovering, yet still fragile economy I met a lot more people from the general Ithaca area this year than at the harvest festival last year. Once again I met a lot of very nice people of all ages. While I didn't get most of your names you know who you are and I want to thank you all for enriching my experience of being there. Several of you couldn't wait to try the "Kicked up shrimp" recipe...please e-mail me to let me know how you liked it. Others couldn't wait to use the onion blend on their next home made pizza...again I'd love to hear from you... More

Reunion thoughts 06/29/09
You mention the word reunion and typically think of an event involving family or classmates from school. My wife and I met in college and earlier this month took our kids to our reunion. It was one of those milestone reunions!! The nice thing is the college is not terribly far from where we live and, ever since we graduated some years ago, always made a few trips to campus in between semesters during the summer. Inevitably as we'd stroll down along the lake or throughout campus memories will fill our heads and hearts. There would also be times (and they could never be predicted)when we'd be in a certain part of campus and have a flash back. It would take us back to the very moment something happened while in our time there... More

Going back in time 11/07/08
There are a lot of thoughts and perspective since my first blog last month that I want to share, including experiences from some chili sauce demos but I want to share a heart warming one from November 7th. Whenever the movie "Ghost" is on television I basically make myself watch it for in that movie is the single most difficult element of my parent's passing that I've had to deal with...the missing of physical touch. I know it's a movie and I know it's not based on a true story but just the possibility to interact with my parents again, while I'm here on Earth, makes me yearn for it. Since their passing and since Ghost was made it has helped me to appreciate the "here and now" part of life more... More

More to do than just chili sauce 10/14/08
I can't tell you all how excited I am to be doing this. I have to most thank Mr. Sturm my high school English teacher at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute (Buffalo, NY) for my writing becoming what it has. I was diagnosed a slow reader in first grade and throughout grade school I was one of two students no one wanted to get the turn to read because I was so slow. Consequently I didn't have a fondness for books. It was rare to have the same teacher for all four years at St. Joe's but that's what happened with me having Mr. Sturm. Early in my freshman year as I recall Mr. Sturm held up a regular sized notebook and said we all were going to write a journal. Most everyone groaned but I was intrigued... More