Why C.N.Y. ?
Like a lot of local area bloggers, I have caught the York Staters buzz after several links from NYCO. The writing is amazing and I never fail to take some nugget of wisdom away from their writings. What strikes me the most is the palpable sense of place (and pride in that place) in their writing.
A recent article that the Yorkers link to and comment on is an article from an Elmira journalist on "75 reasons why one lifelong resident wouldn't live anywhere else ".
Like some others, it got me thinking about my own list. I guess it’s in the air this time of year--taking stock of your life and being grateful for the blessings. I tend to be a glass half-empty kind of guy (even worse, I like to throw down and debate why the powers-that-be have actually created the water shortage and are exploiting the increasingly thirsty proletariat!).
But this time I’m going to take a shot at the hopeful side of this theme. I need hopeful this holiday season. Like the writer from Elmira, I love this place because this is where I grew up, where my parents are buried and where I met and fell in love with my wife. It is my home.
Why C.N.Y.? :
1) Walking the trails around Green Lake and Round Lake on a crisp fall day. The color of the water rivals that of the leaves.
2) Syracuse has several restaurants that rival anything I’ve been to in big cities like NY and Chicago: Dinosaur, Eva’s, Munjed’s, Alto Cinco, Heid’s (my old college roommates’ first request whenever he visits).
3) The poppy seed strudel at Harrison Bakery, my reward for sitting through the Polish language mass with my wife and her grandmother at Sacred Heart across the street. The only word I know is amen!
4) Living in one of the lacrosse capitals of the world. Great games from grade school through college.
5) The memories I have of The Works, The Kingsnakes, Little Georgie & The Shuffling Hungarians and Too Hectic are being replicated RIGHT NOW by some younger kid, about some band I’ve never heard of, in some bar I’ve never been to.
6) So much great swimming that my skin is pruning up as I type this--the diving boards at Green Lakes, the frigid cold of Cayuga Lake, sneaking our dogs onto the far end of Southwick Beach on Lake Ontario, lap swimming in the early morning at Thorden Park pool in the summer, walking our dogs up the water trail to the falls at Taughannock.
7) The church of democracy--the benches that look just like pews in the Common Council chambers of City Hall.
8) I live in a conservative, Republican town--a town with scores of progressive groups and people fighting for peace, justice and freedom.
9) The Post Standard newspaper. Honest, look at some of the supermarket circulars masquerading as papers in other upstate cities.
10) Feeding the ducks at Webster Pond on a warm summer night while enjoying a Gannon’s ice cream cone.
11) Walking our dogs up the hill of the Jewish cemetery off Jamesville Ave. for the view of the city and Onondaga Lake.
12) Walking our dogs around the trails in Barry Park formed by the natural stormwater retaining basin. On Sundays you can bike around the park with no car traffic.
13) Lunch at The Welcome Inn, across the street from Skiddy Park. Ukrainian pyrohy, holubchi and borscht in the back room behind the bar.
14) Our community group’s annual picnic at the pavilion overlooking the gazebo and pond in Upper Onondaga Park.
15) My CNY senses: The smell of burning leaves in fall, the sight of a full house at the Carrier Dome, the sound of absolute silence on an early morning after a lake effect snowstorm, the taste of a sausage sandwich at the State Fair, the feel of the sun on my face during a summer afternoon on the beach at Lake Ontario.
A recent article that the Yorkers link to and comment on is an article from an Elmira journalist on "75 reasons why one lifelong resident wouldn't live anywhere else ".
Like some others, it got me thinking about my own list. I guess it’s in the air this time of year--taking stock of your life and being grateful for the blessings. I tend to be a glass half-empty kind of guy (even worse, I like to throw down and debate why the powers-that-be have actually created the water shortage and are exploiting the increasingly thirsty proletariat!).
But this time I’m going to take a shot at the hopeful side of this theme. I need hopeful this holiday season. Like the writer from Elmira, I love this place because this is where I grew up, where my parents are buried and where I met and fell in love with my wife. It is my home.
Why C.N.Y.? :
1) Walking the trails around Green Lake and Round Lake on a crisp fall day. The color of the water rivals that of the leaves.
2) Syracuse has several restaurants that rival anything I’ve been to in big cities like NY and Chicago: Dinosaur, Eva’s, Munjed’s, Alto Cinco, Heid’s (my old college roommates’ first request whenever he visits).
3) The poppy seed strudel at Harrison Bakery, my reward for sitting through the Polish language mass with my wife and her grandmother at Sacred Heart across the street. The only word I know is amen!
4) Living in one of the lacrosse capitals of the world. Great games from grade school through college.
5) The memories I have of The Works, The Kingsnakes, Little Georgie & The Shuffling Hungarians and Too Hectic are being replicated RIGHT NOW by some younger kid, about some band I’ve never heard of, in some bar I’ve never been to.
6) So much great swimming that my skin is pruning up as I type this--the diving boards at Green Lakes, the frigid cold of Cayuga Lake, sneaking our dogs onto the far end of Southwick Beach on Lake Ontario, lap swimming in the early morning at Thorden Park pool in the summer, walking our dogs up the water trail to the falls at Taughannock.
7) The church of democracy--the benches that look just like pews in the Common Council chambers of City Hall.
8) I live in a conservative, Republican town--a town with scores of progressive groups and people fighting for peace, justice and freedom.
9) The Post Standard newspaper. Honest, look at some of the supermarket circulars masquerading as papers in other upstate cities.
10) Feeding the ducks at Webster Pond on a warm summer night while enjoying a Gannon’s ice cream cone.
11) Walking our dogs up the hill of the Jewish cemetery off Jamesville Ave. for the view of the city and Onondaga Lake.
12) Walking our dogs around the trails in Barry Park formed by the natural stormwater retaining basin. On Sundays you can bike around the park with no car traffic.
13) Lunch at The Welcome Inn, across the street from Skiddy Park. Ukrainian pyrohy, holubchi and borscht in the back room behind the bar.
14) Our community group’s annual picnic at the pavilion overlooking the gazebo and pond in Upper Onondaga Park.
15) My CNY senses: The smell of burning leaves in fall, the sight of a full house at the Carrier Dome, the sound of absolute silence on an early morning after a lake effect snowstorm, the taste of a sausage sandwich at the State Fair, the feel of the sun on my face during a summer afternoon on the beach at Lake Ontario.
