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Fog Haven
Yesterday was a sunny, warm summer Saturday. In theory, it was a perfect day to visit the beach. Jen and I decided to drive the Fair Haven Beach State Park for a walk on the pier at sunset. It was past 7 p.m. when we got there, so I wasn’t surprised that there were no… Continue reading
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Natty Bumppo Slept Here
A fun fact about my hometown: it was the setting for a piece of classic American literature. Sort of. I say “sort of” because the novel in question, James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pathfinder, or, The Inland Sea, was set at a time when the patch of ground that is now Fulton was really just a… Continue reading
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An Art Deco Beauty
I had the opportunity to attend an opening-night sponsor event for Syracuse Jazz Fest the other night. It was held at the historic Niagara Mohawk Building, which is probably my favorite piece of architecture in Central New York. The building (originally known as the Niagara Hudson Building) is widely considered to be a classic example… Continue reading
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The Father’s Day Present
For Father’s Day, I made it simple for my family. I told them all to just get me Amazon gift cards and I’d figure out the present for myself. After the gift cards were in-hand, I decided on a pair of boots that I could use for light trail hiking and general casual wear. A… Continue reading
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Summer, Summer, Summer; It’s Like a Merry-Go-Round
Today is the Summer Solstice. For the record, I’m a fan. When I was growing up, the third week of June was the end of our school year. I will always associate this time with lazy half-days of teachers filling time with anything but actual learning, the weight-off-my-chest feeling of relief after finishing up New… Continue reading
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Lake Ontario Lighthouses Project: Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light
This was an easy one to check off the list. Most of the lighthouses in our project are day trips. The Oswego Harbor West Pierhead Light is a familiar part of the backdrop of our lives. Oswego’s lighthouse, located about ten miles from our home, is a beloved local landmark (lakemark?). It’s something of a… Continue reading
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Sunnybrook Meadows
A few days ago, I became a resident of the Sunnybrook Meadows neighborhood in Fulton. I didn’t actually move. They just put a sign up on the corner branding the neighborhood as such. I use the term “branding” quite deliberately. Apparently, when this neighborhood was built back in the 1950s and 1960s, it was marketed… Continue reading
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Father’s Day Over the Years
There’s a simple tradition I’ve trotted out in recent Father’s Days: I badger my kids (a.k.a. The Sub-Marriners) into posing for a photo with me. Here are snapshots of a few Father’s Days, past and present: Continue reading
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A Man of Many Hats
It was always in the cards for me to be a hat guy, even if it took me a half-century to fully embrace my destiny. My father never left the house without a hat. Part of that was because he was bald, but it was also largely generational. Being born in 1922, he came of… Continue reading
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Goethe & Schiller in the Salt City
During a 2016 trip to Germany, my son Grant and I were walking through Frankfurt am Main. We happened across a statue of the great 18th-century polymath Friedrich Schiller. I took a picture and remarked to Grant that one really doesn’t see statues of poets or philosophers in the U.S. It turns out I was… Continue reading
About Me
Researcher. Marketer. Teacher. Father of adult children and dogs. 20th Century holdover. Central New York native. Long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan. History nerd. Traveler. Vintage advertising enthusiast. Hat wearer.
a.k.a. V.J. 