Remembering George Jones at Oliver's

 

I heard recently that the Buffalo pianist George Jones had died. The world has lost a little something.

Years ago when I worked for the Niagara Gazette, I used to go and hear George Jones at Oliver’s. In those days, as I wrote a while ago, I was taking jazz lessons from an excellent pianist named Ron Eschner, and he was, or had been, a student of Jones’. You could tell it from his sophisticated harmonies. Ron always had beautiful harmonies and he would often credit George Jones.

Ron told me to go to Oliver’s and hear George Jones. He said dress nice, sit at the bar. Just listen, he said. See what you pick up.

So I used to go, with my friends.

It was an era that would not come again. Actually it was the end of that era. When I think back on going to hear George Jones, I always remember it winter. We would sweep into the restaurant with the wind and the snow. The restaurant was set up well with a few pairs of doors so with luck, the outside doors would close before the inside doors would open.

Inside it was sleek, warm, and welcoming. Women would be handing their furs to the coat girl. There were coat girls then, and furs. We did not have furs. We looked with respect at the ladies who did. The bar would be noisy. There was a wonderful noisy bartender in those days, barking at the customers, whooping it up. He would hand around new cocktails for us to sample. Up at the top of this post is a picture I found on Trip Advisor that is more or less what the bar area used to look like. They had these beautiful old plush booths. in the front.

George Jones would be at the baby grand piano you see in the picture. Typically, he would have a trio. He had a quiet, graceful style somewhat at odds with the raucous bartender. He was always in good humor. Fatherly, smiling at us, extremely nice. He was a settled down man, a family man. Rumor had it that he used to play Nietzsche’s and I seem to remember he confirmed the rumors. However you could not imagine him there. This was a different world.

I used to love hearing him play the Cole Porter songs, the Gershwin. I was just getting into jazz back then and I did not know that many songs. I was learning. This was before cell phones and I don’t have pictures or videos. All I have are these vague but lovely memories of these wonderful winter nights.

George Jones created such a beautiful atmosphere! Such smooth, graceful piano. Such lovely harmonies.

A different time in my life. It’s gone now. Some years ago, Oliver’s got rid of the piano where George Jones used to play. I hated that and I complained about it in The Buffalo News. To no avail. I used to complain about stuff all the time and there really wasn’t much difference between complaining in the paper and complaining to your friends. Whatever was happening still happened. Still, it’s nice that the restaurant is still there. I do wish they would get a piano again however, to give me a reason to go.

How does that old country song go? “Don’t rock the jukebox. I want to hear George Jones.”

I miss him!

 

March comes in like a lion

In Buffalo, March goes in like a lion and out like a lion.

However we are getting signs of spring! The daffodils have been up for several weeks. I have been shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear the red-winged blackbird and the mourning dove.

Unusually for Buffalo we have had a few actual spring days.

Of course they alternate with deep winter days. But still.

A spring photo album, just from the last few days, walking in Delaware Park, on Wilkeson Pointe, and at Forest Lawn Cemetery:

I like to snap one picture on every walk. Sometimes I take two however there does come a time to put your phone away and just enjoy taking the air. Putting your phone away is an art that many people are not privy to. Bad grammar! It is an art to which many people are not privy.

The photo directly above, I like to take a picture at that particular spot in Delaware Park. Perhaps one day I can do a flip-through of all of them and we could literally see the seasons coming and going. We could see the lake freeze and thaw and the trees change color.

I could very well have enough photos already!

 

Walking in snowy Buffalo

As one does in January, I began a new exercise initiative. I committed to 10,000 steps a day.

I did this before, and I remember it really had effects on me. The deal is, however, you have to stick with it. And so I have stuck with it.

The third day or so, I went, "Results! I want to see results!" And there were none. That I refused to make any other lifestyle changes no doubt did not help.

However.

After a week and a half, I could fit into things I could not fit into before!

Ergo, I keep walking. A week and a half -- that was fast! I was shocked and delighted. And so I have been walking in the park even on the days when it is just me and the dog owners. And I have seen beautiful sights.

Up above, that was last night's sunset!

Here is another view because you know me, I can never take only one photo.

Today was a whole new ball of wax.

This was this morning.

And this was at around 5 p.m.

Mozart had a powdered wig. And he also had snow on his nose.

David was shivering.

I loved this tree.

It is hard to walk because I keep having to take out my phone and take pictures and to do that I have to take off my mittens. And it is cold!

However it is never boring.

And I am going to look like a supermodel!

Christmas in a Blizzard

We are in the middle of a blizzard. Buffalo is no stranger to blizzards however I do not remember one since the big one, in 1977, when I was a kid.

We have had storms, sure, however that is not the same thing. The snow flying around, the winds roaring, this is not something that happens every year.

Our next door neighbor, Dave, he had two huge inflatables on his front yard and both of them took off this morning. The snowman took off first. He belly-surfed across our yard and the yard next door and then took off down the street and whipped around a corner and that was the last we saw of him.

Santa was still sitting in the neighbor's yard. However when I took another look 15 minutes later, he was gone too.

They're outta here!

I was concerned for the werewolf. Last I checked, however, the werewolf was fine, menacing in the back yard. His big paws were covered in snow and he looked even more scary than usual.

With traveling out of the question I cleaned the first floor of my house. The renovations are proceeding -- the ceiling of the, ahem, solarium is in good shape after 10 years, the bathroom is repainted, the peeling wallpaper is down and the hall is repainted, the kitchen countertops are replaced. However the renovations are paused now for a couple of weeks and the house was in terrible disarray. 

Cupboards and cabinets are pushed into corners where they should not be. I had stashed all kinds of stuff into these cupboards and cabinets, and garbage was everywhere. Notice I said "was." It is not there anymore! I took two giant stuffed trash bags out to the tote. It was like the Perry expedition, taking the totes into the back yard! That was Howard's joke.

Howard texted me: "Good job, Commander Perry!"

I am telling myself: You could not have done this yesterday. You had to wait till today. The good news i is, now the house looks great.

 I vacuumed, I cleaned, I dusted, I rearranged.

Which is funny, when you think about it. It is not as if I am going to have any guests for Christmas. Heck, I might not even have Howard! Howard went to his garage earlier today not realizing there was a driving ban and he is stuck, riding out the storm in the apartment over the garage. So, it might just be me for Christmas Eve, who knows.

That's OK. I found this video.

So I am set. I will be content with my lot.

Christmas will be celebrated in this house.

Even if it is just me!

Walking and Talking in Delaware Park

In Buffalo a walk is not a walk. It is an adventure! That is because in our town strangers talk to strangers.

When I go for a walk I do not always talk to everyone. Sometimes I am antisocial. However today is one of those days when I cannot shut up. I think it is because I am a little under-slept. When I could use more sleep, that is when I talk. And I keep talking! 

As soon as I walked into the park I spotted two people putting their skis into their car. I approached them and asked how the snow was for skiing. On account of I had thought about bringing my skis but I had worried the snow was too wet.

I was right as it turned out. "Terrible!" the woman said in answer to my question.

Then we all laughed about times when we had been stuck clumping around on our skis.

Subsequent conversations as I went on my way involved dogs, little kids and that Buffalo classic, the weather. A protester, an Indian guy, was on the pedestrian bridge over the Scajaquada. He was holding up a big sign and drivers kept honking at him. I hung out with him for a while, exchanging views and opinions on world events.

It was windy and when the wind blew, you could almost call it bitterly cold. So there were not many people out. I would venture to say that I ended up talking with most people I passed. 

In between I took some pictures, including the one up above. Is this Siberia? No, it's Buffalo!

David looked chilly standing there in his altogether.

Across the way Mozart had a powdered wig. I did not get to take a picture of that. It was actually not easy to take pictures because the bright light made it hard to see what you were getting in the shot.

The Great Gates of Kiev! I mean of Nottingham Parkway.

I love this iron fending they put up by the Miller Mansion.

And I love the lanterns you pass in the park.

Look at these vistas.

I am so lucky to live where I do!

Welcoming the American Mariner

You know me and my preoccupation with Great Lakes freighters. Especially now that I have spent hours over the last few weeks sketching the Maumee.

I have been missing the Maumee since it shipped out. But this evening, my ship came in! My new ship, that is.

It is the American Mariner! This Web log is no stranger to the American Mariner. I have seen it before. When I worked for The Buffalo News I even got to interview its captain.

But tonight I saw the ship as I have never seen it before! 

I went down to the Outer Harbor to get in my 10,000 steps. At about my 6500th step, I hear this big loud horn. It was a foghorn! I did not realize that at the time. I just knew it was a kind of horn I had not heard before and it must belong to a big, big ship.

One woman called her son to ask if he knew about a freighter coming in. I appreciated that her son would know about this kind of thing. But he did not seem to know.

I said, "Well, something is out there. There is a big ship ready to come in."

Sure enough, after a few minutes there it was. This big, graceful shape on the horizon, beyond the breakwall. 

Someone told me it was the American Mariner. That is the biggest ship to come in to Buffalo. I know that because of my story.

Long story short, a whole bunch of us, most of us strangers, wound up gathered on a hill by the lighthouse, watching the American Mariner come in. Here is an amateurish picture I took. I think the phone put on the flash. The pictures my new friends were taking were a lot better, I am sure.

It was so much fun! It was like being in heaven. These people were my people! They knew all about the Maumee which I had been drawing. They recommended websites and Facebook groups that could hip you to this kind of thing. They were as much in awe as I was as we stood on this hilltop and watched the huge ship glide into the Buffalo River. Night was falling and lights were blinking on.

One gentleman marveled that he thought that the American Mariner was flying the Buffalo Sabres flag and the Buffalo Bills flag.

That was when I contributed my one bit of knowledge, going back to my story.

I said: "The captain is from Buffalo!"

And a shout went up as my new friends delighted in that new factoid. I was so proud to have contributed something because they knew so much.

What a wonderful evening -- darkness falling, the city skyline twinkling, the loud hum of this gigantic ship passing by, on its way to the Cheerios plant. Right now it is docked right where the Maumee was. 

I am going to go visit it.

And draw it!

My friendly neighborhood bison

 

This morning while I was walking I stopped and took a picture of this bison.

I feel so blessed that I can see bison within walking distance of my house!

Bison do not care that you are there and they do not care what kind of day it is.

It can be raining and they are sitting there same as if it were sunny. They have a shelter but they do not go into it.

They are irresistible to photograph. When I was looking in the computer for the picture I took today I came up with this one too. I think Howard took it.

It is a privilege to be able to sketch a bison from life. It was one of the first things I drew in my, ahem, early days of drawing, in my pocket sketchbook. This was when I was still drawing in pencil, not ink. I drew the bison in this little sketchbook the size of an index card. I still think it is a good idea to carry one with you wherever you go.

The bison was hardly recognizable as a bison but that was because of the way it was sitting. (As I make excuses for myself.) I remember I was happy with it. I went as far as to pompously initial it. To initial it pompously. My dad was an English and Latin teacher and he taught me not to split my infinitives.

May 3, 2018.

How the time flies.

But the buffalo is a constant here in Buffalo.

From summer to fall

 

Yikes, all at once it is Autumn~!

That ~ symbol ended up there by mistake but I like how it looks so I will leave it there.

Just a few days ago it was warm, sweltering even, and I drew that little sketch up above. Actually the sketch is about a foot long. I drew it in my Long and Narrow sketchbook which I choose to use when I want to have fun.

I did that sketch at Wilkeson Pointe on Buffalo's Outer Harbor. I was there with my friend Ryan and we had noticed how cool these people looked walking on this ridge. They were silhouetted against the sunset and looked like shadows. The woman second from the front was wearing a sari and I did try to get that sari in there. It is fun working in ink because there are no second chances but also you do not erase and fuss over things too much. 

Anyway there it is, my portrait of people walking along the ridge at Wilkeson Pointe!

I like any drawing I did that I can look at and say: That is pretty much what I saw. This drawing does that.

Soon I will be going back to drawing at least some of the time in my car. How things change! The other night I made it to the Outer Harbor but it was, I must admit it, pretty chilly.

Today I wore a scarf when I went walking in the park. I took this picture.

 

 

I met my brother George and he had a knit cap. It was one of those days in Buffalo when you saw people in shorts and people in parkas.

I am working on getting Christmas cards printed! There, I said it ... Christmas.

It is closer than you think!

My new Buffalo coloring challenge

I love coloring books and the other day I came up with my first coloring page. And I dared to start a coloring challenge!

Everyone is sitting around because of the coronavirus and is in need of fun and games. So I found this drawing I did of Lance Diamond Way. Lance Diamond Way is on Elmwood Avenue at the corner of West Utica. Lance used to sing at the Elmwood Lounge there. The Elmwood Lounge is now called Milkie's after its current and legendary owner Mike Milkie. That was where I drew this picture, looking out across the street.

That was a beautiful afternoon. My friend Meghan was with me and Mike Milkie sat down with us and reminisced about Lance and other things. I drank a beer. It is all too rare that life slows down like that and you have time to chill.

However later that day I never bothered looking back at my sketchbook. I thought: I would never have chosen that view and I will never have use for what I drew. The angle was tough, I thought. Plus I was talking while I was drawing and that does not always work out.

However. Oddly enough over the next few weeks that picture became one of my favorites. I kept finding myself going back to it. And when I decided to try doing up a coloring page, I immediately went for this picture.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone!

I had to re-draw it by hand because the original had shadows and such. I will have to post it so you see what I mean. It is a huge contrast! But otherwise I made no changes. The truck, the workers unloading the truck, the car across the street, everything was as I had originally drawn it. I love that in a sketch. I love to look at it and say: That is what I saw.

My drawing is on Facebook, on the page Mary Kunz Goldman Sketches, in case anyone wants to download it and try it.

Meanwhile above -- at the top of this post -- is an interpretation in Crayolas by Ryan Lysarz .... and here is one by my sister Margaret Mills. Ryan and I have been marveling at how for some reason they shared something of the same color scheme.

Our friend the author and poet Anne Apfel also used colors in that family.

She intended it to depict shadows falling at twilight. Some friends on Facebook said it reminded them of Ludwig Bemelman's "Madeline" books. Now I have such a big ego!

It is fascinating to me, all the different directions a picture can take depending on who is coloring it. I knew this was going to be fun, but not this much fun.

The things people come up with, I cannot get over it! I will have to post more tomorrow because I do not want to let everything out of the bag all at once. Because everyone is having fun with it we are going to add a new picture every week.

I am thinking next summer when this virus thing is past, we can have a show.

We can sip white wine and look at everyone's creations and celebrate what we have wrought!

Through the Presbyterian looking glass

Today I stopped in my day and did a quick sketch of this massive, fortress-like edifice that used to be Central Presbyterian Church. It is in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood.


It is funny, the things right in your own back yard that you pass a million times and never look at! This was one of them. Since I have been drawing I notice so much more. A few weeks ago I stopped for the first time in my life and noticed this place. I said out loud, "What in the world?"

It is so huge!

What I drew was just a back corner!

When I got home I looked this church up on one of our Buffalo architecture websites. I did not know what the name of it was because it is a school now. I found out the name and I learned that when it was built in 1911, it was the biggest Presbyterian church "east of the Mississippi," and that the architect was one Williams Lansing, who was very distinguished.

Lansing, it turns out, also designed Holy Family Church, where I was baptized. And a whole lot of other buildings, many of them churches, both Catholic and Protestant. He himself was Episcopalian. He was one of the founding members of Buffalo's Canoe Club. He is buried in Forest Lawn near the famous Fargo plot which I pass many times while walking. Listen to me! I am now the clearinghouse for all things Williams Lansing. I am a fan!

Looking up something like this is dangerous because you go down the rabbit hole and can waste hours if you are not careful. I was also fascinated by the history of this church;s erstwhile congregation. There is this one article by James Napora -- fascinating all the way through, but I will just mention for starters the nicknames.

Organized as the Pearl Street Presbyterian Church, they quickly erected a log meeting house on the west side of Pearl Street just north of Genesee Street. Built at a cost of $300, the building contained over 500 seats for a congregation of only thirty-five. It became known as the "ecclesiastical blacksmith shop" as it resembled a large blacksmith shop.

The congregation grew rapidly and within two years, with almost 200 members, they built a new church. Modeled after the Parthenon, it had an oval interior lit by a stained glass skylight. This feature earned it the nickname of "goose egg church."

From the Ecclesiastical Blacksmith Shop to the Goose Egg Church!

And we are not through yet.  A few paragraphs later you read that "between 1849 and 1851, the congregation now numbering 475, worshiped in the basement church referred to as 'Dr. Lord's Icehouse.' "

Dr. Lord was a person in town. He was not the Lord. Just to clear up any confusion.

What a history! How could anyone do it justice?

When I go back to this place I'd better bring my big drawing board.

Summer in the city

As I write this, thunder is booming outside and rain is pouring down. The cat is in the window, fascinated.

We have been having this wonderful summer of weather and this sudden storm bears it out. It is like Camelot. The rain can never come till after sundown.

This evening I got on a bike and went to our historic Buffalo tavern, Ulrich's. I sketched Ulrich's from across the street. I had only about an hour before it began to get dark and I got back on the bike and pedaled home. Before I left I took the picture up above, just for reference. Tomorrow I will post my sketch. It is awesome! Well, I was happy with it, I will say that.

While I was drawing I was thinking: Grover Cleveland drank in that tavern! Odds are my great-grandfather drank in that tavern!

Did my great-grandfather know Grover Cleveland? That is a question to ponder.

When I was nearing my house it was the most amazing thing. There were people everywhere. Kids were swinging on the swings across the street from my house. Couples were walking with baby carriages. People were walking their dogs. All along the street you saw people on the sidewalks, people on their porches.

The city was alive!

It is like this all summer but especially in the last days of summer. The motorcycles too are roaring down the streets. Writing that, I am all of a sudden affectionate toward them. Everyone feels the summer is leaving.

We must enjoy it while we can!

Castle in the air

I just did my fourth weekly edition of the Buzz Column! It is my new weekly sketch diary modeled after the column I did for years for The Buffalo News.

I realize I am falling back into my old ways!

Just today I caught myself emailing notes to myself for the next go-round. I always used to do that.

I began jotting down a few things people told me.

It is nice because along with working on the book I am working on, it reminds me that I write.

It also allows me to track what I have done. This week I made the main drawing the sketch I did a few days ago of the Connecticut Street Armory.

When I drew the Connecticut Street Armory I had special fun drawing the bus shelter. I love the contrast between the big medieval-looking castle and the mundane NFTA shelter. The people on their phones.

Why is everyone always on a phone, you know? This morning I was walking around the park and you know how you get when your mind wanders, you can get brooding over something. I was brooding over I forget what, and I passed one of the million people you pass who are on their phones. And suddenly I brightened.

I said to myself, "At least I'm not oblivious."

Now that I look at that picture I drew, it is like one of those Charles Addams cartoons you used to see in the New Yorker. These people are on their phones oblivious to this giant castle rising over their heads. It is as if they did not know it was there.

Looking at it with that in mind it is almost as if I dreamed it. What an amazing, absurd creation that place is.

At least I'm not oblivious!

We discover Columbus

Yesterday my friend Meghan and I went to Columbus Park and drew the statue there. I sent Howard the photo up above and Howard posted it on Facebook with the title, "On this day, Mary discovered Columbus."

Which I love! But it goes deeper than that.

You never know when that statue of Columbus will be gone!

Every year Columbus is back in the limelight on Columbus Day. He has been dodging bullets for years. Somebody does something, douses the statue in red paint, vandalizes it somehow. He stays standing there stoically, handsome in his Renaissance pantaloons, holding the territory. Every year, after Columbus Day, there is a kind of thanksgiving. Columbus lives to see another year.

Whether that will happen again is uncertain. I understand a sign is nearby saying Columbus is to be removed. I did not see that sign.

Who is going to get the statue?

Can I have it?

Just a few weeks ago we all saw the reproduction of the Santa Maria in the harbor and we all loved it, as you can see in my picture.

About the statue of Columbus, can we all just get our heads together here?

People demanding this statue come down should take a step back and admit something -- that they do not know the first thing about it. Nobody does.

We all would have to do our homework and go back and read Columbus' original letters which, who has the time to do that. We cannot believe everything we read these days. Heck, we cannot believe anything we read. We have to check it out for ourselves. We have to do research and read centuries-old documents.

Until we have a chance to do that, can we just leave the statue up? Just an idea.

It is a beautiful statue. The foundation reads that it was dedicated by the Federation of Italian-American Societies and by the Public-Spirited Citizens of the City of Buffalo. That is a description I love.

Columbus Park was beautiful when we were there. A woman was sitting on a bench reading a book. Hours passed and she was still there and so were we. It was quiet.

Except -- I almost forgot this -- this big brown-and-white bird kept swooping around, making this big loud call I never remember hearing. It was magical, this day, this place.

I want this place to stay, as it is. With the statue.

I want Columbus to stay so I can sketch him again!

Back to the Buzz

Once upon a time I wrote the Buzz column for The Buffalo News. It was a kind of gossip and humor column, things going on around town, lots of fun.

I am bringing it back.

For fun!

My friends have been asking for it, I am happy to say, ever since Howard raised the possibility of me writing it again on a lark. We could now incorporate my drawings.

It sounded nuts at first but then there is nothing wrong with that. And when I got to thinking about it I realized it could be a kind of a sketch diary for me. I could do pictures and riff from there.

Here is my first.

There will be another next week.

People on Facebook have been great about sharing it. It really warms my heart. The first column featured for starters the sketch up above. That is of the Parkside Meadow, this tavern near my house. It is kind of my corner tavern. If someone says, "Let's go grab a glass of wine," that is often where we go.

It may take a few weeks for the new Buzz column to reach equilibrium but I have no doubt it will happen. I did that column for a million years. Week after week. It hardly lapsed at all. I guess it lapsed for a few months while I was in California with Leonard Pennario but otherwise it kept going. When I went on vacation I wrote it in advance. When I got married I Buzzed my own wedding, writing about ways in which the ceremony and reception ran off the rails. I will have no problem picking it back up.

I am looking forward to it!

The not-so-secret garden

This morning I went with my friend Lauren to explore the new Dash's Market. We walked over there and later I thought it was funny, how little I am using my auto these days. I biked to church yesterday and today we walked to the greengrocer.

Greengrocer! That is a term we should use more often.

All I bought was green things!

For the record -- I bought leeks, zucchini, Savoy cabbage and .... what else? There was one more thing. It was green. Oh! Cucumber.

After shopping we sat in the upstairs Dash Cafe, or whatever they call it. It is spacious and lovely and because it was early in the morning not a lot of people were there and we scored a seat on the patio where we ate muffins and Lauren fed a snack to her baby daughter. I did a sketch of the street below.

When I got home I worked like a fieldhand on my garden. But first..

What got me going on the garden was seeing Lauren's garden. She and her husband bought this beautiful house in Parkside. It is the perfect house. It has no lawn in front. The front steps go right down to the sidewalk! So, no lawn mowing! Plus ... it has a garden in back. I mean a real garden, with huge raised beds and -- get this! -- a gate. A garden gate!

It is like The Secret Garden! As in the picture up above, by the great Tasha Tudor.

I could not get over it. I can tell that Lauren and her garden are going to be an inspiration for me all summer long.

I said, "Lauren, I am so glad you live in the city."

Is there anything better? We may walk to each other's houses and to the greengrocer.

And everything we need is right here. That is another thing to think about.

In contrast to Lauren I do not have a secret garden. I have a public garden! My garden is my front lawn on a busy street full of motorcycles and boom cars.

But you know what, I love it. I was out there today pulling up bishop's weed -- I love bishop's weed, but I have a huge patch of it that I am not going to touch. The bishop's weed in the front has to go to make room for other things.

Son of a sea cook, I am going to be seeing bishop's weed in my sleep, I pulled up so much of it. I also brutally pruned the rose bushes. I am sorry to say brutally but there is no other word for it.

I was scratched but not bleeding. Eventually I was bleeding but it took a long time to get to that point. By then I had been working for hours. I declared victory, cleaned myself up, and went to Home Depot for tomato plants.

I bought eight, for $20. That is going to be the only money I spend on my garden. But it will be beautiful.

For weeks now I have been writing as one of my goals, "I have a gorgeous garden."

It has begun!

Springtime in Buffalo

For a man-made lake, you know, Hoyt Lake is not bad!

I love walking in the park and it takes me about 20 minutes to get to this lake but that is going the long way. If I went the short way it would be more like 10 minutes.

It can get mighty quiet around Hoyt Lake this time of year. A miracle in Buffalo! This is where I learned the chirp of the red-winged blackbird. I love that bird's harsh drawn-out call. That is the sound of summer.

You can see the spring in the picture up above! And in this one.

On the other hand I took these pictures just last week. Heck, not even a week ago! Four days ago.

You will notice there are more wintry pictures than spring pictures. I am afraid I prefer the weather the wintry way when you get down to it. I have many more pictures that I took on cold days than on beautiful idyllic summer days.

I loved taking that wintry walk four days ago. It was colder than a well-digger's ass, as Tom Waits would put it. Well, not quite as cold, but I love quoting that song. And it was just about as cold.

There was nobody in the park! I ran into one gentleman going east when I was going west. We said good morning, as Buffalonians will.

Then he said, "Beautiful day."

And I agreed.

It was!

I am trying to see if I took pictures on the drizzly day I walked this week. Yes! I did!

Another shot.

I do love brooding days! Here is another.

This is a Buffalo spring for you. My brother Tony described it well once. He said that in spring in Buffalo it is as if winter and summer are in a battle for every single day. That is true.

And you know what the say about March. It comes in like a lion and goes out like a lion.

I am fine with it.