I couldn’t stop thinking about those puppies. The litter of three pitbull puppies, now down to two puppies, that were abused and tortured and left to die along the railroad tracks. And it’s not the first time animals have been beaten and malnourished and tortured. We hear the stories about the animal hoarders who get…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Reflection
The Bicentennial, a check and 9/11
It’s the fourth of July weekend, 1976. My mother thought it would be a great idea to take me to New York City to see the Tall Ships sale in the harbor. That’s all she talked about leading up to that weekend. “You’re going to see the Tall Ships in the harbor.” What did I…
Read MoreHalfway between crimson and scarlet
I woke up this morning. My face still hurts, more pain than yesterday. My neck aches. My arms feel like they’re coated in fresh asphalt. Gotta check the bathroom mirror. Yep. Any redder, and I’d be the punchline for a Jeff Foxworthy routine. No way around it – Chuck got sunburned. Badly. Worse than I…
Read MoreThe 49th Resolution
Yesterday was my 49th birthday. I spent it here in beautiful downtown Brampton, Ontario, attending a combine for the National Basketball League of Canada – there’s an amazing amount of talent at the combine, and I know several of these guys will end up in NBL-C uniforms when the season starts in November. After the…
Read MoreThoughts on a stormy, rainy night
Boom. It’s Thursday morning. I wake up. One eye checks the alarm clock. 4:00 a.m. I roll over. The bedroom window is next to my bed. My non-glasses-wearing eyeballs are still focusing. I squint through the Venetian blinds of my window. Flash of light. Five seconds later, another boom. Thunderstorm. What’s the mathematical formula, my…
Read MoreColumbine. Nickel Mines. And the Aurora movie theater.
It’s 1999, and kids are finishing up their classes at Columbine High School. And in that quiet building in a beautiful location in Colorado, two students, armed with assault rifles, opened fire on their classmates. Fifteen classmates killed. Twenty-one others were injured. Thousands of lives destroyed. It’s 2006, on a sunny day in rural Pennsylvania. …
Read MoreI was thinking of Gina Peca today…
When I went through my photographs from last night’s Waterford fireworks show, I came across this picture. It was taken before the fireworks began, just a shot to see if I could capture the crepuscular “God’s Rays” as the sunshine pierced through the clouds. It’s the light that shines down from above for all of…
Read MoreHow we feel when they leave
On Wednesday, I parked my car on State Street to attend the 4th of July fireworks at the Empire State Plaza. Parking on State Street meant that once the fireworks were over, I could quickly get to Cardachrome and drive home, without getting stuck in a parking garage for three hours. While I was gathering…
Read MoreColoring outside the borders
In 1969, I attended first grade at Clarksville Elementary School (school number two of the “Twelve”). At the time, I didn’t understand why I wasn’t in first grade at Slingerlands Elementary School with the rest of my friends and neighbors – and why, for that fact, was I in a classroom with only six other…
Read MoreIt’s not exclusive to the one who gave birth to you.
It’s customary on Mother’s Day to remember those who gave birth to us, those who nursed us and weaned us and drove us to every Little League and AYSO event. The ones who were there in the audience when we graduated from school; the ones who were in the church saying, “That’s my boy up…
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Chuck The Writer 
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