All articles filed in Reflection

This Memorial Day, in addition to the usual tradition of outdoor cookouts and gatherings, as well as parades and celebrations, please take a moment to remember the following who won’t be home to celebrate Memorial Day with their families. Aaron Salter, 55. Celestine Chaney, 65. Roberta A. Drury, 32. Andre Mackniel, 53. Katherine Massey, 72.…

I’m looking up at the sky.  How many stars can I see in the night?  Dozens?  Hundreds?  A thousand upon a thousand? And if every star in the sky were the dim tears of an angel’s cries… the thought that another young soul would lose their only chance to live a full and complete life,…

52 years ago. 52 years and it still catches me every time. On February 20, 1970, I lost my three-year-old baby brother Allen in a single-car crash in Rensselaer County. I blogged about it twelve years ago, and eleven years ago I blogged about providing the proper respect. I’m not going to lie. In an…

I need to tell you this story. It’s all true. And nearly 45 years after it happened, it still hurts inside. As many blog readers know, I had a very difficult childhood. The home life was tough, and classmates in the South Colonie School District (otherwise known as Schools 7, 9 and 10 of The…

Preparations are set. My 2013 Chevrolet Cruze “Dracourage” is filled with a full tank of gas. My satellite radio station is cued up to SiriusXM’s “Holly” channel, so I can stream tons of holiday music on my travels. I’ve got my Equinox baseball cap, and a fresh clean face mask for COVID-19 safety. Oh, and…

It’s Thursday morning, and for some reason, I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep. I think it’s another round of stress-induced insomnia. For me, insomnia happens when I’m over-anticipating something, or a personal event has me all twisted up in angst. Then, in the middle of the night, I’m awake,…

As a kid, I enjoyed visiting the New York State Museum. At the time, the Museum had moved from its previous location at the State Education Building on Washington Avenue, and was now in a modern building. There were dioramas of life in the Adirondacks in the new building, and they were just adding exhibits…

In the end, Crash Moreau lived his life the way he always wanted. Whether it was on fire, or surviving a horrific car crash, he performed stunts and thrills for decades, at county fairs and stunt shows throughout the Northeast. Example. Here’s a video of him from 2011, at the Orange County Fair. And if…

It’s 1:30 in the morning, and I’ve been awake for the past two hours. Bad nightmare. More like a flashback than a nightmare. It was a moment from my teenage years. Approximately the spring of 1978, if we’re being reasonably accurate. At that time, I was attending school at Lisha Kill Junior High School, a…