Monthly Archives: May 2012
Bailey
July 28, 2008 Dogs cannot stay in the Inn at Silver Bay, which may be the one thing that’s wrong with it. So while we vacationed at Lake George this summer, Gus was far away in dog jail and I suffered from pooch-deprivation. But one morning, walking back up from Slim Point, I saw a […]
Polo, Yale and Flash Gordon
Yale graduates who have excelled at polo include J. Watson Webb; Winston Guest; Lewis E. Stoddard, chairman of the U. S. Polo Association (1922-1936); Tom Buchanan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (1925); Flash Gordon of Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon comic strip which began in 1934, and the movie serials with Buster Crabbe; William […]
Big Fish
Clair Winship holds a muskellunge he caught in Hadley Bay, Chautauqua Lake, in September of 1955. This will give you an idea of what my grandfather could do with a bamboo fishing pole from a rowboat. The news account noted that the fish was 51 inches long, weighed 32 pounds, and was hooked on a […]
Clues to the Meaning of Beer
To learn who made beer, and what they made, you can open any of a number of histories. But to find out what beer really meant to people, how it fit into a culture, it can be very helpful to turn to other areas. Literature, film and less overtly historical works can offer surprising clues […]
Blueberry
October 6, 2000 I never thought I would bond with a bird, but I did, and now I’m paying the price. Blueberry, our parakeet, died last night and the house seems terribly quiet. For 12 years, he was a good friend and an active part of the household. He greeted us when we uncovered his […]
Falcon Park
A late summer discovery, and don’t I feel like an idiot for waiting all this time, was Doubledays baseball over in Auburn. We caught the last game of the season, and can’t wait for next Spring. Falcon Park, its players and fans are everything baseball should be. Parking is free! Every seat is a good […]
Brewing Competitions
In the early days of brewing, the judging of beer was largely confined to casual conversations. To have drunk various beers in the places where they were made was to a man’s credit, and his tales were welcomed by those less informed, as well as those who leaped at a chance to tell of their […]
Travel Letters
Excerpts from my travel letters :: Bermuda, 1977 :: My girlfriend made the arrangements; all I had to do was get on the plane. She even arranged for mopeds. Because I had never been on a moped, I drove it up and down the parking lot, just to be sure I could stay upright, and […]
Boom Boom Mex Mex
The next time I get married, I’m registering at Boom Boom Mex Mex. Forget the china, the silver, the crystal; I want tacos. And maybe another t-shirt, because they have great t-shirts; I have seven. But I’m getting ahead of myself. A long, long time ago, Tom Bryan walked away from journalism and photography to […]
Lewis Lacey
In 2010 the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame welcomed Lewis Lacey, to which I say, “It’s about time.” Lewis L. Lacey was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1887, the son of William Lacey, a professional cricket player. In 1891, when the Hurlingham Club was established by the British colony outside of Buenos Aires, […]
Faithful Readers 