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Month: February 2016

This is berry confusing

February 26, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Still trying to digest (pun fully intended) the concept of the pumpkin as a fruit, not a vegetable, I now am told the eggplant is … ready for this? … a berry. Just like blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries? Well …… Continue Reading →

berries, Eggplant, pumpkin, strawberries

Molasses in January

February 24, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

What’s the slowest thing in the world? An escapee from a nudist colony going through a barbed wire fence. That joke was around when I was in seventh grade. I still find it amusing, if not funny. It sort of… Continue Reading →

School buses

Yesterday came suddenly

February 19, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

I believe it was Esquire magazine that every now and then several years ago published little vignettes under the general title “Signs armageddon is upon us.” They were not serious items, but rather preposterous things, the stuff apt to make… Continue Reading →

Hey Jude, Paul McCartney, The Grammys

Divine intervention

February 17, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

My old friend Bill Corcoran always joked that he did not own a snow shovel. He said he believed in the Biblical method of snow removal: the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Thinking of it always made me… Continue Reading →

Snow

The heart of the matter

February 12, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

How heavy the days are. There’s not a fire that can warm me, Not a sun to laugh with me, Everything bare, Everything cold and merciless, And even the beloved, clear Stars look desolately down, Since I learned in my… Continue Reading →

Herman Hesse, Love, The Little Prince, Valentine's Day

He’s no Joe DiMaggio

February 10, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

If you watched the Super Bowl you saw Carolina quarterback Cam Newton shy away from diving into a crowd of players to try to recover his own fumble at a crucial point in the fourth quarter. A day later he… Continue Reading →

Cam Newton's fumble, Joe DiMaggio, Super Bowl 2016

Lovable Lena

February 5, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Sammy Parente was named Mr. Pennsylvania. What was it, 30 years ago? 40? I suppose I could look it up, but does it really matter? Kenny Feeney and I swung into action as soon as we heard the news. Kenny… Continue Reading →

Lena Parente, Pittston

His old friends called him ‘Mock’

February 4, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Greater Pittston Progress editor Patti Houston sent me a message around noon Monday alerting me that Tom Tigue, the beloved, I think it’s fair to say, Tom Tigue, had died. She wanted to be sure I knew in case I… Continue Reading →

Bucky Harris, Hughestown, Tom Tigue

His old friends called him ‘Mock’

February 3, 2016Ed Ackerman Leave a Comment

Greater Pittston Progress editor Patti Houston sent me a message around noon Monday alerting me that Tom Tigue, the beloved, I think it’s fair to say, Tom Tigue, had died. She wanted to be sure I knew in case I… Continue Reading →

About the Optimist

Ed Ackerman Ed Ackerman, a consulting editor and columnist for the Greater Pittston Progress, has served the people of Greater Pittston for 48 years, starting in the newspaper field at age 17. The Pittston resident will share his thoughts in this blog and in a weekly column published in the Progress. greaterpittstonprogress.com

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