You Gonna Eat That?

In Chicopee, St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church recently had it's bell towers refurbished to their original copper color. There are a lot of old buildings in the valley with copper embellishments, domes and facades. But they're not too noticeable, as they have long since been allowed to oxidize, and turned green. It's rare to see it as it was when it was built, back in the day...



The church is actually a Minor Basilica, designated so in the early nineties.

As I drive through Springfield every so often during the work week, I've begun to notice a certain subtle, but definite, vibrancy to the streets. I don't know, maybe it's just because it's summer again, but things seem a little more upbeat than I remember them last year. I'm pretty sure it's due in large part to these guys, who have become a very visible presence, at least around Main St.:



They're workers for the Springfield Business Improvement District. I've noticed them quite a bit lately, watering the multitude of flower pots lining Main St, sweeping sidewalks, and generally doing good things for the appearance and feel of downtown. I think it's working. Things have been looking, I don't know, kept up lately. And appearance can be everything. People are walking the streets. And I don't mean just the lawyers and accountants rushing to meetings, or gangsta' kids, loafing around with nothing to do. Average, run-of-the-mill people just seemed to be strolling about.









There was even small sparks of civic outspokenness to be seen, such as this guy's t-shirt, which reads "Greater Springfield Senior Services is CROOKED".



All of this good to see, in a city hungry for rejuvenation.

A Whole Lotta Me

Speaking of hungry for rejuvenation, Ever since I got over a major pneumonia illness a year and a half ago, where I lost about 30 pounds, and subsequently quit smoking, my body went from slim and trim, to something resembling a woman late in her second trimester. Unfortunately last summer as I recovered from the illness (and replaced smoking with eating), I regained the thirty pounds I had lost, and just kept on going. So I've been carrying around about 40+ pounds of overindulgence since, like a back-pack slung around my front. The shape-shifting hasn't been lost on Kelly, who constantly harangues me to get back into my previous trim.

Lately, in addition to her usual snide remarks about the topic, she's taken to leaving little missives around the house. At first they started out as innocent pleas for my the health, (which in her eyes, ties into the health of our relationship)...



but lately the notes have become a little more, well, ardent...



How's that over your cereal. Sometimes I wonder if I should just take up smoking again. That harrassment I could handle...

I've never been obese in my entire life. As a matter of fact my nickname as a kid was 'Tony Skinny' (as a counter nick-name to my cousin, called 'Tony Fatso'). The odd thing is, Tony Fatso is fit and trim now, and I look like I swallowed a volley-ball. I know it's wrong and unhealthy, but truth be told: deep down, I think I've subconciously kind of enjoyed being overweight. It's a change of pace for me. And I think it's made me jollier, as I laugh a lot more lately. Unfortunately those positives have been lost on the people around me.

So, I'll have to start devoting more and more of my thought process to thinking slim; I've already lost about five pounds since last checking. And Kelly's up in Maine this weekend visiting friends; so I'm bound to lose another ten, as I grapple with the dog for scraps of food...

Soon enough, Tony Skinny will be back, and as active as this bee, who's legs are so thick with pollen stuck to them, they look like those water-wings kids use in the pool:



I wonder if he ever found a post-it on his milk...