Autumn or fall? It's your call 

By Anthony Buccino

If it doesn't storm or snow on Halloween, we might get to enjoy the season showing off its color bursts in our Jersey neighborhoods, surrounding hills and mountainsides.

Call it what you will. Remember the chore of raking leaves into a giant pile and the smell of burning leaves in the air and on your clothes.

Ah, the good old days when we treated the environment like our red-headed stepchild.

Autumn Joyrides to Monk's Castle and Albino Village

And the only time we ever heard about somebody who went to Albino Village was when they came back and told us about how scared they were and how lucky to get out before they were grabbed by the Albino people.

Remember the Pretzel Kid Saturday

It was a terrific job. They sent me out from under the concrete bleachers into the crowds and I yelled, “Pretzels! Pretzels!” and people would call me up the rows and rows of bleachers to buy a pretzel or two.

Boating the Passaic River - The Riverkeeper Tour

Looking upstream we forget we are smack in the middle of millions of people in a bustling metropolis. Lush green trees fill out the banks, the water is wide and peaceful ahead of us. Pay no attention to that SuperFund site buried under concrete.

The Spider and the $110 Light Bulbs

I offer not only to run out to my friendly neighborhood humongous 24-hour home center for the missing bulbs and return not only with the bulbs brightly burning, but also three cups of that world famous Dunkin’ Donuts coffee to drink while I reassemble the light bulb into its fixture.

Rambling Round - Inside and Outside at the Same Time

Anchored in New Jersey, Anthony Buccino pays tribute to the unique Garden State Parkway toll road, but you don't have to be from New Jersey to enjoy this collection. In fact, by now the rest of the country should be ready for Buccino and RAMBLING ROUND Inside and Outside at the Same Time.

On the occasion that he writes seriously, they are bound to give you a nice warm feeling. Buccino's essays are written from the heart and the hearth about family and surroundings.

More

The Chimney Sweep Saved My Family's Lives

He looked at me plainly, trying to put it simply, “Your chimney flue is blocked and your headaches
are from carbon monoxide fumes.”

Time to Lose the Window Air Conditioners

The new window units are more efficient and lighter than those we started with long ago, they seem heavier each year. I like to be cool, but I'm not a big fan of air conditioning.

Dog Hair Here, There, Everywhere

The most obvious way to clear the air of dog hair, getting rid of the dog, won't work. If you got rid of your dog today, you'd still be finding his hair decades hence. Think: Christmas tree needles in July, only worse.

Italian American Roots in Belleville and Nutley

Growing up on the border of Belleville and Nutley, the kids in my neighborhood along Meacham Street knew that when we grew old we would speak Italian.

October Book of the Month

Sometimes I Swear In Italian

Antonio Buccino's collection about growing up Italian American in New Jersey and discovering the roots of his ancestors takes him back through the old neighborhood where the 'bianca lina' man sold bleach to make the white linens; and the young boy growing up in the house his grandfather built, and living upstairs from his scary grandma who spoke no English. This collection of verse captures the assimilation of Italian American born and raised in New Jersey and inspired by a trip to Italy where he realizes on his first visit, it also is his home.

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