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The Lake Freezes Before Christmas

We have lived on Chautauqua Lake now for over 30 years and have very seldom seen the lake, as it now is, iced-over before Christmas. It may have happened once or twice before, but then, I think, it was only partially frozen. The snowfall this year has also been significant, i.e. the kind of snow you usually see in January or February. At last count, the Village of Mayville had recorded 58.9 inches of snow. We have already seen, in December, a few ice fishermen on the lake—a scene that usually takes place in mid to late January. Winter is upon us! The other day an eagle landed out ...

You’d Better Watch Out

The holidays are upon us, and I’m exhausted. Not from the typical pressures of the season. No, I’m exhausted from being subject to a President who, just when any reasonable person wonders whether he can go any lower, seems to say, “hold my Diet Coke.” Exhibit A from this week (and it’s only Tuesday as I write this): Trump’s heinous response to the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele. Apparently, Trump has never heard (or heeded) the wisdom of “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” He can’t resist a single opportunity to make an ...

Lessons Learned From Capra

Coming home from college for winter break, I decided to revisit a classic winter film while recovering from my wisdom teeth extraction. That movie was It’s a Wonderful Life, directed by Frank Capra. Although the film was released in 1946, it contains themes that transcend eras. One element in particular stood out to me this time around: the conduct of Mr. Potter, the film’s main antagonist. His fixation on money and control feels eerily similar to how modern private equity reshapes communities one acquisition at a time. What I appreciate most about Capra’s portrayal of Potter ...

Closure Of College Fitness Facility Upsets City Resident, Longtime User

The following is a response to an opinion in the Jamestown Post-Journal on Dec. 4, 2025. I was a JCC Total Fitness member from 2000 to 2020, until it was closed down by the state in early March 2020 due to COVID. JCC Life Fitness had to close, half way through my 2019-2020 membership. In 2024 I found out via word of mouth that JCC Total Fitness had reopened. I closed my Planet Fitness membership which I had from fall 2022 to March 2024 and I rejoined JCC Total Fitness. I have gone to Life Fitness the last 1.5 years, five days a week for 1.5 hours each day. I don’t go to the YMCA due ...

Wintering Like We’re In Scandanavia

If anybody knows how to do winter well, it’s the Scandinavians. They just seem to glide through the long dark months like shooting stars, long hair tucked into knitted caps, warm wool sweaters to greet the day, candlelit restaurants in cozy little towns; board games with friends in front of the fireplace. When the sun sets at 3:00 pm in December there, the Scans just light their candles and get on with their day as if living in darkness for long stretches of time is the best thing ever. I think we could learn a thing or two from these contented folks by embracing the winter ...

How Will We Spend 2026’s 525,600 Minutes?

The Broadway Play, Rent, based on the 1896 Opera La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, which made its first appearance on stage in 1994, told/tells the story of a group of “starving” artists living in Lower Manhattan’s East Village, trying to survive in the shadows of the HIV/AIDS epidemic/pandemic which became more prevalent in the mid-to-late 1970s. Rent, the Play, also became popular on the big screen, and starred many of the same stage performers who brought it to the big screen in 2005. Included in that cast were Idina Menzel, Jesse L. Martin, ...