Ep. 51: The Little Garden That Could

This final Summer Friday I have the pleasure of staying at home to spend time with my wife Chelsea and our two toddlers, Milo and Olivia Luz.

This morning Olivia and I went out to our front garden to pick part two of a beautiful bounty. I was astonished at how quickly the next batch ripened and how bountiful it was once again. We collected two baskets full of cherry and beef tomatoes, and one puny pickle-in-the-making.

As you can see by these photos, there's plenty more where that came from. This little garden of ours sits in our front yard and is the little garden that could because it gives and gives and it keeps on giving....cherry and beefsteak tomatoes, giant squash, jalapeño peppers and even a few pretty dark purple eggplants.

Brendan, our 70-year old Irish landscaper stopped by while we were plucking and pruning, and commented, in his charming native cadence, "Wow, you're blooming! It's because you get sun all day and you planted in virgin soil," repeating the latter part 2-3 times as he is apt to do.

We love Brendan, and to show our appreciation the kids gave him a little box decorated with paint and shells. We gave him a little bag of tomatoes to take home with him as well.

He was visibly excited about the gifts, which prompted him to tell us that he was just about to throw out a big box of sea shells which he brought back from his last trip to the homeland, Ireland, but that he was now going to bring them over for the kids.

A little later on Mama Bear took the little cubs to BJ's, while I stayed home and prepared an amazing salad with fresh mozzarella pearls; cherry tomatoes from our garden and yellow heirloom tomatoes picked at the farm; chipped cured kalamata, castelvetrano, and cerignola olives, the latter double-stuffed with garlic and jalapeño; freshly chopped basil from our tiny herb garden; freshly ground sea salt; and three types of olive oil - cold-pressed extra virgin, garlic-infused and Harina-infused.

Yes, this is how we do it at Domínguez Manor. It's good to be home.

Ep. 44: Late is not better than never

December 17, 2013

This is too weird. Only a few weeks after the tragic derailment on my line, the Hudson Line, the morning train to Grand Central has become arriving early.

Normally, one might rejoice. However, since it usually arrived slightly late, I could briskly walk down the hill and always have a couple of minutes to decompress before I stepped onto the train and settled into my seat.

Now, the train arrives 1-2 minutes early, rather than late, so that it sits in the station for a couple of minutes, but leaves exactly at 7:30.

Today, I made barely-barely made it. As the tell-tale beep and flashing lights went on, I literally yelled "Hold the train!" to the conductor who had signaled all was clear to shut the doors.

It would have been the third time in less than a week that I missed the train as I was coming down the pedestrian stairs from the bridge that runs above the tracks.

Missing the train would have meant having to wait another twenty-five minutes, putting me into the office almost half an hour later.

So, in my case, three times is not a charm; and it is not better to be late than never.

Usually, I've got a little leverage and no one is watching when I unlock my office door. However, my boss and I are neighbors now. Last Friday, in perfect coordination with my train misses, she moved into the office right next to mine. Alas, she not only does she get in half an hour earlier than I do, but she lives along the same train line as well and has a few kids of her own. Meaning, while I've gained some parental empathy, there's even less room for excuses.

When she took over our team six months ago, she began booking early morning team meetings. Ugh. It gave me just a few minutes to turn on the lights and my computer, check to see what room it was in and grab a pen and pad of paper.

This completely threw off one of my colleagues, Liz Lemon, who for the last two years arrived an hour later. Single and free, and living in the city, she could stay late to finish work, sleep in and then leisurely roll out of bed to walk her dog the next morning. Not any more.

Our old boss was very matter-of-factual and albeit always punctual, each of us had built a hard-earned rapport with her, so that we weren't as self-conscious about our arrival times as we are nowadays.

The old boss came in from Connecticut each day, a two-and-a-half hour commute each way! So although she got up a lot earlier than I, we were at the office almost at the same time. Since she had a train to catch, she also always left earlier than me too. And although her office was right next door to Liz, they had an understanding based on 6 or 7 years of working together.

Starting all over with the new boss has been a bit of a rocky journey. She has a very different approach, which is more hands-off and managerial; as opposed to the old boss who was well-versed in our profession and our procedures.

Nonetheless and allthemore, although it feels like we're beginning to level off of the steep learning curve in the office, I've still got to adjust to this new train schedule. I've simply got to get out of the house a few minutes earlier and let go of my impulse to help with crying babies who need a bottle or their diapers changed. This is particularly true since we just had snow and the temperature has been holding below freezing, which means that although the roads are salted, the sidewalks are often still frozen with thin sheets of ice. I was cruelly reminded last night when I body slammed into the pavement as I was ten feet away from our back door. Luckily, for my neighbors this compelled me to spend the next hour breaking ice and salting the sidewalk.

So apart from the anxiety caused by almost missing the train for the third time and a sore elbow from the fall, at least it was a fairly smooth walk to the station this morning.


(The sidewalks are clean and salted about Dominguez Manor this morning)

Ep. 19: A good neighbor policy is also good security policy

Five different families have lived in our house over the last ten years.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Yesterday, after making my ascent up our very own Lombardo Street, I was at the crest of Requa when I noticed one of my neighbors holding a young child in his arms.

After arriving at the base of our front steps, I decided to turn around and go over to introduce myself.

Kevin Ward is a true native. Born in Peekskill, he and his wife have lived in same house on Smith Street for thirty years. They raised their only son there and now they entertain their only grandson, 15-month old Giovanni.

Currently, Kevin serves as a community service officer of the Peekskill police. A 20 year veteran of the force, he worked for IBM for just as long, before they laid him off like hundreds of others.

He started out at International Business Machines  in charge of global security for traveling employees, and then moved onto “bombing and terrorism,” which he told me three times.

He was also very excited to tell me about all the activity that occurs in town over the summer. The road on restaurant row closes down and they bring their eats to the street; there are hot rod and vintage car nights; the Dragons on the Hudson dragon boat races; and of course there are the fireworks and festivals. His list, like his fervor, were endless.

Alas, as I like to immediately google everything, I’ve discovered that half of what he shared with me, won’t be happening this year. According to the peekskillcelebration.com, “due to the City of Peekskill’s financial challenges and that tough budget cuts associated with personnel/overtime expenses for special events like Peekskill Celebration” it will not take place this year in 2013.  

Oh, well.

Finally, Kevin also told me, “I coached the baseball team here in Peekskill for many years. One of my players painted your house. I can't remember his name.  My wife was good friends with a former owner of your house, Mary Martinez; she'll be able to tell you."

When I googled him for a little more in-depth on this article, I couldn’t find anything on Kevin and baseball, so I’m not sure if he was a high school or little league coach.

I replied to Kevin that I would definitely be returning to ask, because I wanted the low-down on the house.

At that moment I realized that neighbors are great sources of local history, which is especially the case with our home in particular because everyone seems to notice it. (See Ep. 13: It’s a good thing were not in Connecticut)

I’m particularly interested in knowing the history of our house, not only because it is now our home, but I’m also eager to write a novel with our house our home as the central character; one that spams the whole 125 year old history of 367 Smith Steet, Dominguez Manor.

Thus, I think getting to know my neighbors will keep me on track.

Besides, with neighbors like Kevin, a good neighbor policy is also good security policy.

P.S. If you’re interested, here’s is what I have found out in regards to the previous residents of our home.

Dates of Residence	Owners and Occupants
March 2013 (House was empty and on the market for over a year)	Lorenzo Domínguez & Chelsea Hollander, our governess Adela Andrade, our four boys, and Oliva soon to come!
January 2008 -  January, 2012	Justin Tyack (Deputy CEO at Office of School Support, NYC Department of Education, now residing in Brooklyn ) & Cody Hepworth (Hair Stylist now residing in Dobbs Ferry)
July 2006 – January 2008	Jose Gotay Jr. and Heather Dearing Gotay
June 2004 – July 2006	David Nicholson (now resides in Waterbury, Connecticut)
March 2000 – June 2004	Josefina Gallego Diaz
c. 1992 – March 2000	Kristopher Curry and Deborah Curry
c. 1939 – c. 1973?	Frances M. and Bruno M. Grenci, Sr.; their 4 sons, 2 daughters; and Micheal & Caroline Vozzella (parents-in-law) Frances was a business partner with Thomas H. Ellis, who together owned Grenci and Ellis, a granite business in Yorktown
c. 1919	Willis F. & Mildred Ottis Mildred was born in 1882 and she hosted meetings for the Women's Missionary Society of St. Paul's.
1884- c. 1915	Mr.* & Mrs. Matthew Clune 1911-1915 Aunt Margaret Torpy M. Clune died 1910
c. 1892	Elder S. B. Dyckman The house was built in 1887, but Dyckman owned the land.