While searching for a photo on my computer this morning, I came across the one above, taken in my front yard in Brooklyn, most likely during the winter on 1982-'83, based on the size of our beloved pooch Frosty.
Seeing it again brought into focus how my attitude toward snow has changed over the years. Especially after this year's glut of the white stuff.
It snows in New York, of that there is no doubt. And it gets cold. But huge snowstorms and bitter cold like we see here in the Great Lakes region aren't nearly as common.
The fact is, when we got a snowfall like the one in the photo, we took photos! When my best friend Mark came over and asked me to help dig out his first car -- the brown 1982 Honda Accord we drove to the Village each week to buy the new NME, rocking Gregory Isaacs' sublime "Night Nurse" as the tires thrummed on the grated surface of the Brooklyn Bridge -- I grabbed a shovel with a smile.
Flash forward to 2007-'08 when all my shoveling came with a grumble and talk of snow was a daily frustration. After weeks on end of seeing the increasingly filthy white blanket everywhere I wondered how we'd survive. But, it's nearly the end of May and here we are.
And now that I'm done moaning about the weather last winter, I'll admit that on at least one occasion, early in the season, the snow looked so lovely, draped on the canopies of the trees that I reached for the camera.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
