I have always loved driving. My parents kept my leash relatively short when I was growing up, so when I finally got my license and my own car at 17, I knew I was going to experience a new sense of freedom. Living in a rural area, countless times I would spin the odometer over curving country back roads, navigating on impulse and and never doubling back - I knew if I just kept going, I would eventually find myself in a familiar place. My philosophy was, and is still, that if you know how you got there, you are not lost.
Now, my joyrides are severely limited by the price of gas, so when I have to drive out to Elbridge or Camillus for work, I revel in the opportunity to be alone on the highway behind the wheel...
The 4th Annual 40 Below Summit last weekend brought together young professionals for the common goal of finding out what Syracuse has to offer and germinating ideas for how to tap into the city's potential for greatness.
When I registered for the event in early October I was unsure what to expect, but the idea excited me. As a "technical" member of 40 Below, (but having been unable to actually attend a meeting), I saw the summit as a good jumping-off point to becoming a part of the rehabilitation of Syracuse.
Some of what 40 Below has already accomplished is visually evident throughout the city: Adapt CNY's revitalization of the Wilson building, the 'It's All Here' branding campaign, and Lipe Art Park, the city's first public art park...
After I'd had my dog for a few months and he became the vicious hunter he now is, I became acutely aware of how many squirrels there are in my neighborhood. On an average spring or summer morning I would take Finnegan out to the backyard and would encounter four fat gray squirrels. I swear they would tease the poor dog, watching him run after one, then another, whimpering out of confusion and frustration. I would hear them in the tree under which my car was parked, chewing on nuts and throwing their discards down on the roof and hood of my beloved Volvo. I grew to hate them.
Then two weekends ago I made my first visit to the East Hill Ski Area in Camillus, to meet with the Camillus Ski Association...
