(In some circles ‘Luck of the Irish’ isn’t so much unexpected good fortune, but rather a positive outlook on a discouraging situation.) It was Labor Day weekend and the phone was ringing. The caller was unidentified. So, for a second or two, I thought about not answering. Maybe it was an unsolicited fund raiser or Read More…
(This column was adapted from a eulogy given at a Mass of Celebration of the life of Mary Louise Schiavoni of Bradford, Massachusetts who passed away on January 28, 2016.) Imagine a time when there was not the sound of airplanes overhead or jet contrails streaked across a sky. Imagine a time when there were Read More…
We once had a neighbor on our street in the North End who annually went bonkers over holiday decorations far in advance of yuletide. Each year she pushed the envelope further and further while the yellowing elms of Copp’s Hill still wore their autumn colors. We knew that she had finally fallen off the deep end Read More…
(Even in the North End, visitors from the wild sometimes drop by.) My wife called to say that she wanted to check out the sales and would be “nipping into town” — meaning anywhere west of the Haymarket for North Enders. I expected to find another notch on our credit card, not a Sciurus carolinensis Read More…
(The first morning of spring brings more snow and a graveyard apparition.) Last Saturday the neighborhood was barely twelve hours into spring when we awoke to snow falling softly over the gravestones of the burying ground.In the gray light and shadows of early-morning I spotted a large, mottled creature, coated with fallen flakes and perched Read More…
A weekly succession of blizzards has tested the patience and kindness of North End residents.
(A father contemplates just how much or how little he can do to protect his child from dangers near and far.) The timing was perfect. Smoke from just-extinguished candles trickled off my mother’s 96th birthday cake when excited shouts erupted from the living room. Notice of an incoming communication from a foreign site lit up Read More…
(A confrontation with vandals leads to danger in the street.) It was a cold Sunday evening in December about 10 years ago when I heard drunken shouts in the street below. I didn’t even budge from the couch in our 4th-floor apartment and chalked up the yelling and alcohol-fueled expletives to a close-scoring NHL game Read More…
(One can try to escape birthday festivities by crossing an ocean — only to find fate waiting on the far shore.) It’s that time of the year again when I mark my original arrival on the planet with sincere thanks, of course, to my mother. But, I prefer not to make a big deal about Read More…
(Thomas F. Schiavoni writes about the adventures of the memorable Ciampa sisters of Snow Hill Street– Lena, Evelyn and Josie – and their attempt to solve a puzzling mystery.) One spring at the approach of Memorial Day, Lena suddenly reignited an annual household debate with her two younger sisters. Should this be the year for Read More…
(Thomas F. Schiavoni recalls the nighttime sounds of a migrating flock high above the city.) Late one starry night in fall, I trudged homeward after a long and stressful day at work. As I unlocked the door of a former North End tenement, I heard the distant honking of wild creatures flying hundreds of feet Read More…
(Thomas F. Schiavoni recalls an encounter along the highway that was too close for comfort.) It happened one moonless Sunday evening in March. I was driving a little over the speed limit – about 70 mph – southbound on the Maine Turnpike returning to Boston from Portland with my wife and two visitors from Read More…