Chris Carosa

Western New York’s Bread of Life Fills Both Spirit and Stomach

By Chris Carosa on June 21, 2011

Brother James looked just the way I would picture a monk looking. Tallish with an angular face, he wore the kind of retro heavy-rimmed glasses that aren’t really retro, merely that old. His soft caring voice spoke with the peaceful contentedness so appropriate for the part you’d swear a Hollywood casting agent placed him. Only you wouldn’t swear here – and here is about as far from the superficial celebrity of Tinsel Town as you could get.

Where exactly is “here”? It’s the Abbey of the Genesee located in the hamlet of Piffard in the Town of York, Livingston County. About a mile west of the Genesee River, this community of Trappist monks belongs to the Roman Catholic order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. The Abbey of the Genesee came about from a Continue Reading “Western New York’s Bread of Life Fills Both Spirit and Stomach”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abbey of the Genesee, Cistercians, Constantine I, Genesee Valley, Kentucky, Letchworth State Park, Livingston County, monk, Monk's Bread, Piffard, Roman Catholic, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, Trappist, Wadsworth, York

Mendon Water Tower Redux

By Chris Carosa on June 16, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the June 14, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

You can look elsewhere in this paper for a report on the June 7 meeting between concerned Mendon citizens and the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA). The following merely comments on those proceedings in as fair and unbiased a fashion one can expect from a resident of Mendon.

The meeting last Thursday night showed a few interesting things. First, it looks like everyone agrees we’ve got a water problem in southeast Mendon. Second, those Continue Reading “Mendon Water Tower Redux”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Mendon, Monroe County Water Authority, politics

D.C. Turf Wars

By Chris Carosa on June 9, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the June 7, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) currently has regulatory responsibility for stock index futures. The Bush administration recently announced plans to introduce legislation shifting control to the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Both Investor’s Daily and The Wall Street Journal have faithfully presented both sides of the debate.

The critical questions, however, relate not to who’s in charge, but to the impetus behind the territorial maneuvering. In analyzing the 1987 stock market crash, official Washington, the news media and even some well respected financial gurus have blamed stock index futures – in particular their use in program trading – for the Continue Reading “D.C. Turf Wars”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged derivative, finance, futures, politics, Stock market, volatility

Rocky’s Gloves

By Chris Carosa on June 2, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the May 31, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

One of the great things about an ethic upbringing is ethnic pride. Growing up Italian meant adopting the many Italian-American heroes of my parent’s and grandparent’s time. Two particular heroes stand out above the rest in my childhood memories – Joe DiMaggio and Rocky Graziano.

Truthfully, I can’t say I saw either of these athletes perform. Both retired nearly a decade before my birth. Yet, honoring these men pays respect to the judgment Continue Reading “Rocky’s Gloves”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Boxing, Ossie Sussman, philosophy, Rocky Graziano

In Praise of Honorable Men

By Chris Carosa on May 26, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the May 24, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

The scrawny, recently-graduated Ivy Leaguer found life full of joy and happiness. With the magic of oratory, he astounded his elders who eagerly nominated and elected the young man as their state representative. Of course, he didn’t let this go to his head – he knew those in authority chose him in part because no one else wanted the thankless job. Still, he felt the position gave him the opportunity to show his true worth.

Then, at the tender age of 26, life as he knew it collapsed. The realities of the adult world consumed him. He lost his whiz kid innocence. Things seemed more difficult than they had been. He could no longer afford to think on his feet. Finally, with his life at a Continue Reading “In Praise of Honorable Men”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Cowboy, JJ Dalton Bandits, Theodore Roosevelt

Look Out! A Wasp!

By Chris Carosa on May 19, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the May 17, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Everyone has their weakness. Achilles had his heel. Cleopatra had her asp. Winston Smith possessed the mortal fear of rats. Jim Stafford, well, he didn’t like spiders and snakes.

I, for one, despise wasps. It’s not that I hate them, I’m just totally afraid of the loathsome creatures. And I’m not talking about human WASPs. No. I refer solely to the insect – that silently buzzing summer pest.

I don’t recall when I first feared wasps. Certainly, I had some concern by my fourth year. During that summer, as my brother and I helped my father work on the flower garden in the backyard, we saw with horror an ugly wasp land on my father’s exposed Continue Reading “Look Out! A Wasp!”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, humor

Let’s Go Golfing!

By Chris Carosa on May 12, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the May 10, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

“Oh the weather outside is delightful!
and there’s nothing such as frightful!
as my tee shot…”

Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning – I am not a golfer. Sure, I play the links, but no more than four or five times a year. And don’t even ask me about my score. I stop counting after ten strokes – per hole. Heck, my aim in the game is what I call the low ball count – lose as few balls as possible.

As a kid, golf never fascinated me. The only club I swung had Willie Mays’ autograph and weighed 34 ounces. Golf seemed a remote game available only to people who lived Continue Reading “Let’s Go Golfing!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Golf, humor

What Boys Shouldn’t Be Eagle Scouts?

By Chris Carosa on May 10, 2011

(The following represents our discussion at the Towpath District Boy Scout Roundtable on the evening of May 5, 2011. I want to thank Kip Webster for keeping the notes of the discussion and sharing them with me to use as a basis for this post.)

In the April meeting we talked about religious emblems. As a part of that discussion, a few of the more experienced Scouters mentioned how Scouts had to be deferred at their Eagle Board of Review because they failed to properly answer how they showed reverence and a duty to God. This prompted a broader question: Under what circumstances would boys be Continue Reading “What Boys Shouldn’t Be Eagle Scouts?”

Posted in Boy Scouts Tagged Boy Scout, Eagle Scout, troop

The Heroes of the Hyatt

By Chris Carosa on May 5, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the May 3, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

Not since the go-go days of the hot summer of 1987 has the city of Rochester buzzed with constructive excitement. In those hazy days of innocence and youth, we glorified the exotic developer who dared erect a high-rise hotel where once existed nothing more than a Burger King and Don’s Arcade.

Yet within that maelstrom of enthusiasm lay the seeds of greed, ego and gross mismanagement. Turner took off and Pull pulled Continue Reading “The Heroes of the Hyatt”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Hyatt, Rochester

To Till The Land

By Chris Carosa on April 28, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the April 26, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

A few months ago, while having dinner with my grandparents, I informed them of my plans to have a garden this year. My grandfather seemed pleased. He explained this year would be the first year he didn’t have a garden, so he felt as though he was passing the torch to me.

My grandfather’s gardens tended to be quite large. I remember watching him work in them all day under the summer sun, his white hat reflecting the bright rays. I could never figure out why my grandfather needed to work in his garden all day. I guess as a child, I thought tomatoes grew all by themselves.

When we reached a certain age, my father introduced my brother and me to gardening. He carefully taught us the intricacies of planting and watering. I recall most vividly the Continue Reading “To Till The Land”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged gardening, Growing Up