Blizzard of 2026 hits Northeast coast with snow, wind

The Blizzard of 2026 hit the New Jersey-New York area Feb. 22-23, dumping between one-foot-plus and two-feet-plus of snow on top of what was left from a heavy snowfall four weeks earlier.

At Birch Street HQ in New Jersey, Dan measured 15 inches in the front yard. Official reports from nearby towns ranged up to 18 inches.

The wet snow weighed heavily on bushes and trees, but fortunately did not cause any power problems in the neighborhood.

It was much the same story for Kathy in Westchester.

Kathy measured one foot on her front stoop, but local reports put the snowfall at around 16 inches.

A short way south in Yonkers, Kevin reports he measured 22 inches in his yard. Nearby, Brien lent a hand shoveling approximately that much snow from the walk outside his apartment.

The snow and high winds increased to the east along Long Island. The National Weather Service reported snow totals of 15-28 inches at various L.I. locations before the storm finished - and an 84 mph overnight wind gust at Montauk Point.

On Shelter Island, Nanette tells us between two and two-and-a-half feet surrounded her house Monday morning.

"My deck furniture is waiting for BBQ season," Nanette said.

There was less snow but more high wind on Cape Cod. Jamie's mom, Bonnie, sent this video clip taken as she and Jay cleared the paths at their house.

Family Christmas party in Yonkers, 2025 edition

Kevin & Kathy hosted the annual Yonkers Christmas party on the Saturday afternoon after the holiday. As Kevin mentioned in a toast, the event kept up a tradition that started in 2010, which in turn continued the annual family gatherings that that Daniel & Lorraine had hosted in prior years.

It turned out to be a "grown-ups party" this year. Genevieve and Vivien let husbands John and CJ and their children spend the afternoon together at Viv & CJ's new Westchester home, presumably playing in the fresh snow that had fallen overnight. And unfortunately, Lucy and Daisy had been sick, so they and parents Shanna & Rick stayed home. (Kevin & Kathy celebrated with them a few days later.)

K&K's son, Kevin, joined the party, as did Dan & Julie, Brien, Robert, and Patrick, whose wife, Kelsey, was busy working with her therapy clients. (P&K also have a new home in Westchester!) Also unable to make it was Mary, who was snowed-in at her home in Upstate New York.

Although they also live Upstate, Christine & Jamie and Andy & Wren had been at D&J's home in New Jersey for Christmas (photo below), so they drove from there to attend. The overnight snow had been cleared from the roads by then, and they had no trouble getting home after the party.

It was wonderful to see everyone and enjoy the delicious food and happy conversation. May all of us and more get together again next Christmas!

Mary takes a quick trip to Quebec

Mary spent a November weekend visiting Quebec, where she found the Old City already looking very Christmassy.

Photos Mary posted on Facebook include this view inside the Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec.

Mary also explored the wintry landscape of the Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier, about 40 miles north of the city.

For that excursion, she made sure to dress warmly - and bring along a taste of home! (Lakeside Lounging is a craft IPA brewed in Saratoga Springs.)

Christine & Jamie complete move from LA to new home in NYS

Christine and Jamie have moved back across the country and into a lovely house in Schenectady, N.Y. They closed the sale and got the keys on June 25. 

Parents were on hand to congratulate the new homeowners and help with their move-in. Here next to Jamie and Christine are Jamie's dad, Paul; Christine's parents, Dan and Julie; Jamie's mom, Bonnie, and her husband, Jay. 

The house is a 1960-vintage split-level that's been very well maintained and updated through the years. Its large back yard has a swimming pool and plenty of room for entertaining.

And there's a finished basement that is destined to host many board- and video-game gatherings.

By the time they had been in the house for a couple of hours, the couple's two Bengal cats seemed to be adjusting well to their latest move. They were certainly enjoying their new surroundings more than they did the cross-country plane trip.

C&J spent a couple of nights on an air mattress before their furniture and belongings from their Los Angeles apartment arrived on Friday. By Saturday they were making good progress on unpacking.

More photos coming soon

Previous coverage: Christine and Jamie prepare to move back east

Family and friends celebrate Daisy's 1st birthday

Dozens of family members, neighbors and friends gathered to celebrate Daisy's first birthday. Her parents, Shanna and Rick, hosted the gathering at the Rockland Gaelic Athletic Association on June 8. Here, the guest of honor poses with her big sister Lucy and her parents, Shanna and Rick - plus Shanna's parents and brother, Kevin (above) and Rick's parents and sister, Stephanie (below).

Daisy, whose actual birthday was May 31, was presented with a "smash cake" - which, after a few tentative pokes and licks, she dove into wholeheartedly.

Click here to see an album with MANY more photos!

Dan's Class of 1975 feted at Fordham reunion

Class of 1975 group photo. Dan is 3 rows back, 3rd from left.

Dan and Julie attended Fordham University's Jubilee 2025, its annual class-reunion celebration. At a dinner in the Rose Hill campus center on May 30, Dan and the rest of the Class of 1975 were welcomed as the newest members of the Golden (50-year-plus) Rams Alumni Society. More than 40 of Dan's classmates attended, including a handful of old friends he was happy to see.

The event included a brief address by the university's president, Tania Tetlow.

Dan and Julie are seated just outside the right margin of the photo!

Dan decided to go back to campus the next day for a tour of the studios of WFUV - much modernized since his tenure there - plus a "picnic" lunch held in the athletic center due to rain, and a nostalgic walking tour of the campus.

Christine and Jamie preparing to move back east

After three and a half years in Los Angeles, Christine and Jamie are packing up for a move back across the country.

They are in the process of buying a house in Schenectady, N.Y., and expect to close the purchase and move in during the last week of June.

Their decision to move was spurred by their wish to own a house (prohibitively expensive in L.A.) and their desire to be closer to family. They focused their search on New York State because it's the one Eastern state where Jamie's company, Skybound Entertainment, is set up to have employees. And they zeroed in on the Capital District for its affordable suburban neighborhoods and its easy highway access to many of their relatives. They will be about 3 hours from Christine's parents, 4 hours from Jamie's mother, and only about 45 minutes from Andy and Wren's home in Middleburgh, N.Y.

The couple are no strangers to Upstate New York: They met while students at Rochester Institute of Technology. And while the area gets more winter snow than Christine's native New Jersey, it's comparable to southern New Hampshire, where Jamie grew up.

Christmas 2024 wraps up with annual family party

The annual Yonkers Christmas party brought more than two dozen family members together for an afternoon and evening of great food, fun and conversation at Kathy's home on Saturday the 28th. 

The youngest members of the family, Daisy and Oliver, seemed to have a great time meeting so many relatives. 

Kathy was joined by Robert and all of her children and grandchildren: Genevieve with her husband, John, and their children, Beatrice, Jack and Liam; Vivien and her husband, CJ, visiting from London with their children, Charlie, Austin and baby Oliver; and Patrick (whose wife, Kelsey, unfortunately wasn't able to make it). Dan and Julie were there with daughter Christine and her wife, Jamie, visiting the East Coast from California. (D&J's son Andy and daughter-in-law Wren were deterred by icy roads.) Brien arrived along with Kevin and Kathy, followed by their daughter Shanna, her husband, Rick, and their children, Lucy and baby Daisy. (K&K's son, Kevin, was kept away by a cold.) Mary also joined the party, as did her cousin Elizabeth.

Following the party, Mary set out on an overnight drive to Dayton, Ohio, to visit her daughter Shannon, son-in-law Frederick, and their 18-month-old daughter, Phoenix. Grandma Mary brought the treats!

Shannon and Frederick, who met while in the Air Force and stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, are back there after a few years at Eglin AFB in the Florida Panhandle. Both have separated from the Air Force, but Shannon is back working at Wright-Patterson as a pharmaceutical technician - this time as a civilian contractor.

Christmas visits in New Jersey and Maryland

Christine and Jamie along with Andy and Wren visited Dan and Julie for Christmas in New Jersey. 

C&J had flown east from California the previous Saturday for a week of visiting family and friends. The traveled first to Cape Cod, where Jamie's mother, Bonnie, hosted her annual big family gathering. They also visited a friend in Rhode Island before traveling to Christine's parents' home. Meanwhile, Andy and Wren drove down from upstate New York.

Christmas morning was, of course, time to open presents. One highlight was a scrapbook Christine had made of photos and keepsakes from Andy and Wren's wedding.

The six enjoyed a big brunch of bacon, eggs, waffles and fruit, an afternoon of conversation and a board game, and a fine dinner (photo at top).

The next day, Andy and Wren returned home to mind their goats and cats. Christine and Jamie joined Julie and Dan in traveling to Maryland to visit with Julie's parents, Hugh and Dolores, at their senior-living community. They had a fine dinner at one of the restaurants there and continued the visit in H&D's apartment. Following that, the foursome were invited to Doug and Lisa's home for drinks, snacks and merry conversation, joined by Christine's cousins Stephanie and Christopher. 

Oliver receives the sacrament of Baptism

Oliver Theodore, son of Vivien and CJ, was baptized on Saturday, Aug. 3, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Scarsdale, N.Y. Brother-in-law John and CJ's sister Grace are the godparents.

Three-month-old Oliver was calm, cool and collected through the service, never crying or fussing. He remained in good spirits through the lovely reception his parents hosted at the nearby Moscato Restaurant.

Pictured here along with Vivien, CJ and Oliver are Vivien's mother, Kathy; sister Genevieve with her husband, John, and daughter Beatrice; and brother Patrick with his wife, Kelsey, holding G&J's son Liam. The gathering also included Oliver's great-grandmother Celestine, grandfather Ted, grandparents Corey and Ellen, and other aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends. 

A grand summer gathering on Long Island

Kathy's summer house has been filled with family this summer. Genevieve, John and their children - Beatrice, Jack and Liam - are spending the season at their house nearby. Vivien, CJ and theirs - Charlie, Austin and little Oliver - are visiting from London and staying at the Fair Play cottage. It's three-month-old Oliver's first trip stateside. 

For a few days in late July, Dan and Julie stayed with Kathy, enjoying her hospitality and the chance to meet Oliver and the rest of the gang. Robert was there for part of the time, but CJ was back working in Europe for that week. Also in the photo above is CJ's cousin Allie, who was staying with Vivien and helping watch the kids. 

Click here to see photos Dan took at the house, the beach, and during a walk he and Julie took on the nature trail at Jessup's Neck.

What is happening up there in the sky?

Wearing their safety glasses, Dan and Julie gaze at the sun as it disappears behind the moon during the the total eclipse of the sun.

Dan and Julie took a little trip to Upstate New York to follow the sun, and the moon, and witness their rendezvous in the sky on April 8.

After enjoying Brien's parade-watch party on Saturday, D&J followed Andy and Wren up the Thruway. They visited A&W's five goats and two recently adopted cats. Later Sunday, they took a stroll through the campus of SUNY Cobleskill, where Wren is working toward a BA in cybersecurity and made the President's List with a 4.0 GPA in the fall term.

Cats declining to be photographed

On Monday, D&J headed north and west into the eclipse's path of totality. They found a park in the little village of Croghan, N.Y., where a few dozen people - mostly other out-of-towners - had gathered to watch the sky show. It was very near the center of the zone of totality, where the moon would completely cover the sun for about three minutes.

An amateur-astronomer friend of Julie's had said that the difference between an eclipse covering 99% of the sun and 100% is like night and day. Very true!

NASA photo

"Even when the sun was down to a tiny sliver, it was as bright as a typical cloudy afternoon," said Dan. "But once it blipped out, we were in twilight, similar to about a half-hour after sunset. And the thing in the sky looked alien - like a black disk with a shining circle around it." The view was very similar to this NASA photo taken elsewhere along the moon-shadow's path that day.

"It was an amazing sight - certainly worth the trip!"