Recently I blogged about how I was getting a jump on spring out in the yard, but this past weekend felt like summer. And once again I dove right in. I threw open the windows and got to work.
Now, the shrubs are fertilized, the patio table and chairs are out, the hoses are hooked up and turned on, the lawn mower is running and the backyard is mowed and overseeded. The dogs got nice long walks and the tires on our bikes are inflated after going flat in the basement during what felt like an especially long winter.
But nothing said summer quite like the fact that in our small Milwaukee microcosm the kids and their parents were outside all day long Saturday and most of Sunday, too, playing, running, shouting, fighting, crying and then starting all over again. It wasn't until after midnight that the heartiest of the adults finally went indoors.
Sunday was our neighborhood "boys day out" and we tailgated at the Brewers game, with about 32,000 other fans. Under the blazing sun with a Spotted Cow and the smell of grills all around, it felt more like July than April. And to that I say, "Amen!"
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.
