Funny that it took my daughter heading up and over to college in western New York for me to at last appreciate the state I grew up in.

Walking the dog was fine. Tennis was fine. Life was fine. Until Labor Day, when my knee blew up like a balloon. So what do you recommend, doc?

Bruce J. Hoek of Clearwater Beach, Springs, died on Friday after an illness. He was 73. Mr. Hoek was a Air Force veteran and a 20-year member of the Fire Department in White Plains, N.Y.

Kevin Francis Konzet, formerly of Springs, died of a heart attack on Nov. 25 at home in Cornelius, N.C. He was 68. The family will receive visitors on Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral Mass will be said on Friday at 11 a.m. at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church here, with burial to follow at the church cemetery on Cedar Street.

The Pushcart “Best of the Small Presses” anthology is back, offering a wide spectrum of voices and contributions that survey abuses specific to our moment.