Columns

Absence makes my heart grow fonder of my grand-dog Lily. I didn’t realize the depth of my affection until my daughter Ruth emailed a week ago Friday. “Want to meet us at the dog park tomorrow morning?” I glanced at October 16 on my desk calendar. Wide open. “What...

On Saturday, June 5, 2021, Susan Militello and her husband stopped at the museum. Susan was seeking information on her grandfather, Frank Wood Ring. The name seemed familiar to me but I could not place it. She said family history indicated that Frank had owned a...

Season: n 1: suitable or natural time or occasion: 2: a period of the year associated with some phase or activity of agriculture (as growth or harvesting) Season vb 1: to make palatable by adding salt or condiment 2: to make fit by experience Considering what might be...

“Pain is an old friend.” So said Doctor Strange in the eponymous movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when he faced down mega villain Dormammu to prevent him from invading our dimension. Most people that I know would not call pain a friend. Most people call...

You never know what you’ll stumble upon when browsing The Weed Lady’s place. As we drove north toward Fenton, I assured my friend Maureen something beautiful and valuable would call our names. My two previous visits to this gardener’s paradise dated to more than a...

Here are a few of my experiences related to not paying close attention or not following directions. The first one that comes to my mind was way back when I was maybe eighteen or so and living in a boarding house. I wasn’t familiar with the area and asked my landlady...

A youngster born near the border between eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, I imagined all the world resembled mine – green mountains, far as my eyes could see. Within these mountains lay flatlands Appalachians named “bottoms.” My folks called our home the McCoy...

Editor’s note: This is the third in a four-part series about Almont’s Robert Shoemaker. Upon completion of this third tour of duty in Vietnam, General Shoemaker returned to the States and was stationed at Fort Hood as Deputy Commanding General and Chief of Staff of...

My husband took the spray bottle of vinegar and water from under the kitchen sink. Then he retrieved a rag from the basement. What’s he up to? I wondered. After three rainy days, sunlight seized him to wash away the remains of our granddog’s slobber from the outside...

“You rolled me over in dog poop!” This was the first thing my cousin exclaimed as I was assessing whether he’d been hurt badly or not. I had been riding my bike and he was on his skateboard. In one of our more brilliant moments, we’d decided that he would hold on to...