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Rounding Third: Late summer’s bounty ­­- a corny story

This summer the corn has been especially yummy – worth waiting for. As I write those words, I realize that I have written a fair amount about our favorite golden vegetable in the last 21 years. Let’s just say I’m biased about the buttery, yummy stuff. My mother loved corn on the cob and she taught me how to eat it – old-fashioned typewriter style: Bite into 3 or 4 rows, work that stripe to the end, before returning to the beginning and another 4-row stripping of the luscious niblets. We joked about waiting for the bell to ring at the end of the cob before going back to the ...

County reassessment ‘necessary’ for schools

On behalf of the Warren County School District Board of Directors, I want to take a moment to address the important issue of the countywide tax reassessment. First, I want to be clear: many members of today’s board had no role in the push for reassessment. However, as current board members, it is our responsibility to provide context and clarity for our community. The reassessment was not pursued lightly — it was a necessary step brought on by forces outside the control of both the county and the district due to a 36-year period since the last reassessment. The reason the ...

Rounding Third: A holiday that was worth waiting for

Beginning in 2001, I took three writing classes each summer at Chautauqua – for five years. I gradually learned my way around campus absorbing the babbling fountains, magnificent gardens, and snatches of symphony rehearsals. I dreamed of spending a week there. My dearest friend, Ginger, fulfilled that dream – under challenging circumstances. Tom, my late husband, died in May, 2007. Weeks later, Ginger sensed that I needed a change of scenery. I needed new conversations … and time to think. Her enormous gift – a week at Chautauqua – was just what I needed when we went that ...

Homecoming Queen had her laughs, priorities

My old feisty friend, Louise, is gone now. But boy, did she give it a good run. After 94 years, my mother’s and my dear friend wasn’t challenging her world anymore. Instead, she was amazed at her good fortune. “They take my social security and give me all this -- a warm room, a great sack, and three hots a day.” In her flat Boston accent, she continued, “I get sixty bucks a month — it pays my phone, cable, and an occasional hairbob. Sometimes I watch TV all night,” she grinned. Louise’s precious house had become an unhealthy burden and she was forced to sell. Every ...

Trump’s tariffs serve a purpose

Local commentators recently claimed that President Donald Trump’s general 10% tariff constituted a sales tax on consumers. That would be true if tariffs directly affected consumers, but the point of a tariff is to affect the behavior of producers and governments, not consumers. Trump’s retaliatory tariffs are bargaining chips to level the playing field for Middle America after years of being sold-out and de-industrialized by politicians who “fine-tuned” the tariff structure to benefit Wall Street Billionaires. Some commentators hilariously claim Trump’s tariffs are ...

Lifelong blessings from an early career

Barbara, my friend of 60 years, came to visit over the weekend. We keep in touch occasionally, but it was time to catch up on our lives and our families. We always fall easily into fond memories, laughter, and enjoyment. We met through her brother, John, a TWA captain who lived next door to me in the Big Apple back in the 60s. After college, Barbara also joined TWA as a tall, willowy flight hostess. She even met her husband at my wedding 58 years ago. Although I knew we would chitchat non-stop, I couldn’t allow her visit to pass without meeting Alice, a lovely local friend. ...