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View from Hickory Heights: End of the line

Every time I open my computer I get another message. One fine day I am not going to be able to write anything. I am working on a seven-year-old computer which by today’s standards is a dinosaur. The only thing I use my computer for is this column. For Internet access, reading and ordering things I have another device. The major program will stop being updated this October. I am not sure what that means, but just in case I want to be prepared. I do not intend to buy another computer so whatever happens my column will cease when it dies. I have made so many friends doing this bit of ...

End of the line

Every time I open my computer I get another message. One fine day I am not going to be able to write anything. I am working on a seven-year-old computer which by today’s standards is a dinosaur. The only thing I use my computer for is this column. For Internet access, reading and ordering things I have another device. The major program will stop being updated this October. I am not sure what that means, but just in case I want to be prepared. I do not intend to buy another computer so whatever happens my column will cease when it dies. I have made so many friends doing this bit of ...

Rounding Third: Facing the cold hard facts

We can thank Ben Franklin for teaching us about the two certainties in this life: death and taxes. Those facts haven’t changed since 1776. Or ever. The other certainty is that we all have to deal with both. There’s no escaping the tax man. But a lot of people just aren’t comfortable with the subject of death. Their attitude is “someday.” And I just don’t understand that. I spent many years as a Hospice volunteer followed by a dozen years on their board. Hospice training taught me a lot about coping with the end of life. I needed and relied on that knowledge in the process ...

Warren’s Fourth is always great celebration

Let’s start with the overall July Fourth celebration effort. The volunteers and committee continue each year to provide such a great event and local activity. There’s not another such event in the area that generates that much energy and people to join in and share at a local level, and with it as a national holiday for enhanced respect and value ! The community and visitors owe the Fourth of July Committee great thanks and appreciation for all they do, on their own time and expense! Also, thanks to all the local businesses that sponsor, contribute, and participate. Great local ...

Fair food and fun

Next week is the Warren County Fair. I have been involved with it for a long time. When my children were young, they showed dairy animals. It was a lot of work, but the experience was worth it. There were chores to be done early in the morning to get the animals ready for the show. My children were quite young at the time thet they showed. It was up to mom to help. Never in my marriage agreement did I promise to trim tails and whiten hooves! When they were in high school I worked in the ice cream booth because they were members of the Eisenhower marching band. I always took a day as ...

The challenges of our country roads

Monday morning brought yet another trip to a doctor in Erie. My mid-afternoon appointment enabled me to buzz around town early with a few errands, plus I planned to enjoy lunch with an old friend in Erie. But by the time I met Connie at the restaurant, I had a sad story to tell from my morning drive. I love the back road from Sugar Grove, Pa., to Ashville, N.Y. The fields, the Amish farms, the cows and sheep – and oh, the horse-drawn buggies. I never tire of the pastoral vistas or the little blue-clad boys in their straw hats. On Monday, I had just crested the first large hill to ...