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Rounding Third: Being bitten by travel bug

Of all the bugs I’ve known – from ants to aphids, from fleas to fruit flies – I like my travel bug the best. I was bitten early. After college, when I absolutely couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my life, I embraced my travel bug and became a stewardess. It was the perfect solution. I realize how lucky I was to see a lot of this country and many other parts of the world. I never took it for granted. Recently, I was talking to a well-traveled friend about this, sharing some old experiences. We agreed that it’s truly the people you meet that make travel worthwhile, ...

View from Hickory Heights: A favorite patriotic song

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 One of my favorite patriotic songs is “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Years ago, when I was in grade school, we had a program of all patriotic songs ranging through the wars at that time. We loved to sing those old songs. My neighbor and girlfriend got to be the Statue of Liberty. Since I was the narrator, I got to stand by her in front of the American flag as we sang. I think we also read the poem by Emma Lazarus that is on the Statue of Liberty. I remember that ...

Adults get in way educating youth

You might remember when the situation at Beaty was so bad that it was covered on the front page of this paper. One of the teachers appeared before the school board to report a chaotic environment — bordering on lawlessness. The problem? Lack of a consistent principal. At that point, Beaty had had two, three or was it four principals that school year. Teachers and students needed support. Halfway through the next school year, a good leader applied and was appointed. You might never have thought of this, but leaders have two kinds of power. One is the power that comes from ...

Beneath our Norway maple, vandals and thieves

Beneath our Norway maple – felons, vandals and thieves It’s garden season. All the trees, bushes and pretty flowers in my backyard look so innocent. But I have learned – the hard way – that they are out to get me. They are a well-organized crime family, with covert agents working behind the scenes. I’m out there constantly, hoping to survive the daily threat. Let’s start with the killer weeds. They hide under the flowers until they are big enough to break through on their own. I have to bend over, like an open safety pin, to tug, twist, and yank at their stubborn ...

View from Hickory Heights: A way to beat heat

Years ago, I learned how to do Swedish weaving from my grandmother and grandfather. We called it huck towel weaving. I had no idea it was an old Swedish craft. I am not sure how my grandmother got involved doing it, but she did. On a day that my grandfather did not have to work we went to Forestville to a small store that sold huck material. They had it in all colors at the time. I remember making towels of red and green with a Christmas theme. I still use them for Christmas – more than fifty years later! I also had some light green, some yellow, and white. I also made some ...

Rounding Third: Surviving Mother Nature’s hot temper

It was 92 stifling degrees when I arrived home from lunch yesterday. Humidity was in the 80% range. As predicted. I hate this hot stuff. Fuggedaboudit. I know there are people who thrive in the heat. I’m happy for them, but I will never be one of them. Ever. I should have been born in Scotland – northern Scotland. My intolerance for heat must be hereditary. I would not have made a good Bedouin camel driver or Amazon rain forest guide. When my Scottish ancestors emigrated to North America, they didn’t settle in Charleston or Richmond – not even Boston. They landed in Canada, ...