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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. ...

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 ...