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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 ...

Creating memories

Last weekend my family and I traveled south for my granddaughter’s wedding. She married a man she met at PSU. He grew up south of Pittsburgh. They have dated more than six years. When she graduated, he followed her to Texas while she went to Texas A&M Veterinary School. He worked in Houston, while she went to school. Carly chose to honor family memories during her wedding. She chose to wear my wedding gown which I walked down the aisle in more than 58 years ago. She had it professionally cleaned to whiten it. Her mother also wore the same dress more than 30 years ago. For pictures ...

Rounding Third: Caterwauling in the great outdoors

Finian, our Maine Coon cat, longs to be outdoors. He sits in the windows staring at the birds, the occasional chipmunk, and the resident bunny family. He paces, his huge furry tail swishing with urgency – the same swishing he displays as mealtime approaches. We have to work at keeping him safely indoors. Finian is not a warm and fuzzy personality. He’s loyal, just not cozy. He wants to be where I am, just not on me. When I head to the kitchen to prepare dinner, he follows. He follows me to bed at night, requiring five minutes of head and neck scratching before curling up behind my ...