May and Law Days

May 2, 2025

Although May 1 just passed, I want to introduce you to some of the significance of the day. First of all, May Day dates to around 2 A.D. It had its origins in the festivals of Europe. I recall the Campus School in Fredonia celebrating May Day. One year I attended the ceremony because my cousin was part of it. She attended the Campus School and was chosen I believe as a “flower girl”. We all gathered around a Maypole that had ribbons flowing from it. The ribbons were held by children who helped to weave them around the Maypole. It was a little dance of sorts with some music. The ...

Rounding Third: Witnessing a return of the natives

May 1, 2025

I like to write about the annual robins who nest on my back porch. I enjoy watching their month-long odyssey from the home building to the final fledgling fly-off. Last year’s model must have liked the neighborhood, because Rosie Robin (as I had named her) is back. And she has brought along two friends. I don’t know whether she is the same momma robin for sure, but she certainly looks like last year’s model … same red breast, same yellow bill, same black, beady, watchful eyes – amazingly just like the picture in my bird book. And her two sidekicks look identical, enough to ...

View from Hickory Heights: Rhubarb is up!

April 25, 2025

Yesterday when I looked out my back door, I could see that my rhubarb plants were up and growing. Today, unfortunately they are under a layer of snow. That is Spring! Several years ago, an employee who worked for my son wanted to get rid of some rhubarb plants. She dug them up and brought them down. I had room for two plants. I planted them in a small bed by the windmill derrick. For the past few years those plants have yielded enough to freeze and make pies and sauce for me. In years past, I depended on the rhubarb that grew at my daughter’s home for my supply. When my children ...

Rounding Third: Two old buddies in the leaves and weeds

April 24, 2025

It’s just past 10:00 a.m. and Old Tom is standing in my backyard. He has been a shoveling, bending, tugging figure out there for almost 20 years. Like me, Tom moves slower today than when he first agreed to help me. Today he is wearing a floppy hat, jacket, Bermudas and work boots, his usual costume for Spring. When he shows up at my house, he’s dressed for work. I first met Tom at church, 40-plus years ago. He and MaryLou were regulars but I never knew them well. Years passed. Tom retired and turned toward his hobby, gardening. Yet when church members needed help, Tom stepped ...

View from Hickory Heights: Easters long ago

April 18, 2025

Last Sunday we sang the hymn “Abide with Me”. That took me back to the church I went to in my youth. At Grace Lutheran Church in Dunkirk, we ended all Wednesday night Lenten services with that hymn. I knew the first verse by heart. The lights were dimmed so we had to memorize it. After singing we left the church quietly. It is funny how little things trigger memories. I had not thought about that for years but the hymn brought back my memories clearly. I remember our Good Friday service. Different churches took turns hosting it. It went from noon to three o’clock. We had off ...

More than a penny for your thoughts

April 17, 2025

Last Friday, it was yet another foray into the piled-up boxes in the garage. I am determined to get through the last of my mother’s stored items that landed here last fall… from her last rented storage unit. Friday was a success. A friend and I emptied, sorted, and dispatched a dozen boxes. Some of the boxes were light, some heavy, but there was one large covered laundry basket that felt like it was nailed to the floor. Each tug on it required a loud grunt. WHAT did she store in this thing? The answer was layers of glossy coffee table books, 3 and 4-pounders. Plus a porcelain piggy ...