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Rounding Third: Those pesky New Year’s resolutions

Does anyone make New Year’s resolutions anymore? Most people I talk to don’t bother. Maybe we finally realized that resolutions were merely words… words without action plans. I think I must have spent 40 years making resolutions about weight loss. Many of those Januarys, I actually joined Weight Watchers. I put my money down and showed up religiously every single week – right up until February. I never ran out of enthusiasm for the program during the first three weeks. And each year I actually did lose weight. Some years it was an amazing four pounds. But during really ...

View from Hickory Heights: Quite a find

Do you want to know what day of the week your birthday was 20 years ago? I have a little book that will tell you that. Years ago, my sister-in-law and I went “dumpster diving” in a house that was to be taken down. We had permission of the owners to remove anything that we wanted. I lived in a trailer so little that I found was usable. She, on the other hand, had a big house to furnish. She was after structural items. We took down the wainscoting that she hoped to use in her home. She also found a few other things. I rummaged through the bedrooms. I found a cute jacket with about ...

Misery in countdown to the Big Day

‘Twas the week before Christmas … and I had just whined in last week’s column about getting everything done. My mother always said, “If you’ve got your health, you have everything. You’re healthy, so what is your problem?” Fast forward to this past week. We were driving home from an Erie afternoon outing when the sore throat started. Not one of those annoying scratchy ones, but its big brother, the razor blade variety of sore throat – that dares you to try and swallow. Oww! The rain turned to heavy snow, with each unplowed mile sketchier for Dear Richard behind ...

View from Hickory Heights: Hard candy Christmas

There is a song called Hard Candy Christmas. I am not sure how many artists recorded this song, but the version that I have was recorded by Dolly Parton. It brings back wonderful memories for me. Grandma received a gift of some hard candy called Plantation Dainties. Some of them had filling while others were plain. I preferred the type that was plain. I remember there were some fish that had a stripe giving it a different flavor. We had them every Christmas after that. We also had ribbon candy. Grandma liked the hard candy because the chocolates did not always agree with her system. ...

Rounding Third: A smaller, imperfect Christmas

Planning for Christmas perfection should be simple by now. I’ve been doing this holiday countdown for so many decades that I should have the decorating, baking and meal prep perfected. Fuggedabouddit. I’m lost as usual. I have no one but myself to blame. Isn’t our American Christmas supposed to be a feast for the senses? Somewhere along the line I must have read too many magazines with pictures of holiday perfection. Isn’t that the magazine’s goal – to create that desire? Years ago, that idea worked on me. I bought in. Yup, my holiday home should be visually festive ...

View from Hickory Heights: The Twelve Days of Christmas

Most of you are familiar with the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. People have tried to calculate what it would cost to give these gifts today, but have had little success since some of them are no longer possible to give. Years ago, I heard a radio announcer talk about the origin of this song. I contacted them and asked for their information. They sent it along with a note. It is said to be an urban legend. Now I have a book that I purchased with information about Christmas songs. In that book it talks about the origin. I am so glad I happened upon this. In ...