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Energy policy in nation needs some rethinking

Winston Churchill observed: “Americans will always do the right thing… right after they have tried everything else”. Hopefully America (and New York state) will do the right thing with respect to energy policy where we have failed abysmally so far. Instead of an energy policy, America has a carbon prohibition policy that mandates impossible Net Zero carbon goals, but ignores future energy needs. By 2050 America’s electricity demand will double, and world-wide demand will quadruple, but there is no energy unicorn waiting in the wings to save us from the Alice-in-Wonderland ...

Table full of memories

As we sat in my kitchen on Christmas Eve, I realized that we were making memories. This was the Christmas when my daughter-in-law was with her ailing father. This was the Christmas that my granddaughter could not make it home because of her work commitment. The table that we sat around used to be in my great-grandfather’s home. It became mine years ago. One time when we were putting in the extra leaves, we discovered what I think is a date. We found a date in the 1870s. I am not positive that this is the date that it was manufactured, but if not, I know it is old. My ...

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. ...