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Rounding Third: Summer, September and the season’s end

My daughter’s birthday is Sept. 21. We kiddingly used to call her the “last rose of summer.” “Autumnal equinox” just doesn’t have the same ring. My garden’s last summer roses, along with the zinnias, and verbenas, are trying to hang on. But the pumpkin I bought for the front steps means the seasons have officially changed. I never used to agree with the calendar, always wanting to eke out a few more weeks of summer, a few more celebrations of lunch or supper on the deck. I would fertilize for the last time in late August, and continue watering and deadheading, hopeful ...

View from Hickory Heights: Navigating the maps and AAA tour guides

Does the name Mercator mean anything to you? It should if you are between the ages of 60 - 90. They were found in all classrooms of that era – third or fourth grade through high school. They are the selection of maps that every classroom had. The teacher had an array of maps with the countries. He/She would pull down the one that was needed for a lesson. I recall using them during the Olympics to find the countries that were participating. By the time I taught sixth grade the maps were helplessly out of date. By then the Soviet Block was broken up and countries were renamed. The ...

Rounding Third: Laughter is consistent music of large families

Large families always made me jealous. I felt that I was on the outside, looking in. I was a happy only child, but life was quiet. Those laughing clusters of brothers and sisters looked like so much fun. Warm and cozy. Just recently I chatted with two friends who grew up in large families. At the end of the evening, I still felt envious. Children from large families have their support systems built in. They have best friends before they step into the world. That brother who dive-bombed you from the top bunk while screaming, “Chicken!” will also be by your side traveling life’s ...

View from Hickory Heights: Signs of Autumn

As I look out my kitchen window, I cannot help but see that Autumn is approaching. At first, I saw a patch of color in the Pin Oak. Now there are several patches of colorful leaves. Each day as I eat lunch I check my tree. It is too dark in the morning as I eat breakfast. It is strange but that tree is always the last one to lose its leaves. The dogwood tree on the upper side of the house has colorful leaves. The dogwood tree behind the house is still all green. Soon my fire bushes will be a bright red. Sometimes if it is windy the leaves from the locusts fall like snow. When Dick ...

The furry little man of the house

The veterinarian said something to Finian that I personally never heard in a doctor’s office: “You could stand to gain a little weight.” He removed our cat from the scale, announcing that he had lost ten ounces. That probably doesn’t seem like much, but it was 5% of his body weight. The physical that followed determined Finian is not ill. Maine Coon cats are typically big felines. They’re supposed to be square-built, sorta boxy. Although they have the graceful movements of any cat, they have a solid body. Finian’s daddy was an impressive 22 pounds. It seems our ...

Kinzua Youth Center promotes competition

By DENNIS A. JOHNSON The world’s elite athletes recently finished competition at the Olympic games in Paris. They came from all over the globe, attempting to go home with a gold, silver, or bronze medal or at the very least a personal best performance. Watching the games one might ask, ...