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The art of canning

When the produce markets open, I think about canning. I was new to canning when I moved to the country. My grandma canned a few tomatoes if the crop was big, but other than that she did not can. I had one girlfriend whose mother canned tomato sauce for spaghetti and pizza. A couple times I was around to help her with the canning. In my early years of marriage, it was trial and error. My mother-in-law and father-in-law planted a large garden. We always planted green beans, beets, onions, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I am not sure why my father-in-law insisted on ...

Rounding Third: Olympics are a fortnight of amazement

One doesn’t have to be a Francophile to have enjoyed the Paris goings-on during these two weeks. As I write this, four more days of excitement await. For me, it’s truly breathtaking… I have to calm down after the evening races just to get to sleep. The television coverage certainly gave the gymnastic and swim teams excellent coverage, perhaps at the expense of other competitions. But I just don’t know how many people are really interested in the badminton finals. Believe me, the network and the advertisers know full well which contests pull us in. I read that the total ...

Bickering, not bipartisanship, is hurting us all

By T.J. HEENAN History has shown that America works best when bipartisanship prevails, as our forefathers intended, working together in the spirit of democracy and compromise. A classic example of bipartisanship is President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill which passed in 2021. As of March, $15.8 billion from this bill was headed to Pennsylvania with over 455 specific projects identified for funding. These projects include investment in roads and bridges, with 3,112 bridges and over 7,700 miles of roadway rated in poor condition. Other projects include funding for ...

Who is looking out for state’s interests?

By now, we have all heard Gov. Josh Shapiro complain that he is tired of getting his “ass kicked” by other states. He has opined that Pennsylvania is losing out to economic development in Ohio. Ask the authorities, planners and chambers of commerce in the western part of the state about the difficulties of enticing businesses to come to Pennsylvania, rather than Ohio. Pennsylvania is also next in line to get an old-fashioned “whooping” by West Virginia, a state that not only actively supports the coal industry, but also the natural gas industry and the integrity of the electric ...

Fun with Bookmobile

Many of you may not even know about the bookmobile that used to operate in this area. I am not sure how many years it was around, but I know for sure it operated from the late sixties until the eighties. We were frequent visitors when my youngsters were growing up. The children looked forward to the day the bookmobile would park by Hale’s Red and White Store. That was the day we got to exchange our books. The children picked out their own books that they wanted me to read to them. I picked out some books for myself. Every two weeks we could exchange them. Rural patrons really ...

That complicated era before cellphones

Before we depended on cellphones, we somehow managed life. Looking back though, I remember many days – mostly involving travel – that would have been lots easier. This little story was one of them: My sister-in-law, Julie, raised five accomplished children. She and Ted enjoyed their tennis and golf games together. She kept a neat-as-a-pin household while occasionally indulging in her bridge game or a good book. As much as I admired her, I have to say she was not in her element behind the wheel. There was that one trip to the Adirondacks … Julie’s close friend in Rochester had ...