View from Hickory Heights: Camping memories

July 18, 2025

Last week when I wrote about making coffee with lemon water it reminded me of the times when the family camped and had campfires. The campfires came first. Often, we went up on our hill. There was a spot where the trees opened up into a nice spot for a campfire. I remember when Todd had a friend come with animals for him to treat and we went up on the hill for a fire. What a nice evening. At that point we all came down to go to bed. The children camped with friends up on the hill too. They came down for breakfast. I recall one morning when I made pancakes because that was all I had ...

Speed demon no more with chores

July 17, 2025

Speed demon no more with chores Last week, I wrote about travel, the gift of a lifetime. This week, we’re time traveling, and I don’t mean science fiction. This involves the cold, hard facts about time flying at warp speed. And I’m mad about it. Just when we finally need life to slow down – so we can keep up – time revs its engine and almost takes off without us. The nerve of Mother Nature. Most days I think of her as wondrously talented. But now, there are times when she is downright mean. Take birthdays for example. When I was a kid, weeks crawled slowly to my ...

U.S. coming up short as great melting pot

July 12, 2025

By JAMES SPANGLER, OD A short time ago Times Observer ran a well deserved front page article on the book Rory Land by friend and Warren Area High School classmate TM Gay. It was about the ups and downs of a golfer, but also an honest look at the social mess of Catholic Ireland and Protestant England and the chunk of land in between Northern Ireland — Rory’s Land. England’s history is checkered with swings from Protestant to Catholic, acceptance to hatred, shifting to the whims and beliefs of royal regimes. The oppression of Catholics by Protestants was every bit as ...

Times have changed

July 11, 2025

I got a message on Facebook that said – and I am paraphrasing here- If you grew up in the era where you went out each morning and did not come home until dark you grew up in the best of times. I think that is true. When I think back to the way it was when I grew up, I am in awe of the things we did. When I got up, I had chores to do first. When they were done, I was allowed to do whatever struck my fancy. I had many neighborhood friends – boys and girls. We all played games together. In the evening when the weather got cooler, we often played kick the can. Someone raided their ...

Rounding Third: Being bitten by travel bug

July 10, 2025

Of all the bugs I’ve known – from ants to aphids, from fleas to fruit flies – I like my travel bug the best. I was bitten early. After college, when I absolutely couldn’t decide what I wanted to do with my life, I embraced my travel bug and became a stewardess. It was the perfect solution. I realize how lucky I was to see a lot of this country and many other parts of the world. I never took it for granted. Recently, I was talking to a well-traveled friend about this, sharing some old experiences. We agreed that it’s truly the people you meet that make travel worthwhile, ...

View from Hickory Heights: A favorite patriotic song

July 5, 2025

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12 One of my favorite patriotic songs is “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Years ago, when I was in grade school, we had a program of all patriotic songs ranging through the wars at that time. We loved to sing those old songs. My neighbor and girlfriend got to be the Statue of Liberty. Since I was the narrator, I got to stand by her in front of the American flag as we sang. I think we also read the poem by Emma Lazarus that is on the Statue of Liberty. I remember that ...