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View from Hickory Heights: Rhubarb is up!

Yesterday when I looked out my back door, I could see that my rhubarb plants were up and growing. Today, unfortunately they are under a layer of snow. That is Spring! Several years ago, an employee who worked for my son wanted to get rid of some rhubarb plants. She dug them up and brought them down. I had room for two plants. I planted them in a small bed by the windmill derrick. For the past few years those plants have yielded enough to freeze and make pies and sauce for me. In years past, I depended on the rhubarb that grew at my daughter’s home for my supply. When my children ...

Rounding Third: Two old buddies in the leaves and weeds

It’s just past 10:00 a.m. and Old Tom is standing in my backyard. He has been a shoveling, bending, tugging figure out there for almost 20 years. Like me, Tom moves slower today than when he first agreed to help me. Today he is wearing a floppy hat, jacket, Bermudas and work boots, his usual costume for Spring. When he shows up at my house, he’s dressed for work. I first met Tom at church, 40-plus years ago. He and MaryLou were regulars but I never knew them well. Years passed. Tom retired and turned toward his hobby, gardening. Yet when church members needed help, Tom stepped ...

View from Hickory Heights: Easters long ago

Last Sunday we sang the hymn “Abide with Me”. That took me back to the church I went to in my youth. At Grace Lutheran Church in Dunkirk, we ended all Wednesday night Lenten services with that hymn. I knew the first verse by heart. The lights were dimmed so we had to memorize it. After singing we left the church quietly. It is funny how little things trigger memories. I had not thought about that for years but the hymn brought back my memories clearly. I remember our Good Friday service. Different churches took turns hosting it. It went from noon to three o’clock. We had off ...

More than a penny for your thoughts

Last Friday, it was yet another foray into the piled-up boxes in the garage. I am determined to get through the last of my mother’s stored items that landed here last fall… from her last rented storage unit. Friday was a success. A friend and I emptied, sorted, and dispatched a dozen boxes. Some of the boxes were light, some heavy, but there was one large covered laundry basket that felt like it was nailed to the floor. Each tug on it required a loud grunt. WHAT did she store in this thing? The answer was layers of glossy coffee table books, 3 and 4-pounders. Plus a porcelain piggy ...

Simple games

Today I would like to try an experiment. Before you read this get a piece of paper and write down all of the simple games that you can think of. Many of them require a minimum of equipment. After you have made your list, then read and compare. First, I begin with a tag. There are all types of tags. One of my favorites is freeze tag. Someone calls out the word “freeze” and you have to stop right where you are and in whatever pose you are in. the person who is “it” may take three steps. If they can touch someone, then they are it. If not, it starts all over again. My children ...

Easter week is for the Eggs-citement

Next week should be the big egg week, the week the chickens work overtime. But if I am to believe all the bird-flu news, these haggard hens have already been on time and a half – the struggling survivors of the national virus. They should probably create a hens’ union and demand to be paid for piecework. And if I were one of those hard-working hens, I’d be furious that all the credit for my Easter week output goes to a giant pink rabbit. I wonder how that started anyway – the holiday candy and eggs being delivered by the Easter Bunny? I guess it’s not practical to apply ...