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View from Hickory Heights: My father’s world

Yesterday in church, worship began with one of my favorite songs. We sang “This Is My Father’s World”. This song takes me back to the days when I camped at The Conference Grounds near Dunkirk, NY when I was growing up. Although I did not belong to the church that sponsored that camp, I was allowed to attend. I went two years in a row. Since I went from one age group to another the sessions were different. The first time I attended it was my first time away from home. I had not even stayed at a friend’s house. The only time I stayed away was with my cousins. That was a ...

A whole mouthful of fear

Dr. O’Reilly should have been a member of the NFL instead of the American Dental Association. I was in the first grade and I swear that man played foot ball in my mouth. With cleats, pads and a helmet. Petrified, I tried refusing to go back, but my mother made me get my first cavity filled. They scheduled me again, but I skipped the next appointment. Being a latch-key child, I was on my own from the end of the school day until Mom came home from work. I never told her. That was the end of my relationship with the terrifying Dr. O’Reilly. It took a few years before I needed ...

View from Hickory Heights: The role of history

Webster’s defines history as “an account of what happened in the life or development of a people, country, or institution, the branch of knowledge that deals systematically with the past.” I believe that is self-explanatory. As such nothing we can do will change what happened. People tear down monuments. They change designations of teams. They make people change names of things, but that does not erase history. Our history is important. I believe that history is there to help us not commit some of the same mistakes as our ancestors. The monuments remind us. The names remind us. ...

Rounding Third: Hot, hot, hot in new local tropics

Well, the dog days of summer have arrived and it is still spring – until Friday. Oy! Since when did the twin tiers of Pennsylvania and New York state become southern Mississippi? I’m usually griping about the intense heat and humidity in mid-August, not mid-June. I’ve just finished getting my garden in … with some much-needed help because of the overbearing heat. And already, I need to be out watering twice a day. As I write this, the heat index is forecast to be 101-degrees through Friday. Those thirsty plants are hanging their tongues out, looking for the hose. “I’m ...

View from Hickory Heights: Girls’ night

My granddaughter was home for a visit a couple weeks ago. When I went over to visit with her, she dropped a bombshell. She is planning to marry next summer. That part I knew. I also knew that she was planning a wedding out of town. What I did not know is that she wants to wear my wedding dress! I wore it fifty-seven years ago. Her mother wore it thirty years ago and we shortened it for her. When Carly tried it on, we found out that it will need more alterations. The lady who did the alterations thirty years ago no longer lives around here. Carly, her matron of honor, and her mother ...

What did you say your name was?

Last week’s chat about forgetting the keys and the glasses? Fuggedaboudit. This week’s unforgettable subject is even more serious. It’s about names. I used to be good at remembering names — until about the last 40 years or so. A few weeks ago, I was having a lunch meeting with two friends. At one point, I watched a fellow diner cross the room to the buffet. He looked familiar – but from where? Did he teach locally? Did he work at the post office? Maybe he was a local who had moved away? While I was pondering who he could be, he spotted me and crossed the room. Oh, no! ...