Items of local interest to the four-state area (Western Md, Southern PA, Northern VA, and Eastern WV).
Unless you’ve been living in a cave or your internet connection has been down for the past month, you’ve no doubt seen or heard that one of the heralds of the fall season is the return of that obligatory flavor of autumn, pumpkin spice. Ohhhh, and it’s not just in flavored coffee at Starbucks. No, some overzealous salesman at the spice factory has managed to ensure that this seasonal spice blend has found its way into way too many products,…
I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to September 22, 2021 (precisely at 3:20 PM, to be exact). For those of you not in the know, that was the date and time of the annual Autumnal Equinox, better known as the first day of fall. Sure, others may have their favorites. I know folks who can’t get enough of summer. Some folks love the long cold, winter – while others love the rebirth of spring. For me,…
I’ll admit it – I’m a planner by nature. I’m always looking ahead, trying to figure out schedules, menus, chores, money decisions, vacations – literally every aspect of my life. Sure, I can be spontaneous, but I’ll be the first one to tell you that it doesn’t happen very often. If my wife came home one day and said “let’s drive to Florida for the weekend!”, my mind would probably lock up from all of the decision points it was…
So we’re now finished with Week 2 of college football, and I have watched more games in the past two weeks than I have in the past twenty years. Why, you may ask? Well, my youngest is going to a premiere SEC school in the south (all I’ll say is that Forrest Gump also went there), and since she is going to or watching games every week now, I feel almost like I HAVE to watch them – just to…
As school is back in session all over the local area, this time of year is also marked by the return of public education’s transportation workhorse – the school bus. Gone once again are the days when I could whisk down the roads into work on my early morning drive. I now have to time my morning commute with the precision of a federal bank heist, where one minute out of-sync will mean the difference between an effortless drive or…
September is almost upon us, ushering in the last bit of summer and hopefully giving us a glimpse of cooler temperatures and a glorious autumn season. The kids are back in school, weekend harvest festivals will be in full swing – and what better way to celebrate than to check out some local wines! Luckily, Washington County has plenty of wineries to choose from. From sweet to dry, there’s certainly a bottle of locally–produced goodness for everyone to enjoy –…
Every time you look at the business section of a newspaper these days, you’ll see plenty of articles about economic recovery in this post-COVID world we now live in. This “new” workplace has spawned an abundance of one specific type of industry in my local area. Warehouses. Now I’m not talking about your typical Mom & Pop trucking company with three bays and a forklift, I’m talking about mammoth complexes, sporting hundreds of shipping bays, millions of square feet of…
Well, after five days, six states, and around 2,000 road miles, we successfully dropped off both of our kids at college this past week. One is relatively close (about a 90 minute drive), but the other is located a bone-crushing twelve-hour drive away (one way) in order for her to attend the college of her dreams (and who’s university is a sprawling mammoth of Southern charm and powerful football heritage). For our oldest, this trip and move-in process is now…
As August is now upon us, our family is preparing for a monumental event this coming week. Both of our kids will be off to college, leaving my wife and I as “empty nesters”. The missus and I haven’t had a lot of downtime from family life since waaaaaay back in early 2001, so I’m sure it will be an adjustment for everyone. For one thing, our grocery bill will be considerably less than current standards. We’re planning on getting…
The saying goes – “when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade”. Yeah – well sometimes, it’s just a big ‘ol bag of damn lemons (that nobody asked for or wanted). That pretty much describes my past week. Here’s a sample of the fun and frolic I’ve been experiencing over the past few days. I was in a project meeting this past Thursday at work when my cell phone rings. It’s my youngest daughter, and there are lots of heated…