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Category: Local Interest

Items of local interest to the four-state area (Western Md, Southern PA, Northern VA, and Eastern WV).

Winter May Be Just Around The Corner, But It’s Not Like It Used To Be

Winter May Be Just Around The Corner, But It’s Not Like It Used To Be

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Now that the holiday season is upon us, Mother Nature is also stepping back in to make another annual seasonal change.  For those of you not in the know, the winter season “officially” starts on Thursday, December 21st. The National Weather Service says we should expect a snowier winter than normal, but with temps a little warmer than average.  This is all due to the El Nino weather pattern, which influences both temperature and precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere.  Both…

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Can YOU Make the Holidays a Little Brighter?  Sure You Can

Can YOU Make the Holidays a Little Brighter?  Sure You Can

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Thanksgiving has come and gone and now all over the country, people are rushing to get their shopping lists done, their homes decorated, packages wrapped, and yuletide travel plans finalized.  Everyone wants to have that Hallmark, Norman Rockwell-esque Christmas season, but more often than not, there are times that more closely resemble ‘Cousin Eddie’ trying to drain the RV’s sewer line out front than a Martha Stewart Christmas dinner.  The holidays can be one of the most stressful times of…

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Black Friday:  Why Is This Still A Thing?

Black Friday:  Why Is This Still A Thing?

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I know I’ve ranted on this topic before, but every year, I shake my head at the annual pilgrimage of consumerism that is affectionately known as “Black Friday”. I just don’t get it. The Thanksgiving weekend is supposed to be about getting together with friends and family to celebrate, acknowledge, and appreciate all that has happened over the past year.  The afternoon following that expansive feast should be spent playing cards, conversing and laughing over another glass of wine, watching…

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Thanksgiving:  Let’s Give This Holiday Its Due

Thanksgiving:  Let’s Give This Holiday Its Due

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Well, Halloween has come and gone, and although the Christmas decorations have been up at your local box store since the beginning of October and Mariah Carey was just thawed out to ceaselessly scream her way through “All I Want for Christmas Is You” until New Year’s, let’s not forget that there is still another pretty big holiday to celebrate between now and “Ho-Ho-Ho” time. I’m of course talking about Thanksgiving.  I don’t know when this holiday became the “Jan…

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Florida Keys Trip:  Part 3 – Marathon

Florida Keys Trip:  Part 3 – Marathon

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AUTHOR’S NOTE:  For those of you just catching up, I’m documenting my recent trip to the Florida Keys from three weeks ago, so if you’ve missed the first two installments, make sure to read “Part 1 – Islamorada” and “Part 2 – Key West” from the last two weeks! Not being the young, party bucks we used to be, it was slow going as we arose in the morning to leave Key West.  I made one more run for Cuban…

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Florida Keys Trip:  Part 2 – Key West

Florida Keys Trip:  Part 2 – Key West

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AUTHOR’S NOTE:  For those of you just catching up, I’m documenting my recent trip to the Florida Keys from two weeks ago, so if you’ve missed the first installment, make sure to read “Part 1 – Islamorada” from last week! Picking up where we left off last week, we finished up our Tarpon-feeding antics at Robbie’s in Islamorada and continued our travels southward over the Seven Mile Bridge, passing by “Fred” the tree (a rogue tree growing up out of…

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Getting Older:  Another Sign of the Times

Getting Older:  Another Sign of the Times

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I’m celebrating another birthday this week.  I’ve been blessed to live for quite a few revolutions around that big ‘ol yellow-orange ball that travels across the sky every day, but I am starting to see some reminders that I’m not as young as I used to be.  My minds still thinks it’s a strapping lad in the prime of his mid-twenties; however, the real boss – my actual body – has to throw up a few roadblocks every now and…

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Tipping:  It’s Gotten Out of Control

Tipping:  It’s Gotten Out of Control

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I want to take a few moments to talk about the elephant in the room, or – more importantly, in the restaurant, café, or coffee shop.  Yes, I’m talking about tipping.  For some reason, the tipping culture in this country has seemingly run off of the rails, and I’m not quite sure why. Now, I’ll be the first person to admit that servers and bartenders deserve to be tipped for good service.  Lord knows, a competent waiter/waitress/bartender is hard to…

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Milestones

Milestones

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Over the past few months, It has been a never-ending period of milestones for me.  My youngest daughter turned twenty, I celebrated my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and early next month, I’ll turn fifty-six (although in my mind, I’m still just a stupid teenager, but my body would totally disagree with that sentiment). This week also marks a milestone for this blog.  This is the 400th post of this writing endeavor, and for those of you keeping score, that’s around eight…

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Hurricanes:  A Season of Stress

Hurricanes:  A Season of Stress

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If there’s one thing I do not miss about living in Florida, it’s all the damn hurricanes.  As we saw just last week, it doesn’t take long for these storms to come barreling out of the Caribbean to wreak havoc on the Florida peninsula (as well as other southern states). Hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30 each year, and if you live in a coastal area down south (or literally anywhere in the Sunshine State), you pay…

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