Ahhh, the family reunion. An annual rite of passage for most families, you’ll often find the summer months as the “high season” for this type of extended family gathering. Reunions are done in a number of ways, whether it be meeting up at a relative’s house for a picnic/barbeque or gathering everyone together for a big trip somewhere – say Disney World or getting a cabin together in the Great Smoky Mountains. There tend to be two camps when it…
I spent last week in Florida visiting my youngest daughter, who is working for a theme park company infested with rodents (I think you know the one). In addition, I also spent some time visiting my extended family on my wife’s side and delivering a car (the rest of my family flew while I drove the 920 miles to get there). Upon my return this past weekend, I had some time to ponder about what I missed (and didn’t miss)…
Do you remember that one car you owned in your life that took on memorable status? The one that not only revives horrible flop-sweats, but also brings back memories that make you smile? I have one of those. It’s a 1999 Toyota Camry. A white, four-door. The car that if you gave its description to a police officer, they’d say “well that narrows it down to about two million possible matches.” They made a ton of these back in the…
With the return of warmer weather, I spent this past week prepping my front porch for another season of use. I swept off the winter dust and dirt, washed a window or two, and even cleaned off the porch posts with some soapy water to rid the area of its winter grime and wear. Then it was off to the shed to retrieve the furniture and cushions, getting them placed just so, followed by the return of my house plants…
Remember the good ‘’ol days of television? When one could only get three (free) network channels (maybe four, if you counted PBS) on that small, 15-inch TV set with the rabbit ear antenna sitting in the corner of the living room? What should we watch tonight, honey? Well, there are only four choices – pick one. In the early 1970’s that meant Telly Savalas as “Kojak” on CBS, James Garner starring in “The Rockford Files” on NBC, or we could…
Let’s face it, 2020 has been depressing. The only glimmer of hope we have left before this god-awful year gets put behind us is the Christmas holidays. Yes, now that Thanksgiving has passed us by, I’m totally into the holly-jolly mood of the season. Normally, we only put up our tree on the day after Thanksgiving and the rest of the house decorations come sprinkling in over the coming days. Not this year. Like some Hollywood production, it all went…
They say time changes everything. Sadly, I lost a friend this past week. Her name was Nell Simmers. She was 81. For many years, she lived in a small house behind mine – just across the alleyway. Nell was the kind of grand lady whose personality instantly made whoever she was with feel at ease, and she’d talk to you as if she had known you her entire life, even if she just met you. A true local gem. As…
While many, many businesses have been negatively impacted by the pandemic and its associated business lockdowns, there’s been one outlier that has not only bucked the trend, but is actually thriving in this new consumer climate: The Drive-In Movie Theater. A staple in the 1950s (there were over 4,000 of them nationwide in 1958), they providing the driving public with a way to get entertainment without ever leaving the interiors of their shiny, new automobiles. Carloads of teens, adults, and…
I was sitting in my back yard one evening this past week, tiki torches lit and providing a soft glow to my patio – fireflies slowly rising from the lawn, and I couldn’t help but wax nostalgic about summers gone by. As a kid growing up (many moons ago), summer was the one of the best times of the year. Free from the shackles of school until September, the long, lazy days were a wonderland of childhood imagination, play, and…
If you’re familiar with my columns, then you know I live in Clear Spring, MD – a very small town in Western Maryland. How small, you ask? Well, as of 2016, we were at a whopping 350 residents (for those of you keeping score, that’s pretty small). As a matter of fact, we’re the smallest incorporated town in the county. It’s a quaint little village, with a main street, two stop lights, three schools (elementary, middle, and high) at the…