Ahhh, climate change. You are really messing with my “four seasons” mojo. Not only have you pretty much eliminated any significant snowfall from my winter wonderland (we’ve barely even seen a trace the last few years), but now your summer heat is encroaching on my mild spring months. I’ve just gotten the screen door installed on the front porch and was starting to open the windows at night, savoring the cool breeze and fresh air to sleep in – and…
Yes, you read that right. After many years of absence, Hagerstown has finally rejoined the ranks of cities with a professional baseball team, which kicked off its inaugural season play on April 25th. A warm, Western Maryland welcome to the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars! The Boxcars play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), and independent league covering the Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions of the United States. The league has been around since 1998, and its play is considered on-par…
The changing spring weather means a lot of things each year. It’s time to get the garden going (my own is well on its way, with peas, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, onions, radishes, beets, lettuce, spinach and carrots all in and doing well), getting that first lawn mowing in the books, and setting up one of my favorite “rooms” of the house. The front porch. For those of you who may not know what I’m talking about, I cannot express the…
With the summer heat reaching record-breaking temperatures, wouldn’t it be nice to step out of the back of the house and take a refreshing dip in your very own swimming pool? It’s the dream of a lot of homeowners, right? Be careful what you wish for. I know quite a few friends who happen to have swimming pools in their backyards (both “above ground” and “in ground”), and to a man (or woman), whenever I pose the comment “it must…
The heat of summer has me longing for the shade of my front porch, where I can leisurely sit in the evenings with a good book or just watch the world go by. There’s also nothing better than sipping on a summer cocktail whilst I enjoy a good parch sit, but what to drink? I’ve seen plenty of videos and tik-toks on summer drink hacks that look fun, refreshing, and tasty. Here’s a sample of a few that you might…
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…
This week marks our country’s 247th birthday (just three more years until the Semiquincentennial – start your shopping now!), and what’s more American than watching a fireworks show to celebrate our Independence Day? No matter where you see a colorful display light up the night sky, it’s always an exciting time of year. That being said, advances in drone technology are now being utilized by the entertainment industry, most notably in the form of drone shows. Similar to a fireworks…
The news reports and magazine articles are already starting about how this summer’s air travel will see record crowds, higher ticket prices, and staffing shortages (both from the airlines and the airports themselves). All of this means that air travelers can expect more delays, more cancellations, and more frustration as they try to reach their vacation destinations. Hooray. There’s nothing I enjoy more than getting in a TSA line behind someone who acts like they’ve never been inside a lighted…
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…
Did you ever feel you have a “million dollar” idea? Not that you’d literally make a million dollars, but an idea you feel just “can’t miss”? My wife and I get these all the time. For example, years ago, we thought that if a pet food company came out with cans of gravy – just gravy – they’d make a fortune. We even named our idea – “Auntie Leigh’s Happy Lappin’ Cat Gravy”. Sure fire winner right there, and apparently…