Mind Health Matters: Keeping it real when it comes to family history and mental illness
My usually good natured husband was looking troubled when I returned from my shopping trip several Sundays ago. How could he have guessed about the new pair of shoes I just had to have? The shoes were far from the problem I learned as he shared this story. Soon after I had left for an afternoon of retail consumption, a...
Aaaaand we’re off !
It’s that time of year again. That time when Spring has–sorta–come but Winter makes occasional encore appearances, indoor sports are, basically, over and everybody heads outside–where the rain is, and athletic directors everywhere are living on their communication devices–scheduling, scheduling, re-scheduling, re-scheduling, contemplating cancellations. Bus drivers are stuck waiting to see whether they’re off for a trip or not or...
Making Time for You
Being a small business owner is both rewarding and challenging. While handling finances, marketing, inventory, sales and a million other responsibilities, it’s easy to neglect taking care of yourself. It’s crucial to prioritize your well-being for your business’s long-term success and health. To get you started, here are a few tips. Define Your Work Hours: By setting clear start and...
May Flowers? No Pilgrims In Sight
Not a lot of sunshine either, lately. And did you celebrate May Day? You missed marking the halfway point between Spring (Vernal Equinox) and Summer ( Summer Solstice). Used to be a fairly common excuse to celebrate something–anything– after a long winter, I suppose. There were May Poles, and May Dances, especially on womens’ colleges back in the day, folks...
Curiosity and Caffeine: Flight 93 National Memorial
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists in an organized attack against the United States hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City -- one at 8:46 am and the second at 9:03 am. A third plane was purposely flown into the Pentagon in Arlington,...
Cat-astrophe!
At one time, there were, give or take, six—yes, six—cats in this house. That was, so to speak, the high water mark, but the tide seems to have receded rather precipitously lately. See, I started out, innocently enough, with just one, chosen from a litter just out of town advertised with a sign that said, “Free Kittens”. He was orange...
“Over My Dead Body”
Or words to that effect....the topic of a recent program presented at the Freedom Historical Society on July 19, 2024 at their lovingly-restored Drakesburg School #2...all about cemeteries and, specifically, headstones, their features and care.The topics covered included cemetery law in Ohio (The states are all different, even the counties and townships have their own regulations for their facilities.),...
Enjoy More, Stress Less: Tips for Summer 2025
As we look ahead into the coming months, you may be hearing about continued economic uncertainty. While there are still mixed signals, it’s clear that many families and individuals are pausing now to rethink how—and where—they spend. If you’ve found yourself trimming back some of the more unpredictable expenses and leaning into choices that provide clear value, you’re not alone....
Maintaining a Clear Drain: Seven Foods to Never Put Down Your Sink During the Holidays
The holidays are here, and many of us are spending time in our kitchens preparing tasty meals and treats for family and friends. It can be tempting to allow food scraps to go down the sink drain, but there are many types of foods that should NEVER go down your drain, even if you have a garbage disposal. Preventing...
May is National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month
If you have asthma, allergies, or any respiratory symptoms while in your home, you may want to consider this special national Asthma and Allergy Month offer. You may not realize this, but poor indoor air quality (IAQ) is a health risk according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The air in your home is typically more polluted than the air outside! ...
IRA Rollovers: Helping Retirement Savers Defer Taxes, Avoid Penalties
If you participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan, you may have concluded that you don’t need a traditional IRA. Many people see the IRA as unnecessary because they don’t exhaust the contribution limits on their employer plans. But don’t be fooled into thinking that an IRA can’t help you reach your retirement saving goals. Chances are actually pretty good...
Party Central
There’s got to be a time limit of some sort on Spring Cleaning. I just finished mine…in time for Party Central in the neighborhood. Whoo-whoo! Luckily, the rain held off until after the throngs had ebbed and the clean-up crew was packing up the detritus left by the crowds in attendance. Said crowds were able to sit on chairs that...
Why you should let us buy your old Heating & Air Conditioning System
Presented By DeBord’s One Hour Heating & Cooling Achieving healthy, shiny hair and a vibrant scalp is a common goal for many of us. While we often focus on hair products and treatments, the quality of the water we use is often overlooked. In this blog, we'll explore the significance of water treatment for maintaining healthy hair and scalp. We'll...
Top 5 gifts for wine lovers
As is my yearly tradition, my husband and I were one of the insane that went shopping on Black Friday. For us, it’s not about getting the hottest deal or the newest electronic gadget; for us, it’s about getting all of our Christmas shopping done. We have a pact with each other that we cannot come home until we...
April Fooled!
So far, April has been fairly nondescript…except for the tree falling on the front porch, of course. And there’s no a whole lot going on after Easter, unless you’re into Earth Day–like the Portage County Park District, which will hold its annual Awards event on the twenty-second in Kent–or are interested in the new moon (which means that you...
Hands-On Birding
Attempt to hold some seed, then a hungry Black-capped Chickadee! The cold weather is back — and so is Bird in the Hand! From now through April, visitors to The West Woods can enjoy the unforgettable experience of hand-feeding wild birds just a short walk from the nature center. Have you ever had a chickadee land right in your hand? This...
What in the Weird?
Yes, indeed, There is all kinds if it out there…weird, I mean. For instance, the other day there was a short piece on line about a political uproar in Wisconsin, where politicians–mostly Republicans, I fear–were in an uproar about passing a law against naked bicycle-riding. Seems to me that would be a self-limiting enterprise to start with, but what do...
Feathers, Fowl, and Finances: The Increasing Toll of Yuletide Celebrations
In a surprising turn of events, it appears that the cost of procuring the items featured in the classic holiday tune, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," has experienced a notable increase of approximately 4.8%. At the forefront of this upward trend are the turtle doves, ostensibly due to their relative rarity. When was the last time one encountered such...
Vernal Pools: Murky Puddles of Fascinating Life
The word vernal is Latin from “vernus,” meaning “belonging to spring.” Vernal pools refer to any wetland that fills annually from snow melt, spring rains and rising groundwater. They usually do not have an outlet stream and therefore most years dry out during the hot summer months or early fall. But don’t let these vanishing pools fool you. Vernal pools...
Unlikely All-sorts
The Akron Beacon-Journal has had some beauts lately. One of my favorites was the New Funko Pop Collection “honoring” Dolly Parton. Now Dolly has received just about every honor that a country/pop/r&r singer is likely to be nominated for. She’s been in the movies and on TV and received national recognition for her performance and her song-writing and her...
Stocks advanced last week despite mixed inflation data, lurching oil prices, and lingering anxiety about the Middle East.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 1.11 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.13 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average picked up 1.21 percent. The MSCI EAFE Index, which tracks developed overseas stock markets, added 0.23 percent.1,2 Up And Down Week Stocks slipped on Monday as oil continued to rise but moved higher on Tuesday as the technology sector showed...
Bats & The Queen
The season is on! Which season? Football, Volleyball, Cross Country, Golf, Soccer...you name it; the sticks and the balls and the nets, the helmets, the hitting, the sweat—all ramping up for participants and fans alike. And others.... Came home after the football game the other night—which, by the way, could have been played on top of the hinges of hell,...
Garden Fun…
So… I’m out playing caretaker here at the Manse and I’m deciding that what we’re running at this location is the animal equivalent of the food court at the mall when a whole cohort of teenagers--boys mostly--shows up to attempt to fill their hollow legs. The “water feature” is bubbling its little heart out and any creature passing by can...
PARTY CENTRAL!!!
You know, the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.” Ain’t it the truth! The Villager took a brief hiatus on the Fourth, giving staff and media stars (That’s you, Benjamin.) a little time to set off and/or observe firecrackers and recoup after all of the frenetic activity of the SummerFest—BEST EVER—and come out swinging for the rest of...
Are We There Yet?
And just where are we going again? By the time that we get there, I’m going to be so out of shape that someone will have to haul me over the line in a wheelbarrow. When the Y closed, it so disrupted my self-designed fitness routine that all of my muscles have declared a national holiday and I’ve had...
Follow the Signs: Part III
This is part three of the story about running down a Model “A” Ford lead and purchasing the car. Jerry and I most often look for hobby cars that were never finished or cars that have sat in the garage for years and years, forgotten until a new owner or relative comes on the scene and wants to clean things...
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpencePocket full of ryeFour-and-twenty blackbirdsBaked in a pieWhen the pie was openedThe birds began to singWasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king? Never mind the sixpence, the blackbirds, the pie or the king (They’re all from the 18th century or earlier…Shakespeare, maybe?), what I’m really promoting here is the “Sing” part. Once upon a...
How Can I Better Manage My Short-Term Cash?
For the vast majority of people, it is essential to keep a portion of their assets in liquid form in order to meet monthly commitments. For example, most families have to meet their mortgage or rent payments, grocery, utility, and transportation bills out of their monthly paychecks. There is a host of other expenses that arise from month to...
Puppy Tails
Several months ago, a little floppy-eared puppy found his way to the office of The Weekly Villager. The editors immediately fell in love with him and didn’t want him to leave. Turns out the puppy didn’t want to leave, either! When I started working for the paper, Doodle Dog decided he liked me best and wanted to...
Friendly People…
My! There are so many really friendly people on the internet. An individual named Trixie--doesn’t she sound friendly already--lets me know that somebody wants to meet me. Well, doesn’t everyone? An individual…or corporation, after all, the Supreme Court says that corporations are people too, which is part of the reason you’re getting all of those dreadful election-year ads on your...
