Another SummerFest Goes Into The Books
Quite the affair this one was. A meteorological potpourri for at least two of the days--Sunday was very nice, actually. The on-again-off-again showers kept everyone on their toes through Friday and Saturday but the fireworks were uninterrupted and the shows seemed to go on just fine. The tractor parade was missing some of the ENORMOUS machines...
Spring is Leaking
Well, there was a weekend. Did the Easter Bunny manage to hop out of town wearing galoshes on Palm Sunday? Hope that most of the Easter egg hunts/rolls/parties got off O.K. on Saturday, which was certainly fine, if occasionally chilly. Little ones were likely to be able to spot colored eggs from quite distance. ...
We’ve Been Fooled Before!
Spring has sprung Some grass has riz We wonder where the boidies is. Well, actually, the boidies is here all right. I’m hearing them in the mornings, and while I can’t tell a nightingale from a yellow-bellied sapsucker( The only bird that I can reliably identify is a killdeer.), there certainly are more of them out there before the sun comes up. ...
The Firsts of Spring
In walking outside this morning I heard my FOY red-wing blackbird singing. Saw the FOY turkey vulture, and read that the FOY blue herons have returned to their nesting colonies around north east Ohio. The term FOY has many meanings, but in this article FOY will be used to describe an occurrence in nature, an acronym for First of...
Long Live Rock & Roll
We try to make sure our kids knew there’s more to music than the latest artists they listen to or watch on YouTube, so my husband and I expose them to various musical genres in our cars and while at home. While cleaning the house, we’ve been know to subject them to artists including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Motown hits,...
The Latest…
O.K…, I’m gonna describe my latest trip to the Great Big Home & Garden Show, but first there’s this snippet from ?The Week?, one of my news magazines, (actually, there are often some neat snippets in there on all sorts of topics...but I digress...as usual) that I thought was a hoot. Think that I saw it somewhere else too. Anyway,...
The Amazing Woodpecker
One of the most common birds that are seen at the feeders during the winter in Northeast Ohio are woodpeckers. Ohio is home to seven species of woodpeckers, the Downy being the most common. The largest is the Pileated with a wingspan of almost 30 inches. The most majestic, in my mind, is the Red-headed. All seven species are...
Vermiform
I’m thinkin’ that I may have worms. Now, now, you can stop planning to boil the cushions on the sofa where I last sat at your house. I’m talking about “earworms”, you know, those tunes that get stuck in your brain and won’t go away, even if you don’t really like the music, it’s just there and repeating,...
Your Attention Please
This is your last warning! The response to our request for personal recollections about Garrettsville--the village itself and, ahem, Greater Garrettsville, the surrounding area--has been, shall we say, underwhelming. John Porter, our very own senior version of the Energizer Bunny, came through with some highlight events, some including his home stomping grounds in Hiram. He also mentioned...
Wacky Weather
The first frost of the fall occurred in the middle of October at my house which was not unusual. However, since then the weather HAS been very unusual…or maybe the new normal? Even though the days are getting longer since December 21, we should be gripped by much colder temperatures and several inches of snow. But I was raking...
Here We Go Again!
We should be running some sort of a pool featuring everyone’s best guess as to what season we’re REAAaaaaaLLY in and what the weather is going to be like for the next hour-and-a-half. The prize could be a set of mukluks and/or a half-gallon of suntan lotion. The ?Old Farmer’s Almanac ?wasn’t real helpful in maintaining a...
Season’s Greetings!
Looks like it’s well and truly winter, even though, astronomically speaking, we’ve got to wait until December 21 to be legit. Weather adventures already! Power went out Friday morning somewhere around 3:00 a.m.--the increasing chill in the house woke me up--and stayed out until about 9:30 a.m. Coulda been worse : Ohio Edison told me when I...
Is it Spring yet?
Yeah, yeah, I know, we’re not quite there yet, but I can hardly wait. Know why? Thereby hangs a tale. A small but intrepid group showed up for the first annual (?) Make A Difference Day work event on Saturday, October 27. Not exactly surprising, since it was plenty chilly and plenty rainy and not looking like your standard “Hey,...
Biscuits and Beyond
All right! Consider yourself warned. If you missed the Chicken and Biscuits Extravaganza at the Garrettsville United Methodist Church last week, you will have another chance in the future, because it got such a good reception that there will likely be a rematch and the dessert table will feature a Greatest Hits tour with...
A Pretty Fair Day
Have I got a deal for you! IBM (Irresponsible Bad Mamma) cat had kittens on the back step, in a specially-designated box—with lining and cover, and just as the little mites were beginning to open their little eyes, she hauled them off somewhere unknown and they were not seen or heard from again. End of story? Not on your tintype! I...
Mantua-Shalersville Fire District News
Mantua - At the last regular meeting, Chief Matt Roosa informed the Fire Board that the department would be holding emergency vehicle driver training class in mid September. The education and training team from Volunteer Firemen’s Insurance Services, Inc. (VFIS) will facilitate the two-day event. This annual training exercise will include classroom work and hands-on driving training exercises, according...
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...
Childhood Memories
Close your eyes and think back to a warm summer night, the smell of a camp fire, roasting marshmallows or eating s’mores; when all of a sudden, a young voice yells out “There one is” and all the kids run to the blinking lights slowly rising into the moonlight sky. We all can remember the endless summer nights as...
Moths… The Rodney Dangerfield’s of the Insect World
No Respect, no respect at all…Unfortunately when most people think of moths they think of the small grey moths that flew out of grandma’s closet or your uncle’s wallet. Hopefully, after you have finished reading this article you will have a new-found respect for moths. Moths and butterflies are insects which together form the order called Lepidoptera, meaning ‘scaly-winged’. The...
Deal Of A Lifetime
Such a deal I had for you! Could have had ‘em just like that. But no, nobody stepped up to get in on the giveaway. Ask me nice and maybe arrangements can be made. Bargains! Freebies! They’ll be going fast, lemme tell ya. What’s that? Some timid, unadventurous soul asks what the hubbub is about. What’s being given away? Well,...
Garrettsville Summerfest Wrap-Up
The farmer in the dell. The farmer in the dell. Hi-ho the dairy-o. The farmer in the dell! The definition of the word “dell”—a small, secluded valley or glen (There’s another problematic word), usually a wooded one—isn’t exactly fitting here, but if we can idiosyncratically interpret it to mean “in Garrettsville for the parade”, it was a “dell of a...
Why Have Interest Rates Jumped to a 7-Year High?
Interest rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage have climbed from 3.95% in the first week of January up to 4.61% last week, which marks a 7-year high according to Freddie Mac. The current pace of acceleration has been fueled by many factors. Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist, had this to say: “Healthy consumer spending and higher commodity prices spooked...
Casey At The Bat
Er…actually, it was Grimmy—Grimalkin, to be more formal—who was , so to speak, “at the bat”, and I don’t mean any kind of ballgame, base or soft. No, no it was a real bat, die Fledermaus, as Richard Wagner put it, and it was in my shoe (Plenty of room in there). Grimmy was after a bat. And here’s...
April Showers…Spring Flowers…
“The flowers that bloom in the Spring—Tra-La!”…or words to that effect. At least some of the bulbs and roots that I have planted around here did not fall prey to the squirrels’ depredations during the rather severe—for squirrels, at least—winter we have only lately emerged from. There are blossoms that I don’t recognize from last year and some that do...
Here Fishie Fishie
Let me begin this week’s article with a few questions. How would you define a river? How is a stream different than a run? What is a brook? How about a wash, bayou, or rio? The answer is quite simple; it has to do with where you live. As settlers moved westward, cultural influences played a major role in...
How to Prepare For The Upcoming Buying Season
Competition is rising for the record low number of houses available. Interest rates are going to rise. Steps to take to be ready to buy: Connect with a realtor, who can get insider info of the market. When house inventory is low, who do you think knows about houses coming available first? Your realtor will introduce you to some lenders...
Favorite Son
This commonly-used political term came to mind the other day when my mom sent me a clipping from our local newspaper back in Wellington (Lorain County, west of here on St. Rtes. 58 & 18), either the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram or the Wellington Enterprise—I really didn’t check. In politics, the term usually refers to an up-and-coming sort that has aspirations...
Shoo Fly: Black Fly Season In Ohio
With spring finally here it is time to open the windows, air out the house, go outside, and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Take a trip out into the woodland or park to look for wildflowers and watch the warblers and other colorful birds that are flying north to their breeding grounds. But all of a sudden….ouch. What...
Yes Virginia, There Really Is A Spring
So.... I’m walking along early in the morning now and there are more and more bird sounds out there to be heard. During the winter there are always a few--cardinals, goldfinches, the ever-present sparrows, miscellaneous die-hards who have memorized the locations of every birdfeeder within several hundred yards. You also get the occasional Wrong Way Corrigan who wandered here...
It Must Be Spring!
Must be Spring, the litterbugs are out in their cars—at least I assume they’re not the type to be out walking to enjoy the benefits of nature—and they’re pitching trash out of the windows of said vehicles. I picked up, I think it was, six cans on my way around the village in the morning. ( This is all...
