I grew up with two younger sisters. I thought of them recently when I saw three t-shirts with the sayings, “I’m the oldest – I make the rules; I’m in the middle – I’m the reason we have rules; I’m the youngest – The rules don’t apply to me.” Read more

In 1947, the telephone at my grandparents’ farm consisted of a black wooden box about the size of a 12-volt car battery screwed to the kitchen wall. It had a crank sticking out of one side tha… Read more

I’m out to enjoy a glorious July evening, baked in the glow of the sinking sun, with background music by Indigo Buntings, Northern Parulas, Song Sparrows, and Red-eyed Vireos. A Monarch butter… Read more

Summer is in full swing and I’ve been watching baseball and reading several books about the quintessential summer game. Two recent books ponder the relevance of our oldest national pastime to … Read more

While August is, without a doubt, part of the classic summer duo of July and August, this second half of summer seems slightly lost in terms of identity. Read more

You often hear there are two types of people in the world: givers and takers; dreamers and realists; savers and spenders; doers and dawdlers; and, in these trying times, winners and losers. Read more

After haying was done, Dad thought we deserved a treat. Read more

The West Virginia coal mine war of 1920 – 1921, was a large-scale insurrection that involved thousands of union and non-union miners, state and private goons, and federal troops. Before it end… Read more