Carrying family heritage forward

Area woman writes about her struggles

I couldn’t finish my “autumn fire” series without airing some smoke on a topic that burns me up. That’d be the season’s campaign attack ads. If they’ve irritated you this year, wait till next.

“See you in heaven!” That was the last thing he said before the stranger stormed out of the church’s glass doors.
“See you in heaven,” but I do not think he was sincere. Although I did not show it, his words cut me deeply.

There’s something about a hill that makes a body want to go up it. And there’s something about that hill that makes a boy, say between 5 and 10 years old, want to go down it, fast.

A problem that plagues all our society is presented in sharp relief through the Ivan Schmucker Jr. saga. On one hand is a legitimate businessman, no matter what one might think of his business. On the other is a group of people whose beliefs collide with Schmucker’s business model. The problem isn’t so much disagreement as the self-righteous indignation that comes with it and the all too ugly tones of the debate.

There are people, maybe even here in Washington County, who believe that tomatoes taste a bit like watery cardboard. They believe that peas, while sweet, have a starchy aftertaste. They believe that a good cantaloupe is one that doesn’t take that much salt to make “delicious.” They are the uninitiated, the poor souls who have not had their taste buds ruined by fresh, right-out-of-the garden ripeness. To them, we would say, read no further. Once you have tasted the medley of flavors found in in-season, fresh lettuce and other greens, you’ll never again stomach the watery, though crunchy, taste of iceberg lettuce trucked thousands of miles with thousands of ice cubes from California or some other place that’s not here or anywhere thereabouts.

Coffee’s steaming from Smyth community

Coffee’s steaming from Smyth community

The old dairy barn is hot pink. The silo brick. The weather vane atop the barn’s tin roof looks from a distance like a pig. And is.