No Reindeer games for me in 1941

December 13, 2016

Our Christmas of 1941 actually began with a series of unusual events that started in late August. Our family had joined up with the Rodkey family for a brief vacation near Geneva on the Lake. I was 5 going on 6. Joann, 10, and I were playing along a road near our cottage. I spied a toy pistol lying in the gutter and picked it up.  It was a working cap pistol. Joann claimed that she saw it first and tried to yank it from me. I won and threw it at her, causing a nasty cut on her forehead. Although it wasn't serious, Joann, her older sister Jackie, and my 11-year-old sister joined ...

All I want for Christmas is … haircut?

November 29, 2016

It was a few days after Thanksgiving, 1939. Mom, Dad, my five-years-older sister and I were at Higbee’s department store in Cleveland. Santa Claus was there, and it was my first clear recollection of him. There was a short line of kids, and I was soon on Santa’s lap. He seemed friendly enough, although his breath was terrible and his beard stayed still when his mouth moved. I was 4. I felt a bit intimidated. I had yet to get my first haircut, and had a head of tightly curled hair. To him, I probably looked like Little Orphan Annie with light brown hair. “And what do you want ...

Enjoyed your feast? Thank a farmer

November 23, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! If you’re reading this, you either got lost while looking for the ad section, or you want to know what is going on in with agriculture in Trumbull County. If you’re here for the latter, I’ll let you know that most farmers wrapped up their harvest before the snow fell over the weekend. Small grains and soybeans yields were especially good for Trumbull county farmers this year, with some farms seeing record numbers. It was a different story for corn, as most farms had an average crop, and yields were highly dependent on where (and when) the rain ...

Use winter to relax

November 15, 2016

Here it is, right in the middle of November in good old Warren. Most of the reason we call fall “fall” is behind us, because most of what falls has already fallen. Many of us have finished our raking and mulching. We’ve stuffed many sturdy brown paper leaf bags with the last remnants and have cleared the leaves out of our rain gutters — maybe wishing we had installed some kind of gutter guards to avoid this unwelcome task next fall. We’ll dutifully take those bags to the curb on the designated nights for Warren’s reliable pickup the following day. Isn’t it wonderful when ...

It’s time to play the knee replacement law of averages

November 1, 2016

George was having lunch by himself at the Mocha House a while ago. Beside his chair was his folded up walker. He was recovering from knee replacement surgery from just the week before, and was progressing very well. He had just come from physical therapy and could drive his own car. A friend of his saw him sitting there and asked George if he could use some company. The friend asked why he had the walker. George said, “I thought that you knew I was going to have knee replacement surgery. I just got out of the hospital last week, and I’m getting along just fabulously.” “Who ...

Let me tell you about ‘Beggars’ Night’

October 18, 2016

Trick or Treat? I get the treat part, but I can’t quite grasp the trick part. After all, Trick or Treat is kind of a new term. At least, it is around here. It is that afternoon and evening before Halloween when kids, often accompanied be their parents, go out — usually in broad daylight — all dressed in store-bought costumes to ring doorbells or bang on doors in order to get a handout of candy. That’s the treat part. The trick part escapes me. Maybe the kids are supposed to do a handstand or something for the trick. The time that they are to do this is regulated by a schedule ...