Hello Fellow Readers, A few weeks ago, I heard from my high school sweetheart, who remains a lifelong friend. Rusty writes, “Sara is starting her hot pepper plants from seed this year. Is there effective plant grow lights that we should get? Many thanks.” I sent a long-ago

Hello fellow readers, As I write, the snow is falling and is likely to continue well into Groundhog Day. They say if the groundhog sees his shadow, they’ll be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, it will be an early spring. With all this snow, it may be six weeks before we see the

Hello fellow readers, Last week’s chat about the end of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) quarantine brought quite a buzz. Though authorities will no longer restrict ash wood movement, we can help control Emerald Ash Borer spread by doing our part. Which brings the question of Robert

Hello fellow readers, Upon investigating the culprit of a tree largely de-barked, I learned the US Department of Animal and Plant Health Inspection recently dropped the quarantine laws to prevent the further spread of Emerald Ash Borer. Could it be that EAB is a lost cause? After the

Hello fellow readers, After a week’s transition in the garage to re-acclimate our ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ Spruce to the outside world, Ellie’s memorial Christmas tree now sits in a protected spot. She’s in front of the future vegetable garden where the rundown h

Hello Fellow Readers, We welcome a new year, with sentiments of good riddance to 2020. A year we entered with optimism. The number itself, 2020, invites the concept of balance, of “perfect” vision. But twenty-twenty is not a perfect vision. It’s an average vision. It

Hello Fellow Readers, The Press publishes a New Year’s pictorial issue to provide their staff time off between Christmas and New Year’s. I enjoy the deadline respite, too, but I wish to reach out to my faithful online followers to thank you for being part of our community. We welcome

Hello fellow readers, May I share a story of the mysterious Christmas card that landed in our mailbox with messages addressed to all. The unaddressed envelope has a lovely illustration of a male and female cardinal. Red cardinals, the males, are often featured in Christmas decorations

Hello fellow readers, We were late putting up a Christmas tree due to waffling of what type of tree to decorate—a cut tree, an artificial, or a living Christmas tree, perhaps. In truth, my indecisiveness is primarily because of a heavy heart. The tree is on the corner of the family ro

Hello fellow readers, The other day, while shopping for groceries, I stumbled upon an array of poinsettia varieties arranged at the floral department entrance. Hopefully not annoying other shoppers, I snagged a bunch of photos to capture their beauty. Of course, there were the traditi