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Confessions of a new coffee drinker

I have a confession to make. At an age when most people are thinking about giving up coffee, I’ve just started drinking it. Six months ago, in fact. I’ve somehow managed to get through college, motherhood, various careers and a zillion early mornings without becoming a coffee drinker. I’ve always been one of those suspicious people clutching tea or hot chocolate while everyone else wandered around with paper cups the size of flower pots. It wasn’t for lack of trying. Somewhere around college I discovered that coffee and I did not have a healthy relationship. I’d drink one ...

Maybe Baseball Holds the Answer

These are troubled times we’re living in these days. Our country is at war, not only with another country, but we’re fighting a war within our own nation’s boundaries, a Cold War between Red and Blue. We’re fighting wars on drugs, wars on a variety of trafficking, wars on senseless killings and violence, and many other disagreements, skirmishes, and spats which have created tension among people of this country. Two weeks ago, the Voice from the Bullpen asked the question, “Do you believe in miracles?” making the point that it might take a miracle for our country to reunite ...

The ride around the lake

I got to thinking about the ride around the lake the other day as we gear up for summer. It’s something I've done often in my life, especially when I was young and made the trip with my grandmother and great-grandmother on the occasional Sunday. Make no mistake: this was a big excursion. We'd pick my great-grandmother up at her house with the apple tree out front and she'd slowly walk to the car and get in the front seat with her wrinkled cotton dress and a little sweater folded over her arm. I remember that her ankles were often swollen and that I had this idea that she ...

There’s good, there’s bad, and there’s ugly

We’ve put ourselves in positions to be able to enjoy a variety of entertainment options in our retirement. As much as we don’t like cold winters (especially in recent years years), we’ve never had urges to be Snowbirds. We prefer to spread out our retirement activities/trips to cover much of the entire year. Since we’ve both been retired together (about five years), we’ve been able to enjoy a great number of indoor and outdoor concerts, we’ve seen a number of stage performances ranging from musicals, to dramas, to comedy-dramas, and more, on a variety of stages ranging ...

Decoration Day vs. Memorial Day

Last Monday, we celebrated what is now called Memorial Day, honoring those who gave their “last full measure of devotion” to our country and their fellow Americans, in battles fought by our country throughout history. After the day of this Celebration of Honor was declared a National Day of Celebration in 1868, the date to celebrate this day was established as the 30th of May, which happens to be today, and the original name for the Celebration of this sacrifice by so many, became Decoration Day. The beginning of the celebration of Decoration Day, came about after the Civil War ...

Making Summer Plans For 2026

What are you doing this summer? Around these parts, that question starts popping up almost immediately once the weather finally turns. And while some people are planning vacations, many others are looking forward to something far simpler — local concerts, festivals, fairs, lake events and all the traditions that make summer in Western New York feel like summer. The good news is there will be no shortage of things to do. Summer 2026 is already shaping up to be a busy one across Chautauqua County and New York State, with packed event calendars stretching from Memorial Day through ...