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Working Together Toward A Better Tomorrow

A lot has changed in 2020. COVID-19 has caused modifications to the way we live. The impact is not only being felt in Chautauqua County. Life has changed all around the world. Schools have closed. Businesses have closed. People have lost their jobs or have been furloughed. Some places we love to visit, like gyms, museums, and amusement parks, are shuttered indefinitely. Many of the events we enjoy have been postponed, some for a full year. Others, like ball games, are starting to be played, but in empty stadiums. As a result of all this disruption and uncertainty, business owners and ...

Fluvanna Upgrades Are Nice

It has been a pleasant surprise to observe the new upgrades along Fluvanna Avenue in Jamestown. If you haven’t driven on this part of Route 430 recently, you should. In my view, the newly paved highway from Washington Street to the city line is a vast improvement over the prior road. Not only is the road smoother with a new black-top surface, its configuration is also safer for the traveling public. The new three-lane design with a continuous turning lane in the middle, makes left turns off the highway much easier with less constriction in traffic flow. Of course, the primary ...

Justices Debate Title VII

A June 15 Supreme Court opinion on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is worth reading. Title VII makes it unlawful “for an employer to ... discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.” As the court’s opinion notes, the issue was whether - given Title VII’s ban on discrimination because of sex - an employer may “fire someone simply for being homosexual or transgender.” Not long ago, the analysis may well have ...

Living With Dogs, Back Then And Now

Ralph was groomed last week. He “said” something about it by taking off for our back field, signaling, “Deer poop! I need deer poop! I must roll in deer poop!” When he returned, wagging his newly trimmed tail to con me into giving him a biscuit, our 11-year-old dog was, shall we say, aromatic. I think he was also pleased with his svelte summer look. Ralph got his l-o-n-g black coat from his Aussie Shepherd mother. It makes him look about 20 pounds heavier than his normal 60 pounds. During a half-century of having dogs, I never had them professionally groomed, trimmed or ...

Hearing The Sound Of Nothing But The Song Of The Night On The Wind

Isn’t it amazing what you can hear when the power goes out? I was sitting outside tonight when everything went black. The air conditioners were no longer buzzing, the TVs turn off and everyone came together in the darkness, wondering what happened. The only sounds you could hear were the chirping crickets outside and a whimper from my toddler. My husband and I turned on our flashlights on our phones and searched for the candles we purchased for just such an occurrence. Of course, the votives were no where to be seen. We had to settle for three candles that hadn’t been thought of ...

Trauma Can Have Lasting Effects

Trauma is a word that has been a focus for the last several years. Trauma has a significant effect on all facets of our lives. Childhood trauma has a lasting effect on reactions, behaviors, and relationships into adulthood. Trauma is defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as the emotional response someone has to an extremely negative event. While trauma is a normal reaction to a horrible event, the effects can be so severe that they interfere with an individual’s ability to live a normal life. In a case such as this, help may be needed to treat the stress and ...