I first learned about rain checks when I was a wee lad of 6 or 7 and was taken to a baseball game (Braves at Mets). There on the ticket stub was a tear-off portion called a rain check, spelling out the terms. I read the words carefully, even though it was a fine summer day.
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It seems like this has been a very mild fall. I am sitting in a very muggy, hot house, listening to rain patter on the roof this Thursday morning following a summery day of wearing a T-shirt and shorts to try to stay cool as I picked apples, cut corn stalks, and picked raspberries. We plante…
Often I am asked, “Why do you watch so many movies?” My answer is always the same, I like a good story. No matter the medium, a good story is in, whether it be books, films, or even newspapers, there are few things like a good story or even great story. “A Star is Born” is a great story, a s…
Having a problem with the deer getting into our crops, we contacted New Hampshire Fish and Game a couple of months ago. They lent us a “Critter Gitter,” an electronic motion detector that goes off when creatures wander by with light strobes and a series of annoying screeches. We have placed …
In the late summer of 1961 I had the advantage of going to summer camp on an island in the middle of Lake Winnipesaukee. One day at camp I was walking back from chow hall to our assigned cabin with another 9-year-old boy. He was a red-headed, freckle-faced Irish kid from the Boston area who,…
Detroit circa early to mid 1980s, a city in the midst of a crack epidemic in a country in a war on drugs. The setting of the true story of Rick Wershe Jr. or as he is more commonly known “White Boy Rick,” a street moniker that also serves as the title of the film in this week's review.
For many years I was in denial. Yes, I refused to accept that fall and winter were on the way by October. I didn’t start fall clean up until November, and by then it was cold, raw, often wet and unpleasant out. Now, having reached a certain age, I prefer to work when it is warm and sunny — s…
Good penmanship, employing the longhand, cursive, or script style of lettering has become a dying art form. I refer to it as an art form, because when done properly it is very pleasing to the eye. The cursive style of writing was invented to speed up the writing process in that all the lett…
Maybe it is silly to give this so little room. Such is my ache for independent radio with a human voice.
Summer keeps chugging along here at the farm. The only crops that gave up the ghost early were the cucumbers, leaving some who ordered cukes for pickles with empty jars. The bean field was set to produce what looked like a great late crop, with blossoms covering the plants. Late last week, h…
Summer is over, officially, and the garden knows it. Tomatoes exist only in the kitchen, many flowers are looking lackluster, and trees are losing their leaves. What’s a gardener to do? I buy color in the form of chrysanthemums and fall asters. And I also enjoy wild asters that appear along …
I have the privilege of owning a Jack Russell terrier named Junebug. I named her that because when she was still a few months old she was about the size of a June bug. She is 11 years old now, and she weighs about 20 pounds. Jack Russells normally live to be about 20 years old. This breed of…
Every now and then, away from the popcorn smell and the often loudly talkative setting of a theater, from the comfort of my own couch I will sit down with an indie film and fall in love with it. “Hearts Beat Loud” is one of those films.
One of the most delightful qualities of the film ‘A Simple Favor’ is the French pop soundtrack. ‘A Simple Favor’s’ soundtrack is almost entirely French pop. One of my favorites is “Les Passants” by Zaz. In “Les Passants” there is a line that says, “these days I run towards balance.” Balance …
Here’s one for you…
Never take “no” for an answer.
We live in a pretty wonderful place. I can’t fathom living anywhere else by choice. I attended the New Hampshire Association of Counties annual meeting with my husband this week, and we attended meetings and seminars and shared meals with some dedicated and interesting people, all as committ…
I sometimes wonder if I’m part squirrel. No, I don’t bury acorns for winter, but I do love putting up food for winter, especially potatoes. They’re the ultimate “comfort food,” as far as I am concerned, and I rarely have too many. If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to harvest an…
In the summer of 2013, “The Conjuring,” one of the scariest films from the last decade, came out. “The Conjuring” had such an immersive story that it has developed into its own universe, The Conjuring universe. Currently there are five film entries into this universe: “The Conjuring” 1 &…
When I was a lad of 16 years, I was dating a young lass in my neighborhood. One day her 12-year-old brother, whose name was Jape, asked me if I would join him trout fishing in our neighborhood brook some time, and I said sure I would.
If you watch or read the news, you no doubt have seen or heard that President Trump’s tariffs on commodities coming in from around the world have hit our nation’s breadbasket hard. For years, agriculture has been grooming and refining trade deals with overseas markets. In the relative blink …
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