Corn mazes.
They have become an integral part of any good old-fashioned festive fall weekend, right up there with pumpkin and apple picking, hayrides (both traditional and haunted), and devouring anything pumpkin-spiced. If you’ve embarked on a day trip to a local farm during the pleasant, but flawed fall season then there’s a good chance that the farm has some sort of corn maze. And with that most likely being the case, there’s an even better chance you’ve either dove right in and attempte
Leaves are turning all shades of brown, bronze, gold and scarlet ---- and falling ---- falling ---wafting down into crunchy heaps---- and there’s a morning chill in the air. As the spooky time of Halloween nears and the weather grows less balmy, our daylight hours will shorten with the ceasing of DST next month. I moan and groan about this every year since, when the darkness closes in, my mind tells me it is time to cease labors and go to bed. Five o’clock is a bit early for that message. T
I puttered around the kitchen yesterday, an early October morning, baking Ed’s favorite chocolate chip cookies and my hearty squash. Every now and then I glanced out the windows. I love the scenery of our backyard… the gardens, bushes and trees… all planted by us once upon a golden time. And the creek, fields and hills beyond, all formerly part of Ed’s family’s farm, now filled with cart paths and well-kept green grass circles that swallow up dimpled golf balls… with a few that manage to find
In the near future, a New York State Wage Board, established under a 2019 law known as the “Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act,” will revisit one of the key provisions of that law – and its decision could forever impact New York agriculture as we have known it.
Specifically, this Wage Board could decide, without legislative approval, to lower the mandatory overtime pay threshold from the current 60 hours to 40 hours.
In other words, the future of farming in New York State still han
Change… whether visible on the exterior or inside and unseen, it can be a hard adjustment to make. I don’t like change. Those who know me, know that aspect of me well. Change has not always been kind to me. But, once I wrap my brain around it, understand and accept said change, I roll with it and move forward. Because, as I’ve grown older, and wiser with the years, I’ve learned change is inescapable… of value for the lessons it teaches… and have learned not to fear it. Perhaps some of you
October ---- – the elixir of autumn! Of course, we have had snow in October; not often, but I remember one or two snowy Halloweens, and while Kerm was still with Cooperative Extension, there was always a inter-county horse show on Columbus Day weekend. More often than not, weather was yucky sometimes to the point of snow showers. The horses wouldn’t be too happy but the kids were fine. It takes quite a lot of weather to dampen the spirits of horse-riding teens. But in my personal view of O
As a mental health counselor, I am witnessing an emotional ass-beating unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed before. People are coming into my office defeated, exhausted and some, barely able to function. Others are restless, uneasy, walking out of jobs and even marriages without a second thought. Some are fleeing, making big moves, a futile attempt to escape themselves. Some are consumed with rage, guilt and shame. Prior to COVID, it wasn’t unusual to have parallels between my story and the
Your grandparents earned money selling to their neighbors. And, they didn’t need an annoying pyramid scheme to do it. Selling what you have extra, and helping out neighbors in your spare time can be more valuable than you think.
In most places in the world, the idea of doing business with your immediate neighbors is not that unusual. People are bartering and trading over fences and across hedgerows. The family works for the family, and generally speaking, the money stays local.
The other day I was sitting in a coffee shop when a rap song began playing in the café. The F-word—you know, the one that rhymes with muck and yuck—featured prominently in the lyrics. I was happy there were no children present.
After leaving the café, I went to our library to return some books. Next door to the library is a public park with two basketball courts and a playground for children. On my way back to the car, I could hear some kid yelling the F-bomb as he called on his teammate t
Under disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, beginning in March 2020, we witnessed an unleashing of state government by executive order unlike ever before.
Cuomo utilized at least one hundred Executive Orders that allowed him to unilaterally change hundreds of state laws, as well as implement rules and regulations and make spending decisions, without legislative approval or local input. Any semblance of legislative checks and balances was abandoned. The same was true for local decision ma
“You have breast cancer.” Among the scariest words we can hear. I was in shock. My mind was racing. Tears began to trickle down my cheeks. I was both numb and yet devastated emotionally. It caught me totally off guard. Me? Cancer? I could not think clearly. My heart was pounding. I was in panic mode. This cannot be happening! I have so much to do to take care of my husband. I don’t have time for this interruption in my life!
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Diagnosed
Learning that last Sunday, 09/19/21, was Abuse Awareness Day in the Christian Reformed Church (in which both Ed and I grew up), I am sharing my blog which was posted to their website in 2017.
There once was a man who appeared on the scene. Suave and debonair with confidence bold. Flattery oozed like syrup sweet. And despite her protests, he flattered yet more. After all, he said, she deserved the praise for she was worth it. Despite her protests, she absorbed the attention… until she
by Erin Doane
I had never heard of local Elmira folk artist Alsace S. Blandford until recently which is not surprising. The ex-slave painted during most of his life but few of his works seem to have survived. The museum has three paintings donated by his son in 1966. Our own archives only has a slim folder of information about him. The few sources available provided just a tiny glimpse into his long life.
Alsace S. Blandford was born a slave on March 17, 1858 in Maryland. H
It doesn’t feel as if history has been all that kind to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and while they’re reportedly working on a new album, it remains to be seen if anyone is reportedly waiting to hear it. I mean, I am, but I might be in the minority there. But such is life for a band once they close in on nearly four decades together. At a certain point, an act faces a fork in the road. One path consists of playing the hits and keeping things going, while the other path is made up of new material an
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has now put forth one of her administration’s most ambitious public policy proposals to date and, in doing so, gave all of us a good look at her administration’s vision for addressing one of our state’s most urgent short- and long-term challenges: energy.
With that in mind, it’s fair to say at this juncture that the Hochul administration is squarely following in the footsteps of the Cuomo administration – which only continues to raise serious and troubling qu
The Autumn Equinox has just passed and we are officially in the delightful fall season. The leaves are beginning to turn and the garden is shutting down. I’m making small stabs at fall cleaning as the crisper air gives me more energy. Note the “small” and “stabs”. Today the rains are pelting down and there is no crispness to the air --- but that is typical for the turning of the season.
Happy Anniversary to Shawn and Kristen! Their wedding, a few years ago, was a fine day in the park w
I can’t swim. Oh, I took lessons… learned to float and doggy paddle at the Clifton, NJ YMCA. And I loved playing in the water with my siblings and cousins at Green Pond, a lake in northwestern New Jersey where my aunt and uncle had a cottage. Didn’t even mind being in water way over my head. There, in the safe swimming section, we’d jump off the dock or have our dad toss us over his shoulder into the deep water. I loved it! But then… I almost drowned.
I was either 10 or 11. Our family
Recently I watched Jaws. I love Jaws and rarely need an excuse to watch it. It might be one of my favorite movies and for the most part, I don’t really care about sharks. Jaws is fun to watch in the summer because it’s essentially a summer movie and you know, when in Rome. But it’s great to watch any other time of year also because if nothing else, it makes you think about summer, and studies have shown that thinking about summer is never a bad thing.
For the record, I have never seen any o
The years keep passing, twenty now, and Americans of all ages will never forget.
Two decades later, we can never forget.
Throughout this 20th Anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks that forever altered our nation and the world, we will, in the words of former President George W. Bush, pause to “honor the memory of the 11th day.”
There will be solemn observances at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial in Washington, at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania,
Analogies give us a glimpse of similarities and truths of a story tucked within a story. Thinking about this concept after my poem below was written brought to mind Mark Twain’s British book, “The Prince and The Pauper,” published first in Canada in 1899 and subsequently in the U.S. in 1882.
In Twain’s beloved story, a young prince and a pauper (who happen to look a lot alike and were born on the same day) trade places in life. The prince experiences the roughness of a lowly life just a
Do you have a time of the year when you feel more alive than other times? My favorite season is about to begin; mid-September through mid-November. As summer is winding down, my spirits are generally rising. I’m not sure why; perhaps the scent of falling leaves, the lessening of the humidity, or the return of the chickadees to our bird feeders. Whatever the reason I’m usually happier in the fall. As I think back, most of my depressive times have been in late winter (who wouldn’t be) or earl
Sometimes words seem so utterly inadequate. I awoke this morning to learn a friend lost her beloved sister quite unexpectedly yesterday. Thinking of all the devastation and loss of life Hurricane Ida left behind, and the sadness that has engulfed us all from the debacle in Afghanistan half a world away, our thoughts and prayers and support continue to be with each one so heavily affected by loss.
And I remember that five years ago tomorrow our world came close to crashing down in a differe
Sorry for the delay but was a good excuse for me to have to go back and get a refresher.
One thing the area is not short on is pizza shops, bars and fast food. So when I was told we had an authentic Jamaican place I was quite happy and knew it was gonna be my next review.
Located on the corner of Davis and Noble Streets in Elmira is R&J Jamaican Cuisine. Small building but big plates of food.
Starting with the first picture you have brown stew chicken. If you want chicken but
