LITITZ, Pa. Forty years ago, a widowed Amish woman and her daughter watched from their window late one night as someone in dark clothing walked up to their farmhouse near Gordonville and left a basket on the porch. The frightened widow summoned her son from the attached house next door. They saw movement in the […]

Garden centers are mostly sold out of flowers and vegetables by now, but there seem to be plenty of herbs still for sale. Now that you have (hopefully) gotten your veggies and annual flowers planted, this is a good time to plant some herbs. My vegetable garden — where I have always grown herbs — […]

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. Braylin Debonise dozes in her crib, barely a week into the world and blissfully unaware. She doesn’t realize that she is spending the first few weeks of her life being treated for the opioids she was exposed to at birth. She doesn’t yet understand that her mother’s history of addiction led to […]

It’s been a few months, so it must be time to talk about women and “the draft” again. As if on cue, the U.S. Senate recently voted 85-13 in favor of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act. Inside was a provision that will require women ages 18- 26 to sign up for the Selective Service. […]

When it comes to watering, Mother Nature generally does it best. But as I write this, we haven’t had any rain in over a week and the soil is dry. Bone dry, and I am watering my vegetable garden most evenings. In general, I don’t like overhead watering systems. Yes, they do mimic a rainstorm, […]

NEW YORK On a Friday evening nearly a year ago, the White House was awash in rainbow-colored lights, celebrating the momentous Supreme Court ruling that led to nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. Across the country, gays and lesbians embraced and partied and in some cases scrambled to arrange can’t-wait-another-day weddings. “Love Wins!” was the catchphrase […]

When my husband, Dustin, suggested that I write last week’s column about people’s tendency to speed through residential streets, making them unsafe for neighborhood children and traditional childhood play, I asked him if he had a hard hat I could wear afterward. It would be a publish-and-duck kind of column, I said. I was going […]

My sister, Ruth Anne, and I spent a lot of time on my grandfather’s farm in Spencer, Massachusetts, when we were young. Grampy grew the most fabulous cukes, carrots and tomatoes — and flowers that would almost make the “faint of heart” swoon. I loved my time there. One of the best features, on a […]

In the world of summer barbecues, the pickle hardly plays a starring role. Truth to be told, “hold the pickles” is my standard order, as I am not a fan of pickles on a cheeseburger, nor do I particularly care for pickle juice leaking onto my sandwich bread at a deli. But homemade quick pickles […]

BEULAH, Mich. Steve Radionoff knows that hair grows and can be cut into a series of styles. He also knows that careers can grow and curl in unexpected directions. He used to own a bicycle and kayak shop in the Lapeer area. Then he sold the sports store, moved north, bought The Barber Shop and […]