Sands and Stars

Spring! Here comes the Sun! Welcome to the first day of spring, a day in which Earth's northern hemisphere residents have high hopes they won't have to deal with frigid weather and ice storms for many months – and you'll be free of The Weather Channel, and its ridiculous practice of “naming” winter storms. Ridiculous? Trillium beginning to bloom at Enlow Fork, Greene County, Pa. in 2018. You see, the winter storm names are native to The Weather Channel. No government service uses them ; they're not official in any way! You won't hear them from the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, not even the Punxsutawney Center for Marmota Monax Predictions. In fact, as an editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in years gone by, I crafted an edict backed by the editor that these winter storm names NOT be used in print or online products. Simply, I believe, the use of winter storm names is a clever way of promoting The Weather Channel. Ye...

A Day in the Life Rodney Dangerfield. Now there was a venerable comedian I could understand. Specifically, one of his popular jokes really hit home with me, and it has special meaning today. More than most days. Rodney said, approximately: “When I got up this morning, I picked up my shirt, and a button fell off. I picked up my briefcase, and the handle fell off. I’m afraid to go to the bathroom!" So, while I'm chuckling about things and, in a tip of my cap to Rodney, I’ll share my day with you. So far. It’s not 3 o’clock yet (as I write this). Don't be scared. Come along! Today I …  Took the dog for a walk before sunrise. While I was stopped and talking with a neighbor, I was bitten — by one of Florida’s nasty bugs. And why not? I mean, it’s February, right? Bugs should be everywhere. The bite on the back of my left leg was itchy for hours. I hope there’s no swelling. Stepped on a roofing nail outside. It was huge, rusty, and it embedded itself in my shoe. It did not pierc...

 Coal Train Dreams Author's note : Lack of inspiration may be the reason my blog has been dormant since around Thanksgiving. So I've decided to reach into my writing archives to share this dream of sorts with you. I hope it will brighten your day in this, a normally cold, dark and blah time of year. By the way, artist Colleen Nelson and musician Michael Gettel are key motivators for this piece -- Colleen, who allowed me so often to crash on her couch where I dreamed, and Michael, whose song "Through the Doorway" is an accompaniment to my story. His music resonates each time I revisit this dreamy scene. A heartfelt thanks to them! 💖 A gentle nudge by the dog awakened me on a chilly January morning in the country. I reached down to pat my canine companion, and as I opened my still-sleepy eyes and gazed out the window, I saw light snowflakes falling from a gray sky. They looked as though they were tiny dancers, waltzing gracefully in an early winter performance. Surely...

While it appears to be a nice late autumn day in my native Western Pennsylvania, it doesn't compare to those spring and summer days of childhood spent along the Slippery Rock and Connoquenessing creeks. And what would spark these far-flung memories on a Thanksgiving Day as I sit in Florida? Well, an unintentional search of the Internet that evoked a thankful heart for what I'd had in my past, of course. I don't know who to praise for the following photos – I discovered them by accident. They certainly have brought me miles of smiles! In the first, we get a canoe view of The Point – what we from the Ellwood City, Pa., area called the spot where the Slippery Rock empties into the Connoquenessing. That's The Point itself, that rock that juts into the waters as we look upstream into the Slippery Rock. What a great fishing area for young boys and adult anglers alike! The water here is said to be quite deep. I've never been able to discern its true depth, but in a boyhood...

Some of the most enjoyable days in life are the ones that are unexpected. I had a delightful moment earlier this afternoon when I talked to a Korean War veteran and his son in the local grocery store.  Front page of a Pittsburgh newspaper on the day of the Korean armistice. Our chance meeting has had me smiling ever since. As I always do when I see someone wearing a Korean veteran hat, I stopped and thanked him for his service. You see, I was born on July 27, 1953 -- the date of the armistice that was meant to stop the fighting. My birthdate is one reason I never forget the Korean vets. This gentleman was beyond delightful. He smiled when I told him my birthday tidbit, and he took my hand. He said in a gruff and laborious voice, "Why, I'm 93 years old now!"  I wish I knew more about him, but our meeting was too brief in the packed grocery store aisle. Before we departed, I told him that my father-in-law was a Korean War veteran. That caused my new friend to give me one fi...

Never does Veterans Day pass without me spending an inordinate amount of time thinking of my maternal grandfather, Thomas John Gray (1894–1934). Veterans Day after World War I was celebrated as Armistice Day. I honor both references to this important day deeply in my heart. I loved him, though I never met him, since he died nearly two decades before my birth in 1953. But, oh, what an astronomical impact he's had on my life, and that of my daughters and yes, even my granddaughter, Layla. You see, Thomas was a veteran of World War I. My grandfather fought overseas in that war and was injured in battle. Think about that – he was injured in battle. His death years later was attributed to wounds from the war. Much to our glee, as you can understand, Thomas survived long enough to have a daughter – my mother, Dorothy – in 1920. It's clear that if Thomas had not survived the war, and if he had not been strong enough in the final years of his life, that I would not exist. Nor my chil...

Like a speeding freight train, it’s easy to hear, see and feel it coming and passing. We’re about to . . . fall back. And that’s much to the chagrin of a loud legion of foes. At 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022, Daylight Saving Time comes to a crashing end for most Americans (and some others). It’s said that “we gain an hour.” Nonetheless, so very many people are vociferous adversaries of this change. They want to stop this biannual switch of our timepieces. And DST seems to be favored over year-long Standard Time. I’m not going to argue for or against this proposal . 🙊 But I’d like you to take a look at some, uh, timely information, before you decide. Consider this news report about making DST permanent : In March, the Senate unanimously voted to pass the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. If the bill passes the House, where it’s currently “held at desk,” as there’s a similar legislation under consideration—and is signed into law by president Joe Bid...