At about 9 years old, I decided I wanted to build a treehouse. We had a sturdy black walnut tree in our backyard, and I had amassed a pile of old weathered fence slats with enough splinters to disable a battalion of enemy soldiers. I had a handful of nails I had painstakingly pulled from ...
I’ve been trying to figure out what most Americans really care about. If I had to guess, it would be the seven F’s: Family. Friends. Finances. Faith. Fairness. Feelings. And Freedom. Family comes first. At least it should. No matter what shape it takes, traditional, blended, adopted, ...
Most of the compliments I get about my articles come with the qualifier, “My favorite stories were about your grandkids.” Here’s the problem: all but one of the kids are pushing hard on adulthood. While I was busy writing stories about them, they were busy growing up. Someday, if my ...
A few years ago, Henry Cook, the retired chair of Somerset Trust Bank, asked me if I wanted to help him throw a party. Since Henry and I had already survived at least five Laurel Arts Somerfest celebrations back in the 1980s, I said yes immediately. At our age, when somebody offers you one more ...
As I approach an age that is significantly older than dirt, I realized that even though I know more about everything, I actually know a lot less about anything. When I was younger, I thought wisdom would be the reward for staying alive this long. Instead, it feels more like a flickering ...
My wife has a cold. That’s not normal. Here’s the worst part, it is a “Nick cold.” You know, the kind where I usually try to dislodge a lung and crack a few ribs before it finally clears up. But, since this is about me, here’s where things got miserable. She asked me to go shopping. I ...
