Guest Column
The seed catalogs start coming in January, and I am always jealous of the photos: huge, glossy, unmarred vegetables unlike my own smaller, insect-gnawed produce. I’ll buy my usual beans ‘n’ taters ‘n’ maters from the local dealers, but I always thumb through new catalogs and pick a couple of unusual items I cannot find locally. Read more
April, once we get through any foolishness on day 1, quickly carries us much deeper into the joys and perils of spring. The eye-popping yellows of early-blooming forsythia and jonquils are soon replaced by the eye-watering yellow of tree pollen. The increasing sun angle and warmer days don’t require winter coats but do call for a layer of sunscreen. Plentiful rainfall has lawns greening, dogwood flowers about to burst open and trees ready to use a little biochemistry to turn that ground water and extra sunlight into a rich, green forest. Read more
Recently I was in my doctor’s waiting room with three other ladies. We were all masked up, of course, but that didn’t stop us from from chatting and laughing to pass the time. Read more
A teen in Nottingham, England went into a coma last March after being struck by a car and just awakened this week to an odd world of COVID and masks and quarantines. We may envy him that he missed the last 11 months. Read more
During my time teaching Earth and space science, I was occasionally asked, during our astronomy unit, “What’s your favorite planet?” My quick response was always the same: Earth. That was not one of the responses students were hoping for, but I persisted and still do. We share our solar system with seven other amazing planets as well as thousands of other very cool space objects but we have, far and away, the best of them all. Read more
A new temporary storage facility has been built on Route 15 here in Zion Crossroads. I am constantly amazed at how popular these types of places are. Apparently many of us have more stuff than can fit into our home, so we rent space to store it. And not just any space, but space that is both heated and air conditioned! Our forefathers would not understand this phenomenon, I’m sure. Read more
While there are drawbacks to wintertime walks on the big planet, there are also some big advantages. There are no issues with humidity and sweating, there are no flies, ticks or mosquitoes looking to snack on you, no spider webs to wrap around your face and no danger of surprise or attack from snakes. Read more
It’s a wind-down month … winding down from six weeks of holidays and feasts, and an excess of sports and salty, fattening snacks. There’s not a great deal to look forward to in January except returning useless gifts or a White Sale at Macy’s or sudden and total isolation from the extended family, and that can be a good thing. There are useful things that need doing: last-minute yardwork, perhaps, or work on taxes, thank-you’s to be written. Read more
Dear readers, a couple of days after Christmas I went to the Zion Crossroads Walmart to pick up some milk. And thank goodness I did! Because the store shelves were already fully stocked with Valentine’s Day candy, and I was able to purchase some before they ran out. Everyone knows heart-shaped chocolate tastes best when it’s eaten with the last bit of Christmas eggnog! Read more
If you want a cheap tour of the Holy Land, check for a church group going in January – but dress warmly and carry a raincoat. That’s the rainy season there, tourists are scarce, and thus rates are low. Nazareth is about the same 33-degree-north latitude as San Diego and Phoenix, but you won’t be in either. Not even close. December and January are the rainy months and temperatures run in the low 50s. Read more
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If it might improve local broadband access, would you give your electric provider a free easement on your property?
A Culpeper landowner filed suit against Rappahannock Electric Cooperative because the company tried to use a new state law to install broadband equipment within existing electric easements on private property.