The Edge of the Wood: Youth seek future in court

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For the past several years, I have been among those predicting our youth would have to resolve the problems we oldsters have wrought upon our home. It turns out they’re already at it – and doing more than merely crying out, “OK, Boomer!” when they detect a problem. Monday, a group of young people—ages from

The Inevitable

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The chipmunk that lived in the downspout behind my back porch died last week. Tommy murdered it. Does that sound hyperbolic?  Do cats commit murder? If he had any intention of eating it, I would say he killed it, but eating wasn’t part of the plan. He offed it for sport. He dropped it on

The Edge of the Wood: Profits over science mark SCOTUS decision

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Wetlands— those swampy areas we sometimes encounter as we wander through our forests and other undeveloped acres—may seem like wasted land, but they are hard at work reducing flood risk during heavy rain events and filtering to provide safe drinking water for plants and other critters, including us humans. In a classic case of “he

The Edge of the Wood: A dark and stormy night

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The day started the way a spring Dad-with-13-year-old motorcycling day should start: sunny but not too much heat. It was a post-Navy-retirement run from Norfolk, Virginia, where I had spent the previous eight years, to Maine, where I was raised. Night One was Locust Lake State Park, near Mahanoy City, PA. We filled out tummies

Stumbling blocks?

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Somebody once said there is no difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones aside from the way we use them.  Life has taught me that while one can put a stumbling block in my way, I am the one who decides whether I am going to use those stones to get ahead in life.  The older

The Edge of the Wood: 540 feet

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From my front yard, I watch the sun creep over the hill behind my shoulder, lighting the street in front of me, beginning from the far end and slowly illuminating the blackness before me like a Mother peeling the blanket from her child’s sleepy head. I live at approximately 540 feet above sea level. Some

Thoughtfulness

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It’s easy to fall into the habit of simply mouthing the words to familiar Scripture verses, slogans,  or prayers such as The Lord’s Prayer or The Serenity Prayer instead of carefully pondering the words.  When I really think about what I’m praying, I often find one special phrase jumps out, such as “accept the things

The Edge of the Wood: When the GPS isn’t helping

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In an online video the other day, a fellow wanderer was making his way through an area with which I am fairly familiar. As I watched him follow his camera along the path, I noticed places I recognized, places I had, in my own wanderings, passed by. I was reminded of an experience several years

Supports Barlow for Liberty Township supervisor

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Politics, the drama is draining. We weren’t getting involved. However, doing research and verifying facts, available on Liberty Township website and through Right to Know, of one candidate’s statements we found them to be misleading, some simply false. More alarming is some of his followers are taking them at face value. Many people don’t have

The Edge of the Wood: Road trip through my mind

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A recent car-shopping trip with a friend got me thinking about my history with motor vehicles. My first was an English Ford convertible. It was white and cost me $75, which, even in 1967, was not bad. I don’t remember the year or model, but it was old. It had character, which meant some things

Come Dance with Me

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On Saturday night I had the best time I can remember in this little town. And believe me, my memories are many and varied. Thirty-three years ago, I made Gettysburg my home. As a single mom, I brought my two children to St. James church and discovered a place they could feel safe and we

Praise and thanksgiving

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“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.“  (Thorton Wilder)   I gaze out the window. The sun is shining after days of pounding rain.  I am grateful for days of gloom as our Mother Earth needed a long refreshing drink.  Yet I am very

Thoughts to ponder

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A number of you commented on my recent blog about detoxing our brains.   Here are some additional concepts and thoughts that may help you detox from negative self-directed messages.  They’ve certainly got me thinking about the many ways I create problems for myself. –What they say about me says a lot more about them

Worry

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  “It’s not the answers you get but the questions you ask, that’s all important,” my dad used to tell me.  He was convinced that it’s in framing our questions that we begin to define the various components making up an issue or problem. I thought of Dad this morning when I read one of the

Tucker Carlson’s departure and Fox News’ expensive legal woes show the problem with faking ‘authenticity’

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Jacob L. Nelson, University of Utah For decades, Fox News thrived because the people behind it understood what their audience wanted and were more than willing to deliver: television news – or what Fox called news – from a populist perspective. Fox is consistently the most-watched cable news channel, far ahead of competitors like MSNBC

Commitment

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As news cycle follows news cycle, I find special meaning in a line from The Little Prince.   “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret.  It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye.“   Is that why we humans find working together so

Springtime symphony

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I can hear them tuning up. So can my spouse, whose cabin fever I’ll put up against any New Englander who thinks winter has been too darn long. My best friend, bless her, has impatiently awaited the assembly of the “garden corral” in the parking lot of the nearby Wal-Mart. As the first concrete blocks

Events venue owner speaks out about zoning

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Two big concerns that have been expressed about Gettysburg Borough’s proposed draft event venue ordinance seem to be noise and parking. The current Borough ordinances have an entire section devoted to the regulation of noise. It covers a host of noise-producing activities and applies to all properties in the Borough. The Borough ordinances also contain

Grateful for gratitude

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With Spring in the air,  it is becoming easier to focus on gratitude.  Spring in Adams County is something to behold! Gratitude, you see,  is good for my mental health.  It’s good for my shattered soul, and it’s keeping me physically healthy.  The Psalms, one of the most popular books of all time, is filled

Questions Gettysburg Borough’s decisionmaking

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At its March 27, 2023 work session, after two public hearings, the Gettysburg Borough Council discussed the proposed event venue ordinance that will affect seven zoning districts, and the proposed zoning map change that pertains to Johns and Highland Avenues.  In support of the map change, Mr. Stone of Colt Park provided an eloquent statement

It lives!

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An ethereal blanket of translucent maroon — the color of shrubs in transition from the blah gray of the past few months to the green cloaking that soon will block the view of even large rocks more than about 50 feet distant — seems to flow like an incoming fog across the forest floor.. The

Routines

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I was reminded last week that I am a grateful creature of habit.  I  have some fairly fixed routines that help me enjoy each day.  I sleep until about 7:30 each morning, get up, have my coffee, walk with my friend, eat breakfast, blog and do what household chores there are to do.  Then and

The Edge of the Wood: Landmarks

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I found myself this week looking back a few years when, well … “I used to use that as a landmark. Something’s got to go back up there,” Ariste Reno of New York, formerly of Chicago, told me when I visited the World Trade Center site on the first anniversary of its destruction. I thought

Letting go

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What are we to do when we become world-weary?  Overwhelmed by bad news?  Discouraged that the bad guys just keep avoiding any serious consequences?  Feel everything is too much trouble that nothing seems to make any difference?  When such feelings take over, I am reminded of a story we Mennonites like to tell about Orrie

Third Ward Contradictions

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On Monday, March 27, the Gettysburg Borough Council will hold public hearings for two proposed zoning ordinance changes that will affect two neighborhoods in the Third Ward. One is the Johns Ave/Highland Avenue area, where there are single-family homes with good-sized yards, just south of the hospital. The other is just north of the hospital,

Self-Talk

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Positive thinking goes nowhere unless it is followed by action. That’s precisely why we say the road to hell is paved by good intentions.  Meaning to do something and actually doing it are two very different things.  Most of us are procrastinators, one of those character flaws many of us humbly ask God to remove

The Edge of the Wood: The paradox

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I sit looking out my upstairs window at four trees poking through mostly lawn. Last year, we planted a 4×16-foot wildflower plot on a piece of that lawn. This year the strip will be 4×100, roughly — a divider between our suburban lot and the one next to ours and, we hope, a larger magnet for butterflies.

Why shocking new data shows we can’t stop fighting hate | Wednesday Morning Coffee

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by John L. Micek, Pennsylvania Capital-StarMarch 15, 2023 If you ever needed a reminder that we can’t turn a blind eye to hate, then new data from the Anti-Defamation League should more than do the trick. As the Capital-Star reported Tuesday, white supremacist propaganda hit an all-time high across the country in 2022, even as antisemitic propaganda more

A mindful month

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Perhaps you’ve found yourself rushing around lately, fueled by nervous energy and coffee. You may have said to yourself, “I’ve got to slow down and take time to breathe.” Perhaps you thought about learning to meditate but immediately said to yourself, “No… that won’t work. My mind is too busy for meditation.” Becoming mindful doesn’t

Self care and self acceptance

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Self-acceptance and care are much easier to talk about than to practice.  It’s so easy to push our basic physical and emotional needs to the side because most of us grew up being told it is important to put others first; that pride in self and self-confidence is somehow sinful.  Yet self-negation, self-pity and viewing

The Edge of the Wood: The trouble with green

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March wind waves the blossoming red leaves of the maple, bluebirds, and cardinals clinging to the branches as they try to overpower the blossoming red leaves with their own raiment. It’s not yet Easter, but many critters are eager to show off their colors. Grabbing seeds from the grass, diminutive Dark-eyed Juncos in their white

Codependency

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Over the years,   I have read many definitions of codependency.  All relate in some way to discounting our own needs and feelings and looking to others to validate and make us happy.   After all, we live our lives in relationship to others, our environment, our culture, and our jobs, so why wouldn’t we

Family from Afghanistan Celebrates One Year in Gettysburg

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The Refugee Resettlement Partnership  (RRP) of Gettysburg has welcomed two families from Afghanistan.  The first family passed the milestone of one year in Gettysburg on February 12th.   We celebrated this first anniversary with a small gathering of family members–those who were not at work or sports — and RRP members who dropped in for tea

The Edge of the Wood: Half-full, but leaking badly

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There is continuous discussion among us concerning whether the glass of our continued inhabitance upon this planet be half empty or half full. I choose to believe the latter, although plenty of us are hard at work draining what is left. Our forests will never look as they looked at the end of the last

Self Care

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I locked myself out of my house the other day.  I wanted to give my new neighbor a key since we were going away for a week,  so I grabbed a fistful of keys,  stepped outside to make sure I had the right key, and….  You guessed it!  I locked myself out!   Fortunately, it

The Edge of the Wood: Every body gotta eat

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Outside my window, birds and squirrels and a presumable variety of other critters are pairing up in my backyard — bluebirds and house sparrows have commenced their annual fight over the bluebird houses that, if history is prognosticator, will soon be home to a clutch of sparrow chicks. House Sparrows are the definition of “backyard

Donate books for Rwandan children at Cottage Creperie

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To Gettysburg Area Residents, How important are books to you and your kids? Imagine a place where children come to school, and there are no books for them on the shelves. This is what confronts families daily in Rwanda, the largest country in Africa. TEACHRwanda, a nonprofit founded in 2016 by a retired teacher from

Questions book “challenges” at GASD

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Editor’s note: Assistant Dean and Director of Scholarly Communications at Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library Janelle Wertzberger presented this statement to the Board of Directors regarding the Gettysburg Area School District’s proposed new policy on library materials on Tuesday evening. My name is Janelle Wertzberger. I currently have one child in the district and another is

Support our Afghan refugees

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Two remarkable Afghan families who helped support the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. Embassy in Kabul have been welcomed to Adams County by a partnership of 8 Gettysburg churches and many interfaith volunteers. Our two families are flourishing, contributing to the community and working local jobs. They need help, however, to be able to stay

Jimmy Carter, An Under-appreciated President

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A rough consensus has emerged about Jimmy Carter’s presidency (1977-1981) and his subsequent life. Between his work on democracy and elections and his work volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, there is little doubt that he set a standard for the post-presidency not likely to be equaled. And this record has been widely acknowledged, including the

The ultimate revenge

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 I’m a great one for shoveling clutter into drawers and closets,  but that just means going through every paper and envelope when I’m looking for something specific.   I didn’t find the address I’d been looking for this morning, but I did discover a scrap of paper with a scribbled quote.  “Resentment must give way

The Edge of the Wood

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Cure for cabin fever Cabin Fever is that ailment that forces one, eventually, to either leave the house or kill everyone too slow to escape. I opted for the former action. “Where are you going?” She Who Must Be Loved queried. A Hairy woodpecker has made progress disassembling a decomposing Gray birch tree. (John Messeder

Gratitude…again and again

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Today Is a day for gratitude.  In fact, every day is a day for gratitude.  Since now is all I’ll ever have, this moment is the only moment I have for which to be grateful.  And I am grateful. Extremely grateful.   Just having returned from sharing breakfast with a friend, I am very aware that

The Edge of the Wood

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Welcome to Emanon The thing about development is it never seems to work out as well as it was planned – except for the developers. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not opposed to growth. I enjoy, for instance, trees large enough to make shade on a summer afternoon and creeks wide enough to have pools

Agreeing to disagree

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 Sometimes we gut react to a situation, impulsively decide to take a risk, to speak out, take a stand.  I think of my quiet, introverted, shy husband who decided after 9/11 that declaring war on Iraq was not the appropriate way to respond to those horrendous events.   Crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, in constant pain,

Connections matter

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The longer I live on this earth, the more I realize connections with others is what life is all about.  It has been a few years now of many polarizing views throughout the country and world.  We really all are more alike than different.  Whether people want to admit it or not, we all just

Preparing for rebirth

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Spring is nigh upon us. At least it seems that way. The forecasted “one-to-three inches” of snow this week was gone the next day. ’Tis nearing the season for taking a youngster fishing. Some fishing is allowed now; check out the PA Fish and Boat website for specifics on which species are fishable and where

A rumination about an aging county

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Way back when I was a youthful 68 years old, I was the one people told “I’d have never believed you were that old.” Now, five years later, time has caught up and I’m the one who everyone asks, “May I carry your tray, Sir?” As philosopher Ferris Bueller observed, “Life moves pretty fast. If you

Little things mean a lot

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It’s one of those dark rainy winter days for which I am profoundly thankful.  With so many areas of the world suffering from drought, we here in south central Pennsylvania are much blessed.  So far, we’ve been spared many of the extremes in rainfall, temperature,  and storms that have been devastating others.  The effects of

Climate change is real

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In an Op-Ed in the December 29 Gettysburg Times Bob Stilwell wrongly asserted that there is debate within the scientific community about human-caused climate change when in fact there is no such debate, and no doubts among actual climate researchers (scientists who actually publish their research findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals) that our burning of fossil fuels

Alice and Sparkle, I’m diving in head first

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Are you up to speed on this controversy? “Author” Ammaar Reshi created a children’s book, and some people are angry. Reshi started playing around with the new Artificial Intelligence text generator ChatGPT. On a lark, he tasked it to write a children’s book. Happy with the results, he turned to another AI program called MidJourney

Name that tree

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As a youngster, I spent most of my time afield by myself. I had a brother and a sister, and later a second sister, but there was something about wandering in the forest that appealed to me in ways it never did to the others. I tended, when not involved in the daily chores of

Shine brightly

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Mary Davis has a simple formula for happiness.  “Shine brightly.  See beauty.  Speak kindly.  Create joyfully.  Live thankfully.”  If there was ever a time for adopting her formula it is now.  I’m no Pollyanna, but I discovered long ago that negative thinking sets me up for unhappiness and failure.  In fact, viewing everything through a

Being connected

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“Modern American culture is fairly empty of any suggestions that one’s relationship with the land, to consumption and food, is a religious matter.  But it’s true; the decision to attend to the health of one’s habitat and food chain is a spiritual choice.  It’s also a political choice, a scientific one, a personal and a

Racist weeds in a conservationist garden

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Most of the men – and they were mostly men – I looked up to back in the day have turned out to be racist. Or misogynistic. Or both. George Washington, for instance, was the Father of Our Country, though I was suspicious even then of the story about him being unable to lie. I

A “Gut Check” on Climate?

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Climate change denial comes in many flavors these days and Bob Stilwell’s opinion piece, “Climate Change Gut Check,” published in the Gettysburg Times on Thursday, December 19 draws on almost all of them. If you care about environmental issues and haven’t seen the article, you really need to check it out. And respond with a

How Christian Nationalism gets it wrong and disrespects U.S. military forces

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Adams County’s State Senator Doug Mastriano used his Christian Nationalist beliefs to argue in a recent Gettysburg Times opinion piece that the battlefield successes of United States military forces are part of his Christian God’s plan for our nation and that two of the American army’s greatest accomplishments, including George Washington’s escape from the British

A prayer for the new year

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Somehow  a year has flashed by, reminding me of a story in which a great  king challenged his subjects to create works of art depicting their ideas of  peace.   Paintings flowed into the castle.  Beautiful pastoral scenes.  Pictures of smiling babies, children playing.  Grazing animals, flowing streams, fields of flowers.  Yet the picture that

Happy New Year! The future is just over the horizon

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Time is merely a construct to aid cataloging significant events. As a kid, time began when I was about 12-years old. That was the year we built the big house. As I look back through my anthology of stories from that era, building the house was not significant because it meant heating with oil (no

Adversity

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With winter’s dark stay-inside days, I’ve been reading feel-good books and watching Christmas movies.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with escaping into once-upon-a-time and what-if moments.  That’s part of self-care.  Besides, it’s the rare book or movie that doesn’t have some insight tucked inside the story.  That happened with Richard Paul Evans’ Finding Noel when several quotes

Christmas by any name

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It’s almost time. In a few hours, the Jolly Old Elf will be sliding down chimneys, decorating trees that so far haven’t been, and leaving gifts for girls and boys. Well, a lot of girls and boys, anyway. So here’s to the church groups and offices and motorcycle groups and numerous others I couldn’t know

Habits

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Attitudes, it’s been said, are simply deeply entrenched habits of thought.  The good news is: we can change our habits and thoughts,  The downside of recognizing that attitudes and feelings are no more than habits is that changing our habits and thought patterns  is hard work and takes time.  A long time.  As Paul Myer said,

They don’t make winter like they used to

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I have not yet pulled out our snow thrower. I am counting on the natural snow fence at the western side of the county to save me from enriching Exxon. I learned about snow fences as a kid. Farmers would stretch what looked like rows of slatted window blinds turned sideways across their roadside fields.

Good and evil

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 I’ve had an excellent companion these past few nights when sleep eluded me.  Lousie Penny’s latest novel, The World of Curiosities.  I am so grateful I am still able to read, as books have been my companion since first learning to read.  When I am down,  a feel-good book can help me rediscover the beauty

Sparkling diamond dust and summer sausage

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The moon the past few nights, when we could see it at all, has been amazingly bright, like a humongous spotlight angling through the trees, casting stick shadows across my desk. The grass between my home and the woods is sparkling, as though a troop of elves has danced across the greensward scattering powdered diamonds.

Thanking Christmas volunteers

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‘Tis the season for festive merry-making and family memory-making, and the busy event-makers in our town didn’t disappoint!  If, like me, you’ve adopted Gettysburg as your home because of its history, you likely know that walking on the fields and among the monuments is when that history speaks most deeply to your soul. Similarly, when

Faith

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 Perhaps it’s because we are approaching the shortest day of the year, but the evenings seem excessively long and lonely.  While I am discovering many advantages to living alone, the house sometimes feels achingly empty.  I miss him.  God, but I miss him.  However,  instead of focusing on what’s no more, I am determined to

The Good, The Bad and The Zucky

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There are piles of books in the Messeder residence, as the Resident Home Decorator often reminds me, especially when she enters my atelier – which is a French word for “studio,” itself a fancified substitute for “office,” which, to me, sounds too darned, well, officious. I’d much rather sit in my studio with a drink

Mass shootings prompt new calls for assault weapons ban. Will it happen?

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by John L. Micek, Pennsylvania Capital-StarNovember 28, 2022 There was no mistaking the anger in President Joe Biden’s voice on Thanksgiving Day as he once again decried America’s fatal love affair with guns. “The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick. Just sick,” Biden said, according to the Associated Press. In the wake of deadly shootings

A Season for Depression

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According to the National Weather Service, the winter solstice, or the shortest day of the year, will be on Wednesday, December 21st. Other meteorologists will cite the first day of December as the first day of meteorologic winter. Either way, individuals who experience a seasonal pattern of depression already know that the days have become

Little Things

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Sun streaming through the bedroom window called me awake this morning. Not ready to get up, I snuggled deeper into my bed and began listing all the little things welcoming me into this new day.  The feel of crisp clean sheets.  Sunshine.  A warm bedroom.  Being able to wiggle my toes.  The luxury of rolling

How undocumented immigrants contribute to the economy

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Undocumented immigrants pay federal taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay state taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay local taxes. Undocumented immigrants pay sales taxes. To know the above information is to accept boring truths – that people who live among us in the 13th Congressional District and pick our fruit, staff our tourism industry, prepare our food, maintain our

Gettysburg College cowers to media pressure over student project

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Webster’s Dictionary defines liberal arts as “college or university studies (such as language, philosophy, literature, abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (such as reason and judgement) as opposed to professional or vocational skills.” Gettysburg College has long defined itself as such an institution. It was a liberal

Stories

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I’ve been reading Erica Bauermeister’s delightful book, The Lost Art of Mixing.   It’s not the greatest piece of literature ever written.  The storyline is simple and uncomplicated, but her use of language and word pictures are heartwarming and vivid.  The Lost Art of Mixing is one of those books that leaves you feeling hopeful about the future and

Asks more from legislators

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Our nation is divided.  The PA House/Senate, the Federal House/Senate.  The remarkable turnout in the midterms shows this clearly.  This gives us (the people) two choices: 1.  Let the leaders we elected continue to be middle school children and insult and score political points against the other party.  Nothing will be done that will benefit

On Being Thankful

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“Here we go again,” Granddaughter Kass said one Thanksgiving mealtime as I prepared to “say Grace.” She knew I didn’t normally subscribe to the pre-formatted version of my childhood: “Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord, amen.” Past are the days

Seeing through caregiving

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In view of November being National Caregivers Month, I respectfully submit the following letter.  My Sweet Donna has dementia.  In the last five years this condition has progressed to where I am unrecognized.  But I don’t need Donna to know who I am.  My reward comes when I am told, “You are the nicest man I

Step 11 and Gratitude

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The older I get, the more grateful I become.  The other night our little CoDa group worked on the 11th step.  “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for God’s will for our lives and the courage to carry that out.”   When I

Breaking The Silence

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Thursday, November 17, at 7 PM two members of the group Breaking the Silence will speak in Valentine Hall at United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg. This free event is sponsored by the Middle East Justice and Peace Group of South Central PA. Come to hear former Israeli soldiers Becca and Amir share their experience of

Dogs Who Have Owned Me

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One thing I’ve learned about dogs is, “don’t buy one.” The first dog to occupy my life was my mom’s, an English Setter named Devil, short for JAM’s Devil Dog (a story that is a dog for another bone.) I was about 12 when Devil came into my life. We romped and swam, and on

Farnham wraps up her write-in campaign

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Democrat Beth Farnham ran a write-in campaign against incumbent Representative in Congress for the 13th District, Republican John Joyce.  Preliminary numbers suggest she received about 3,000 votes although Joyce won the contest. This write-in campaign was always a long shot since its inception three weeks ago. However, my numbers would not be where they are today

STILL PONDERING

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I’m still pondering the who or whose “I am” question.   Descartes said, “I think, therefore, I am.”  I have no idea what that means. To be truthful, I can drive myself nuts asking questions such as, “who am I?” There are many ways to describe myself.  I am female.  I am a widow.   

2022 Viewers Election Guide: How is the Vote Going?

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Traditionally, when the vast majority of votes were cast on election day, there were states where it was possible to project most Senate and congressional races within an hour or so after polls closed and it was possible for an attentive viewer to forecast trends by perhaps 9:00, certainly 10:00 in the evening. The advent

Impressed by Belliveau

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I had the pleasure of attending the debate hosted by Gettysburg Connection, partnered with Gettysburg College and I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of my thoughts from that evening. As a voter in this district, the attendance of Mr. Neil Belliveau was greatly appreciated. To me, he provided an alternative choice for

The Edge of the Wood – We’re not alone

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It was like standing on the edge of a pool, watching the trees change color as the a river of fog flowed over the far ridge, filling the valley in front of me, flowing up the slope to gently, silently wrap itself around me. The fog condensed on the leaves of pines and Scarlet oaks,

IT’S THAT GRATITUDE THING AGAIN

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Mary Davis has a simple formula for dynamic living.  “Shine brightly.  See beauty.  Speak kindly.  Create joyfully.  Live thankfully.”  If there ever was a time when there are good reasons for unhappiness and despair, it is now.  Yet, precisely because these are challenging times, it is vitally important we implement Mary Davis’s suggestions.  Negative thinking

What I look for in a Candidate

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When I evaluate a candidate, I look first at their basic character. Do they exhibit dignity, honesty, intelligence, and empathy?  Then I look at their purpose in running.  Candidates who demonstrate a commitment to public service win high marks. If they are running for office primarily to gain power, that is, for me, a major

On John Joyce’s candidacy

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Editor’s note: Beth Farnham has declared herself as a write-in candidate running against incumbent U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 13th congressional district, John Joyce. The 13th congressional district covers all of Adams County. John Joyce wants you to note his credentials. John Joyce wants you to forget his hateful positions. John Joyce wants you to keep

Trust the experts

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During the debate last week that included Republican incumbent Dan Moul and Democrat challenger Marty Qually, a question was asked about the state’s response to Covid. Qually pointed out the challenge of getting everyone to believe the science. “We’ve got to get to a point where we believe the people who are specialists in these

Understanding Fetterman’s stroke

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Articles from the news magazine Scientific American,have helped me understand (and resolve) many of my puzzlements concerning far-right conservative thinking, motivation and beliefs. Scientific American endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, after 175 years of political neutrality.   In a recent article, Scientific American explained how brains heal following stroke and addressed the likely process of John Fetterman’s health