The Gettysburg Borough Council has been working for over a year on inserting a new category of “Event Venue” into the zoning ordinance. The owners of 68 W. High Street (as of Dec. 2020) want to have a business that would involve both indoor and outdoor events such as bridal showers and wedding receptions, parties,
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
We have sat through Borough Council meetings regarding the English property located at 68 W High Street for a year. The owners want to add Events Venue to the Elm Street Overlay, which would increase the allowed uses for their property. The property is currently permitted for a Bed and Breakfast and Vacation Rental. The
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.
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
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-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
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
by Susan Bigelow, CT News Junkie The right-wing war on transgender and gender non-conforming people has escalated to a new, very dangerous level. Last weekend at CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, a Daily Wire host named Michael Knowles railed against transgender people, telling the crowd, “For the good of society, transgenderism must be eradicated
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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
David W. Stowe, Michigan State University In American culture, Christmas is supposed to be synonymous with joy. The familiar carols proclaim this message, with “Joy to the World” resounding in thousands of churches, while its secular counterpart exhorts listeners to have “A Holly Jolly Christmas.” ‘Joy to the World’ may be one of the most
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
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,
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.
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
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.
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
What a delight to witness the absence of candidate signs in the Gettysburg area. Leaving them upafter an election signifies either gloating or sour grapes; neither of which contributes to a community.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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
John 1 opens with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him were all things made that were made, and the Word was the source of life, and this source brought light to all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
It has been said this election is about the soul of our democracy. I would agree. The events of January 6, 2021 demonstrate how real the threat is to that “soul.” I find there is no way to have a conversation with those who want to represent the other side of the issues. I view
Having been called out by name by Dan Moul at Wednesday night’s debate, I’d like to claim the privilege to respond. First, Dan Moul started his two-minute opening remarks criticizing opponent Marty Qually for having already gone negative. “I didn’t know we were going into the attack mode right off the bat – I was
I’ve been an eligible voter since 1972. I believed 2020 was by far the most important election of my lifetime. As November 8th approaches, I think this one is just as important as 2024 will be. In Pennsylvania, we have a gubernatorial candidate put forth by the (erstwhile) Party of Lincoln whose beliefs and actions
It’s fall in Adams County and the South Mountains of South Central Pennsylvania. A variety of native trees, like an artist’s brushes, color the land in oranges, yellows, and reds as though they had been spilled on an artist’s palette. As I stood talking with Pa. Forest Ranger Scott Greevy, acorns fell from the surrounding
Adams County Democratic Committee stands solidly behind Marty Qually as a candidate for Pennsylvania House District 91. It’s time for an 8-term incumbent who has not brought significant value back to Adams County to retire. Even his supporters do not mention a single accomplishment of the incumbent. There is a new generation and new influx
It has become obvious that [gubernatorial candidate] Doug Mastriano has a distorted view of United States history and the constitution. You can clearly see that in his view of religion and our government. Christians came to America because they were being persecuted by other Christians in their homeland. And even in America, Christians were still
I had lunch at The Upper Crust recently, and there was a surcharge of a little over 2.5 percent on the bill for using a credit card. When I asked, I was told that credit card company charges are in the neighborhood of 5 percent now. There are no words for my outrage, but in
At our CoDa meeting, last night, we talked about the 10th step. That’s the step in which we take time each day to review our successes and our failures. Unfortunately, most of us have been programmed to focus on our failures rather than our successes. We’ve learned how to blame and shame ourselves when we
Most people think they are in the minority in wanting to do something to slow, if not stop, climate warming and to protect our land, air, and water. Most people are wrong. The journal Nature Communications in August, quoting a recently released study, reported a “false social reality” in which about 80 percent of Americans support climate
There’s a phrase in the familiar version of the Lord’s Prayer that troubles me: “And lead us not into temptation.” How or why would a loving God deliberately lead us into temptation? It simply doesn’t make sense. In fact, the more I delve into theology and religious literature and the answers we humans have
The Connection is pleased to share this column from the blog of Gettysburg resident John Messeder, an award-winning ecology columnist and social anthropologist. More of John’s stories as well as his photography are available at his website, https://www.johnmesseder.com. He may be contacted at john@johnmesseder.com. When I was many years younger, I cut wood in summer, pulled it
I have this intense urge to go upstairs and hide in my sewing room. It’s a dreary day, following a series of dreary days, and my get up and go never got up with me this morning. I’ve been feeling this way since our discussion on crime and punishment at church yesterday. I’m bothered by
We can only say the world is changing in “unforeseen” ways if we haven’t been paying attention. We haven’t yet experienced widespread disruptions here in Adams County, but things like supply shortages, crop losses, property and infrastructure damage, and prolonged power outages, are becoming daily more conceivable in light of what we see happening in
Last month a retired gentleman came into my computer repair shop in Gettysburg. It was apparent he was not what you would call “tech savvy.” He had recently dialed a phone number on pop-up screen on his computer that advertised for Bitcoin. He sat in the chair in front of my desk and told me
I have never met a person who hasn’t hurt or disappointed me. In the same way, I have never met anyone I can’t love, if I really try. Granted, there are people I don’t like, but liking is different from loving. Loving is about respecting another’s right to live a full and rewarding life. There
Some mornings I wake up with an idea already percolating. Sometimes my morning walks bring things into focus. Sometimes I just sit and stare into space. That was this morning. As I stared out the window, I reached for one of my collections of sayings and read, “Writing is like driving a car at night.
Most mornings my friend and I walk the streets of Fairfield, waking our sleepy bodies by walking to great conversation. Yesterday we both attended the fall performance of the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra. It was an emotional experience for both of us. For me, the tribute to 9/11 brought memories of bodies jumping from those burning
My husband Athar’s brother and sister-in-law were visiting from Richmond Virginia over Labor Day weekend. Athar’s sister-in-law is Virginia senator Ghazala Hashmi. She had a phone interview on Sunday morning so we got to Lincoln Diner around 10:45. They selected the diner because they have had breakfast there once before and just loved it, including its setting and nostalgia, so that’s where they really wanted to
Last evening my granddaughter showed me a collection of photographs she’d taken. I was blown away. As we scrolled through her various collections of trees, marshes, water, and ocean sunrises, she’d often comment, ‘this one’s no good. It’s blurry,’ or “the light’s not right in this one. It almost hides that tree” or “this didn’t
The student debt crisis is largely one of the Republicans’ making. Among the main reasons college became so unaffordable is the slashed state contributions to their state college systems, started during the Reagan presidency, largely brought about because of the George Bush recession and engineered by Republican state legislatures. The average state spent $1,448, or
In our Western culture, we often think of the body’s health and the mind’s health as two distinct things. Back in 1975, Dr. Herbert Benson began to challenge that in The Relaxation Response. Around the same time, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn began helping patients with chronic pain and illness to cultivate mindfulness as a method of
When I first read about PA State Senate candidate John Fetterman renting a plane to tow a banner making fun of his opponent Mehmet Oz’s New Jersey home, I thought that was clever. And reinforcing it with an ad featuring reality star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of MTV’s “Jersey Shore” jabbing at Oz for leaving his
With continuing gridlock in Washington and increased state legislative action on guns, election laws, abortion, and many other issues, state legislatures are more and more important. Republicans have had an advantage in state governments for a long time but this advantage grew significantly in 2010, when Democratic timidity in the face of the Obamacare backlash
By Tom McCarey Member, National Motorists Association Giving RADAR to municipal police will result in an epidemic of speed traps. Speed limits are not set using highway safety engineering standards. Instead, they are set by local bureaucrats who use their feelings to set speed limits. They think they are so smart that they know which
Earlier this morning my neighbor, who was walking his dog, stopped to chat. He reported reading an article in the New York Times about the correlation of dogs with depression and dementia and exercise. Once we had exhausted that topic we explored that topic of plants. “You know plants have feelings,” he said. “Scientists are
For parents, students, and school staff across the county, the last few weeks have gone by in a blur. Parents’ calendars have been full of new enrollments, registrations, haircuts, clothes and shoes shopping, and doctor’s appointments, while school board members, teachers, and staff members were busy planning open houses, school orientations, “Meet the Teacher” nights,
I’ve been missing him more lately. Perhaps it comes from visiting family and scattering some of his ashes at the foot of his parents’ gravestone. Perhaps it’s the letdown following a very positive family gathering. Perhaps it was celebrating his birthday with the children and grandchildren by each eating a bowl of coffee ice cream (his
It’s been six months since he died. It’s time to move on, to pull myself up by my invisible bootstraps. Time to make a new bucket list, to embrace my new reality; do my best to make the most of each and every day. Years ago one of my counselors asked me, “What would you
Editor’s Note: Robin Wall Kimmerer, Author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, a 2013 nonfiction book that explores reciprocal relationships between humans and the land, with a focus on the role of plants and botany in both Native American and Western traditions, will be speaking in Gettysburg on Monday,