The Speed Limits Of Our Lives

July 22, 2023

The other day I found myself driving south from Ohio County to Marshall County where I would visit a longtime newsroom friend. More on that in a minute. First let me tell you that driving in the Ohio Valley can be a challenge on the best day. It’s not the summer road construction season or Wheeling’s streetscaping project that are the main culprits. Let me explain. Have you ever really paid attention to the speed limits as you drive through various neighborhoods or towns? Well, I made it a point to take notice of just that as I headed to Moundsville. I counted nearly a dozen ...

Where Did 50 Years Go?

July 15, 2023

Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1973, I donned a graduation cap and gown and joined my fellow Wheeling Central High classmates as we gathered at Oglebay Park’s outdoor amphitheater. Walking down those steep steps in platform sandals was just one of the challenges that we would face in years to come. We would be the first graduating class in decades to graduate without the Vietnam War hanging over our futures. The United States began its pullout of troops in 1973, although it would take until 1975 for the full effect of the peace treaty to be realized. Inflation was rearing its ...

Not Yet

July 8, 2023

Okay, so July Fourth has come and gone. The fireworks have been put away until Labor Day. But don’t pack up those picnic baskets and lawn chairs just yet. Despite what my dad used to say that summer was over as the July Fourth barbecue cooled off, the season has hardly begun. Yes, I know kids go back to school in August (never liked that). I understand the stores are promoting back-to-school sales. I also know that the summers as we once knew them in the Ohio Valley got a late start. The weather up until now has been cooler with little need for the air conditioner. Open windows ...

Not Music To My Ears

July 1, 2023

I’m no prude. I have heard foul language since I was old enough to know what a cuss word was. Only these days, cuss words are the least of our social ills. Case in point: We were stopped at a local gas station the other day when a young man pulled up behind us at the pumps. We heard his arrival before he even pulled into the lot. His four door something or other was bouncing into the lot. The music emanating from that car was so loud it made the car vibrate and not in a good way. That’s not the only problem. It was the kind of so-called music he was playing. It was obviously ...

Taking Flight

June 24, 2023

The wait was not over. As we lifted the lid to the top of our propane tank, we encountered the little nest built there by a returning mother bird. Inside the nest were four, maybe five, tufts of feathered siblings resting snugly together. The mother bird was off fetching nourishment for her brood. So we replaced the lid and vowed to check back soon. After all, we will need to have the tank refilled sooner than later to meet our household needs. A week or two later, we checked again and yes, the nest was empty. However, we left the nest in place for a few more days only to come back ...

Dads Are Important Every Day

June 17, 2023

I can still hear the rumble of the trains that would occupy the ping pong table every holiday season. You could smell the artificial smoke from the old trains our dad placed on that table in the basement. And of course, he smiled broadly when he pulled the switch to activate a whistle as the trains passed through the homemade paper tunnels he painstakingly created and painted to look like the real thing. Our dad had few distractions from his busy life as a newspaper editor, but he truly enjoyed those model trains. He grew up in Center Wheeling at a time when trains were a regular part ...