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It takes very little effort to show a little kindness

When you think you’re having a bad day — perhaps you woke up late, spilled your coffee, got stuck in traffic, overdrew your bank account, couldn’t find a babysitter and had to cancel weekend plans — stop for a minute. Just stop. And think about this ... Your day didn’t begin with your owner not wanting you any longer. Your life isn’t a matter of being completely alone and unloved every single day. Someone didn’t wake up and decide today was the day to throw you out of a moving vehicle, leaving you to die in the middle of the roadway with nothing but land and woods all ...

History in the Hills: Life is a garden

February is here and usually at this time of year I am longing for the cold days to end and dreaming of warmer days ahead. It’s usually about this time that my wife and I begin to think about a garden. I know we are quite a way off, but we like to plan ahead and think about all the things we want to plant this year. I always find that we plan too ambitiously and by the time our plan is done, we have accounted for every square inch of the little plot we have. If we actually went through with all our plans, our plot would resemble a jungle, not to mention it would be unlikely that ...

The power found under the reading rainbow

I’ve been reading as long as I can remember. To the point that I didn’t sleep in the dark until my late teens because I had gotten used to falling asleep with the touch lamp on because I’d stay up late reading. I spent so much time of my youth at the Pleasants County Library checking out books about science, history, biographies, books about unexplained phenomena and science fiction. The knowledge I learned helped me co-captain my middle and high school quiz bowl teams. In my 20s, I spent much of my time at the Parkersburg and Wood County Public Library. I used to walk from ...

An early morning of council goal setting

I spent the early part of last Saturday morning at the Weirton Municipal Building for a council workshop. Covering one of these roundtable discussions is seldom an exciting experience, especially when it starts at 8 a.m.on a Saturday, but there I was, listening as most of council and the mayor discussed projects they would like to see addressed this year. I don’t know how realistic it will be to see many of the projects discussed actually completed before the end of this council’s term in December, and there is certain to be a different mix when the next administration takes over ...

Country Roads, Take Me Home

I turned on my car radio this morning and had to smile. John Denver’s song, “Country Roads” was playing, which always makes me happy. I am not an exception in loving this song; and hearing it lifts my spirit, which is true for all West Virginians. As I listened to the lyrics, my mind drifted to the many who use our highways every day as they travel through our mountains. We are a friendly bunch, not only offering hospitality, but caring about the safety of others. I have often watched a Mountaineer stop to change a flat or check on a stranded motorist. We care about people. At ...

Valentine’s Day is not celebrated by everyone

While driving down the street the other day, something made me slow down. As I came upon what had suddenly caught my attention, I immediately braked. Right there in the middle of the street. Before me was a house outlined in pink, red and white lights. These were certainly not remnants of the Christmas season. This was something altogether new. This was different. I took one last look and continued on my way so as not to cause a collision. But it wasn’t two blocks later that I noticed another home with a large pink tree in the front corner window. Again, I stopped. No one was ...