In today’s mail, I received a package of Christmas cards from the National Cathedral. They’re asking for money. I get packages like this every year from charities like the Alzheimer’s Association and Colonial Williamsburg. This is the first year I’ve been on the National Cathedral’s list. It’s a little strange, yet also cool, that this … Continue reading Cards in the Mail
Category: Life
Nothing screams Pennsyltucky quite like the mash-up United States/Gadsden/Confederate Battle Flag hanging off the back of a decal encrusted vehicle in the Giant parking lot. Jeebus.
It was a week of publishing deadlines, and thirty hours after my last files went to the printer I’m still mentally exhausted. I did go to Books a Million again today to see what other gems I could find in their CD sale. (CDs, new and used, are 90% off as they are getting out … Continue reading Gritty Leading the People
A week ago I received my mail ballot from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I hadn’t been expecting it, but I voted by mail in the primary due to the COVID risk, and when I applied for the ballot then I must have signed up to receive mail-in ballots automatically. The ballot had sat on my … Continue reading Doing the Thing
Autumn has arrived, and so have allergies. I’ve not been able to breathe through my nose for days. In the afternoon, after loading a dozen articles in the work CMS, I took a walk around the block. No jacket, and it felt almost too cool for that. After work, I took my rent check over … Continue reading Early Autumn
It’s mid-September, and this week has really started to feel like autumn. There’s a chill dampness in the morning, and the nights feel downright cold. I had to throw extra blankets on the bed last night, and I worked part of the day at home while wearing a hoodie. The weird thing is the sky. … Continue reading An Eerie Sunset
On June 9, 1886, the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Maroons met at Swampoodle Grounds in Washington. That same day, a dozen blocks southeast of the ballpark, following a funeral service that morning in Baltimore, Annie Atwell was laid to rest at Congressional Cemetery in a family plot with the remains of her daughter. … Continue reading Three Newspaper Clippings and a Genealogical Puzzle
It was a pleasant afternoon — sunny and not too hot. The clouds were numerous and billowing. All in all, a nice late August afternoon. For no particular reason, I decided to go for a walk over to the baseball field on the hill opposite mine. According to June Lloyd‘s article in the York Daily … Continue reading The Old Baseball Field
I took a brief walk this afternoon. An urgent project — a “red ball,” to use the parlance of Homicide: Life on the Streets — landed on my (virtual) desk this morning. After three hours on the project, I had a video conference call, and after that another hour of work on the red ball. … Continue reading An Afternoon Walk
Yesterday afternoon, since it was sunny and nice, I decided to go for a drive into Lancaster County and check out a cemetery. My great-great-great-grandparents are buried at the Millersville Mennonite Church, about twenty-five miles away, which is closer than Diamond’s offices, but I’ve never gone to look for myself. The reason? Lancaster isn’t far … Continue reading Exploring Cemeteries in Lancaster County
To say that I was exhausted Thursday evening would be an understatement. This was publishing deadline week at work, and it’s easier — and more efficient — for me to work out of the office than from home during that week. The deadlines are tight; I don’t have time for laggy connections and connectivity issues, … Continue reading Full of Sound and Fury
Facebook reminded me yesterday morning that I went to Washington, DC six years ago — July 4, 2014 — for a Washington Nationals game and A Capitol Fourth. That trip provided me with one of my most-trafficked blog posts of the past decade on why I didn’t stand for “God Bless America” at the Nationals … Continue reading Genealogy in Old Photographs