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Hoopies and their clever, frugal tools

A few days ago as I was using duct tape to make a permanent repair to a string trimmer, it occurred to me that I have never given serious scholarly attention to the topic of hoopie tools. I have written on hoopie history, migration, culture (if you can call it that), dialect, humor, foods, ...

Sorting potatoes with Forrest Gump

Spread out on a thin tarp and covered with old blankets to keep them from the light, my 2026 crop of Irish potatoes had been drying for five days on the floor of our barn. I was tired and in no mood for more strenuous work, like fighting the other main crop in my garden, weeds. Sorting ...

Action requested to address dangerous intersection in Perry Township

Editor's Note: The following is a letter submitted to the Columbiana County commissioners and state Rep. Monica Robb-Blasdel. For years I have lived at the four-way intersection of state Route 344 and Cunningham Road in Perry Township. Sitting at the table, I see accidents all the time. A recent head-on, car versus semi disaster violently claimed the life of a woman who doesn’t seem to have seen the approaching semi. There is something about the visibility of this intersection that renders it so frequently dangerous. Let’s prevent future deaths, injuries, screaming, smashed ...

Happiness is a zappy electric deer fence

“I’m so glad you got the electric fence working,” my wife said. “Yay!!! Finally!!!!” texted grandson Lamppost Head when he read the texted news. He had suffered with me through half a day of trial and error, mostly error, getting the new fence to work that he and I and the other ...

The joy of rent-a-kittens

“If you write about us fostering kittens, people will know we’re crazy,” my wife warned. Heedless of her good advice, I forge ahead. The dog people will think so anyway, but the cat people will understand. We didn’t set out to be foster parents to kittens. Now it seems the most ...