Donna Jobe Cronk Column I hadn’t thought much about Erma Bombeck in some time. The national columnist was part of the average American homemaker’s life for 30 years through her consistent output of domestic common sense and humor. I’m sure that many women considered her almost a friend who dropped by whenever the paper arrived. …
Category Archives: columns
It was Them! all over again or how an ant crippled me
A column by John Estridge My preschool life was pretty terrific. Where I lived with my parents in Liberty, the house had a pretty big yard, and I had and still do have a very big imagination. On TV at the time was the drama series Combat, about an Army squad in Europe fighting the …
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Goal: Doing better than light housekeeping
Column by Donna Jobe Cronk If you’re amped up on spring cleaning, ready to blend that perfect mix of vinegar and water to make the windows sparkle, if you can’t wait to tidy up the landscaping, or clean your woodwork, you have my admiration. It’s my second spring as a retiree, and our house could …
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In praise of libraries and going home again
Column by Donna Jobe Cronk I remember the day. I may have been 10, and went with the neighboring Chapman kids and their mom to Liberty. I suppose their mother was grocery shopping at Woodruff’s, close to the Union County Public Library, and we were killing time while we waited. We walked through the lower-level …
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Do you notice anything different?
A Column by John Estridge One of the worst questions someone I love dearly can ask me is: “Do you notice anything different?” I read a bunch and have read a bunch since I learned to read “Run Spot run.” Learning phonics is all I needed, and I was off. Some of the books I …
Is your stationery stationary?
A Column by Donna Jobe Cronk Yesterday turned out to be a day for miscellaneous activities. I’m prepping hard with great anticipation of 18 different author-related venues scheduled in the coming weeks, mostly, with a few strays reaching into the summer months. Maybe you can join me at the Union County Public Library at 1 …
There’s something about March
Column by Donna Cronk Wait just a minute. Didn’t we just fall back? It seems as though I bemoaned the increased evening darkness just a couple weeks ago, and here we are, all sprung forward again, and most of the clocks even, displaying the correct time by now. It’s kind of like when the dentist …
Just looking: Remembering old family homes
Column by Donna Jobe Cronk I haven’t been inside the Union County house where my father grew up since about 1966 when it left our family after Grandma moved in with us. Yet to me, it will forever be “Grandma’s house.” Even though I would have been young when this happened, I remember the place …
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Miracle or not a miracle, My Long Suffering Wife Ruth is back home and fine
A column by John Estridge There is a reason people who made comments on my blog did not have them published quickly. And people who wrote columns for me last week did not have them published right away. There were no obits. There was no information on the blog I enjoy sharing. That is because …
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Aging happens: It’s the bee’s knees
Column by Donna Jobe Cronk Aging happens; it’s ‘the bee’s knees’ Occasionally, I’m greeted at the mailbox with a puffy envelope from my friend Cathy. What could it be? I’m eager to see what she finds worthy of postage over simply mentioning online with internet links. These days, snail mail gets our fast attention over …