Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Opinion


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  • To You … With Love,

    May 8, 2024

    The Dream of Home Sometimes I look around me and through the veil I see, my family in the kitchen where love flowed pure and free. Where life brought joy on sunshine each ordinary day and what once had been given would never pass away. I see the little children who played within the house, with laughter in their corners and biscuits in their mouth. I see the old fire burning from the stove of long ago. Can smell the smoke of new cut logs and feel the warming glow. That kept us full of goodness when troubles were about and in the deepest...

  • Album Of The Week: Grand Funk Railroad's, Good Singin', Good Playin'

    May 8, 2024

    Good Singin' Good Playin' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Grand Funk Railroad. The album was released on Aug. 2, 1976, by MCA Records and focuses within the genre of hard rock. The band had actually broken up, but after Frank Zappa expressed interest in producing an album for them, they reassembled for one more attempt at success. Recorded in 1976 for MCA Records, this album included a guest performance by Zappa, playing lead guitar on the song Out to Get You. Grand Funk...

  • Slices of Life

    Apr 24, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler Yesterday, I woke up and did my usual morning routine. Part of this includes a contemplative time when I attempt to align my thoughts and find my calm for the upcoming day. It’s a nice moment and it was this morning as well, except I found myself crying. I used to cry daily, many times each day: in the bathroom, at the supermarket, at the doctor’s office, in the parking lot, in the garage, in the car – pretty much everywhere. But that doesn’t happen anymore. I remember and I mourn, but the tears no longer flow unexpec...

  • Slices of Life

    Apr 9, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler When my husband died three years ago one of the first thoughts I had was, “I’m not going to be a widow.” What that meant, to me, was that I wasn’t going to let widowhood define me. Now I realize that was a naive belief, because widowhood literally defines who you are and who you are becoming. How could it not? It is your past, present and future – all in one simple word. Yeah, it sucks. Widowhood is all-encompassing. You don’t just lose a person. You lose a way of life. You lose your daily schedule – the person you eat meals...

  • Album of the Week: The Eagles Greatest Hits

    Apr 9, 2024

    Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the first compilation album by the American rock band the Eagles, released by Asylum Records on February 17, 1976. It contains a selection of songs from the band's first four albums, which were released from 1972 to 1975. On the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the album reached number one, where it stayed for five weeks. The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive a Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) platinum certification, w...

  • To You … With Love,

    Apr 2, 2024

    Magnificent God who arose. The garden was silent as Mary came, bearing the spices for Jesus her king; dead by the hand of the world and its sin. She never would see her dear master again, but in the dawn of the first light of morn, she saw that the stone from the tomb was gone. In great fear she ran to tell those that she knew, that someone had taken the Lord from the tomb. They hurried to see, looked in and believed but did not understand for they could not perceive, that he would rise for as yet they’d not heard, the wonderful promise of G...

  • Factors to consider when mulling a garage renovation

    Mar 26, 2024

    Garages may rank below kitchens and bathrooms in the home renovation pecking order, but these unsung heroes of suburban dwellings deserve their day in the sun. It's easy for garages to become convenient, if crowded and disorganized, storage spaces, but scores of homeowners are embracing the idea that renovated garages can serve a more functional purpose. Prior to beginning a garage renovation, homeowners can consider a host of factors that will guide the direction of the project and ultimately produce a more functional space. • Appeal: T...

  • Slices of Life

    Mar 26, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler I did it. I dove into the jar, or better put, the Pickleball court. The sport itself has nothing to do with pickle jars; it actually takes place on a mini-court, similar to the type used for tennis, just more manageable for those looking to avoid running, diving, dodging, lunging, jumping and backing up. Especially backing up. No one in Pickleball wants to back up, because that can lead to loss of balance, which in turn can lead to falls. Falling is never a joke, but it’s especially not funny in Pickleball, where falls can lead...

  • Album of the Week: Ozark Mtn. Daredevils's, Don't Look Down

    Mar 26, 2024

    Don’t Look Down is the fifth album by American country rock band The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. The band lost another founding member, Buddy Brayfield, gained a new producer David Kershenbaum, and added three new players, including singer/guitarist and longtime pal Steve Canaday, who as owner of the New Bijou had been instrumental in the group’s formation. Despite containing “Following the Way That I Feel”, one of the strongest pop tunes in their catalogue, Don’t Look Down did not meet sale...

  • Ideas to repurpose a formal dining room

    Mar 26, 2024

    Formal dining rooms are no longer a must-have among home buyers. Reports on the decline of the formal dining room appear to have been premature, as many real estate professionals have noted that some clients still insist that a home must have such a space. However, many agents also report low demand for formal dining rooms. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder regarding formal dining rooms. Buyers and homeowners who see these rooms as unnecessary can consider the many ways to transform them to better suit their needs. • Playroom: P...

  • What to know about reseeding or replanting your lawn

    Mar 26, 2024

    Homeowners know that spring ushers in the return of home renovation season. Homeowners undoubtedly have an extensive list of projects on their to-do list this spring, and that may include helping their lawns and gardens recover after a long winter. Unpredictable weather, which can include drought and excessive rainfall and everything in between, can take its toll on a lawn. In certain instances, the best solution may be planting new grass. But homeowners can consider these tips before they begin the process of reseeding or replanting their...

  • Slices of Life

    Mar 19, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler “It is what it is.” I’ve said this phrase quite a few times – many even. So much so that now, when I hear someone else fall back on these five words, I understand their secret, sorrowful, message. It is what it is. What it means: I can’t change my current circumstances, but I desperately wish I could. Life isn’t fair, and right now it feels very unfair. I feel defeated. Empty. Up against all odds. I want to cry, but don’t want to right now because I’m all cried out. I feel very, very alone. I need a hug. And so on. (You get th...

  • Album of the Week: The Grateful Dead, Steal Your Face

    Mar 19, 2024

    Steal Your Face is a live double album by the Grateful Dead, released in June 1976. It is the band's fifth live album and thirteenth overall. The album was recorded Oct. 17 through Oct. 20, in 1974, at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, during a "farewell run" that preceded a then-indefinite hiatus. It was the fourth and final album released by the band on their original Grateful Dead Records label. The Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, a second album from the same run of shows, was released in...

  • To You … With Love,

    Mar 13, 2024

    By Avis Richardson (Retired Reverend) The Others In the Old Testament there is a grand story of a young prophet named Elisha. He was just coming into his own when the mantle fell from Elijah, the old prophet of all the prophets. Elisha was chosen to pick up the garments of the old faith people and go forward into a world of new ideas where God wise the world would not necessarily welcome his words. On the occasion when he saw there was a great enemy surrounding the city he was afraid. He felt like he was alone in his battle for the Lord. Then,...

  • Slices of Life

    Mar 13, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler Chapter one, number one You know what they say: sometimes you just have to laugh. And why not? Laughter can be healing. It can be an escape. It lowers stress. It gives a boost to your immune system. It is relaxing. It is stimulating. It increases endorphins and It can provide a respite from an otherwise bleak situation. It can be fun. And what, if not widowhood, correlates so very closely with laughter? I can’t think of a thing, she said with a wry, all-knowing, sarcastic smile. Gotcha. Being a widow has provided a unique, a...

  • Album of the Week: Pink Floyd's, A Momentary Lapse of Reason

    Mar 13, 2024

    A Momentary Lapse of Reason is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on Sept. 7, 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist David Gilmour’s converted houseboat, Astoria. A Momentary Lapse of Reason was the first Pink Floyd album recorded without founding member Roger Waters, who departed in 1985. The production was marred by legal fights over the rights to the Pink Floyd name, which wer...

  • To You … With Love,

    Mar 5, 2024

    Tomorrow is a Brighter Day Linked together in the universal longings of man, we seek, for the most part, to live godly lives. As the young bride, being great with child waiting anxiously for the time of the birthing, we too live with an anxious expectations being the gift of hope. In Zachariah 9, the priest of yesterday's longings called us the "prisoners of hope." And surely we are. For who among us has not laid out the seeds in our gardens with a prayer they will grow steadily into fruit fit for harvest? Who among us does not hope toward an...

  • Slices of Life

    Mar 5, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler I’m a recent transplant – from a northern state to a southern one. I now spend winters in Florida, but for most of my life, I endured the (harsh, frigid, bitter, unending, Arctic, hyperborean) winters of Minnesota, aka Minnesnowta (cold nose, warm heart). I like to think it made me stronger. Hell, I know it did. You can’t survive and endure 30 degree negative temperatures (with a windchill of unspoken proportions) without cultivating some sort of inner fortitude (not to mention frostbit fingers). It’s been a cold winter...

  • Album of the Week: Supertramp's, Breakfast in America

    Mar 5, 2024

    Breakfast in America is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released by A&M Records on Mar. 16, 1979. It was recorded in 1978 at The Village Recorder in Los Angeles. At the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980, Breakfast in America won two awards for Best Album Package and Best Engineered Non-Classical Recording, as well as nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It holds an RIAA certification of quadruple platinum and...

  • Slices of Life

    Feb 27, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler My family and I are amusement park geeks. Always have been. Non-amusement park aficionados see the long lines as a deterrent. Why spend so much time in line just waiting for the 90 seconds of roller coaster wonderment? Seems like a waste. Admittedly, there is a lot of waiting time while in the parks. Down time. Standing-in-line time. Ho-hum time. Fidget time. Mom, I’m bored time. Dad, I’ve got to go real bad time. People who don’t appreciate the parks, or places like them, point out the long waits as reason enough to avoid the...

  • Album of the Week: Molly Hatchet's, Flirtin with Disaster

    Feb 27, 2024

    Flirtin’ with Disaster is the second studio album by American rock band Molly Hatchet, released in 1979 by Epic Records. The album was re-issued in 2001 with four bonus tracks. It is their best-selling album. The cover is a painting by Frank Frazetta titled “Dark Kingdom.” The Globe and Mail wrote that “Molly Hatchet is a little more than just another in a too-long line of senseless and unimaginative southern boogie bands, rehashing party-boogie licks and singing the joys of cheap booze and even cheaper women.” The Rolling Stone Album Gui...

  • To You … With Love,

    Feb 21, 2024

    When David and I were young we lived on his father's rainbow trout farm. Located down on the edge of the Ozarks where the waters run clear and cold, we fed the fishes, cooked the fish food, picked the bad ova from the egg beds of those yet unborn and assisted travelers who came forth to fish. One morning an elegant automobile pulled into the yard and out of it came a man, carefully put together, a woman in garments one only dreams about and a little girl child whose laughter seemed to sweeten the air around her. They decided to fish in the area...

  • Slices of Life

    Feb 21, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler It all started with a quote on social media: “Imagine if spiders screamed when you found them.” First off, wouldn’t that make finding a spider doubly scary? At least horror movie jump scary. I, for one, am glad spiders are incapable of screaming – at least at a vibrational level that is heard by mere human ears. But, beyond that, this got me thinking. What if snakes were afraid of us because our arms and legs made us look all gangly, dangly and threatening? What if they cringed...

  • Slices of Life

    Feb 13, 2024

    By: Jill Pertler We are in the ‘amore’ season of the year. Love. Kisses. Hearts. Roses. Romantic cards. Candles. Champagne. A box of chocolates. On February 14 we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Or, better put, some of us do. For many years, the day had personal significance to me because I actually had a real life Valentine. He even lived with me. We at meals together, slept in the same bed and made plans for the future. On Valentine’s Day we used to exchange cards and everything. I even received a dozen roses on more occasions than I can remembe...

  • Album of the Week: Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce

    Feb 13, 2024

    Girls to Chat & Boys to Bounce is a studio album by British rock band Foghat, released in 1981. It was the first with new guitarist Erik Cartwright. The name of the band comes from a fake word made up in a Scrabble game. While the members are all British, Foghat never had a charting song or record in the UK. This could be because most of the touring was in the U.S. The album peaked at No. 92 on the Billboard 200, making it a slight improvement over the group’s previous record, Tight Shoes. In a...

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