Ran into Jeanie Anderson at a yard sale over the weekend, and was reminded of an incident that happened a few years back when Charlie and me were having our yard sale. It was a beautiful day for it, too, sunny with low humidity. The early birds had already come and gone, and I’d just finished chatting with Claire Lambert, when who do I see walking up to our yard, but Jeanie. My heart literally skipped a beat. See, I thought Jeanie was going to be in Dexter that weekend, visiting her grandkids. That’s what she told me, anyways, the last time I saw her. And because I knew she wasn’t gonna to be around, …

One of the best things about getting older, is you got nothing to prove. Once you realize that, it frees up a lot of time and energy. You’re no longer worrying about what folks think or going to events you don’t really care about. You get better at saying, “Oh, I’m sorry. I already have plans that night.” You don’t need to tell them that those plans are with yourself. If you’re Charlie, having nothing to prove means knowing when to take a break when he’s doing something in the yard or hiring a professional to do it right the first time. It’s not easy to admit that you just can’t do what you used …

The longer I’m married, the more I realized that sometimes, men and women have completely different ways of looking at things. Like a few years ago, out of the blue, Charlie says to me, “Ida, you know what we need?” “A complete kitchen make-over?”  “Smaller.”  “Hmm, I don’t know. A set of Fiesta ware?”  “No, a boot brush?” “A boot brush?” “You know, put it by the door? Has a brush on top? You wipe your boots on it before coming into the house.” “Oh, I’ve seen those. You mean like a little porcupine, with a brush on its back?” “Well, I don’t know about a porcupine. Just your basic boot brush.” “OK, Charlie, I’ll …

With all that’s going on in the country, on TV, heck our town meeting right here in Mahoosuc Mills was louder and more mean spirited than ever before, it seems like we’ve forgotten some basic things we were taught as a kid. What happened to common courtesy? Good manners were drilled into me by my parents. There’s no getting around it. Not that I’d want to. Being polite is a good thing, and has served me well over the years. It was hard getting the hang of it at first, though. In our house, you had to say “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.” End of story. There was none of this, “Now what do …

Who was it who said, “At fifty, you get the face that you deserve?” I don’t mind the lines around my eyes all that much, or the laugh lines around my mouth. I figure I’ve earned those. But honey, what did I do to deserve this turkey gobbler neck? I believe in the concept of aging gracefully. To me, that means accepting where you’re at, then doing the best you can with what you’ve got. Let’s face it. After a certain age, it’s all about hiding and highlighting. Throw on a colorful scarf, why don’t you, to camouflage that turkey neck. Not everyone is into makeup, but there’s something about putting on a little lipstick …

Gotta say, I love my job. Not only is working as a cashier down to the A&P not stop entertainment, it keeps me in touch with all the goings on in Mahoosuc Mills, day in, and day out. I know who’s doing Weight Watchers, who’s drinking too much Bud Light, who’s reading National Enquirer. In my opinion, how people act in a grocery store, is a good indication of how they live their life. For example, let’s say we got a pyramid of navel oranges over in produce and somebody takes one from the  middle, and that whole pile of oranges starts to spill on the floor. Does that person walk away, pretending they had …

Happy 2026! I hope your holidays were wonderful, and if they weren’t all you wanted ‘em to be, well, at least they’re over! Time to take a deep breath, regroup and move on. Now, I don’t make New Years resolutions anymore. No, I do what my niece Caitlin calls “setting an intention.” She’s works down to Mahoosuc Health Food, and seems to have the inside scoop on all things New Age-y! “An intention is gentler,” she says. “When you break a resolution, well, it’s done. With an intention, you may lose sight of it, but that doesn’t mean it’s lost forever. All you have to do is refocus on it.” That works for me, because …

We’re closing in on the first of the year, and none too soon, huh? Boy, working down to the A&P, I’ve seen some mighty stressed out people, let me tell you! No need to name names. You know who you are. And if you’re not one of ‘em, you’ve seen ‘em, too, I’m sure. Men on a mission, running in to get that one last thing their wife forgot. With the eye of the tiger and no time for hellos, they dash into the produce section or down an aisle only to appear at the express lane five or ten or sometimes fifteen minutes later, deer in the headlights, sweat on their upper lip. You …

November is National Family Caregivers Month, but for a lot of us, caregiving is a year round sort of thing. Caregivers are everywhere. There are paid caregivers, of course: nurses, social workers, childcare workers, the folks that work down to the senior center, to name a few. Family caregivers, however, are for the most part, unpaid: friends or family members who selflessly give of their time and energy to take care of people who need it. It’s your friend with small children, a sick husband or aging parents. Maybe you know someone who’s helping out a friend or even an acquaintance with a cancer diagnosis or Parkinson’s who doesn’t have any family to help. Heck, …

October, my season of terror. Days are getting shorter, leaves piling up in the yard, frost on the pumpkin. But that’s not the problem. What’s plaguing me is what plagues me every October: the advent of them miniature candy bars. Snickers, Milky Ways, Butterfingers, they’re like crack cocaine to me. ‘Cause candy is love, baby, and I want me some love! Ida, I say to myself, don’t buy them until Halloween Day. And I start out strong, I really do. But then, oh-oh, there’s a bowl of candy corn at book group, or a bunch of small boxes on the counter at the dry cleaners. Or I’m at a birthday party where they’re serving chocolate …