Daily Connector | Discovering My Polish Roots: DNA Relatives and the Genealogy Puzzle | Larry Less
A brief recap from three blogs that I posted in October. My Polish history has been shrouded in mystery. Many years ago, I was told that my Grandfather had only one brother and that they both immigrated to America around 1905, I was not able to identify his brother. Then…
Daily Connector | How is winter going? | Dan Halterman
Grey Many more grey-sky days than sunny. At least fifty shades. Peter Yoder disdains a blue sky in his paintings. I look at the sky regularly, day and night, and enjoy cloud-gazing, thunder-storm roiling bulges, and sunsets that distribute unpaintable variations. A good sunset, often delightfully enhanced by air pollutants,…
Daily Connector | How COVID has impacted my life | Jim Fath
We all have stories to tell about how our lives have changed as a result of this pandemic. Some of you have asked, so I will tell of my particular journey. Mine starts with maybe having contracted the illness in late March–who knows how and when it will end. Soon…
Daily Connector | Epiphany here, there, then, now | Dan Halterman
January 6 is the end of Christmas. That’s what I learned as a child. My family tradition was to keep the tree up until Epiphany. I thought it strange that so many others had bare trees on the devil strip on December 26 (having tired of the thing after putting…
Daily Connector | On the third day of Christmas…one Snowy Owl| Ruth Massey
On the Sunday afternoon following Christmas, I met Christina, Jen, Natalie and Maya at Alum Creek spillway to see the ‘resident’ snowy owl. Snowy owls nest and spend their summers on the Arctic tundra. During winter, owls will move south into Canada. During irruption years, they will also show up…
Daily Connector | Three Large Birds for Christmas | Ruth Massey
With the winter school break, I have had more opportunity to take long walks and to be in places where birds might be. Here is the account of the first of the three large birds I encountered. Note: The idea to write these essays was probably influenced by helping Natalie…
Daily Connector | On the second day of Christmas…a flock of Cranes a bugling | Ruth Massey
In the spring of 2015, when Ajay and I took the walk with Ted and Diane at Slate Run, we were prepared to see birds, brining with us our binoculars and bird guides. At that time, I was not checking birding sites on Facebook or checking eBird to learn what…
Daily Connector | Incremental Living | Ann Snyder
As some of you are aware, I have sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology. It can affect any organ of the body, but in my case, has primarily affected my eyes and lungs. Fortunately, my eyes have been stable recently. However, my lungs have been on a…
Daily Connector | Advent to me | Bill Plessinger
When people talk about universal languages, music is usually mentioned. These last couple weeks I have been listening to a lot of 102.5 on the radio, and their selection of Musica Latina. I enjoy the prolific use of accordions, because it reminds me of the music of Weird Al Yankovic…
Daily Connector | Year-end donating | Joann Knapke
The excited anticipation of Christmas is always juxtaposed with a bombardment of requests from organizations begging for year-end donations from a hoped-for sense of generosity and a surplus of savings. How do you decide where and how much to donate? Do you have a formula that you follow to give…