AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: A Gathering of Heroes Colin McNickle May 25, 2019 It was about as poignant a moment as one could imagine. The National World War II Memorial. On the National Mall. On the Saturday before this Memorial Day weekend in 2011. The site is perfectly framed at ...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: Wrapping Up a New Christmas Tradition Colin McNickle December 25, 2018 A tradition nearly 33 years in the making is about to be wrapped in the extended McNickle family this Christmas. Yuletide traditions run deep in this Scots-Irish clan with its first American roots in Eastern...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: A ‘Catfelt’ Thanksgiving Wyeth McNickle (as told to Colin McNickle) November 22, 2018 It was three years ago this very week that my sister, Winslow, and I were left in a box at the door of an animal shelter just north of Pittsburgh. WYETH Known as Poopsie and Popsie then, and just over a ...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: Seed Rewards Colin McNickle October 20, 2018 The number of white envelopes stored on a dining room hutch shelf has reached crammed proportions. And whatever the word for the level above crammed is, those shelves soon will be the poster host for it. Ins...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: Fanfare for the Sunflower Colin McNickle August 25, 2018 “I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower,” says one of the characters in “Calendar Girls,” a movie from 2003. “For me that's because of the reason behind its nam...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: The Cannon of Glenns Run Colin McNickle July 7, 2018 2 Eighty-five years ago this Independence Day – on July 4, 1933 — it bowed on the broad and rail-less front porch of the paternal great-grandparent’s home known simply as “Warwood.” That green cedar-shake hous...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: Nature’s Means & Ends Colin McNickle May 12, 2018 The crab apple tree overlooking the back deck yet again has come into full bloom. And scores of petunias are planted in hanging baskets and in pots on the front porch. Indeed, Shakespearean “rough winds” hav...
AN ESSAY FOR THE DAY: To Eat a Talking Pea Colin McNickle May 5, 2018 “If peas can talk, should we eat them?” asked a very deep New York Times “think piece” a few years back. To which more than a few people might retort: “Yes, but only after you drown them in hot butter!” M...
An Essay for the Day: Matters of Mud Colin McNickle March 31, 2018 1 JONES MOUNTAIN, W.Va. – Funny what nearly 35 years of urban living makes an old country boy forget about country life, especially the winter-to-spring transition. A gurgling creek, softly wending its way thr...
An Essay for the Day: “An Irish Stew” Colin McNickle March 17, 2018 The cutting and chopping begin early today to fill two large pots atop the stove. In each will be layered large and thick slices of white onions and yellow potatoes. They’ll be followed by layers of cubed beef ...
