wade

The memories I have of a much simpler Christmas, come from the West Smyrna Baptist Church in Smyrna, NY. That’s the church I grew up in and was there until I moved to the Elkhart area when I was 20. The church is in central NY, and the area is very hilly (and not very populated). … Read more

Today I’m going to use a story from my favorite old TV show, “The Andy Griffith Show” and contrast it with things I’ve seen! The episode from the TV show was called “A Medal For Opie”. The setting is that the town of Mayberry is hosting a special kids day, filled with different athletic events … Read more

Grandpa Verne, my great grandfather, sparked some of my first interest in vegetable gardening. Grandpa was born in 1880 so many of his methods would have definitely been considered “old school” but they worked! For instance….. I can remember helping him plant his sweet corn…mainly because I had “caught” the fertilizer for the corn in the river!  … Read more

There are different ways of learning things, such as reading about something-which is the main thing I first did when it came to my favorite hobby, gardening! Then of course we have to do more than read about something, we have to start (at least in my case,) experimenting with the things we have learned.  I’m sure there … Read more

When I started school at 5 years old, I soon noticed a man working constantly inside and outside of the school building. This man looked like he really liked his job, and I could even tell that he was very good at everything he did! Although I didn’t know who this man was, I figured he must be very important. I … Read more

In about 1976 while I was working full time in my fathers general store, I learned a lot with my eyes and ears—and that’s where today’s story comes from. It was a weekday mid afternoon, fairly quiet in that country general store. My father was in the city with the truck buying inventory for the … Read more

Where I grew up in those rolling hills of upstate New York, most of my childhood friends lived on dairy farms. When it wasn’t chore time, a dairy farm can be a place of great adventure for kids to play! But, when chores need to be done, all play would stop and everyone had a … Read more

My father Arnold Nauman, lived from 1926 to 2007. He was born in Long Island NY and moved with most of his family to upstate NY after WWII. His father (my grandfather) bought a country general store and the plan was for my uncle and father to work in the store with my grandfather. Before … Read more

My mother always took her job (7 children, it was a job) as a mom, seriously. I can remember before I was old enough to go to school, when sometimes in the morning she would read stories or even poems to me after my older siblings had left for school. She also invented clever ways … Read more

I grew up in rural upstate New York and worked in my fathers general store. One of the things I really looked forward to every spring was the big colorful display box of assorted garden seeds that would arrive. I can remember looking at those beautiful packages and reading the planting and growing instructions of … Read more