Off the Beaten Path Archive

I was out on the stoop the other day ago, looking at my couple of pitiful potted cherry tomato plants, when I had a happy thought: I realized just how much joy gardens must be bringing to people from all over the state as this harvest season approaches. In these troubled and turbulent times, I […]

This month the State Fair of West Virginia will once again open its gates in Fairlea. I hope most of you are familiar with it. I know I sure am. You see, when I grew up, the State Fair was my neighbor. It was right down the street from my house. I used to think […]

I’m not completely sure when all this started. I DO know that I wasn’t always this way. If you’re ever driving down some lonely backroad and you happen to find yourself almost crawling to a halt behind an old, clapped-out 2000 Buick LeSabre, there’s a good chance that it’s me behind the wheel. You see, […]

Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow With the coming of January, we have opened the door to a new year. With the coming of January, we have opened […]

Of all the seasons, winter is my favorite. One of the best things about it is its coziness potential. Thomas De Quincey expressed it well when he wrote, “Surely everyone is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four o’clock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing […]

I liked rainy days when I was a kid. My favorite thing to do was to take the family umbrella and walk down the lane with a happy refrain. The stormy clouds had chased everyone from the place, and I was like, come on with the rain, I’ve a smile on my face. And so, […]

Well, it’s been a long time since I wrote my last column. It seems like forever. Not that time has ceased for one moment its terrifying aspect of accelerating year after year. But, with all the strange things that we’ve been forced to endure over the past several months, it does seem to me sometimes […]

Like most people, I like to take a trip every now and then. Of course, if I had my druthers, I’d go on a long, cross-country road trip. I’m lucky enough to have done that five times in my life, and I’m itching to do it again, but for right now I’d be content to […]