Tag Archive

Almost too pretty to eat

Sandy Lane gets excited when she talks about eating flowers. Red buds, apple blossoms, violets, the herb rosemary’s lavender blooms, petunias, pansies, violas, calendula, marigolds, and more. The horticulturist who is director of the Compensated Work Therapy greenhouse program at the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center spoke to a packed afternoon session at the... »

A year of weather in a month

SALEM – You could say there were all four climate conditions in a month: drought, a 70-degree day, flooding, followed by ice and snow – and then almost spring. First, Salem and the surrounding areas were part of the drought conditions plaguing the Roanoke Valley starting with last summer. Enough snow to call it... »

Year of the Snake arrives

SALEM – Four-year-old Jolena Hylton bravely fanned a furry red lion with a colorful Chinese fan before shrinking in mock fear when her dad donned the costume and pretended to swallow her. The Year of the Snake had arrived, nine days earlier than the Jan. 10 calendar date. The occasion was the fifth annual... »

Fun, affordable formal wear sale Saturday

SALEM, VA – Affordable formal wear will be on sale tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 2, at Salem High School, and the sale is open to anybody in the Roanoke Valley. Short and long dresses, shoes and handbags will be offered in the school’s cafeteria. The items are put up for sale by other young people... »

God has such a sense of humor

It was Friday afternoon that my husband, Bill, and I were saying we needed to take some time to slow down. Then the big wind storm hit that night, and we were forced to slow down. God has such a sense of humor. I had been complaining about having too many emails at work... »

Pickup sticks?

Remember pickup sticks? Our two pups evidently do. When I turned on the light in the kitchen the other morning, I was greeted with the sight of a torn-up box that had held 350 wooden toothpicks, and toothpicks spread all over the first floor of the house.   I’m still finding them: under my... »

Goode supports immigration limits, cutting defense budget

SALEM – There were no Secret Service agents guarding him when Constitution Presidential candidate Virgil Goode spoke to the Salem Rotary Club on May 10, and he admitted he has little chance to win the presidency.     But those realities aren’t keeping the Rocky Mount resident who was nominated April 21 from giving... »

Don’t mess with a kite-eating tree

I should have known there would be a kite-eating tree. I was flying a kite in the parking lot of Salem Montessori School the day before the big Kite Festival, since I was going to be sitting inside in meetings at the Virginia Press Association annual meeting while the festival was going on in... »

Literacy is a possible 39 point Scrabble word, and a lot more

Blue Ridge Literacy, formerly Literacy Volunteers of Roanoke Valley, held its seventh annual Scrabble Tournament on March 22. For the first time, a daytime tourney was added to the event. Team Three-Letter-Words, aka the girls from Montgomery Publishing (The Salem Times Register, et al) participated in the lunchtime games. We were paired up to... »

Nobody ever told me you had to work so hard at marriage

Nobody ever told me you had to work so hard at marriage constantly. Next month my husband, Bill, and I will have been married 43 years. (It’s true. I was 4 when we got married.) When people offer congratulations, I frequently respond, “And we work at it every day.” I know 43 years is not... »