When your week away turns into ‘Freaky Friday’

October 9, 2022

As a woman, I always knew turning into my mother was inevitable. What I didn’t realize was that within 48 hours of occupying their house, Chad and I wouldco-morph into my parents as a whole. We had gone to Lewisburg so he could attend a falconry lesson at the Greenbrier and we could both get some time away in the process. My parents were heading to their vacation spot,so we had the place to ourselves. The transformation began almost immediately. “I’m chilly,” I said on our first full day there, turning on the gas fireplace and warming my hands by the instant ...

Who’s the real charmer here? Him, or my dogs?

September 25, 2022

Remember that Jack Nicholson-Helen Hunt-Greg Kinnear movie, where Jack plays an unhappy, obsessive-compulsive recluse whose whole existence is turned around by the love of a good woman and, more importantly, a cute dog? It keeps popping into my head as I watch Chad during this week away with my pups. For the record, he is not an unhappy, obsessive-compulsive recluse (though he is very neat and he does shower a lot). But like Nicholson in the film, he’s never really been a big dog person. I mean, he likes them — he’s not a psychopath, either — and he’ll pet one if ...

Welcome, home: Contemplating what that word means

September 4, 2022

I’ve been thinking about the concept of home a lot lately. Growing up an Army brat, moving was just a part of life — it’s not like you get a say in it, and since you don’t know anything different, it doesn’t seem all that odd to be told you’re picking up and leaving again after ...

When the brain fog hits, who do you blame?

August 28, 2022

I have about a half dozen half-finished columns sitting on my computer. No, not about. Exactly. I have started — and stopped — writing six times in the past week. I’ve got one about home and what that entails. One about the sneakers I wore to ruin (go, me). A nowhere-near-complete ode to my dog, Tulip. A medium-length ditty about Chad’s magical hat. The beginnings of something about walking on the beach, and a pretty good bit about skeet shooting. Maybe you’ll read them all, or at least a few of them, someday. But not today. Because no matter how hard I tried, ...

Vintage Fest set for Sunday in Star City

August 16, 2022

By Jade Ruggieri Sneakers. Shopping. Scrumptious food. On Aug. 21, the third Vintage Fest will be held from noon-8 p.m. at Edith Barill Riverfront Park in Star City, offering all things vintage, from clothes to shoes. Food trucks will be on site to snack while you shop. With 40 ...

A successful summer season debut by the West Virginia Public Theatre

August 13, 2022

By Jade Ruggieri After two years off for the global pandemic, the West Virginia Public Theatre held its first, full summer season. With productions of “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” a moving play about a 15-year-old boy on the autism spectrum rooted in themes of ...