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How to approach the year ahead

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My idea of a good start to the new year is a good night’s sleep. I sympathize, however, with the woman who posted that she wasn’t going to stay up to welcome in the new year, but she was going to stay up to make sure the old year left! 2024, with its strange Presidential election, excessive food and fuel costs, storms, floods, and shootings won’t be missed by many people. But what will 2025 bring? No one really has a clue; It could make 2024 look like a cakewalk. That’s the thing about change: There’s always an element of uncertainty, and uncertainty creates fear. Joshua 1 ...

Prince Louis and Francis the Baker

Features

In July 1839, King Louis Philippe I of France received an American visitor, a Mr. Hughes, the American charge d’affaires in Stockholm. After introductions, conversation turned to the King’s visit to America in the late 1790’s. King Louis: “Have you ever been at Marietta?” Mr. ...

MOV Climate Corner: The Solstice and Our Fragile Balance

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This morning at 4:21 AM, as most of us in West Virginia were still in bed, the Earth paused. Today marks the winter solstice — the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. At this precise moment, our planet, wobbling on its 23-degree axial tilt, stopped leaning away from the sun and began tilting back toward it. The term “solstice” originates from the Latin solstitium, meaning “sun standing still,” symbolizing this fleeting moment of stillness before the Earth shifts its course. This axial tilt is vital for life, shaping our seasons and ...

The Christmas message for adults

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Christmas is for kids, right? Almost everything about Christmas excites children – the music, sweets, lights, and other decorations. Television shows like Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman and the Grinch are annual favorites. Christmas traditions like searching for a tree or holiday baking make memories the kids will cherish for the rest of their lives. Waking up on Christmas morning to a tree surrounded by gifts makes the average kid think that “visions of sugarplums” sounds boring! Kids enjoy working in school or in Sunday School to make gifts for their parents; they can’t wait ...

Solstice has marked the passage of time for eons

Features

It’s official. Winter is here. Well, it will be at 4:19 this afternoon. The first day of winter is more than a simple day on the calendar, it is a celestial event that people have been studying for thousands of years. The winter solstice has been marked by civilizations for eons. Everyone knows that the earth orbits the earth once a year. Because the earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees we have seasons. When the top of the axis tilts away from earth we get winter in the northern hemisphere, and we get less daylight. Today the tilt, in relation to the sun, is on the side ...

Christmas Past

Features

Christmas in early America was far from the mega-event of today. Customs varied widely, mostly carried over from England. Christmas there in the late 1600s lasted for two weeks, from December 25 to Twelfth Day, January 6. One writer summarized the activities as “rowdy celebrations including ...