Ashland Speaks by Lula Anderson - 08 February 2026

We made it through January and have also reached the middle of winter.  Yes, we still expect colder than normal temps, but the sun seems brighter, and the days are longer.  Trying to keep houses warm this winter is a definite chore. Especially when  you run out of propane.  Oil burners are working overtime and you can just see the $$$ fly up the chimney.  Thank you to Crown Fuel for trudging through the snow to fill Judy's oil tanks.  It was too cold for Jay to be out on Monday, he worked to get the driveway cleaned and pretty much suffered frostbite even with heated handle on the snowblower.  It was scheduled to be cleaned out this week, but you came first.  Thank you for your dedication.

There is an old adage "If the first snow washes away, all the rest will be that way".  If you remember, after our first snowfall, it turned warm and rained.  Most old=timers  thought that was the end to our winter and ski season.  Well, we're still waiting for that rainy warm-up.  Bill Mead is checking the weather for the start of sap season.  When he was sapping, there was a time that they tapped in January.  I keep wondering if I will see crocus before May.  I know, one day we will be complaining about the heat.  Jay Fink usually sends a reply when I complain about the cold  how in July and August we will be wishing for some of this.  Jay, I think this is too long and too cold for even you.  However, another adage says for each day below zero we will have a day above 100.  Let's hope that one proves false this year, also.  

Just a reminder, New York State motor vehicle offices all over the state, including phone, on-line and mail ins will be closed starting at 2PM on February13 while they upgrade their services.  All services will resume on Wednesday the  18th.

The WAJ Drama club will be presenting WILLY WONKA THE MUSICAL  on March 6,7  and 8 which means the dress rehearsal/ dinner theater for Senior Citizens will be on March 5.  Doors will open at 5 and dinner served at 6.  We still haven't gotten a person to accept reservations, but will have one by next week. 

Prayers for Tom Drum, Tom Hoyt, Greg Beckmann and Tricia LoPresti.  

AS I REMEMBER IT

Being stuck in the house, I have to do something, so have been going through old papers, cards and memorabilia.  Doctor bills from the '80's, did we really think they were expensive?  Cards from my grandmother, a sample of her handwriting.  Letters to and from my parents.  Mundane reports, but a log of what we were doing many years ago, although it seems like yesterday.  

Why do we save this stuff?  Does it mean anything to anyone else but me?  Having no grandchildren makes it even harder to decide.  

My husband loved Valentine's Day.  When I was in high school I always wanted a boyfriend who would give me one of those fancy heart boxes of candy.  In my Senior year, I got a heart-shaped box, kbut it had no frills or flowers.  My girlfriends were jealous, as they didn't get anything.  I was mollified, but still wished for lace and flowers.  The first year I started dating my college sweetheart, I got the prize.  A beautiful box of candy.  There was a chocolatier that he went to that actually constructed the boxes, and filled them with fresh crafted chocolates.  Every year the box color changed, along with the decor.  Purple, blue, pink, gold.  Beautiful boxes.  One day, he could no longer get boxes there.  The wife died and along with her, the hand-crafted boxes.  No worries, he would search the stores to find a beautiful box of candy for me.  The year I was pregnant with our first-born, I couldn't eat candy, so he gave me a heart shaped tin of pistachios.  One year it was a clear plastic box of cashews.  Every year I would hang the current box on my bedroom wall and put the others in a box in the attic.  One year I decided to make window decorations from them.  I glued boxes back to back and hung them for the world to see.  Flowers became crushed, or just fell off with age.  The boxes themselves are falling apart.  The glue has dried, and now it's just a top and a bottom.  But still my frilly candy box.

One year he bought a huge box of candy for our Senior Citizen meeting - for all of his girlfriends.  The women swarmed the box and I got nothing, but I knew that on the 14th I would have my own box to savor and share with my favorite man.  That year the box was a beautiful red velvet.  I opened it and looked for the list of chocolates.  See, I would pick out the pieces I liked, one per night, and he would get the rest.  There is one candy that I absolutely detest, a chocolate truffle.  Oh no, it was a box of only truffles!  Not to worry, he realized that they were truffles, but only bought it for the box, so had gotten me another box to go along with it.  Unfortunately, his eyesight was failing and the second box was also truffles.  We joked about it and said that next year he would get someone to help him pick out the candy .  I never got another heart and my red velvet heart remains as the prize of my collection.  

Happy Valentine's Day to all.  Be sure to tell your loved ones how much you love and appreciate them.