Advertisement. Advertise with us

Hawthorne Hill by Richard DeRosa

Desert Dispatch #2:
Remembering and Re-remembering

Every spring up on the hill a process of re-remembering inevitably takes place. Bird calls and songs lain dormant all winter need to work their way back to conscious memory. And as the world greens up and comes to life, memory needs to do a few tricks as well. Can’t remember how many times I have been on a walk, noticed a spring flower and then spent a good part of the walk wracking my brain for its name, knowing all along that I really do know it. Few mental conundrums are as exasperating as knowing something and not being able to dig it out. Sort of like forgetting one’s name. Perhaps it is a function of age, but that is no matter. The process of recall is as welcome as it is frustrating.

You have reached your limit of 3 free articles

To Continue Reading

 

Our hard-copy and online publications cover the news of Otsego County by putting the community back into the newspaper. We are funded entirely by advertising and subscriptions. With your support, we continue to offer local, independent reporting that is not influenced by commercial or political ties.

Posted

Related Articles

Hawthorn Hill Journal: Midwinter Musings on Simplification

As long as we are here, we will garden. We just need to pare down to what is more manageable. We spent so many years adding gardens that taking them out does leave a bit of a bitter taste. But life is all about change, about waxing and waning...…
February 5, 2026

Segina: Congrats on a Job Well Done

I just finished reading Richard DeRosa’s “Hawthorn Hill Journal” and found myself smiling as he captured the fear that grips anyone who chooses to step “into the arena,” to borrow from Teddy Roosevelt.…
January 15, 2026

Hawthorn Hill Journal: Reflections at Year’s End

Over the years I’ve written on a very wide variety of topics, from the mesmerizing experience of locking eyes with a butterfly, to sharing thoughts on the state and condition of political discourse. With respect to the latter, there seems to be less discourse and more digging into ideological foxholes, which never ever leads to any good for the commonwealth.…
January 8, 2026

PUTTING THE COMMUNITY BACK INTO THE NEWSPAPER

For a limited time, new annual subscriptions to the hard copy of “The Freeman’s Journal” or “Hometown Oneonta” (which also includes unlimited access to AllOtsego.com), or digital-only access to AllOtsego.com, can also give back to one of their favorite Otsego County charitable organizations.

$5.00 of your subscription will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice: Friends of the Feral-TNR, Super Heroes Humane Society, or Susquehanna Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals 

Visit our “subscribe” page and select your charity of choice at checkout