Truncated

In the past few weeks Asplundh workers have been making their periodic rounds of state roads, lopping off tree limbs that might fall on power lines. The staging area for their army of orange trucks has been behind the old Red Rose Inn in Jennersville. It's not difficult to identify the roadsides where they have been working. In particular, Street Road (Route 926) near the London Grove intersection now has some distinctly asymmetrical trees.
A reader said she could never figure out to pronounce the name, so I looked it up. Apparently many customers are curious about that, because it's the first FAQ on their website:
“AH - splund”. The final “H” is silent. It is a Swedish family name meaning “grove of aspen trees”.
Now you know, Linda D!

Too much information

Visitors to the Unionville post office on Saturday were greeted with a wet carpet and the following warning sign:

Whether the fluid was in fact water or not, what an ingenious way to keep people away from that part of the lobby!

Unbiased

I was just checking my blog statistics and came across this mercenary little announcement:
"When you share your words, thoughts and photos on Blogger, you are sharing your passions with the world. Sometimes, you’re passionate about brands or products. Starting today, you can make money by promoting relevant products in your posts, gaining income for each new customer you introduce to your favorite brands."
Yuck! I assure my readers that I do no such thing. I don't mention products or stores so that I can make money; that would be wrong and it would ruin any credibility that I have. Nor would I ever accept free meals, ice cream, cider, pedicures, bread or chocolate milk in return for mentioning the merchant in this column.

Writer

I'm told that Mark Bowden gave a fascinating talk at the Foxfire Restaurant at the Stone Barn on April 18 in an event sponsored by the Cheshire Hunt Conservancy. Mark, who lives near Oxford, spoke about his adventure-packed career as a journalist and author. Boy, did I make the wrong choice: I attended a zoning meeting instead of going to hear him.
My friends who attended said he was an excellent speaker and told riveting anecdotes, including an amusing one about covering an Apollo rocket launch. And the dinner was excellent, too, I'm told.
I'm sure you've heard of Mark: he wrote for The Philadelphia Inquirer for years, and his books include Black Hawk Down, Killing Pablo, and Guests of the Ayatollah.

Crossroads

There was a minor crash at Routes 841 and 842 on Wednesday morning. That evening I asked a nearby resident what had happened, and she said that judging from the frequency of accidents there, it seems some people just don't understand the concept of a four-way stop.

In passing

I see that the old Barnwood Restaurant on Baltimore Pike, west of Kennett, has been painted twice this past week: first a base coat of rusty orange, and then olive drab.
What a great spot the Barnwood was! I can't count the number of times when suppertime would roll around and we'd head over there for a relaxing, tasty and reasonably priced meal. And remember Sandy, the friendly barmaid?
Also, I also noticed that a new ice cream shop is going in at the former Citgo gas station at the intersection of Baltimore Pike and Route 41. A man was inside painting this morning as I drove by, and there are two large banners announcing that the new store is "comming."

Life is good

A friend of mine just became a grandfather for the first time, and in our long and event-filled friendship I have never for one moment seen him at a loss for words -- until now. He told me he simply could not describe what it felt like to hold the precious little boy in his arms, less than 12 hours after he was born. The first photos of this wonderful new person went out immediately via text message.

Out of town

Some locals are not happy about the imminent move of Unionville Feed to its new site in Pocopson. One friend said that because of the increased distance from her farm she is now going to have to make a list of what she needs instead of popping in spontaneously for whatever her horses, dogs, cats or chickens need.
"I'm actually going to have to think!" she said, only half in jest.
I stopped into the feed store for pet food this morning and Ed was behind the counter catching up on the "The Horse of Delaware Valley"; unfortunately, his cat had decided to take a nap on top of the very article he had been reading. 

Trolleys

A trolley line used to run along the east side of Route 82 into Kennett, and you can still see part of its path near Willowdale and the Kennett Country Club. I learned this and many other interesting things about early-20th-century trolley lines at a wonderful talk given by Ray McKay to the Southeastern Chester County Historical Society on April 25.
He showed photos of the trolleys operating in downtown West Chester, Lenape, Downingtown and Kennett, with then-and-now comparisons of what the sites look like today. There was a trolley barn on South High Street, near Market Street, in West Chester; a power plant to keep the trolleys running where Lenape Forge is today; and another barn on Birch Street in Kennett. The arched bridge that crosses the Brandywine near Lenape Park didn't exist when the trolleys were running; they used a bridge just north of it that no longer exists. 
He said it's a tricky business tracing the old routes because the lines have been pulled up, stations have been torn down and in some cases roads have even been moved.
He said that originally the trolley cars were not labeled with signs, and they all looked alike, causing confusion as to which car was going on which route.
In the more-chairs-needed audience at the Kennett Friends Home I saw Mary Dugan, Marjorie Kaskey, Karen Halstead, Baz Powell, and former Kennett Square borough residents Janice and Dick Taylor, and Mary Sproat introduced Mr. McKay.
After the talk my friends and I walked down the street and had a tasty supper at El Ranchero, a Mexican restaurant in the little West State Street shopping center where the card shop Papier used to be.

Finance

I am very glad this Wall Street Journal story didn't carry a Unionville or Kennett Square dateline.
It seems that Rita Crundwell, the comptroller for Dixon, Illinois, is accused of embezzling $30 million from the city, using it to pay for her horse farm (she breeds and sells quarter horses), a $2.1 million motor home, a $60,000 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, and $2.5 million in credit card charges, including $339,000 for jewelry. The photo that accompanies the story shows Ms. Crundwell, wearing a white cowboy hat, with one of her horses at a competition. The fraud, which allegedly stretched back to 2006, came to light when a city worker filling in for Ms. Crundwell "raised questions about the city's bank statements."
"The funds Ms. Crundwell is accused of misappropriating amount to nearly $2,000 for each of Dixon's roughly 15,700 residents," the WSJ reporter calculated.

Apology

The structures at Dick Hayne's Doe Run Farm are beautifully designed and built. His artisanal cheese wins awards for its high quality. His workers are meticulous about keeping the estate grounds in impeccable condition. And I'm told that he is a very hands-on owner, involved in every decision.
Why, then, is the company he founded, Urban Outfitters Inc., continually being accused of selling tasteless and offensive products?
Just today a friend forwarded a Philadelphia Inquirer story about how UO was selling a $100 T-shirt with a six-pointed star on the pocket that resembled those that Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany.
According to the Inquirer story, the Philadelphia chapter of the Anti-Defamation League "last week sent a letter to Urban Outfitters chairman and CEO Richard A. Hayne demanding `an immediate apology'.”
The company "said Monday it never stocked or sold" the T-shirt and the shirt’s "Danish manufacturer said a photo featuring the embroidery on Urban’s website `must be an early sample' of a prototype that was never, ultimately, made."
Philadelphia newspapers have previously reported that UO got in hot water for selling St. Patrick's Day T-shirts invoking offensive Irish stereotypes. Not to mention the Christmas-tree ornaments in the shape of guns, and the "Ghettopoly" game...
"Another day, another Urban Outfitters controversy," observed the website "Fashionista."

Race day

It was an outdoors weekend for me. Saturday I was weeding in shorts and sunscreen; Sunday  I spent in the downpour at the Fair Hill Point-to-Point in Maryland. Yes, we certainly needed the rain, but what a shame that it had to choose Sunday.
Still, I saw lots of nice die-hard and still cheerful racing fans (it was as if Unionville just relocated south of the Mason-Dixon Line for the day), watched Ivan Dowling on Sally Reed's Monsooned Malabar win the very exciting Roy Rector Memorial Heavyweight Race, and had an excellent lunch prepared by Buck's Restaurant/Blue Marlin Catering of Rising Sun, MD (crab bisque, crabcakes, chicken marsala, pasta salad, green salad and chocolate mousse). So sad that the carriage parade got rained out, though.
One friend put it perfectly: "We are wet, but we are proud supporters of Fair Hill Races and all the people who work so hard to put it together and ride in the pouring rain!!"