Deflation

There's a big blow-up Santa on the front lawn of a Unionville village house that for some reason was grossly under-inflated the other morning when I stopped by the post office. Santa was lying face-down on the grass, and the wind was making his arms pound on the ground, just like a toddler having a tantrum at the supermarket.

Sinus infection

This lingering sinus infection that's going around is sending even committed physician-phobes into the clinic. It features a sore throat, a cough and unpleasant sinus congestion, and from my experience and that of my friends, it doesn't get better on its own without antibiotics.
After days of symptoms and actually missing a day at the gym -- the last straw! -- I finally called my doctor's office on a Friday. I described my symptoms and apologetically asked if they thought I should wait til Monday to come in.
"Why would you want to do that?" the kind nurse said, giving me an appointment for that very morning.

Getting to Wegman's

Two readers replied to my plea last week for an efficient route from Unionville to the Wegman's supermarket east of Downingtown:
From Steve:
"842 to Northbrook Road, hit 162 at Marshallton for a couple hundred yards, then Sugars Bridge Road to 322. Right before the narrow low bridge entering Downingtown, turn right (at the Wawa) on Boot Road....then a left at a light at Quarry Road. You can dead end at 30 or enter the shopping center at the movie theater. The fastest and most scenic I think."
From an anonymous reader:
"This Wegman's fan starts out as Steve directed above, except turning right onto 322, going over the open grate bridge, then making a left onto Skelp Level Road. Then you turn right onto Boot Road & continue as above. Only cuts off that corner where the Wawa is, but it feels pretty quick to me!"
An alternative, of course, might be to build a Wegman's closer to Unionville. Just sayin'! 

Shop local

In this year's thank-you gift basket that the Cheshire Hunt delivered to landowners: blue mugs with the hunt's name in orange; a jar of Swarmbustin' honey from Walt Broughton of West Marlborough; a selection of teas from Mrs. Robinson's Tea Shop in Kennett; and granola bars from Dough Run (love that name!) in Unionville.

Family dinner

Just got home from a family dinner at the Texas Roadhouse on Route 1 in Glen Mills to celebrate the truly amazing pace that a certain father-son pair set in the 5K Stride run on Sunday. The Roadhouse is the favorite choice of the younger member of this duo, who always orders the 8-oz sirloin (and usually manages to finish it, if he doesn't sneak too many preprandial rolls, that is). The place was hopping, as usual, even on a Monday night.
As we finished and were boxing up our bones to take home for the dog, a manager came up, introduced herself and asked about our dinner. We told her the service was quick and accurate and the meat was cooked just as ordered. I was impressed: how often do you get a visit from the manager at any busy restaurant, much less a chain steakhouse?
We will definitely go back.

Another tale from the Island of Unionville

At the post office today I saw a petite woman from behind and greeted her: "Hi, Babette!"
It wasn't Babette.
"I'm Sue," she corrected me. "But Babette's a nice person, so I don't mind."

Under construction

The newest project at Doe Run Farm, the West Marlborough compound being developed by Urban Outfitters founder Richard Hayne, is an indoor pool and squash court on the site where Tony Young's mansion used to be.
Mr. Hayne is also converting the existing clay tennis court into a grass one -- not necessarily because he prefers playing on that surface, but for storm-water management purposes: clay is considered to be an "impervious surface," and he is allowed to have only so much paving on the property.
In other Hayne news, you might remember that at the November township supervisors' meeting a resident pointed out that Mr. Hayne's new corn crib was too close to Hicks Road. At the December meeting, township engineer Al Giannantonio of Yerkes Associates reported that he looked into the matter and found that not only was it in the road right-of-way, it was also built in a flood plain, which isn't allowed. Mr. Hayne's rep told him it would be moved.
Mr. Giannantonio said he also inspected a structure being built on Wilson Road after residents told the supervisors that it appeared to be a garage with an apartment above, rather than the barn the owner had said he was building. He said the second floor contained nothing but electrical outlets, but he did see some piping in place even though the owner did not have approval for a septic system. He planned to follow up with the owner.
The township supervisors (Bill Wylie, Mike Ledyard and Hugh Lofting) said they are considering having people who apply to build agricultural buildings, which are less stringently regulated than houses, sign a document spelling out exactly what does and does not qualify as an agricultural building. A proactive township resident sent them several samples of such a document.

Whip zoning

It doesn't look like the Whip's proposed zoning changes for Springdell are going to pass. At its Dec. 6 meeting the West Marlborough Township Planning Commission recommended that the township supervisors NOT approve the changes, which the Whip's attorney suggested would help the popular tavern solve the parking problems that have plagued both customers and village residents.
However, the planners expressed frustration with the ongoing problems and the time and expense the township (that is, the taxpayers) has incurred in dealing with them, and urged all the parties to reach a solution.
Planning Commission Chairman Josh Taylor was also upset about the anonymous flyers that have been circulated around the township criticizing the proposed zoning changes, calling them "incorrect" and "propaganda."

Paybacks

According to U.S. District Court documents finalized November 28, Neely Young, con man Tony Young's wife, has admitted that "between late 1999 and April 17, 2009, she received or benefited from fraudulent transfers ... totaling at least $26,964,594" and acknowledged she is liable for $20,423,511.88 that wasn't recovered from the sale of the Youngs' houses (Maine, Palm Beach and here in West Marlborough), cars and personal property. (She'd owe one more dollar if I hadn't snapped up a Waterford vase at the auction. You're welcome, Mrs. Young.)
Tony is serving a 210-month sentence in a Georgia penitentiary. Last we had heard, Mrs. Young and the couple's two children were living in Florida.

But Siriusly, folks

For years I've read about satellite radio, but until a few days ago I had never actually experienced it in my car. I have a three-month trial of Sirius XM and I have to say, it's pretty amazing. I briefly wondered how I would manage the 200-some channels. There's a channel for just about everything: professional golf and every other sport you can imagine, traffic reports from around the country, reggae, Broadway, heavy metal, gospel, country music, Sinatra, Elvis, hip-hop, club music, Punjabi music, talk radio from all over the political spectrum, BBC news. (No Unionville news channel, though!)
I very quickly realized that whole categories were of no interest to me, but the channels I do like are very good indeed (yes, you can probably guess which ones) and I programmed them in instantly.
A consumer word to the wise: I  understand that if you let your trial subscription expire, the company will significantly lower its monthly price to lure you back.

Waders

Longwood Garden's continuing education catalog for 2012 contains the most enticing sentence I've read in a long time: "You will have the rare opportunity for one hour to get into the world-famous water lily pools for a frog's-eye view of this spectacular display," reads the description of a photography workshop.
Wow! Who hasn't wanted to do exactly that on a hot summer's day?

Feed the birds

A West Marlborough neighbor wonders what she's doing wrong: she put out her bird feeders but isn't getting any birds. That has happened to me before, and you just have to be patient. Sometimes it takes a while for the birds to show up.
That certainly wasn't the case for me this autumn, though. A blue jay was at one of my feeders within minutes of my filling it up for the first time a few weekends ago. And lots of chickadees and nut hatches have been visiting. They're even brave enough to harass the squirrels!
It's been so warm that I haven't made any suet cakes yet. As I'm writing this, I just got back from a lovely half-hour walk over to a neighbor's house to drop off a misdelivered letter. It's in the 60s, and I'm having a hard time believing that in a few hours I'll be getting ready for a Christmas cocktail party.