She IS my friend

The ukelele hasn't gotten this much press since Tiny Tim played "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."
Jessica Latshaw, a singer/songwriter from Landenberg, was on the subway in New York when some guys started playing the congas. Jess happened to be carrying her ukelele and joined in. Another subway rider started filming their jam session and posted it to YouTube, the video-sharing site.

The video became a huge hit, showing up all over Facebook and Twitter, and Jess appeared on "Good Morning New York" on Jan. 11. She was charming and beautiful. The song she performed, "Ain't my Friend," is out on iTunes.You can read about the excitement on her blog, "This Life in Writing":
"Would you like to know what, exactly, I was ‘taking in’ while I was playing and singing on the tv this morning? Why the heck did I write such a long song with so many words?!"
No one deserves a career boost more than Jess, who is not only hugely talented but also an utter sweetheart. When she is in town (her parents run the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Landenberg) she comes to my class at the Jennersville Y and simply lights it up with her gentle grace, generosity and kindness (and astonishing flexibility; she is also a dancer).

The Book Sale

It's that time of year again: the Unionville High School Book Sale will be held in the UHS gym from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, and 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, with the $8 bag sale from 3 to 5 p.m. Feb. 25. Book donations can be dropped off at UHS on Saturday, Jan. 28, and all weekdays until Feb. 22. I'm already getting my bagful together.

Really cool

I am not much of a gadget person, but  I love my new Weather Channel wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer. It's just amazing. You put the tiny transmitter outside, and the temperatures both inside and outside show up on the little monitor screen -- which you can move from room to room, as long as it's within 260 feet of the transmitter.
I'm looking at it as I type on a Sunday evening: it's 36.1 degrees outside and 62.9 inside. I can see how cold it is outside without even getting out of bed in the morning!
For $16 at Lowe's, it's a steal. It takes two AA batteries for the monitor and two AAA batteries for the transmitter (all of which, to my amazement, I had in my kitchen utility drawer).
It claims to have a range of minus 19.9 degrees up to 140 degrees (outside) and 14.1 degrees to 140 degrees inside. Dollars to doughnuts we're not going to exceed those.
No sooner did I mention this new toy this morning than a friend started raving about her own new favorite gadget: a multipurpose steamer that greets her with fresh hot oatmeal when she comes in from the barn in the morning. No longer does she need to worry about burned porridge or the pot boiling over. It also cooks rice and steams leftovers.

Lone Eagle

A Charles Lindbergh connection in our area? Yes indeed!

I was with my pal Susan running errands the other day, taking Romansville Road south through West Bradford Township, when we saw a sign for Lone Eagle Road. Susan, who used to live very close by, told me that the road was named after the plane that the famous aviator was piloting when he had to make an emergency landing there back in March 1928.

She did some Internet digging and found the following in a 2004 Daily Local News story: 

"According to township records, in March 1928, Lindbergh was flying the "Lone Eagle" from Curtis Field, N.Y., to Washington and became enshrouded in dense fog. He landed in a muddy field on the farm of Emmer R. Way and spent the night at the home of Charles Elkington and his wife.
He was accompanied on this flight by his attorney, Harry Breckenridge. A large crowd gathered to watch Lindbergh depart the next day.

The "Lone Eagle" was a twin of the "Spirit of St. Louis," the plane Lindbergh used for his flight over the Atlantic Ocean, aviation’s first solo transatlantic flight."

On display

I stopped in to the Willow on State gallery on Jan. 6 to see their show of works by young local artists and was delighted to recognize several of the names. A few that I noted down were Kit Ramsey's photos of skateboarders and graffiti; Kyle Kogut's piece "The Bathers," which included some haunted-looking Edward Gorey-esque figures; Julia Hudson's color-saturated flowers; and Matthew Wileyto's cartoon creatures.
Willow on State is an amusing little shop that also sells crafts, jewelry and vintage items like turntables, typewriters, books and vinyl LP albums. How funny it was to see the Roger Dean cover of "Yessongs" on display!

Yum

Have you seen the new format of County Lines magazine?
As of the January 2012 issue they've doubled in size; it's now the size of a regular magazine, and it's in full color. I think it looks really sharp. The January issue is the annual dining guide, which means it gives capsule reviews and photos of a lot of our local restaurants. The cover shows an amazing-looking surf-and-turf entree from the Hotel DuPont's Green Room.

So lucky

After a long morning of work (I'm editing a book on the history of an obscure scientific principle involving the electric eel), I needed to get out of the house. I went to the post office and then stopped by Polished on South Union Street in Kennett to get a pedicure (a cheerful cherry-red color). As always happens, I ran into an old friend there, and while our digits were being worked on we had a delightful time catching up, chatting about new restaurants, family members, the school board and our mutual brown thumbs when it comes to growing dahlias.
She told me that often, perhaps when she's about to serve on the tennis court, or when she spots a blue heron flying over the golf course, she catches her breath and feels a profound sense of gratitude -- to be healthy and outdoors playing a sport, to be leading such a comfortable life where she can pop in and get a manicure in the middle of the day.
I agree wholeheartedly. 

Slobs

Littering our beautiful countryside ranks high up on my list of sins. I just got back from a walk and was appalled and angry to find two empty foil packets of "energy gel" -- one Gu brand, one Proctane -- along my road. Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but I suspect this morning's pelleton of bicyclists. I've never seen this kind of trash before, so I know it's not one of our regular cyclists.
Folks, if you feel the need for extra carbs on your Saturday morning ride, please just stash the empty packet in your pouch or pocket or wherever it came from and take it back home. Thank you.