As someone who can easily eat half of a $6 carton of raspberries on the way home from the grocery store, this event caught my eye. Brandywine Battlefield Park will be hosting three pick-your-own-raspberries days at the park, 1491 Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, July 17, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 18, and from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, July 19. You can pick as many berries as you want, but you have to purchase a "Brandywine Battlefield Wineberry Pail," available at the museum store for $5.00. I'm assuming that after your purchase your pail they'll direct you to the brambles.
Picking will go on rain or shine. Pickers are advised to wear long sleeves, trousers, shoes and bug repellent.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Friday, July 3, 2015
BIRTH: The afternoon of a fawn in East Marlborough
The Senior Tally-ho's report that a blessed event occurred in their front yard near Longwood Gardens the other night during a thunderstorm. My mother saw what she thought was a piece of wood and, during her morning gardening chores, went over to pick it up, only to realize it was a newborn fawn. The little thing was so young that it couldn't even get to its feet at first.
My mother kept a careful eye on the fawn the rest of the day. It managed to wriggle into the shade, but when that spot became sunny the creature started to pant -- and still no sign of its mother. My mother took a bowl of water outside, but the deer didn't know what to do with it.
Finally, in the early afternoon, the mother showed up, and the fawn was able to get up and go toward her. The doe ran off, and the baby tried to approach her. They repeated this, and the last my mother saw of them they were heading toward the woods. Let's hope the mother simply wanted to get the baby to safety and wasn't rejecting her.
There's been no sighting of the fawn since.
My mother kept a careful eye on the fawn the rest of the day. It managed to wriggle into the shade, but when that spot became sunny the creature started to pant -- and still no sign of its mother. My mother took a bowl of water outside, but the deer didn't know what to do with it.
Finally, in the early afternoon, the mother showed up, and the fawn was able to get up and go toward her. The doe ran off, and the baby tried to approach her. They repeated this, and the last my mother saw of them they were heading toward the woods. Let's hope the mother simply wanted to get the baby to safety and wasn't rejecting her.
There's been no sighting of the fawn since.
A MINUTE PASSED: And now for something completely different
What a sad state of affairs! I'm editing a writing manual that is aimed at engineering undergraduates. An early chapter explains how to construct a valid argument, and the author cites the classic "Argument Clinic" sketch by Monty Python.
All well and good -- but then he feels obliged to include a footnote explaining who Monty Python is! The routines from the British comedy troupe were a staple of my high school and college social life and provided a lingua franca for people of my generation.
"It's just a flesh wound!" protests an accident-prone friend after every fracture or concussion.
"I'm not dead yet!" said a friend at a picnic on Saturday, addressing a vulture perched on a pole who was looking down avidly at the crowd.
Imagine some poor Millennial not knowing about the Cheese Shop, or the Dead Parrot, or Eric the Half a Bee, or How Not To Be Seen!
Lovely Spam, wonderful Spam . . .
THE SKY IS FALLING: Pine cones and walnuts are coming down early
The gigantic white pines along the fence line behind my house are already dropping their long, greenish-brown, sticky pine cones (a neighbor said at first he mistook them for dog droppings). I've never seen so many, and I've never seen them fall so early.
The walnut tree, too, is already dropping its nearly full-sized green globes onto the roof.
I'm not sure what this signifies for the coming winter.
The walnut tree, too, is already dropping its nearly full-sized green globes onto the roof.
I'm not sure what this signifies for the coming winter.
ANSON B. NIXON: The summer concert series gets a delayed start
Christine Havrilla and Gypsy Fuzz kicked off the summer series of concerts at Kennett Square's Anson B. Nixon Park on July 1. It was wonderful to be out there in the park again, listening to music and watching the sun set over the lake. (The series was supposed to start with Dukes of Destiny on June 24, but it had to be canceled because of the power outage.)
There was a big but not overwhelming crowd, and we saw many "regulars" who came to every concert last summer, like we did. Dennis Melton did the emcee honors.
One unexpected treat at this show was an impromptu performance of hula-hooping in front of the stage. Apparently hula-hoops are not only for little kids anymore: one lithe woman showed off some seriously amazing and gravity-defying moves, managing to spin two hoops up and down her body and from one shoulder to the other with barely perceptible movements. I was in awe. And yes, alright, I am envious.
The free concerts will continue every Wednesday at 7 p.m. through August 12. There's food for sale by a different vendor each week, or you can bring your own. A fellow from La Michoacana brought along a pushcart full of their popsicles for $2 each (the Butter Pecan was delicious). Leashed dogs are welcome at the concerts; we saw everything from a mastiff to a chihuahua.
There was a big but not overwhelming crowd, and we saw many "regulars" who came to every concert last summer, like we did. Dennis Melton did the emcee honors.
One unexpected treat at this show was an impromptu performance of hula-hooping in front of the stage. Apparently hula-hoops are not only for little kids anymore: one lithe woman showed off some seriously amazing and gravity-defying moves, managing to spin two hoops up and down her body and from one shoulder to the other with barely perceptible movements. I was in awe. And yes, alright, I am envious.
The free concerts will continue every Wednesday at 7 p.m. through August 12. There's food for sale by a different vendor each week, or you can bring your own. A fellow from La Michoacana brought along a pushcart full of their popsicles for $2 each (the Butter Pecan was delicious). Leashed dogs are welcome at the concerts; we saw everything from a mastiff to a chihuahua.
Monday, June 29, 2015
IN MEMORY: Remembering Jessica Leigh Pfeifer, a longtime Girl Scout
On Sunday, June 28, the Girl Scouts of the Brandywine Valley dedicated a bench at the Unionville Community Park in memory of Jessica Leigh Pfeifer, who died unexpectedly in 2012 at age 21. She was a Unionville High School graduate, where she was an avid rugby player, and went on to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She was a month away from graduating when she died. Jessica had been a Girl Scout since she was 5 and earned the Gold Award, the highest
honor in Girl Scouting.
Sunday, June 28, 2015
GLEN MILLS: Ruby's Diner gave us shelter from the storm
In Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story "The Long Rain," a group of astronauts are exploring Venus, where it rains constantly. They are searching desperately for a Sun Dome, which Bradbury describes like this:
"A yellow house, round and bright as the sun. A house fifteen feet high by one hundred feet in diameter, in which was warmth and quiet and hot food and freedom from rain. And in the center of the Sun Dome, of course, was a sun. A small floating free globe of yellow fire, drifting in space at the top of the building where you could look at it from where you sat, smoking or reading a book or drinking your hot chocolate crowned with marshmallow dollops."
Ruby's Diner on Route 1 in Glen Mills was our Sun Dome on Saturday evening. You'll recall that it was pouring all day; in fact, there was a flood watch. We wanted to see "Jurassic World" at the Painter's Crossing AMC cinema, but apparently so did everyone else, as every showing was sold out. (A attorney friend speculates that the movie's popularity has something to do with the fact that lawyers get devoured by velociraptors.)
Because we had planned to dine inside the movie theater, we had to completely rethink our evening. And due to a comical failure of communication about parking lot logistics, I was soaking wet.
We drove around the Painter's Crossroads area and saw that the nearby chain restaurants were all packed -- Carrabba's, Texas Roadhouse, PF Chang's. Ruby's looked manageable in comparison. We parked, dashed through the rain, and were greeted by the gleaming white tables and counters.
It was so pleasant just sitting there in the Sun Dome drying off while watching the parking-lot trees whipping around in the wind and rain.
If you haven't been there, the place has a 1940s "classic diner" theme. The menu offers burgers, sandwiches and milkshakes. I had fun watching the employees, who seem to put on their period mannerisms along with their uniforms: one fellow was gracefully flipping his tray, another cocked his white peaked hat at a rakish angle, and a third was surveying the restaurant, with his fingertips planted on the counter, like he owned the place (think Doc in "West Side Story").
Our sandwiches were tasty -- I particularly liked the onion rings -- but we didn't save room for those amazing-looking milkshakes crowned with whipped cream dollops. Foolish!
"A yellow house, round and bright as the sun. A house fifteen feet high by one hundred feet in diameter, in which was warmth and quiet and hot food and freedom from rain. And in the center of the Sun Dome, of course, was a sun. A small floating free globe of yellow fire, drifting in space at the top of the building where you could look at it from where you sat, smoking or reading a book or drinking your hot chocolate crowned with marshmallow dollops."
Ruby's Diner on Route 1 in Glen Mills was our Sun Dome on Saturday evening. You'll recall that it was pouring all day; in fact, there was a flood watch. We wanted to see "Jurassic World" at the Painter's Crossing AMC cinema, but apparently so did everyone else, as every showing was sold out. (A attorney friend speculates that the movie's popularity has something to do with the fact that lawyers get devoured by velociraptors.)
Because we had planned to dine inside the movie theater, we had to completely rethink our evening. And due to a comical failure of communication about parking lot logistics, I was soaking wet.
We drove around the Painter's Crossroads area and saw that the nearby chain restaurants were all packed -- Carrabba's, Texas Roadhouse, PF Chang's. Ruby's looked manageable in comparison. We parked, dashed through the rain, and were greeted by the gleaming white tables and counters.
It was so pleasant just sitting there in the Sun Dome drying off while watching the parking-lot trees whipping around in the wind and rain.
If you haven't been there, the place has a 1940s "classic diner" theme. The menu offers burgers, sandwiches and milkshakes. I had fun watching the employees, who seem to put on their period mannerisms along with their uniforms: one fellow was gracefully flipping his tray, another cocked his white peaked hat at a rakish angle, and a third was surveying the restaurant, with his fingertips planted on the counter, like he owned the place (think Doc in "West Side Story").
Our sandwiches were tasty -- I particularly liked the onion rings -- but we didn't save room for those amazing-looking milkshakes crowned with whipped cream dollops. Foolish!
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