VOTING: A low turnout

Turnout figures for the primary election on May 15 was in the mid-teens for most of the local municipalities I checked. The only precinct that came even close to achieving a 50% turnout was Kennett Township's third precinct, home of Kendal at Longwood, the politically active Quaker retirement community. 42% of the residents there voted.

UNIONVILLE: Tough Mudder

Why were there so many school buses on Route 82 this past weekend? They were ferrying athletes from the staging area in Willowdale out to the two-day Tough Mudder obstacle course/endurance event at Cuyler Walker's Plantation Field.
I drove by the sodden course on Saturday morning, when it was raining and in the mid-50s, and the participants were soaking wet and covered with mud -- yet inexplicably smiling and full of energy as they jogged along or crawled through a mud pit.
During one part of the course you were instructed to carry your team-mates. I saw one man hefting his team-mate overhead, like he was pressing a barbell, and two others were carrying a colleague between them, chair-style.
Friends who have done Tough Mudder swear it's actually immense fun and a great team-building experience. I will take their word for it.

MASTER'S: In Mandarin. no less

Peter and Clare Geleta of Unionville shared the happy news that their son Peter (UHS class of 2011) passed his oral thesis defense -- conducted in Mandarin Chinese -- to earn his master's degree in finance from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. His 60-page master's thesis comprised about 31,000 Chinese characters.

 

SKILL SETS: The icing on the cake

A local friend who is a professional cake decorator made the best of it when a contractor didn't finish the remodeling work he was supposed to do on her home. Spackling, she found, requires the same light, even touch as spreading frosting, and a pastry bag, it seems, is just the thing for filling nail holes.

CHATHAM: Traffic calming

The new "Village of Chatham" sign that PennDOT installed in the middle of Route 41 certainly didn't last long: within a matter of days only half of it remained ("Age Ham," it read). I suspect a wide or errant southbound vehicle took it out.
Wednesday morning, I saw workers removing the ill-fated sign from the island and planting pink dianthus instead.
The islands were recently installed at both ends of the village in an effort to slow traffic along busy Route 41.

NEW JERSEY: A time to mourn

I was honored to attend a recent graveside service for a friend's mother in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The rabbi who conducted the service translated the beautiful Hebrew prayers for us and explained all of the funeral customs.
At the end of the service, he invited us to participate in the traditional filling in of the grave, using a shovel that was passed from mourner to mourner. For the first shovelful of dirt, he used the back of the shovel. He explained that it was less efficient, symbolizing both our need to say goodbye to the deceased person -- and our reluctance to do so.

CHADDS FORD: A new Indian restaurant

Rasa, the pleasant new Indian restaurant in the Painters Crossing shopping center in Chadds Ford, is well worth a visit. We stopped in for dinner and both ordered lamb (lamb biryani for me and lamb Rogan Josh for Dearest Partner) and split an order of garlic naan. The portions were large enough that I had leftovers for lunch for two days.
Word is out about how good the food is; we were there early on a Saturday evening and the place was really filling up, and customers were constantly coming in to pick up takeout orders. A friend who is married to an Indian man said she and her family are regulars and everything they've ordered has been delicious.
Rasa offers plenty of vegetarian, chicken, lamb and seafood appetizers and entrees, and they will adjust the spiciness to suit your palate (it was perfect for me).

WILLOWDALE: It was Cheshire weather

The Willowdale Steeplechase was enjoyable if soggy this year. Judging by the many empty parking spots, lots of people decided to stay home, but I'm very glad we went.
The fashionistas who attended had to trade in their fancy hats, little summer dresses and heels for umbrellas, Barbour jackets and Dubarry boots, but there were still some lavish tailgate spreads to be seen -- albeit underneath waterproof canopies.
We said hello to lots of hardy friends, visited with politicians at their tent (and ate their food), chatted with Lou Mandich at the antique car display (and ate his food), made friends with lots of dogs and enjoyed watching kids playing in the little creek. The mud clearly didn't bother them a bit. 
We arrived just as trumpet player (and West Marlborough resident) Tom Herman was playing the National Anthem.
It was a treat to watch Julie Nafe on Lauren Schock's McCrady's win the Miss Nancy Nicholas sidesaddle race for the second year in a row. The format was a bit different this year: the riders had to stay behind field master Ivan Dowling (Cheshire's huntsman) until the last fence, after which they took off and galloped to the finish. What amazing riders those women are!
The other winners of the day:
1. The Liam Magee amateur race: Brett Owings on Kristian Strangeway's I Am Not Here, trained by Todd Wyatt.
2. The Folly: Jack Doyle on Riverdee Stable's Ebullience, trained by Jonathan Shepherd.
3. The Rose Tree Cup: Graham Watters on Irv Naylor's Stormy Alex, trained by Cyril Murphy.
4. The Willowdale Steeplechase: Hadden Frost on Charlie Fenwick's Doc Cebu, trained by Jack Fisher (same as in 2017).
5. The Landhope Cup, first division: Mark Beecher on Thistledown Farm's Spirit of Shankly, trained by Mark Beecher.
6. The Landhope Cup, second division: Gerard Galligan on Merriebell Stable's Spoiler Alert, trained by William Meister.
7. The Marshall W. Jenney Memorial: Eric Poretz on Frank Bonsal's Stand Down, trained by Joseph Davies.