Room to move

Some friends just sold their Chadds For house in four days, receiving multiple offers over the not-inconsiderable asking price. (Of course, now the family faces the challenge of finding a place to live in Connecticut, where the wife was transferred.) It seems that COVID has spawned a seller's market as people perceive that their houses are insufficient, in either size or amenities, for pandemic living.

As a freelance copy editor, spending hours at home is nothing new for me, but I have had to adjust my living space to accommodate my exercise regimen. For my Zoom yoga class, I push the coffee table out of the way. It's amazing how many cobwebs and dust bunnies you see when you are lying on the living-room floor; the telescoping Swiffer duster that I bought at Lowe's has been a COVID-era game-changer.

For my Zoom cardio class, which includes a fair amount of fast-paced jumping and shuffling, I use the back deck when the weather permits. Surprisingly, the wooden surface is nice and springy and easy on the knees. Otherwise, I've set up an older computer in the concrete-floored garage. Just one pine needle or sweet-gum leaf underfoot can be slippery, so the deck and garage floors have never been cleaner.

Seeking clarity

Two "say what?" moments on today's errand run:

On Baltimore Pike near the Longwood Village shopping center the SUV in front of me had one of those oval magnets on the back that said WTF. I pulled closer and saw, with a smile, that it stood for Wild Thyme Flowers, the florist on Kennett Pike. 

A few minutes later the radio announcer, giving a public service announcement, said, "If you're over 55 and tired and want to share your expertise with others..." Wait, what? If I'm tired, why would someone want to volunteer for something like this? Then I realized he must have said, "over 55 and REtired." Yeah, that makes a bit more sense.

Also a shoutout to John at Sardella Eye Associates in Willowdale, who did a super job tweaking my eyeglasses so the lenses were balanced. He said everyone's spectacles are getting out of whack because we're all donning masks, adjusting them, and taking them off repeatedly during the day.

I watched him gently bending my wire frames and said, "Yeah, I was thinking of doing exactly that myself --"

"Don't!" he said firmly.
 

I thought reporters had thick skins!

For a lark, a friend and I attended an outdoor political rally back in October. It was overcast and spitting rain now and then, but the temperature was seasonal and perfectly comfortable. We were therefore surprised to read news accounts that evening in which the big-city reporters described the "raw" conditions that we supposedly hardy participants had braved for hours. 

"Wow!" commented my friend. "They need to come out to the Cheshire Races one year."

It would be fun indeed to see what the reporters would have to say about the mud and sleet!

No tax increase for 2021; slowing traffic on Newark Road

"This year's budget looks very much like last year's budget" is how township supervisor Bill Wylie summed up the proposed $541,270 budget for West Marlborough Township at the December township meeting. No tax increase is proposed for 2021.

 Last year's budget process was unusually controversial, as the supervisors decided to greatly increase the township's contribution to the fire and ambulance companies that serve the township, as well as helping to fund the building of a new regional library in Kennett Square. Dozens of residents attended township meetings at the end of 2019 to object to the library funding while supporting the funding increase for the emergency services.

 This coming year those contributions remain in the budget: $15,000 for the new library and $51,313 for EMS. On the income side of the budget, the township expects to receive $150,000 from real estate taxes, $190,000 from earned income taxes, $71,759 from liquid fuel taxes, and additional funding from the state and other sources.

 The final vote on the 2021 budget will take place in the township office (not the garage) at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 28. Here is the proposed budget, which will be posted on the bulletin board outside the township garage:

Also at the monthly meeting, the supervisors discussed the perennial problem of motorists speeding through the township, this time focusing on the three-quarter-mile stretch of Newark Road between Route 82 and Route 842.

 "I see the cars just blazing through there," said Supervisor Jake Chalfin. He said he has noticed that part of Newark Road varies greatly in width, and he wondered whether narrowing the road to a uniform width might slow down traffic.

 Other suggestions discussed included painting white lines along the road edges.

 Road crew supervisor Hugh Lofting said he would measure the varying widths along the road and let the supervisors know his findings.