Hump day

My mother says that at a recent party, she heard that camels are being raised on Amish farms in Lancaster County for their meat. She was quite intrigued by this and asked me to look into it. I checked around but couldn't find anything anywhere about domesticated camels.
A friend of mine said she knew nothing of camels on local farms, but did I know that the man who came up with the idea for the U.S. Camel Corps was, in fact, from Unionville? Apparently he thought camels would be an efficient way for the cavalry to travel out west.
What a great story!
But unfortunately, there was nothing about that online, either. Yes, there WAS a short-lived U.S. Camel Corps, but I couldn't find any connections with Unionville.

Changing stores

The former Hill's Seafood store on Baltimore Pike, east of Bayard Road, has reopened as a Verizon Wireless store. (I remember when it was a Boston Market, maybe 15 years ago.) And a little farther east, the former Bruster's ice-cream shop continues to sit empty for at least the second ice-cream season.

Bloodthirsty

I agree with my colleague Lisa Lightner (she writes this paper's Outdoors column) about the hungry insects this summer. I have never been bitten so often; as I'm typing this I'm scratching several red welts on my arms and neck. The mosquitoes seem to go for my toes and ankles as soon as I swing myself up onto the hammock. It's so satisfying to swat them before they get a chance to bite! (If only international relations were so simple.)
The Cranky Friend raised an interesting science question. When a mosquito bites a human, the immediate itching sensation alerts the human to the insect's presence and allows the human to reach over and kill it. What evolutionary benefit, then, does the mosquito derive from whatever this itch-inducing chemical is? Without it, the mosquito could just fly away and live another day.

Plop

A friend of mine played a round of golf at one of the local courses the other day (she plays at them all) and said that with all the rain we've had recently, when balls land, they just plop down on the saturated ground and don't roll a bit. Couple that with the 90-degree temperatures and she did not have a particularly happy day on the links.

Shutdown week

As all of us Y old-timers know, the Y shuts down for a week each summer for cleaning and repairs. This year the Kennett Y will be closed Aug. 19 through 25. The Jennnersville and Airport Road Ys will be shut Aug. 26 through Sept. 1.
Also, the Jennersville Y is getting a new gym floor, so the gym (just the gym) will be shut Aug. 4 through Sept. 3.

Blood drive

I was just at the post office licking envelopes for a mailing when in walked Dianne Therry, who was coincidentally on the prowl looking for blood donors for the next American Red Cross blood drive, which is going to be from 2 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, at the KOA Campground in Embreeville. You can sign up online (sponsor code 0222215) or by calling the Red Cross at 1-800-Red-Cross or by calling Dianne at 610-347-1684.
I notice that according to the leaflet she gave me, blood donors will get a $2.50 coupon off Turkey Hill ice cream!

Northbound

Michele Sullivan from the Kennett Underground Railroad Center just wrote to me and asked me to spread the word about the group's Underground Railroad tours. Our area was a hotbed for abolitionism in the mid-19th century, and the tours will take you past several of the original houses involved in the network that brought slaves north to freedom.
The 90-minute guided tours start at the Tourist Center just outside Longwood Garden at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, and Sunday, Aug. 25. The fee is $20 for adults, $15 for children.
For reservations, leave a message at the Kennett Underground Railroad Center at 484-734-0079.