A friend from Cochranville checked in this evening and reports that now that deer season's over, "The other hunters and I went out to take in our hunting tree stands today (when
the ground is frozen, thus good and solid). Six straight hours in the cold – no
lunch break. I was cold. A cold day is usually not thought of as a window of
opportunity." He's right there! At lunchtime I spent a mere 10 minutes in the post office parking lot chit-chatting and felt chilled through and through.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Namaste to you, too
A yoga enthusiast I know returned to her car the other day to find a cranky handwritten note on the windshield reading "Next time park inside white lines & centered in space." I suggested that perhaps the message wasn't really so offensive as it seemed: after all, isn't yoga really about being "centered in space"?
Looking up
I had a great time at Friday's Astral Harp presentation by Kevin and Janet Witman at Kennett Friends Meeting. Kevin showed stunning photographs of the planets and stars (some taken by him, some by the Hubble Space Telescope) and told us some mind-boggling facts about the age and size of our galaxy, while his wife Janet performed wonderful music on her harp (including "Twinkle Twinkle," "Stairway to Heaven," "Moon River," "Ain't No Sunshine," and Gustav Holst's "Jupiter").
Kevin, a workout buddy of mine from the Jennersville YMCA (seeing him in a necktie was a novelty!), is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable speaker who lectures at Franklin & Marshall's planetarium, and Janet is a professional harp player and teacher and director of the Brandywine Harp Orchestra. They live in Cochranville.
Kevin showed close-ups of the moon's surface and compared its potholed surface to a Pennsylvania road in the spring. And during the section of the lecture on the sun, a stinkbug crawled up the screen and seemed to be walking on the surface of the sun, right near a sunspot. Kevin was able to shoo him away.
The program ended on a more terrestrial note, with some vacation photos of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where the couple went so Kevin could photograph an annular solar eclipse; the Grand Canyon; and Scotland, where Janet was attending a harp conference and Kevin went along as "harp-schlepper."
At one point Janet said the purpose of their program was to "entertain and calm nerves," and it certainly did both. The harp music was remarkably soothing, as was the candlelit setting. I feel like I would be able to recognize Kevin's profile anywhere now, as he was silhouetted against the screen for much of the program.
The meetinghouse was standing-room-only, including a busload (literally) of people from Jenners Pond, including former Kennett residents Dick and Janice Taylor. I also saw in the audience my friends Babette Jenny (whose harpist daughter, Gillian Grassie, studied with Janet) and Karen Statz.
This was one of the most memorable and best-attended Hadley Fund programs I've ever been to.
Kevin, a workout buddy of mine from the Jennersville YMCA (seeing him in a necktie was a novelty!), is an enthusiastic and knowledgeable speaker who lectures at Franklin & Marshall's planetarium, and Janet is a professional harp player and teacher and director of the Brandywine Harp Orchestra. They live in Cochranville.
Kevin showed close-ups of the moon's surface and compared its potholed surface to a Pennsylvania road in the spring. And during the section of the lecture on the sun, a stinkbug crawled up the screen and seemed to be walking on the surface of the sun, right near a sunspot. Kevin was able to shoo him away.
The program ended on a more terrestrial note, with some vacation photos of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where the couple went so Kevin could photograph an annular solar eclipse; the Grand Canyon; and Scotland, where Janet was attending a harp conference and Kevin went along as "harp-schlepper."
At one point Janet said the purpose of their program was to "entertain and calm nerves," and it certainly did both. The harp music was remarkably soothing, as was the candlelit setting. I feel like I would be able to recognize Kevin's profile anywhere now, as he was silhouetted against the screen for much of the program.
The meetinghouse was standing-room-only, including a busload (literally) of people from Jenners Pond, including former Kennett residents Dick and Janice Taylor. I also saw in the audience my friends Babette Jenny (whose harpist daughter, Gillian Grassie, studied with Janet) and Karen Statz.
This was one of the most memorable and best-attended Hadley Fund programs I've ever been to.
Wired in
I'm not sure this is entirely healthy. I was just making my usual Saturday-morning rounds on Facebook when an error message popped up informing me that my account was down "due to site issues." My first reaction was to share that on my Facebook status --- but, of course, I couldn't because ... my account is down. I felt thwarted. So instead I'm sharing it on my blog.
Speaking of today's technologies, while I was working on my Christmas-present knitting the other evening at home (Christmas 2012, that is; yes, I know it's February, thank you) my smartphone started making an alarming siren-like noise that I'd never heard before. It wasn't an incoming call or email; it wasn't a Facebook comment; and I didn't have an alarm set. Was it some kind of super-duper Weather Channel alert warning of impending doom? No. It seems that Amber Alerts (for missing kids) are now being broadcast as text messages, accompanied by this startling noise. But all the text does is tell you that an alert has been issued; you have to check online to get the details.
Speaking of today's technologies, while I was working on my Christmas-present knitting the other evening at home (Christmas 2012, that is; yes, I know it's February, thank you) my smartphone started making an alarming siren-like noise that I'd never heard before. It wasn't an incoming call or email; it wasn't a Facebook comment; and I didn't have an alarm set. Was it some kind of super-duper Weather Channel alert warning of impending doom? No. It seems that Amber Alerts (for missing kids) are now being broadcast as text messages, accompanied by this startling noise. But all the text does is tell you that an alert has been issued; you have to check online to get the details.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Lifestyle
West Marlborough resident Richard Hayne, founder of Urban Outfitters and Terrain, got some ink this week in a Jan. 30 Wall Street Journal story, "Backyard Farms Gets Fancy: Meet the $1,300 Chicken Coop."
"A $58 garden hose, anyone? Or a $258 bronze-and-limewood spade? Such are the offerings at Terrain, Urban Outfitters Inc.'s fledgling retail concept that caters to the older, higher-income consumers adopting a well-appointed homesteader lifestyle."
Mr. Hayne was quoted only in his chief-executive capacity rather than speaking about his own VERY fancy and extensive ventures in backyard farming at Doe Run Farm in Springdell. He did reveal that he hopes to open more Terrain stores eventually and to add a spa to the store in Glen Mills.
Another Chester County resident featured in reporter Anne Marie Chaker's story is Peter Zimmerman, a Chester Springs architect whose sign is seen on a fair number of construction sites around here. He and his wife Eliza keep bees and make their own honey.
"A $58 garden hose, anyone? Or a $258 bronze-and-limewood spade? Such are the offerings at Terrain, Urban Outfitters Inc.'s fledgling retail concept that caters to the older, higher-income consumers adopting a well-appointed homesteader lifestyle."
Mr. Hayne was quoted only in his chief-executive capacity rather than speaking about his own VERY fancy and extensive ventures in backyard farming at Doe Run Farm in Springdell. He did reveal that he hopes to open more Terrain stores eventually and to add a spa to the store in Glen Mills.
Another Chester County resident featured in reporter Anne Marie Chaker's story is Peter Zimmerman, a Chester Springs architect whose sign is seen on a fair number of construction sites around here. He and his wife Eliza keep bees and make their own honey.
For rent
The Longwood CrossFit "box" (that's what CrossFit devotees call their workout space) will be closing up shop in mid-February and is selling off its weights, mats and other equipment on Craigslist. It was located behind Holly Peters' Oriental rug store, on an alley off Broad Street in Kennett Square. I never tried the workout myself, but I understand it was very challenging, and I have friends who were huge fans. The jumping-up-on-high-boxes thing was the deciding factor for me: I worry about my knees.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Up in the air
I first wrote about the Chester County Hot Air Balloon Festival two summers ago, when I was coming home from a party near Marshallton and just happened upon this huge event that I hadn't heard anything about. And then during last summer's fest, while I was out for an evening walk, I saw several of the balloons drifting silently over Doe Run.
Well, the ballooning enthusiasts had to move their event because the Embreeville Complex where it was held has been sold. So where's it going to be in 2013? At Plantation Field here in Unionville! Those of us who live nearby should be able to get a great view from our backyards. The event is set for June 14 and 15. Plantation Field is on the north side of Route 82 west of Unionville, between Green Valley Road and Tapeworm Road.
Well, the ballooning enthusiasts had to move their event because the Embreeville Complex where it was held has been sold. So where's it going to be in 2013? At Plantation Field here in Unionville! Those of us who live nearby should be able to get a great view from our backyards. The event is set for June 14 and 15. Plantation Field is on the north side of Route 82 west of Unionville, between Green Valley Road and Tapeworm Road.
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