BOOKS: Tilda's other life

Longtime readers know that my "real job" is editing textbooks. I started out doing just medical books and journals, but with all the consolidation in the publishing business, I now edit absolutely everything. I just finished books on world religions, criminal law, ferreting out racism in social work agencies, and the impact of Muslim literature in colonial America. Now I'm doing a self-help manual for people with obsessive-compulsive disorders.
I get asked all the time, "Isn't it boring?"
In a way, yes, but in another way it's amazing the nuggets of information I learn. Just this past week I found two relevant items in the world religions book:
1. An interesting immigration strategy, from a chapter on Zoroastrianism: "On arrival, the king of the Gujarat sent out a cup of milk filled to the brim, to signify that the country was overflowing with residents and couldn’t accept any more. The king of the Zoroastrians, however, returned the cup of milk with a spoonful of sugar sprinkled over the top, to indicate that the Zoroastrians wouldn’t cause the country to overflow—they would merely sweeten the mixture. 
The Gujarati king admitted the seafaring refugees on three conditions: that they would promise not to eat beef; not to marry into the existing population; and not to convert any Hindus."
2. An explanation for this year's political craziness, quoting a book by Gerald Gardner on Wiccan practices: "Even wild and meaningless shrieking produces power. But this method inflames the mind and renders it difficult to control the power." 

COATESVILLE: Taking the show on the road

On March 13 we went to see the Truckley Howl, a traditional Irish music trio, perform a sold-out show at the Coatesville Cultural Society. The musicians (Nathan Gourley on fiddle, Mairead Hurley on concertina, and John Blake on guitar) had an easy rapport and shared some funny stories about life on their road. They're touring the East Coast and Midwest in a Honda Fit. They've developed a protocol for loading their equipment so that everything, uh, fits. And there's ample room for the musicians, too, "as long as we don't breathe," said John.
Mairead said that at a show they did a few days earlier at the East Somerville Elementary School in Boston, a student asked why Irish music sounded like pirate music. They decided it's because of the hornpipes.

The Truckley Howl: Mairead, Nathan and John. Photograph by Frank Dalton.

NEW GARDEN: The car that couldn't be dented

The other day in the Giant parking lot in New Garden, I heard a crash nearby, looked over, and saw that two cars backing out of their spots simultaneously had just collided. The Prius had a dent in its back bumper that repaired itself before my eyes, returning to its normal configuration as if nothing had happened; it was like a scene from Stephen King's horror novel "Christine." The other vehicle had some scrapes on its bumper that didn't look as if they would self-repair.
I remembered one of my friend Paul's favorite maxims: "Parking lots are dangerous places, so you should drive as quickly as possible and get out of them."

NEWARK: A matter of pronunciation

A friend reports that she spent so much time on the phone the other day trying to resolve an email problem that she developed a certain joking rapport with the tech, named Hakim. He asked her to supply the answer to her "secret question," where she had met her husband.
"Newark," she replied (they both went to UD).
"Why are you saying it so funny?" asked the puzzled Hakim.
It turns out Hakim is from Newark, New Jersey, and didn't realize there were actually two cities by that name. Apparently it took him several attempts to pronounce it "the Delaware way"!

FEEDBACK: An objection to my story

It seems a reader objected to my covering the Friends of the NRA banquet in Kennett Square on March 5 and wrote a letter to the editor about it. Alas, the writer did not give his or her name, expressing a fear of people with guns, so it couldn't be published.
I greatly appreciate the feedback and I'm happy that my column reaches a diverse group of readers. But just because I attend and cover an event doesn't mean I endorse it. If I only wrote about people and events of which I approved 100%, this would be a very short column indeed! (Then again, some would find that a good thing.)

CAKE: A talented baker!

Cakes & Candies by Maryellen created the spectacular cake I had Sunday afternoon at a teenage girl's birthday party. Not only was it gorgeous (it was frosted in ombre shades of pink) but it was delicious too. The cake part was moist (there were two layers, one chocolate and one vanilla), and the frosting was really good instead of that overly sweet icing you get so often.
Maryellen's bakery is at 1332 B West Chester Pike in West Goshen, near where Westtown Way intersects West Chester Pike.

ODESSA: Heading north to freedom

I've been interested in the Underground Railroad ever since I wrote a report about Harriet Tubman in the fourth grade, so on March 11 I gave myself the day off from editing and drove down to Odessa, Del., to attend an open house at the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House. In a hidden attic room of this tiny brick Quaker meeting house, slaves escaping from Maryland could hide until darkness fell and they could head farther north on their journey.
I climbed up the ladder to the attic and with a flashlight peered into the dark hiding space under the eaves, concealed by a panel. The freedom seekers had no heat and certainly no room to stand up. For the open house the Meeting put out some provisions, candles, a blanket and a chamber pot to give an idea of the conditions the slaves endured.
I thought about other chambers where people have hid from persecution over the years: "priest holes" in Great Britain in medieval days, and the Frank family's Secret Annexe in Amsterdam during WWII.
According to the Facebook page of Delaware Historic Preservation (where I got these photographs), "It is reputed that Harriet Tubman frequented this route as she led runaways from Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore, into Kent County, Delaware near Camden, north through Duck Creek, Blackbird, and to the vicinity of John Hunn's farm, the current site of Middletown High School."
The hostess, a member of Appoquinimink meeting, told us a little about the history of the meeting (which is still open for First Day worship) and about abolitionists in Delaware.
She asked where I was from and when I said I lived near London Grove Friends Meeting, she told me she had visited there two summers ago under somewhat dramatic circumstances. While she and her husband were driving through Chester County, a sudden cloudburst with ferocious wind hit. She was terrified and insisted that her husband pull off the road. They stopped at London Grove Meeting and sat on the bench on the porch until the storm abated. She said she left a note on the door thanking the Meeting for serving as a refuge.

The Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House, built in 1785.

This is the opening to the attic space where the Freedom Seekers hid.