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Admiring The Wildlife At Hickory Heights

This year we are observing the wildlife at Hickory Heights differently. We have always put out bird feeders that attracted a multitude of kinds of birds. The Pennsylvania Wildlife Commission has requested that all bird feeders be taken down. We complied. Now we are missing our birds. While the feeders were up, we saw all kinds of birds. Don especially likes the Baltimore orioles. He brought his big orange ball feeder up last year, but a bear promptly destroyed it. We bought two new feeders this year. We saw an oriole early this season, but that was it. He only returned to the ...

A Search For Balance With Aquatic Plants

I recently stayed at a friend’s cabin perched just above a small lake in an area that defines “the middle of nowhere”. Much of the weekend centered around water activities - swimming, kayaking, fishing, and more. And much of the weekend conversation centered around the plants in the ...

Anticipating A Heroic Homecoming

Writing these Musings in advance for eleven years has shown me the wisdom of penning my words early to avoid any of the last minute deadline panic I still remember from college years. By the time you are reading this, Hero should be happily settled in here with me. I had not seen Anne in a couple of years and hoped her visit will be long. Sadly, while able to extend her stay by one day, come early Sunday morning, she had to load up her two dogs and head back home. I think she estimates at least a nine-hour drive each way with stops to accommodate the canines. The moment will be ...

Sheldon Hall’s Days Of Yore

Not far from the cottage where I spent summers stood Sheldon Hall, the beloved and well-known mansion built by Ralph Sheldon in 1920. It was, at the time of my childhood, not lived in, but was well cared for, the lawn a carpet of green that spread out forever beside the lake, the old manse stately but in danger of becoming lost to the century it had been built in. It was also, more often than not, the forbidden playground to the summer kids that lived in the neighborhood and a curiosity to the people who lived nearby. Times were different back then. You could leave a mansion alone ...

Picnic Times

When I was ready to double-check my writing with the internet, I discovered there was no National Picnic Day anywhere near this time. It’s observed on April 23rd (which is usually far too chilly) with the international day set for June 18th. What was I thinking? The reply to this (assuring me I haven’t lost it at all!) follows: “According to one source, Picnic Day was originally declared a public holiday so railway employees could go to the Adelaide River in Australia’s Northern Territory to enjoy a picnic. Regardless of the origins, Picnic Day is an annual day of rest for ...

Answer This Demon By Saying, ‘I Can’

It seems I’m calling our local Law Enforcement agency more often than I’ve had to in past years, to register some concerns and complaints regarding what’s been going on in our neighborhood lately. Now I realize, mine is not the only area where these happenings are occurring. I do realize others in other areas have the same concerns/complaints. Concern one: It seems more and more people have been riding motor bikes (mini ones, dirt bikes, and smaller versions of “hog” motorcycles), up and down streets, creating loud disturbances of peoples’ peace, often at evening time, ...