That little yellow tulip is talking again!
New moon on the 26th. Frost in the north and mid-Atlantic regions. Lunar perigee on the 27th. Increased cold and danger to tender sprouts. Strawberry time spreads north at the same rate as that of spring, bringing in the sweet, red berries all the way from Arkansas to Tennessee and the Carolinas. "Lilac Winter" often arrives with the first days of May, threatening frost in the northern states. Weather history indicates that cold waves will cross the Mississippi around May 2, 7, 12, 15, 20 and 24. (Countryside)
April 28 is the 24th annual Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day. What started in 1992 as Take Our Daughters to Work Day, an initiative created by Marie Wilson for the Ms. Foundation for Women (founded by Gloria Steinem), was expanded to include boys in 2003.
I don't know where you can go to see a maypole, but you can delight a friend or shut-in with a door knob-sized bouquet of flowers on May 1. Much better than a display of military might.
A veteran is in a detention center awaiting deportation because he was arrested in 2008 for dealing drugs. The man has a legal green card and served two tours in Afghanistan. Nothing like using a man to fight and then throwing him away.
Mom hates dandelions but loves daffodils. I guess you can't judge a flower by its color.
Only 21.35 percent of register voters in Saline County took the time to go to the polls. Don't give me the usual excuses. I have heard them all, over and over. One of the responsibilities of citizenship is voting. In places where voting can get you killed, people line up for hours to cast a ballot. Those of you who didn't take the time -- shame.
Ick! Brown bananas. Seal the stems of bananas in plastic wrap to keep them fresh longer. If you leave them so long that fruit flies invade the kitchen, do not try to catch them with honey (doesn't work and is a waste of honey.) Adult flies forage for microbes on overripe fruit, relying on their sense of smell to detect the acetic acid, the chemical that gives vinegar its pungent aroma, that accumulates as the fruit ferments. The hungrier a fly gets, the quicker it succumbs to vinegar's dubious charms.
The little yellow tulip has informed me that the Eldorado plant sale will be Wednesday, May 24, from 7 a.m. until sold. It will be on the parking lot of First Christian Church on State Street. Extra parking is in front of the church on Walnut Street. What will be there is anyone's guess, but the prices are good, and there are always surprises.
Are you gathering clothing and household items for the 4C's giveaway? It will be on the parking lot of Harrisburg Methodist Church on Wednesday, May 10, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. People will be there to help you unload at 7:30 a.m. Please enter the alley from Poplar Street, and exit onto Locust. Donations of clean, neat clothing and usable household goods are gratefully accepted.
It is almost May. My feet are hot. It means the socks come off with the outside shoes. Sometimes I go barefooted. Sometimes I wear Crocks. I go barefooted because I can't stand hot feet, and wood floors are cool (not only to look at but to walk on.) Now I always wear shoes outdoors. In my youth, I had my share of bee stings, stumped toes and cuts from broken glass and sharp rocks. My feet aren't tough anymore. Just stepping on a small piece of chat makes me whine for hours. A small study says that walking barefoot reduces the load on knee joints by 12 percent, compared with walking in comfortable shoes, and it may also minimize pain and disabilities from osteoarthritis. Another study found that "mobility shoes," which are flat and flexible to mimic bare feet, reduce the load even more, by 18 percent, when worn for six months or more. Just don't wander the house in sock feet. It can cause slips, slides and falls. Just ask golfer Dustin Johnson. Two days before the Masters, he was heading downstairs, wearing socks, when he slipped and landed on his left elbow and lower back. No swinging a golf club after that. For want of a pair of house shoes, it is estimated that he lost some $200,000-plus. You can buy a lot of slippers for that amount.
"Day is over, night has come. Today is gone, what's done is done. Embrace your dreams, through the night, Tomorrow comes with a whole new light." (unknown author)