YES, I AM STILL HERE peeking out my window on Main Street, and I am getting ready for a busy season in our neck of the woods.
Lots of country churches are getting ready for homecoming and for decoration/cleanup in cemeteries.
Lots of groups are holding fund-raisers — the truth is, that they mostly have food events. No longer do we have car washes or group lawn care. Did we ever have clubs that mowed lawns, or is that just my imagination?
It is unavoidable that some of the fund-raisers become competition for existing businesses which will get hit up at some point to buy an advertisement in a printed program.
One thing we DON’T have much more anymore is asking for handouts.
School groups or youth groups generally have projects.
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THE MOUTH WATERS. In order to celebrate Extension Homemakers Club Month, the EH clubs of Howard County will host a Community Coffee on Wednesday, May 21.
The event will be in the EH Center on North Second St., across from the courthouse.
The public is invited. Come get in line but only after I’ve filled my plate.
The coffee will be from 9-11 a.m., and I will let you have one guess if there will be tons of delectables.
Thanks to EH club members for making our communities better places to live and raise families.
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CONGRATULATIONS to organizers of recent events including the Peach Blossom Festival, the seasonal opening of the Farmers’ Market, and the fund-raiser for the Center Point Volunteer Fire Department.
Great events reflect great volunteers and great leadership. Thank you, all, for making our community look so good to everyone else.
Although COVID had something to do with it, the decline in participation of such local events runs through our whole culture.
Our town has lost its Lions Club among others. I sincerely hope that Junior Auxiliary and Nashville Rotary manage to hold on and prosper. The continuity of such organizations is of great value to the community.
My request to readers is to support such organizations and agencies as the Children’s Center, the Hospital Foundation, Band Boosters, The Moonlighters EH Club that sponsors blood drives at Center Point.
This is my chance to remind groups that (if they are non-profit) the ‘News-Leader’ will gladly publicize for free.
And a reminder, while I do support group fund drives, I often spare my support if they haven’t asked their local newspaper for publicity.
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. One bird I haven’t seen in a couple of years is the Summer Tanager. Males are completely red; females are dull colored.
I had a clear view of one once at the patio birdbath. I think I have encountered another one back a year or so ago when I was able to take longer walks in the morning. I came up on what I think was a Summer Tanager at the far reach of my walk where it hid out in the dark of early morning.
That’s when I learned its call. I think.
It is a shy bird. As soon as I got to within about 20 yards it just disappeared. It is surprisingly hard to spot, given the male’s color which is not the same red as the common male Cardinal.
Another bird I have had unfortunately few encounters with is the Baltimore Oriole. A neighbor whose house is only about 100 yards away from mine brags that she has them at her patio feeders very frequently.
I learned this week that the Summer Tanager and the Baltimore Oriole both are attracted to oranges and to grape jelly.
Just like me.
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OKAY, I COULDN’T RESIST.
Anyone else uneasy by the President accepting a new Air Force One from a foreign nation?
It’s nice to save the money, but what do we owe in return?
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MORE THINGS I LEARNED from the Universal Classroom of Life: “There is no such thing as a grouchy old person. The truth is that once you get old, you stop being polite and start being honest.”
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WORD GAMES. Distant relations: More or Less. Sometimes the words are used to describe things that are closely alike. Sometimes they are used like “positive and negative.”
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HE SAID: “No one should be ashamed to admit he is wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.”Alexander Pope, translator and poet
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SHE SAID: “Some men have thousands of reasons why they cannot do what they want to, when all they need is one reason why they can.” Martha Graham, dancer and teacher
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
