Columns

December marks the beginning of the Delaware County District Library’s winter programming, and with it comes the kick off to the annual Winter Reading Club. The goal of the Winter Reading Club is to give all DCDL patrons the opportunity to read or experience a library program, even during the cold and dark winter months.

If you’ve ever met her, you know her smile is contagious. She can light up a room and is one of the most genuinely kind and authentic people you’ve ever met. She has served her community as a township trustee since 2012. Prior to her service, her late husband served as township trustee for 22 years. I guess you could say public service was a foundation for their marriage. I first met her while participating in Leadership Delaware several years ago. She was one of the public officials who invited our class to her township hall where we were joined with other public officials and learned about their roles as public servants. We also learned about how the role of a Radnor Township trustee may look different than say a more suburban township like Liberty township — but ultimately each trustee serves the same purpose: to help their constituents.

Things are changing fast in America, The culture is in trouble. Book reading has drastically declined because people cannot concentrate for more than 20 minutes. They begin to fidget as they reach for the iPhone. Did I miss a text while reading that darn book? Did some cyber gossip escape me? I see this daily as I work out at the gym. Many using exercise machines have to look at their iPhones between repetitions.

On Nov. 18 of this year, when I opened the Gazette to page 6A, the first thing I saw was a decorated winding open staircase with beautiful Christmas decorations going from the floor to the top. Then, I noticed an inside door at the end of the hallway. Within a few seconds I was surprised because it looked exactly like our stairs on North Sandusky Street at the house my family lived in for five years from 1949 to 1953. It had to be it! That house has been in my memory ever since the day we moved there.

Jupiter was the Roman king of the gods. The god’s namesake will be king of the night sky this fall and winter, dominating the evening as the brightest object besides the moon.

When it comes to the holidays, I find that the easiest way for me to accomplish my tasks, whether it’s decorating, cooking, cleaning, online shopping, or wrapping, is to hunker down in one location with everything I’ll need to be successful and turn on some binge-worthy TV shows or movies as background noise. Thankfully, the Delaware County District Library makes binging incredibly easy.

This year, Thanksgiving was very different for my family. My memories of Thanksgiving Day include a house full of family and friends and plenty of delicious food. I would wake up on Thanksgiving Day with our home filled with the aroma of the turkey mom roasted overnight.

Most people have heard of the wingéd (pronounced wing-ed by most astronerds like me) horse Pegasus. Its namesake constellation sits high in the south just after dark. Look for the Great Square of Pegasus, a large square of stars that forms the horse’s body.

If you were holding back from decorating until after Thanksgiving, your time is coming! Go ahead and unpack the boxes of Santas, snowmen and string lights. While you’re testing your lights, you will inevitably discover that a strand or two have burned out and are otherwise useless.

The dry weather at Stratford Ecological Center on Liberty Road during the past month has helped as the fall jobs and preparations for winter take place on the farm. The spelt seed has germinated well. It came up quickly in the loose soil surrounding the foxtail grass in field 3. We purchased garlic bulbs this year, and many hands broke the cloves free to individually plant in a single row in field 3, close to the lane. We opted not to use our own to ensure we meet the demand for locally grown bulbs, until we harvest next summer.