Moths… The Rodney Dangerfield’s of the Insect World
No Respect, no respect at all…Unfortunately when most people think of moths they think of the small grey moths that flew out of grandma’s closet or your uncle’s wallet. Hopefully, after you have finished reading this article you will have a new-found respect for moths. Moths and butterflies are insects which together form the order called Lepidoptera, meaning ‘scaly-winged’. The...
“My husband and I enjoy feeding the squirrels peanuts in the shell…”
“My husband and I enjoy feeding the squirrels peanuts in the shell. We recently bought salted ones and my niece told me it wasn’t safe to give them salted ones. Is that true?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff understands people wanting to make sure they are giving animals proper foods. The library’s copy of Squirrels: a wildlife handbook by...
Shoo Fly: Black Fly Season In Ohio
With spring finally here it is time to open the windows, air out the house, go outside, and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. Take a trip out into the woodland or park to look for wildflowers and watch the warblers and other colorful birds that are flying north to their breeding grounds. But all of a sudden….ouch. What...
“Respect is earned; not given.”
While Marlon Brando in The Godfather usually gets the credit for this quote, he was actually borrowing a bit of wisdom from the Pakistani Beggar King Hussein Nishah (1538–1599), who wrote, “Treat people the way you want to be treated. Talk to people the way you want to be talked to. Respect is earned, not given.” My father often drove...
“Don’t stir up the hornet’s nest!”
“Why go looking for trouble?” Dad would ask. “Some trouble is sure to find you at some point in life, but only a fool makes himself a target by intentionally causing a commotion.” Don’t stir up the hornet’s nest is a familiar idiom, likening hornets to angry humans, dating back to the first half of the 1700s. In case you...
Air Mail Part II
Same windsock. Same beautiful weather. Bright little plane coming in from the east with a mailbag, to pick up a mailbag filled with postcards--over five hundred of them--addressed the last time we all gathered here on this sunny county airport in Middlefield, Ohio to commemorate the centennial of the transcontinental postal air mail service in 1920. Air mail service...
Another Centennial
August 30, 2020--Geauga County Airport, Middlefield, Ohio--Where else can one go to watch airplanes take off and land, while listening to the clip-clop, clip-clop of passing horses and buggies…and spot an Amish family off at a distant picnic table watching it all?The windsock was blowing, the sun was out and so were air enthusiasts of all ages who had...
Not my fault!
Working at Garrettsville’s Precinct A for thirteen hours on Election Day—with a fairly steady stream of citizens exercising their rights, good for them—was enough to occupy my time; I had no occasion to commit mayhem on the Portage County Board of Elections computer system, though I’m sure there are those who probably think that I could do it by...
Welcome to 2016 — Need a Calendar??
Well, here we go again. ”Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme.” As you, no doubt recognized, the above aphorism attributed to Jean-Baptist Alphonse Karr, means “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” (You might also be aware that albums by the groups Cinderella, Machine Head and Bon Jovi used the phrase, either as album or song...
Turnpike Proud!
Well, that was interesting...and informative...and fun too. The Ohio Turnpike had an Open House on Saturday, October 24, celebrating its 60th Anniversary; it officially opened on October 1, 1955, all 241 miles of it. The construction took 38 months, in sections, employed some 10,000 workers—and 2300 bulldozers—at a cost of some $326 million, give or take. It connected to the...
Stuck in Ohio…And Proud Of It!!
During my lifetime I have been blessed with many opportunities to experience nature and our natural world. I have been to National Parks from Maine to California, talked to God in a grove of Redwoods, touched sequoias, climbed to 14,000 feet in the Rockies to sooth my feet in a cold alpine lake, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail...
Memorial Trash
Another Trick-or-Treat for adults? I am referring, of course, to the semi-annual trash pick-up in the village—not to be confused with the weekly services provided (paid for on an individual residence basis) to dispose of our pitch-worthy household detritus and garbage. Garbage Eve is observed every Wednesday night; no carol-singing or candles in the windows that I know of. The Trash...
“What makes a rock maple table different from a regular maple table?”
“What makes a rock maple table different from a regular maple table?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff began their investigation in the library’s woodworking books. We found a complete list of various woods with photographs and descriptions in The Complete Manual of Woodworking by Albert Jackson, David Dan and Simon Jennings, p. 26. There are two kinds of...
The Old Farmer’s Almanac revisited.
What Dave Barry always calls “an alert reader” stopped me the other day in the PCDL and asked if I wasn’t going to write some more stuff drawing on the abovementioned publication and it seemed like a good idea, so here we are. The Old Farmer speaks : (Freely translated by yours truly) What is it that everyone quotes the...
The Amazing Woodpecker
One of the most common birds that are seen at the feeders during the winter in Northeast Ohio are woodpeckers. Ohio is home to seven species of woodpeckers, the Downy being the most common. The largest is the Pileated with a wingspan of almost 30 inches. The most majestic, in my mind, is the Red-headed. All seven species are...
Forget the Memoir
Everybody is writing memoirs lately. It’s the literary style du jour in all of the magazines and reviews. So I’m thinking, hey, my memories are as good as anybody’s, why not hop to it and make the big bucks? One reason may be that my memories are certainly just fine, but getting them to show up on cue is...
The Unappreciated….Mosses and Lichens
I know several people who work tirelessly in the background doing all the hard and dirty work, making sure the day to day activities get done, and keeping things running; but NEVER GET THE CREDIT! Never get a ‘that a boy” or “great job”. This is the case with two members of the plant kingdom, mosses and lichens. This...
Curiosity and Caffeine: Flight 93 National Memorial
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda terrorists in an organized attack against the United States hijacked four commercial airliners. Two planes were flown into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York City -- one at 8:46 am and the second at 9:03 am. A third plane was purposely flown into the Pentagon in Arlington,...
Whadda Prize
It’s awards season just about all of the time now. There are awards in television, for the theatre, for movies, for sports of every stripe and description, for just about every genre of music that one can think of( and some that I don’t really classify as music, but, rather as “entertainment”)—country, pop, rap, classical, you name it. But...
Minks and Otters
As promised, we will continue up the family tree of the toughest family on the block, the Mustelids. This week we will be discussing the “middle “children of the family. But make no mistake, they are just as tough, fearless, and bloodthirsty as their siblings. Next time we will discuss the big boys, the Martens, Fishers, and Wolverines. Now...
National Holiday Alert!
We’ve missed half of the month but the BIG DAY is coming right up, so get ready for a celebratory observance of…National Ice Cream Day ! Would I lie about a thing like that? It seems that, actually, the entire month of July is National Ice Cream Month…and…the third Sunday in July is designated as National Ice Cream Day!...
The Quill Pig
The porcupine, the second largest rodent in North America, is by far the prickliest. Its Latin name means “quill pig.” There are about two dozen porcupine species worldwide, and all boast a coat of needle-like quills to give predators a sharp reminder that this animal is no easy meal. Some quills, like those of Africa’s crested porcupine, are nearly...
Odder Still…
The computer has forced me to type this piece over again after it deleted everything except the date, August 31. I don’t know if I insulted it or what. Maybe it’s been keeping track of the things which I have been saying about it--all true! There was a Dilbert cartoon the other day that might fit : Office worker...
One Down!
Whew! Do you remember a TV program from ages ago called TW3 (That Was The Week That Was)? Well, tweak it just a little to That Was the Week-end That Was and you’ve got November 4th, 5th , 6th and 7th , 2010 at this establishment. It was --literally and figuratively--really cool! Thursday, the evening candlelight tour opening date of...
“I’m trying to remember the name of a drug store chain from the 1950s, 1960s…”
“I’m trying to remember the name of a drug store chain from the 1950s, 1960s. There was one near where I lived in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C., and I remember there was also one in Youngstown. The one in Washington was replaced by Gray Drugs. Can you find the name of the store for me?” Questions such as...
How old do you think Nelson Ledges is?
Understanding the concept of time in seconds, minutes, days, years, and even centuries is easy for us to comprehend. However, the concept of geologic time is very hard for most of us to wrap our brain around. How can you put into perspective 4.6 billion years, the estimated age of the earth? Let’s try. It would take you...
Messages From Mother Nature: What is that white stuff?
For the first time in a long while, we had a white Christmas. It was the second major snowstorm of the winter. In fact, December was one of the snowiest on record with just over 29 inches. One of the biggest factors for all the snow once again, was the Lake Erie snow machine. So, how does this machine...
Three Old Guys Walked into a Coffee Shop…
Mantua - While it may sound like the lead-in to a bad joke, it was the start of a fun and enjoyable evening held at Restoration 44 Coffee shop in Mantua. The event was held in conjunction with the Mantua Historical Society, and got its start last year at a local Christmas party when Dottie Summerlin listened in on...
“I’m trying to register for unemployment and the site is saying I already have an account. I don’t remember doing this.”
A very frustrated patron approached the Newton Falls Public Library staff, saying “I’m trying to register for unemployment and the site is saying I already have an account. I don’t remember doing this.” Unfortunately, at that time, the staff members were not able to resolve the situation, and he went home planning to phone the Ohio Department of Jobs...
Pretty Fair Fairs
Well, I seem to have hit my quota again this year. A little shy, perhaps, but got the basics done. I am speaking, of course, of fair attendance. I really like going to fairs. It’s the food, mostly. Nothing like hot grease wafting through the air to set the rustic mood and a culinary challenge. I got to the Portage...
