Empty Fortune?

If this sealed, but empty packet truly reflects my fortune for the coming year, I'm in big trouble. If it represents more than my personal fortune, we may all be in deep...

Season's Priorities

Yard decorations seem exceptional this year. Here's one on Susquehanna Road in Abington. Wishing readers a happy, healthy and meaningful New Year!

Stop Sign Saga

Simon says STOP. Don’t stop. Stop!

Take your life into your own hands. Simon says good luck.

If you’ve been driving down Glenside Avenue in Wyncote this summer, you will have noticed changes in the octagonal red signage. The 4-way stop that had been on Glenside Avenue at Waverly Road has been removed. Only traffic on Waverly has to stop. At the same time, a 3-way stop has sprung up at North Avenue.

The changes came in response to some vocal residents, upset by the use of Waverly Road as a vehicular cut-through. They attribute excessive traffic on the narrow residential street to the 4-way stop. Presumably the 4-way stop signs made it easier for drivers to turn onto Waverly and use it as a short cut.

Instead, traffic should be encouraged to stay on the main roads and turn only at streets with traffic lights, noted one of the organizers to remove the 4-way stop. He believes the 4-way stop feature actually facilitated excess cut-throughs. He and his allies want to fund an outside study of the situation by a traffic engineer.

Installed in 2004, the 4-way stop was meant to improve safety compromised by the speed, volume and visibility of traffic at that intersection, according to Cheltenham Township records.

What is crystal unclear to many Wyncote residents is how those problems of traffic speed, volume and visibility have been improved by the removal of the 4-way stop. Safety appears to again be in great peril.

Observe pedestrians trying to cross Glenside Avenue at Waverly, Hewett or Glenview. It’s downright scary. Mad dashes, false starts, fits and spurts. And traffic is lightest in July and August. Autumn's back to school crunch and masses of umbrella-toting SEPTA commuters will exacerbate such problems.

So other residents are mobilizing a counter petition to restore the 4-way stop.

They don’t want an accident toll to mount in order to provide evidence for their position. Count this writer in that camp.

And almost like the placement of warriors’ flags during a battle skirmish, the comings and goings of these stop signs are being watched by the dawn’s early light.

Actually, nobody’s especially fond of excess traffic speeding by. On that point all sides are in concert. It’s on how best to reduce it that’s in dispute. And on what tradeoffs and sacrifices residents are willing to make.

And on alternatives. Some residents are even receptive to the idea of speed bumps. What’s your experience with those, Jenkintown?

Meanwhile, drivers, please be on the lookout for changing signage on our streets. Drive mindfully, not out of habit. And watch out for other drivers and pedestrians who are caught off guard. We may be in for several months of temporary experiments and signs that creep from one intersection to the next. Stay alert, and slow down.

National Milk Chocolate Day

Today is National Milk Chocolate Day.

Most of us probably missed National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day earlier this month.

Sure beats thinking about the debt ceiling circus.

Enjoy, before it melts!

More to come on this.

Heat Prompts Unusual Behavior

We're all feeling this heat wave. Even nature is rebelling.

It's one thing for grass to turn brown and flowers to wilt. But pachysandra and hydrangea?

Today in both Cheltenham and in Upper Dublin, I witnessed deer out and about - atypically during mid-day hours. One was crossing a lot of lanes of Susquehanna just beyond the intersection at Virginia Drive. A doe and her youngster were foraging in residential areas of Wyncote.

You might also notice that your lawn sprinklers are serving double duty. Not only are they watering your flora, but they become a draw for the birds, who enjoy the spray and puddles. A hummingbird recently visited up close and personal when I was using my garden hose.

The heat seems to be getting to all creatures, prompting unpredictable behaviors.

Keep your eyes open and keep cool.

Independence Day: Baby Robins Depart the Nest

After a month’s vigil, I find it altogether fitting and proper that the baby robins outside my home window chose Independence Day to depart their nest. The event was riveting and emotional, and not just for the human observers.

The two surviving hatchlings had been developing at a rate fast enough to intrigue even the most impatient technospeedster. By day 12, it was readily apparent that the nest was too small to accommodate the baby birds, who had reached the stage of fledglings. Pin feathers had been picked and the coloring of the juveniles was beginning to resemble their parents in most places. When the youngsters stretched their wings, it was obvious that the larger world awaited them.

One perched on the edge of the nest. He did this with such intent, that there was no doubt his launch would be July 4. He hopped onto a nearby branch and surveyed the situation. Then he hopped back into the nest. It reminded me of some generations ago when one of my own babies had realized she was ready to turn over, stopped in mid-turn, and howled instead. Both little ones knew instinctively they had reached their next step, yet both hesitated, wanting to prolong the comfort and security of the known.

The bird then left and his sibling perched on the side of the nest looking after him. We located the pioneer, hopping amid the ground cover, not far from the shrub that housed the nest. The remaining sibling returned to the nest and opened his mouth. The father bird brought him some large creature I dare not try to name, and stuffed it down his throat. No longer was the kid eating regurgitated baby food – this was a solid sample of the delicacies he too could hunt. I interpreted this act as the farewell supper.

Next thing I knew, the second fledgling was on my window sill, and then, he was also gone.

Without fully developed tails, and still quite young, these fledglings would be sticking around for a little while. I later located one hanging onto a window shutter.

In the July heat, however, I sensed they might need a water supply. Whether or not it was silly and unnecessary, I placed a shallow dish of water on the ground not far from the nest. Guess empty nests make me sentimental.

Nest Thriving

Five in a bush now. The Robin couple has three little mouths to feed.
Make that three clamorous chasms to stuff...