Garden report: I dug up my potatoes, maybe two pounds worth. The sugar snap peas are up three inches. I have to make tomato sauce. This week is supposed to be hot. However, I always seem to do it on the hottest day so I will not change that tradition.
The giant marigolds have bloomed. The zinnias, cosmos, celosia and lisianthus continue to bloom.
* * *
Very happy birthday greetings to Lucy Wilson Benson of Amherst, who turned 90 this week.
* * *
The first entry in the new postcard contest has arrived. Eileen Wood of Amherst sent greetings from Fredericksted St. Croix of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Unfortunately she broke a bone in her foot, but is happy to recover there. She was there with family and relatives.
The card featured a picture of a bananaquit bird and a frog called a randan. I am not making this up. I have it in writing. Of course, birders would know this.
* * *
The students will be coming in next week. Let us make them feel welcome. For some, it may the first time away from home, and the transition may be difficult. I remember when I spent the first night in my dorm room with a stranger — a roommate. That is quite an adjustment, even though we were both Jersey girls.
* * *
On Monday, the clouds eclipsed the sun and moon, except for a few windows of opportunity when the clouds broke. I did see the partial eclipse twice as I drive around looking for rays of sun to get the full sighting. There were groups of people on the common viewing the event. Some had glasses and others had cardboard boxes with the pinhole viewing arrangement. The eclipse is something that brought us together in a positive way.
Phyllis Lehrer can be reached at phyllehrer@gmail.com.
