Caernarfon Star

The neighbor’s kids are all back in school. The maple and chestnut trees are trading their green coats for much more colorful ones. There are still a few fine days left, but before long we won't dare leave the house without a sweater or a jacket. We’ve decided to take advantage of the calm before colder weather sets in and take one last end-of-the-season road trip. We’ll drive to Wales to see the Irish Sea, Portmeirion, and Caernarfon Castle. I don’t know how much of a language or cultural barrier I should expect. Welsh sounds like Greek to me, and it looks a lot like Polish. They’re both very frugal with their vowels. I’m told most people in Wales are bilingual and only speak Welsh when they want to annoy the English. As we’re not English, maybe it won’t be a problem. O na byddai'n haf o hyd! Oh, that summer would last forever!

Family Tree

As a teenager I was companion to an elderly woman who lived alone. I don’t recall whether I volunteered or was paid. If payment was involved, I’m sure it was less than the going rate and more than I deserved. On my first visit she asked who my people were. I was stumped by the question. When I realized she was asking about my ancestors, my answers were short and disappointing. I know a good deal more about “my people” now. If she asked me today I could say they were Mormon pioneers, pilgrims, veterans of World War II, the Mexican-American War and the Revolutionary War, federal prisoners and fugitives from the law. They were shop-keepers, scholars, farmers, teachers, housewives, and even a few noblemen. There are several I’d like to meet in the life to come. Among my many questions, I’m sure I’d ask, “Who were YOUR people?”

Next Door Neighbor

Our neighbors will move away in a few days. We’ve known this day was coming for some time, but somehow that hasn’t made it any easier. For two and a half years now, these people have been much more than neighbors to us. They’ve been surrogate family. We’ve swapped marmalade and biscuits. They invited us to barbecues and teas in their home. They put up with the strange things we will and won’t drink, and have bent over backwards to try to accommodate us. They even shared our Christmas dinner so we wouldn’t have to spend our first Christmas in England alone. Watching their baby daughter growing up has made it a little less painful to be so far from our grandson. And now they’re leaving. The only thing worse than saying goodbye to lovely people like this would be to have never had the chance to know them in the first place.

Penguin

Nope, today isn’t Penguin Awareness Day. That’s January 20. It isn’t World Penguin Day, either. World Penguin Day is April 25. But since I missed both those important holidays this year, I’m posting a penguin block today. I plan to pencil in both dates on my calendar next year, so I won’t repeat my oversight. Maybe I could throw a party and screen a few penguin movies, like March of the Penguins (2005), Wallace and Gromit and the Wrong Trousers (1993), Madagascar (2005), Surf’s Up (2007), Happy Feet (2006), The Pebble and the Penguin (1995) or even Batman Returns (1992). Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011) should be released on DVD by then. I could ask my guests to come dressed in black and white. Tails optional, of course. What do you suppose is the proper food to serve on a penguin holiday? Pizza with anchovies? Or maybe Oreo cookies?

Apple Cake

John Chapman was born September 26, 1774 on a small farm in Massachusetts. He loved his father’s apple orchard, and when he grew up he decided to spread apple trees throughout the western frontier. What he called "the west" is what we call Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. According to the legend, Johnny Appleseed went about spreading random apple seeds, but what he actually did was plant nurseries. He built fences around them to protect the seedlings from deer and livestock, and he’d leave them in the care of folks who lived nearby. He didn’t go about with a pot on his head, but he did wear old clothing that people swapped for the saplings he grew, and he often went barefoot in the summer so his shoes would last longer. He lived very simply as an itinerant preacher until his death at age seventy. 

Rabbit

The fourth Saturday in September is International Rabbit Day. Rabbits are the third most popular pet in the world, after dogs and cats. I’ve cared for a lot of pets over the years: finches, turtles, guinea pigs, iguanas, parakeets, hedgehogs, gerbils, cats, hamsters and snakes. The list even includes a pigeon, a chicken, a tarantula, a cockatiel, a skunk and a few ducks. I’ve only owned one rabbit. I don’t even remember his name. He was soft and brown and very fond of chewing things, including electrical cords. It was a habit that easily could have been the end of him, but instead it was the end of his career as an indoor house pet. He was several times larger than the wild rabbits here. They pop out of the hedges around sunset to nibble on the grass, looking exactly like Beatrix Potter’s Peter - without the little blue jacket.

Aspen Leaf

Today (at least in the northern hemisphere) is the autumnal equinox. Or, if you want to be excruciatingly correct, it WILL be the autumnal equinox exactly one hour from now. This is the point at which the earth’s axis points neither toward nor away from the sun. It is the official beginning of the autumn season, though we have been enjoying crisp, cool weather and brightly colored leaves for several weeks now. My husband and I were both raised in upstate New York, where the fall foliage brings out scores of “leaf peepers” every year. When we lived in the Salt Lake valley, we used to drive up into the canyons to look for signs of autumn. Here in Harrogate, all we have to do to put ourselves in an autumn mood is to walk through the Stray into town and share a chocolate chestnut truffle at Betty’s Tea Room.