Town Meeting Day
This photo is actually from the Snowflake Bentley Symposium, but as it was in the same place (Elementary School) where we have always held Town Meeting, and it always looked just like this. But we have outgrown that venue and will be meeting this year at the high school auditorium.
Zounds!
ReplyDeletePardon my absence; the curse of the drinking class intervened for several days. On the way out to the hospital Saturday morning the alfalfa was coming along nicely, as well as some grain evidently for fodder (much of it was planted near dairies). The almond petals are beginning to drop--I'd say from 10 per cent. to 90 per cent. petal drop, depending on the orchard (and variety, surely). Neither the pistachios nor the grape vines have begun to leaf out yet. We've been having some rain over the past several days--no gully-washers, but locally heavy at times. Every bit helps. Some snow in the mountains, just enough to get several ski resorts going.
listener--have you outgrown the previous town meeting venue because of population growth, increased participation, or some of each?
I presume the photo with the rainbow a couple of threads back is the library; the residential architectural style is a nice touch. And I can make out a hint of the second rainbow, too.
Cat--sorry to hear the folks at the Apple Store couldn't help out. Rats. Which reminds me that I saw an article about weather-related decreases (deduced from tree rings) in central asian gerbil populations (along the caravan routes) being correlated with waves of bubonic plague in Europe. The theory is that when their host gerbils died, the fleas hopped onto any passing mammals--camels for instance--and were carried to Europe. So the european rats were innocent bystanders and fellow victims who got bad press.
Well, enough for now. Time to sack out and then some.
--Alan
So it was all the gerbils' fault! Nice to have vindication for the rats, even if it is late in coming.
DeleteIf you don't want to blame the pathogen, it was all the fleas' fault. And once the disease reached Europe, rats were the primary host from which the fleas spread to humans. But yes, the rats were victims, too.
DeleteA Promising Moment for Rat-Human Relations
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--Alan
How did Town Meeting Day go, Listener?
ReplyDeletePatty told me that I shouldn't carry my iPhone anywhere on my person - she saw me stash it in my shirt pocket - because, as she said vaguely, of the electricity. She didn't say it would cause cancer, but she did convey the impression of dire consequences. Indeed, she said it shouldn't be kept too close to the body at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm torn between skepticism and worry. Not only do I often carry my phone with me - typically in a hip pocket - but I sleep with it on my pillow, owing to listening to audiobooks and music on it at night and using it as an alarm clock. I also like to keep it nearby during the day, typically within 12 to 18 inches of where I'm sitting. Am I really going to develop terrible ailments from keeping it so close?
Cat ~~ I am extremely skeptical about this whole idea of radio waves (broadly defined) causing cancer or anything else. Seems like people always need to find *something* to be scared of.
DeleteWe're slated for a mini-heatwave tomorrow - 45 degrees! - before returning to 20s and 30s. I wish Spring would come!
ReplyDeleteOur Town Budget passed.
ReplyDeleteI had two personal firsts as a poll worker:
* A woman who had just moved asked if she's on the checklist. She was not. However, since she had changed her address at the Dept of Motor Vehicles two days before the deadline, I was able to add her to the checklist! smile emoticon
* A man came in to vote and told me there was a woman sitting outside in her car, who needed us to bring the ballot to her. It's a small town. I asked, "Is her first name "N...?" It was. (I suspected as much from my days at the Library. N... is on oxygen, but still drives locally.) So I was able to check her off on the list and bring her ballot out to her. [Two poll workers need to go together.] It was a delight to see her as she had recently been in hospital and I hadn't yet told her I was retiring. :-)
I love life in a small town!
Alan, we have had some real population growth, but what finally tipped the scale was the Elementary School parking lot getting downsized.
ReplyDeleteWas the parking lot downsized for more school buildings, or because of less need? When I visited my home town this past year (50th year high school reunion) I heard that the number of kids in the schools was about the same as when we were young, despite the obviously considerable increase in population. Which sounds like a good thing for both school funding and taxes.
Delete--Alan
I think it was to make more room for the buses.
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