July 2008
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When we arrived in West Bradford forty years ago, there were lots of cows but very few people. The main road was unpaved and aside from morning-and-evening milk trucks and the tractors pulling hay wagons, there were very few vehicles. Now, they've run electricity out Welch's old road and must have built forty new homes…
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I don't like gore. I’m the kind of person who won’t recklessly channel-surf for fear that the changer gizmo will maliciously lock onto our 24/7 surgery channel, where some poor soul's innards will be on garish hi-def display. And yet, despite my squeamishness, I steeled myself and read right through to the end of Katrina…
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What is the absolute worst catastrophe of the Bush presidency? Choose one (or more, I guess, if you can't make up your mind) or append your very own disaster. 1. The completely botched New Orleans mess (incompetent Bushies in critical offices, carelessness, implicit racism). 2. The attorney-general scandal (incompetent immature Bushies in critical office, subversion…
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Last summer, planning to extend a flower garden, I covered a weed-choked area of about 4 feet by 10 feet with a foot high pile of dense lawn clippings. The plan was to kill the sod by excluding the light of the sun. It's an effective, proven method — most people use black plastic for…
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Nurse, how good is the anaesthetist? Does Medicare cover this procedure? Pass me the scalpel. I mean, the scimitar. What kind of steriods is this fellow on? Let’s not ignore the 800-pound gorilla in the room. He says that his name is Dr. Bruce Banner. Doctor, wait until you see your next patient. That’s the…
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Last fall, I purchased two bottlebrush buckeyes by mail order and set them temporarily in the kitchen garden. Yesterday, I finally picked out the right spot. I cleared some weeds, carted over a generous supply of the well-dried, and transplanted the buckeyes into their permanent location on a slope that’s been difficult to maintain, just…