SIGN OF TIMES: You might think the frigid winter weather isn’t
stifling but consider everyone’s cheery mood late last week when
the January thaw made it feel a little like spring.
It’s back to reality as this is being written Monday and
freezing temperatures have returned. But we do have a couple
reminders of what our “mini-spring” was like last week.
Jane Althouse, who lives on Route 155 south of Port Allegany,
writes on Friday: “This morning, I walked near the river and in a
wet, swampy place, found skunk cabbage up about two inches.” The
Althouses’ back fields border the Allegheny River.
On the bird scene, Jane adds: “I, too, have had fewer birds
during this warm time. Gold finches and chickadees are the regular
visitors. No purple or house finches have come in. A flock of cow
birds has stayed the winter.”
“On my frequent walks, I often see pileated woodpeckers.”
Also on Friday, Beverly Green dropped by to show us a dandelion
she had picked that morning in her backyard on South Kendall
Avenue. Looks to us it may be a colt’s foot rather than a dandelion
but, either way, you don’t often see them growing this time of
year.
And our final Friday report – We heard about a Bradford man who
was busy digging leeks while the weather was nice. (Wish we’d have
thought of that!)
WORLD TOUR: Who says The Bradford Era doesn’t get around?
Bev Hull of Bradford tells us, “My niece, Ann Dailey from
Moline, Ill., is currently spending her sophomore college year in
Russia studying. My husband Jerry had taken The Bradford Era along
with us to Illinois at Thanksgiving to show my brother-in-law the
picture and story about the black bear shown as front page
news.”
“As my sister Julie and I were packing Christmas gifts and
treats to ship to Ann, we thought she would enjoy getting news in a
most unusual manner. Thus, we wrapped all of her gifts in Bradford
Era and Moline Daily Dispatch newspaper.”
“You just never know where local Bradford news may travel,” she
says.
TODAY’S QUOTE: “However imperfect the (reporting) process may
sometimes be, we have learned that a robust and inquisitive press
is a potent check against abusive governmental power.” That’s today
word from former U.S. solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, 2005,
according to our Freedom Forum calendar.
