Monthly Archives: December 2024

somewhere in my memories

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It’s the end of December. Soon it will be New Year’s Eve and then 2025 will be here.

I marvel that so much of my life has already happened and the inner child in me born in 1964 marvels at all the time that has gone by and all the distinct Christmas memories.

I remember the Christmas processions we did at St. Peter’s with our white robes and candles. The Christmas book fair at St. Peter’s and getting books sign by Marguerite de Angeli. I remember Santa Lucia at Old Swede’s. I remember the year Kitty the cat got into her catnip Christmas stocking and was as stoned as a loon dangling mostly upside down from the top of the Christmas tree. And then she skidded up and down the front hall for a while.

I also am even at 60 reminded of the year my mother told me to stop fiddling with my chocolate milk at Wanamaker’s Crystal Tea Room at Christmas and drop it… and I did…right into my aunt’s lap…as in her sister-in-law not my great aunts. Winter white suit too I am told.

We used to go see all of the Christmas displays at all of the department stores in Philadelphia and then we had lunch at the Crystal Tea Room. I always had scrambled eggs, toast, and chocolate milk. Mostly we did this with my great aunts.

At Strawbridge’s it was the Dickens Christmas Village and the figures were animatronic. At Gimbels the figures also moved, but in the windows. Lit Brothers had the enchanted village and John Wanamaker’s had the light show and the pipe organ and the waterfall. After the light show was when we would go all the way up in the elevators to the huge Crystal Tea Room. It was filled with the noise of other families and tons of kids. I also remember when we were leaving there was almost like a check out line in the grocery store. And all the women who were in the tea room wore crisp uniforms.

It’s sad to me now because Philadelphia during Christmas was once really something. Those Christmas displays drew people into the city almost like a July 4th concert.

I’m told that part or all of the Lit Brothers display is at a slightly creepy cavernous warehouse space in Oaks next to a FedEx hub called the American Treasure Tour Museum. The place is owned by someone referred to as “the Collector” who is supposed to be all mysterious, yet Reddit says it’s the developer behind Audubon Land Development (think Happy Days Farm) which owns that property in Oaks where this is and Arnold’s Family Fun Center etc. is? Also supposedly owns the Classic Auto Mall in Morgantown?

The Wanamaker pipe organ has its own nonprofit now and is being preserved. But the Wanamaker building which is a historic landmark went into foreclosure and it was announced in December that it had been acquired by a developer and private equity firm out of New York and the building will be converted to residential apartments, and my guess is that they will be rental apartments vs. some kind of condo development. Now that is not the worst adaptive reuse I’ve ever heard of, but what will happen to the organ in the future and during construction? And according to the Inquirer, that is where the Strawbridge’s Dickens Village moved so what happens to that now?

Also, the Christmas season always meant The Philadelphia Charity Ball. When we went, it was held at the Bellevue Strafford and it was held on December 23rd. Being in the Cotillion was like being part of a different world. I don’t think it’s the same today and it seemed quite small in event this past year and moved to Merion Cricket Club which kind of takes the Philadelphia out of it, so it could be dying?

Other memories like caroling parties at my cousin Suzy’s in Newtown, Bucks County where we all had a lot of fun….except we were so out of tune I am surprised no one paid us to go away. And when we were there for any kind of a holiday meal or gathering, the plates that were used were Suzy’s late mother’s and they were a pattern I have never seen since with pine boughs and pine cones. They disappeared in her divorce. I still wonder if her first husband has them somewhere. I think it was a Rosenthal pattern.

Then there are all the memories of Christmas parties at my parents’ friends between a Harleysville, Schwenksville, Malvern, and eventually Wayne. Glittering German Christmas celebrations that were just so beautiful in all of their homes over the years.

Also the little girl memories of going with my father in a red VW bug through the snowy streets of Philadelphia to get a Christmas tree sold off the freight cars at the rail yards.

Or other little girl memories of going to 9th street for Christmas goodies from DiBruno’s when there was only one and whatever meat we were preparing from Cappuccio’s. I even have a random Christmas or Christmas Eve memory of my great aunts house on Ritner Street in South Philadelphia and it was packed to the gills and so hot.

Lots of other memories mashed together through the years including my father’s slightly exasperating method and routine for putting up the Christmas tree. And oh yes, silver and gold ornaments only. We eventually snuck in some other stuff over time but they were few and far between and only little white lights. The trees were gorgeous, don’t misunderstand me, but I think this is why my trees have so much color. Of course the other thing about the growing up Christmas trees is they often didn’t come down until almost February and one year almost Valentine’s Day.

And then there was New Year’s Eve party when we had first moved to suburbia and were living in Gladwyne. I think it was New Year’s Eve 1975 into 1976. I remember grown ups dancing in the snow and singing LOUDLY as the clock ticked down to midnight. That was the night when my late godmother’s husband tried to scrape all of the dinner scraps down the sink drain….and there was no garbage disposal….

And then there was the year our friends from Bethesda, MD came up for New Year’s Eve and Abigail the Springer Spaniel ate part of the chocolate sponge cake cooling on the stovetop waiting to be rolled with cream for dessert… the surviving cake became a trifle.

Then there was when a friend of mine named Barb showed us all the art form of the gift basket. We had never thought of blending old and new in a basket full of Christmas treats for people. It was something she did and to this day it’s a favorite kind of Christmas gift to assemble. Back then it was because it gave us more bang for our buck with Christmas presents and a more younger person‘s budget. I still like it because it’s fun to do.

Then came the Christmas Eve party that always felt compulsory. It was a Main Line affair. The parties hosted when it was wife #1 meant the daughters had matching outfits to wife #1’s hostess gowns and they were posed on the stairs when the front door was answered. (Well it was the late 1970s.) Wife #1 set the tone and the woman had enough of a chill she was frosty.

It was no real surprise when there was a divorce and then there was wife #2. (Of course later on, wide #1 would hunt husband #2 who was the father of someone else I knew like big game, and wow all those bridesmaids then, really? But I digress.

When it was wife # 2 the parties became more warm and welcoming. Except when I was in my 20s there was the married guy who had a store somewhere who came every Christmas Eve for a few years without his wife and every Christmas Eve tried to pick up single young women, usually the daughters of the the families attending. One year it was my turn. He asked if I wanted to go to a party with him and leave the current party and I asked him kind of loudly if his wife would be joining us and something else. That took care of that. That was super uncomfortable. Worst of all? Married dude tried to pick me up in front of my father.

Now this was the party where the cool kids hung out in the library, and the younger kids took over the basement. And the adults were everywhere in between.

As time seemed to speed up, I would host Christmas or Christmas Eve and then my sister would host Christmas or Christmas Eve. And then there were years were Christmas seemed to not exist like the Christmas in 2010 that my brother-in-law died.

This has been a really nice but still kind of hard holiday season this year for me personally. It’s the first one without my friend Anna, and when you’ve had 48 years of Christmas and holiday seasons in one form or the other with one friend, you miss them when they’re gone, but I’m thinking now she’s with our friend David, who passed away a couple of years ago. I still keep waiting for the phone to ring or to get a text message from her. It’s just sort of bittersweet in some moments and others just sad. And then I have the random memories of shopping for Christmas presents in Bryn Mawr with her when we were younger than driving age. There was this awesome bookstore next to Parvin’s Pharmacy and then there was KatyDid and looking at the scarab bracelets at Mr. Fish’s.

And then this is the Christmas I found out that a friend of mine from college that I didn’t even know was sick was also gone. She was someone that I was only in touch with infrequently at this point, but it’s still another loss. And she came from a rather large and close-knit family, and I feel for them and her own family. She was so nice and bright and hard working and lived for her own family.

This is also the Christmas that one of my sorority sisters is on hospice. She told everyone before Thanksgiving. She’s just a wonderful person and nice. And another person I know is on hospice. It must be one of those years.

So I have all of these great Christmas memories and then there are the holiday season melancholies I suppose you might call them. Nothing terminal or bad, but bittersweet with twinges of sad. There are people we have all had in our lives that we just maybe thought would go on forever. And a lot of them were the people we knew who also loved the holidays. We carry their memory and our memories of them in our hearts and minds, and it’s ok to get a little schmoopy and sentimental.

Happy and safe New Year to all.

r.i.p. jimmy carter

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His beloved wife Roslyn died in late 2023. I didn’t think former President Jimmy Carter would last too terribly long after she passed. Well today, Jimmy Carter passed away. He was 100.

https://www.jimmycartertribute.org/

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Passes Away at 100

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 29, 2024

ATLANTA — Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States and winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, died peacefully Sunday, Dec. 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family. He was 100, the longest-lived president in U.S. history.

President Carter is survived by his children — Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Rosalynn, and one grandchild.

“My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love,” said Chip Carter, the former president’s son. “My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs.”

There will be public observances in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., followed by a private interment in Plains, Georgia. The final arrangements for President Carter’s state funeral, including all public events and motorcade routes, are still pending. The schedule will be released by the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region at 

www.usstatefuneral.mdw.army.mil.

Members of the public are encouraged to visit the official tribute website to the life of President Carter at www.jimmycartertribute.org. This site includes the official online condolence book as well as print and visual biographical materials commemorating his life.

The Carter family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to The Carter Center, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway N.E., Atlanta, GA 30307.

###

Media Notes:

All logistics and credentialing related to coverage of the official ceremonies will be handled by the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. The Carter Center is not credentialing media to cover official ceremonies.

Rights-cleared photos and video of President Carter’s life, provided by The Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, will be available at www.jimmycartertribute.org/downloads.

Contact: media@cartercenter.org

He was not a perfect President and he was in office during another tumultuous time in our country. He had an embarrassing relative – his brother Billy (remember “Billy Beer”?)

I actually met both of the Carters as a kid when Philadelphia hosted the reenactment of Continental Congress.

Here is a great article from when Roslyn Carter died:

https://www.today.com/today/amp/rcna101303

Jimmy Carter was a man devoted to humanitarian and public service.

Rest in peace, sir. We need a world where there are more like you.

Click to read this afternoon’s NY Times Op-Ed

does not compute

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I was sent this and it’s still up and it doesn’t quite have that Christmas spirit does it?

Somewhere in the background “she’s lost that loving feeling” is playing, can you hear it? I didn’t know Creed’s Seafood & Steaks was missing needing a fauxblicist? No Christmas Eve din dins for the fam?

I just wonder who’s the Victor she’s talking about? I thought maybe at first it would be one of my favorite journalists from Philadelphia Magazine but then I remembered that the guy at Creed’s had a partner by that name didn’t he?

So I guess I just don’t understand. I also don’t understand because I didn’t know that Creed’s needed help with their “marketing” ? I mean they’ve kind of been doing their thing since when? 1982? And there reviews are always good and consistent aren’t they?

Creed’s is in King of Prussia at 499 N. Gulph Road . Here is their website:

https://www.creedskop.com/about

OK, so again I don’t quite know what’s going on here I don’t know that any of us need to know, but it was a hell of a thing to post for somebody who seems that they want a business owner’s attention and business from isn’t it?

Cheer up Easter Bunny season is coming soon or a mini photo shoot with the trusty old iPhone, right?

This gets the big face palm for the end of 2024….and pro tip for this “professional“ : you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar and F bombs. Just saying.

And Christmas Eve din dins debacle from over a decade ago or whenever it was will never die as long as she keeps posting things like this, right?

https://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2014/01/14/gawker-five-pr-tragedies-sarah-lockard/

The Worst Blogger in Philly

https://www.eater.com/2013/12/11/6315909/philly-blog-publisher-asks-restaurants-for-a-free-dinner

family and christmas

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It’s Christmas and if you have your people, hopefully you are with them.

It’s a hard day for some because it’s a day of emotions and emotionally loaded memories.

It had been 14 years since we were all together at my sister’s house for Christmas. We had been together other places, but not all there since my brother in law died that Christmas of 2010. Or the Christmas time forgot, and the year a blizzard visited New York City. I still remember the surreal experience of waking up Park Avenue with just other people and snow. No cars or buses or taxi cabs.

I didn’t even realize until the other day how long it had been since we were all together there.

I wasn’t sure how it was going to be for me. There is still so much of my late brother in law there. Good memories. Calling my niece “Cake” coming into the kitchen loaded down with Christmas presents. He loved Christmas.

Now the kids are all adults with their own lives and there we all were again. The same, yet altogether different and changed by time.

I have tuned into a bit of a country mouse at this point in my life, but New York City at Christmas is magical.

The laughter echoes still in my head although I am now back in the quiet of our home. I felt a lot of emotions today, not bad, it was just a lot to experience. New memories melding with old.

It was a nice and beautiful Christmas after a crazy 2024. I hope all of you had a wonderful day.

Merry Christmas.

where’s the beef, wego and wcasd?

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https://chester.crimewatchpa.com/wegopd/53548/post/rustin-high-school

So last week everybody finds out the guy who was the principal of Rustin resigned.

why is it buh byes principal at bayard rustin high school in the west chester area school district??

First, I felt like I was the only person that published anything and then all of a sudden it hit the media.

https://www.fox29.com/news/former-principal-chester-county-high-school-under-law-enforcement-investigation-district-says

https://www.inquirer.com/education/rustin-high-school-principal-michael-marano-west-chester-police-investigation-20241220.html

West Chester Area principal under police investigation after resigning last week

But since then, it’s kind of been crickets. At least from official channels. The school district isn’t talking and the police / DA aren’t talking.

And in the rest of the local world the rumors are flying fast and furious. So people probably just want to know I think what is fact and what is fiction.

And yes, people know that investigations take time but what did they think was going to happen when all of a sudden a principal up and resigns in a BIG school district and the district sends an email to parents essentially saying he’s out but don’t mind the police visiting the school?

Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police I have heard media have stopping in to visit and are being polite…. I don’t think there’s any way that their entire department can be on vacation so why didn’t they just direct them to this listing they slid up on Crime Watch ? and what does this listing they have up mean exactly? Are teachers or students at risk? or is that something to say but not necessarily true?

Also, how is whatever is going on affecting Marano’s wife? Doesn’t she work at East? And then there is the whole connection both Maranos have to Neumann University in Delco, right?

Whatever the case may be, I wonder how long West Chester Area School District and the Chester County District Attorney’s Office and the police can keep a lid on this before they have to talk about it?

What a crazy year 2024 has been.

humans should do better.

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It’s brutally cold out right now. No pets should just be out roaming around. And we live in a time where people just seem to dump dogs and cats, and even things like hamsters and rabbits without blinking an eye.

And now you have puppy mills overfilling rescues with dogs they can’t sell. They now are using rescues as an outlet to get rid of their excess product so to speak because they’re not viewing these dogs as pets, these dogs are like ears of corn, they’re a product.

Puppy mills give legitimate breeders a bad name. Yet people keep buying from them and then you have lots of big shelters with issues like the Montgomery County SPCA, which really needs a lot more happening than is currently happening, and then you saw what happened to the Delaware County SPCA years ago? That’s how it became Providence because the old Delco SPCA was finally shut down. It was so problematic. And now Providence is a much better place.

The Chester County SPCA also was rife with issues a few years ago and I don’t know what’s going on there today they’ve rebranded they’re now the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

All of these bigger rescue organizations participate in these clear the shelter events or “mega adoption events.” The problem I have with those events is pretty simple. They pretty much just let whomever adopt to literally just clear out the shelter cages and then a few months later you have a lot of those animals coming back into rescues. Ask any of the smaller rescues, especially ones that handle cats and they will tell you about all the kittens that get adopted during clear the shelter events…. and then dumped as young adult cats. And I especially have an issue with holiday mega adoption events and remember the good old days when rescues paused at Christmas because so many Christmas pets end up back in rescue after the holiday glow has worn off? One of my favorite rescues was an ooopsies Christmas pet.

So back to the impetus for this post: loose dogs. Dogs get out even if they are a beloved family pet and sometimes they just want to go on walk about. Sometimes it is because a human is not paying attention.

Yesterday on in Willistown off Paoli Pike, and I guess around Cedar Hollow Road a woman walking her smaller dog, was attacked by a pit bull mix. I don’t know what the end result is, but I was told last night by someone I know that people weren’t sure if the dog was going to make it because it was pretty badly attacked, and that the dogs human also had wounds.

I just drove past a disturbing scene on Paoli Pike. It appeared that a Pit Bull was loose and was mauling another dog and a woman. Police were on the scene and had just pulled the dog off of the person and dog who were lying on the ground. I hope everyone was ok, but by the sounds of the screams, I don’t think so.

Now I will honestly say that the owner of this dog did show up in local social media groups and apologize. That’s a good start, but….its not all that needs to happen.

I would like to apologize to the malvern, Paoli and surrounding residents for the accidental incident that took place earlier today. I am the owner of this rescue pitmix, XXXXX. She escaped out of her reinforced enclosure while I was gone from home. My dogs are up to date on their shots. I am so sorry to the owner of the other dog and will pay the vet bills. I will take even further precautions so this does not happen again. The safety of my community members is of utmost priority to me. Thank you to the Williston Police department for promptly showing up and separating the dogs and help contain XXXXX. I really hope the other dog is ok and not too badly injured. I just wanted to clear the air because I see a lot of posts going around speculating their own stories from me being a terrible owner to someone dumped a dog on Paoli Pike. My sister called me while I was driving panicking because Honey escaped and I told my sister to call 911 ASAP. I rescued this dog and I am responsible, I will not dump her at the spca and let them deal with this issue as they already have a lot to deal with. XXXXX is not human aggressive. She is very loving towards humans so I am not sure if she deserves to be put down, she has never had an incident with aggression towards humans. I will be reinforcing her enclosure further to make sure this does not happen again. Thank you.

But we don’t know how that poor woman is or her dog are today do we?

The fact that the owner publicly owned up to what happened and said sorry is a help, but it’s not the solution. It’s only part of a potential solution.

Twice in my lifetime I had dogs of mine attacked while we were walking on a leash. One time was just walking down a public sidewalk and the other time was on the nature trail at Haverford College.

One of the dogs that attacked one of my dogs back then was a golden retriever. I had to push for the owner to get a $50 fine and he continued to walk his dogs off lead, and the dog continued to go after other dogs on leashes. That particular dog caused thousands of dollars in vet bills to my dog because the golden retriever was a big dog and it ruptured a disc in the back of my dog, which was just your average sized field dog. It was a springer spaniel, a breed not prone to back issues.

The second time it happened it was another spaniel at another point in time and we were walking the nature trail at Haverford College. We were attacked in front of lots of people by two black labs off leash the owner and the black labs took off and my dog got rushed to the vet and it’s neck had been bitten / ripped open.

So I actually know what this feels like and for those of you who assumed I would say it was because it was a pitbull doing the attacking, I would not. I also had an old neighbor once upon a time that was at a dog park in Gladwyne, who was attacked by a much smaller dog and had its whole underbelly ripped open.

But if this dog has gotten out before and has done things like this before, or even if this was just the first time, that dog needs to be professionally evaluated, especially if it drew blood on a human as well as attacking a dog. What if that had been somebody’s kid walking their family pet?

I am not trying to deprive someone of their dog at Christmas. But what happened was horrible.

This dog that went after the other dog could have leash aggression. It’s an actual thing, but it’s something that has to be dealt with.

And I just feel for the woman and her dog who were attacked. I have experienced it.

I rarely write about animal issues any longer because so many lack reading comprehension and we in the age of social media just shoot from the hip.

But I am going to give a shout out to the people trying to save the Montgomery County PA SPCA and the animals. They are doing God’s work. (https://share.inquirer.com/0ZyV4v ) Again, the Montgomery County PA SPCA needs to have what happened to the Delco SPCA – it needs to be shut down, clean house and start again. I am told there are lots of good people in lower levels who work or volunteer for the Montco SPCA but leadership and the board? Not so good.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania/montgomery-county-spca-kill-shelter-dogs-cats-20240919.html

Our pets deserve our best and this past year has seen an increase in dumped, lost, stray, loose animals. Accidents happen, no one disputes that. But we as the humans? We have to do better for them.

That’s all.

hello 👋 upper main line ymca superfans and merry christmas!

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Sooooo…. I had written an update to the pickleball issue at Upper Main Line YMCA with their neighbors. Apparently the pickle pusses didn’t like it and for a while it was a barrage of nasty comments and impersonation of an actual friend (that he thinks he has possibly traced to the source incidentally.)

umly is a pickle puss in easttown.

Here is the recent video from Easttown:

Here is the first post I wrote:

in a pickle in easttown

Here’s the link to Savvy coverage:

Making Malvern a Hallmark town; Aiding Wynnewood’s Gaudios; Easttown in a pickle; At the bar At the Table in Wayne; Ugly rubble in Berwyn; Ho Ho Ho for the Hoeys; DFB is a BFD; Hot headlines & more

But hey, attack me like I am the only person talking about this. Yep, here is the fan mail. I dressed it up for Christmas below. The milk of human kindness overflows. If this is the camaraderie and hail good fellow well met of this sport, well isn’t that sad?

No one I have heard of over there or anywhere wants pickleball to leave, the neighbors just want fair treatment. And pickle heads targeting me? That accomplishes nothing except maybe I write about it more? Good job, then.

Again, maybe the neighbors have rights too? They should. Time will tell in Easttown.

a blessed winter solstice to all

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Today is the winter solstice. Also called Midwinter; the Shortest Day; the Longest Night. It started at 4:21 AM. In a blink it was gone.

Although the winter solstice itself literally lasts only a moment, the term also refers to the day on which it occurs.

“With the turning of the wheel of time, let us keep our patience and rejoice in the winter solstice.”

~ Unknown

Since the dawn of time, winter solstice has been a significant time of year in many cultures and has been marked by festivals and rites.

Why? Some ancient monuments such as Newgrange, Stonehenge, and Cahokia Woodhenge are aligned with the sunrise or sunset on the winter solstice.

This all goes back to the new Stone Age or the Neolithic period. I find it fascinating and it’s amazing given the world in which we live that this is something that has lasted. And while this is sort of the shortest day of the year, it also marks the time when the days start lengthening again.

Winter Solstice embodies a moment of transition — a shift from darkness to light. The lengthening days following this pivotal point signify the gradual resurgence of warmth and vitality, breathing life back into the dormant landscapes.

Today is also the holiday of Yule. Celebrations include baking, so I will be doing more Christmas baking today. Yule originated in Scandinavia as a Norse festival called “Jol.” It was later absorbed into the Christian holiday of Christmas.

Many people will have a candle lit, so people find their way home and back into the light on the shortest day of the year.

By the time the winter solstice arrives each year, the sun sits at the lowest position in the sky it can.

So a fun quirky result is your shadow literally becomes longer and longer as winter solstice approaches. So, if you go outside at noon on the day of the winter solstice, your shadow will be the longest it will be all year.

In today’s messy Stepford world a lot of people have problems with the winter solstice because of its pagan roots. And I don’t know why they’re afraid of it. It is in almost every culture out there. Winter solstice, yes, has pagan traditions which in part focus on a spiritual connection with nature.

“Nature is full of genius, full of the divinity; so that not a snowflake escapes its fashioning hand.” ~Henry David Thoreau

I am neither pagan or wiccan, but I respect this day. There are plenty of things that have gone before us that maybe we don’t necessarily understand but it doesn’t mean we have to fear them either. They are just kind of part of the fabric of life.

I woke up today to unsolicited hate mail because you can’t be be different and on social media even personally. But this woman’s ire was solely due to enforcing rules of a social media group over something that didn’t include her at all. Quite literally I don’t even know the woman and she just inserted herself. The irony is this is a woman who in real life is not just a teacher, but she’s a special ed teacher in a Chester County elementary school. Reeceville. That kind of blows my mind because teachers know how hard it is to accomplish things some days because of the world in which we live. Yet here you have somebody who is supposed to be guiding impressionable young students who can’t even control her own behavior.

“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future; the place of caught breath.”

~ Margaret Atwood

And then there were all the people that felt the need to lambast me and comments to this site yesterday over my defending the neighbors who are having issues with the Pickleball at Upper Main Line YMCA in Easttown. These neighbors have all been pretty nice and I’ve been putting up with this and trying to work with this why for like a couple years it seems and they finally just had enough and here we have this newish sport that is supposed to be so friendly and happy and all these miserable people sending even me messages, including one local who was found out rather quickly, for imitating another friend of mine. I will note the person who was being imitated did the footwork and I’m actually amazed at how easy it was for him to find out who it was.

And once again, no one has ever said don’t have pickleball at that location. The neighbors would just like to be treated fairly and respected.

It used to be they disliked me online as a blogger because I wasn’t a mom Disney blogger or a mommy blogger. Then they hated me because I’m not exactly a lifestyle blogger talking about trends and getting free stuff. And I have no desire to be an influencer and there are so many people that would die for such an honor.

So now I think it’s back to most simply put I am not someone who can be placed in a convenient, non/threatening cubbyhole.

It has been a year of people lashing out about everything. And I’m not just talking about my own personal experience as a blogger or just as a woman, I’m talking about life in general.

“People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.”

~Anton Chekhov

It has been a crazy, nasty year.

I think some people have absolutely zero boundaries after Covid and I think it even predates Covid. It’s been with the onset of social media.

So enjoy your winter solstice day and do something nice for friends or family. And you don’t have to like every opinion I put out there. You don’t have to like every opinion that anyone puts out there you can scroll past.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

~Albert Camus

the most wonderful time of the year….for stealing?

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year… When people want to steal your packages. Except in this case it’s like the packages aren’t going to get delivered?

The last thing you will say is a ring vote posted by someone who lives in that Tattersall development in West Chester.  Hopefully they took it to the police?

It appears to be an Amazon driver and it appears they put the packages down. They take pictures of the packages and then they take the packages back and drive off.

Like I said the most wonderful time of the year and don’t they *get* people have security cameras?

Is this just another form of porch pirate ?

umly is a pickle puss in easttown.

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Well the neighbors are not being heard and this is getting a bit unpleasant and unneighborly isn’t it ?

Sharing verbatim from Berwyn Dispatch:

The Dispute Between the Neighbors and the Upper Main Line YMCA Over Pickleball Noise Continues

I have written 2 versions of this post and have deleted both due to both posts being convoluted and overly detailed. When I find myself in this box, I go to an old stand by. The question and answer format. It allows for easier reading and sharing of information. I apologize for the lack of brevity.

What is going on with the Y and their nearby neighbors?

In short, this is a dispute over noise resulting from the play of pickleball (PB) at the Y. I was surprised to learn that the conversion of courts from tennis to PB happened approximately 2 years ago. There are 12 PB courts and each court can have 4 players during open play time. The location of the courts was not well thought out (my opinion) with the courts being adjacent to a residential neighborhood. Also, the Y did virtually nothing regarding sound mitigation when converting from Tennis and constructing new PB courts.

According to numerous neighbors who have been appearing at Easttown Board of Supervisor meetings since June, the persistent noise has destroyed their peace and quality of life. They live in a R1 zoned residential neighborhood and don’t expect to have to continually deal with this level of noise day in, day out. EVERY DAY.

Is the Y in violation of noise regulations?

That depends on who you ask. The township has measured the noise and maintains that there have not been noise violations as measured by their equipment. The neighbors have engaged with another expert who maintains that there are violations. I am not an expert on this issue and cannot say which equipment is measuring correctly. Still, the noise is a consistent nuisance for these neighbors and the Y has not completed a sound study of their own according to the neighbors. There is a ricochet effect to the noise as well. It bounces off of the building connected to the courts into the neighborhood. I know in my house the volume on my TV in the living room is louder upstairs than it is for me when watching it directly. This is not just an issue in our community. These types of disputes over PB noise is happening all over the country.

Whatever the case may be the Y has done very little to help end the dispute. Honestly, outside of attending a meeting offering to slightly decrease hours of play, they have done nothing. Supervisor Sean Axel stated that the Y has not acted in good faith and more needs to be done by the Y. I am paraphrasing.

Why haven’t the neighbors and the Y worked out this dispute themselves?

It is difficult to work out a solution when one side won’t respond. Per a neighbor’s statement at Monday’s meeting, the Y has not responded directly to the Neighbor’s concerns at all during the last 2 years. I followed up with a neighbor this morning and she stated that the Y responded several weeks after she had reached out to them but with no solution. The Executive Director for the Upper Main Line Y did attend a board meeting on November 18. More on that later.

Has there been any progress on this issue?

Yes. At the November 18 meeting the Y proposed a 2 hour reduction in their hours. The board, at Monday’s meeting, agreed to this reduction. This will be a change to the ordinance that first needs to be advertised. The new hours will take effect in January. PB will be played on Mon – Fri from 8 am to 7 pm and on Sat – Sun from 8 am to 5 pm.

At the November meeting the Y stated that they received a quote for sound mitigation. The cost would be $119,000. According to the vendor’s website, there is no guarantee their sound mitigation materials will work.

The Y requested that the township “partner” with the Y on this issue. Excuse me? The Y is a national organization with deep pockets. Do NOT be fooled by the non-profit status. That is an accounting designation only. They have plenty of money. The township’s lawyer, Andy Rau, clearly stated that Easttown would not be paying any $$ towards this cost. However, Mr. Rau also said that the township may be able to assist with the procurement of grants to help offset the Y’s cost. I do NOT agree that the township should be involved in this effort at all. Paid township employees who work for the taxpayers of Easttown should not be used for this purpose. The Y can handle the search and grant writing themselves.

Why do you think the Y has been so reluctant to engage and why do you think they do not wish to pay for the costs of sound mitigation from their own operating funds?

This is an opinion but one informed by many years in the business world. I think the Y doesn’t want to have a precedent set where they cave into the communities concerns over this issue. You may be surprised to learn that there is big money in pickleball now with tournament purses now up to $2m in some cases. Corporate America has taken note of the growth of PB. Many tournaments are now being sponsored and televised.

This all equal money and fees that can be charged for tournaments. UMLY is in this game and they have held tournaments on their grounds. They are not doing so for free. I do not know specifically why they feel as though their own operating funds should not be used but I would bet big money that it comes down to $$$.

Why is it a problem to hold PB tournaments at the Y?

As almost everyone in this community knows already, the Y’s parking lot is generally packed and there is one little road that leads to the Y’s facilities. Clearly, PB is in a growth phase. Given how the Y’s lack of ANY proactive planning (any planning at all for that matter) for sound mitigation, how can the community have any confidence that the Y can handle PB tournaments?

In our area, there are 3,000 PB players through the Y. That is just in our area. The tournaments the Y has held are now being advertised in other areas of the country. As the sport grows can you imagine the parking nightmares in the immediate neighborhood? The traffic congestion? Does the Y have any plans to address those issues? If so, thus far it has been a closely held secret. There are other issues that have impact on the township’s infrastructure and first responders as well. I will leave that for another day.

Why don’t the Board of Supervisor’s just issue new ordinances that force further reductions in hours of play and increased sound mitigation?

This gets tricky and there are legalities involved that I could write a book on. I won’t do that. I will summarize. There are 2 aspects to creating or changing an ordinance. There is zoning and non-zoning. The non-zoning is much simpler. Those can be change at any time and compliance can be forced. However, most zoning regulations cannot force immediate change. In other words, if a zoning regulation is altered, most of the time an entity that existed under the older regulation would be “grandfathered” in under the old regulations. That is why Berwyn Square’s density still has no limitation although the current regulation is now 16 units per acre.

Of course, there is disagreement on this issue as well. One neighbor in particular can’t understand why the board won’t just legislate this issue away. According to Mr. Rau, that isn’t really possible. The board could do that but if it is overturned on appeal then that leaves the neighbors with little recourse outside of a private lawsuit. Mediation was also mentioned by Mr. Rau but both parties need to consent and, from what I have NOT seen from the Y thus far, I would think it may be an immense challenge to have them agree to mediation.

In Lionville, the issue of outside PB was legislated and the Y sued. Ultimately, the Y withdrew their lawsuit. The cynic in me thinks they did so because they had UMLY to lean back on for outside PB. That is solely an opinion. Not an accusation.

What is your view on this issue?

I agree with Mr. Axel. The Y has come up short and has not lived up to their own mission statement. In my opinion (not Mr. Axel’s), this is all about money. The Y did zero planning when constructing (and converting from Tennis) the PB courts. They have sunk $$$ into this effort and do not want to sink more into a fix. Again, an opinion on my part. The Y, itself, is remaining largely silent on this issue.

Even though it will come with a cost, the Y should, in my view, move the courts AND provide sound mitigation AFTER hiring a sound expert to perform a true analysis in order to determine where PB should be played on their grounds and what sound mitigation materials would be optimal to greatly lessen the impact of noise on the Y’s immediate neighbors.

The clear lack of any planning will come at a cost for the Y. A cost that should be born by the Y. Not the community and especially NOT the neighbors. Neighbors who have suffered enough. It is well past time for the Y to step and do the right thing.

Believe it or not, I am leaving out important aspects of this issue. It is my hope that the press picks up this story and reports on it accurately.

in a pickle in easttown