To my mind the daffodil is the flower that blithely ushers in spring, and in effect a new year. All is new with the yellow daffodils of spring.
And, going back to my college days and an English literature course, I am reminded of, and found again in an old text book, the William Wordsworth poem that begins:
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
Indeed Wordsworth (1770-1850) was one of the most popular and prolific of the Romantic poets, illustrated by the four lines that end his “Ode,” subtitled “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”:
“Thanks to the human heart by which we live.
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”
So, welcome to spring, and ignore the sub-freezing temperatures as the week began.
*****
It isn’t easy thinking of peaceful flowers and blue skies when dark economic clouds hover so ominously over the nation. Anyone not at least somewhat worried about the economy in Delaware and across the country just isn’t paying attention.
Along with everyone else, I hope the steps being taken by the Obama administration ignite a change in the economy’s direction. At the same time it is bewildering to try and understand the use of so many “trillions” to describe the price tags of one move after another.
And Congress did nothing to improve its reputation by going into a sputtering rage over the AIG fiasco and passing legislation that even the president has doubts about in terms of its constitutional legality.
We are in the midst of a wild economic ride and the destination is still in doubt. It would certainly help to have all sides give up the “blame game.”
*****
Gov. Markell has done what he has said he would do — he has offered a balanced budget carefully thought out and with the anticipated shock effect because of the drastic steps he proposes to balance next year’s budget. As is well known, he had no choice but to balance the budget. It’s the law, and even the state’s “rainy day” fund would be nowhere near enough to close the gap without also raising taxes and fees and lowering the expense of the state’s payroll.
Dover Post News Editor Jeff Brown gives his opinion in this week’s “Brownie Points” in the Dover Post and makes a good point about considering the avenue of graduated salary cuts instead of the across the board 8 percent figure. Undoubtedly that suggestion and other changes will be debated as the budget proposal makes its way through the General Assembly.
But when the current legislative session ends on June 30, somehow the budget figures will have to balance, and there is no painless way to make that happen.
*****
Elsewhere in this issue is an obituary of Hattie Mishoe, 94, widow of the late Dr. Luna Mishoe, former president of Delaware State College, now Delaware State University.
The obituary and the separate story of the “First Lady of DSC” give some of the background of this very special woman. She will be long remembered for her gracious role in the life of the college/university.
One of her daughters, Rita, worked for the Dover Post in the newspaper’s early years, and her father was one of the community leaders who backed the new Dover Post financially when it started in 1975.
*****
Thinking of Delaware State and its impact on the community brings to mind the outpouring of friends who attended the funeral Mass recently for Louis Jara of Dover, who died on March 4 at the age of 50. Spacious Holy Cross Church was nearly filled with mourners, many of them former students and faculty members who knew him because of his time at Holy Cross Elementary School and Townsend Elementary School. He also was an instructor at Wilmington University .
Teachers, especially good teachers, leave a legacy of warm remembrances among the students and fellow faculty members whose lives they have touched.
*****
We’re getting near the end of the oyster season and just to make sure I didn’t miss the opportunity to try oysters in most of the ways they are prepared, we stopped for an oyster buffet dinner at a restaurant on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
In succession and some overlapping, I had oyster stew, oysters casino, fried oysters, oyster fritters and oysters steamed. I decided to skip the oysters on the half shell choice. The five ways I tried had filled me up.
As I have mentioned in this space in past years, the very best place to have fried oysters anywhere, as far as I am concerned, is when the cooking has been done by the men and women of the Felton Volunteer Fire Company. We hope to be there soon for another of the dinners they so wonderfully prepare.
*****
Several photos in this issue show the process of clearing the former Dover Post building at Route 13 and East Division Street to make way for construction of a CVS pharmacy.
It’s obvious that I and members of the Flood/Kaltreider families, along with others who worked there, have a lot of memories tied up in that structure, which began as an airplane hanger in 1933 and saw several other uses before becoming the home of the Dover Post Company for 30 years.
That building allowed the Dover Post to grow. It served us well. May the site’s new use also be successful.
*****
A wife says to her husband: “You know, that young couple who moved next door are so sweet. Every morning when he leaves he kisses her goodbye. And every evening when he comes home he brings her a dozen roses. Now, why can’t you do that?”
And the husband says: “Why not? I don’t even know her!”
|
|
|
To my mind the daffodil is the flower that blithely ushers in spring, and in effect a new year. All is new with the yellow daffodils of spring.
And, going back to my college days and an English literature course, I am reminded of, and found again in an old text book, the William Wordsworth poem that begins:
“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.”
Indeed Wordsworth (1770-1850) was one of the most popular and prolific of the Romantic poets, illustrated by the four lines that end his “Ode,” subtitled “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”:
“Thanks to the human heart by which we live.
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.”
So, welcome to spring, and ignore the sub-freezing temperatures as the week began.
*****
It isn’t easy thinking of peaceful flowers and blue skies when dark economic clouds hover so ominously over the nation. Anyone not at least somewhat worried about the economy in Delaware and across the country just isn’t paying attention.
Along with everyone else, I hope the steps being taken by the Obama administration ignite a change in the economy’s direction. At the same time it is bewildering to try and understand the use of so many “trillions” to describe the price tags of one move after another.
And Congress did nothing to improve its reputation by going into a sputtering rage over the AIG fiasco and passing legislation that even the president has doubts about in terms of its constitutional legality.
We are in the midst of a wild economic ride and the destination is still in doubt. It would certainly help to have all sides give up the “blame game.”
*****
Gov. Markell has done what he has said he would do — he has offered a balanced budget carefully thought out and with the anticipated shock effect because of the drastic steps he proposes to balance next year’s budget. As is well known, he had no choice but to balance the budget. It’s the law, and even the state’s “rainy day” fund would be nowhere near enough to close the gap without also raising taxes and fees and lowering the expense of the state’s payroll.
Dover Post News Editor Jeff Brown gives his opinion in this week’s “Brownie Points” in the Dover Post and makes a good point about considering the avenue of graduated salary cuts instead of the across the board 8 percent figure. Undoubtedly that suggestion and other changes will be debated as the budget proposal makes its way through the General Assembly.
But when the current legislative session ends on June 30, somehow the budget figures will have to balance, and there is no painless way to make that happen.
*****
Elsewhere in this issue is an obituary of Hattie Mishoe, 94, widow of the late Dr. Luna Mishoe, former president of Delaware State College, now Delaware State University.
The obituary and the separate story of the “First Lady of DSC” give some of the background of this very special woman. She will be long remembered for her gracious role in the life of the college/university.
One of her daughters, Rita, worked for the Dover Post in the newspaper’s early years, and her father was one of the community leaders who backed the new Dover Post financially when it started in 1975.
*****
Thinking of Delaware State and its impact on the community brings to mind the outpouring of friends who attended the funeral Mass recently for Louis Jara of Dover, who died on March 4 at the age of 50. Spacious Holy Cross Church was nearly filled with mourners, many of them former students and faculty members who knew him because of his time at Holy Cross Elementary School and Townsend Elementary School. He also was an instructor at Wilmington University .
Teachers, especially good teachers, leave a legacy of warm remembrances among the students and fellow faculty members whose lives they have touched.
*****
We’re getting near the end of the oyster season and just to make sure I didn’t miss the opportunity to try oysters in most of the ways they are prepared, we stopped for an oyster buffet dinner at a restaurant on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
In succession and some overlapping, I had oyster stew, oysters casino, fried oysters, oyster fritters and oysters steamed. I decided to skip the oysters on the half shell choice. The five ways I tried had filled me up.
As I have mentioned in this space in past years, the very best place to have fried oysters anywhere, as far as I am concerned, is when the cooking has been done by the men and women of the Felton Volunteer Fire Company. We hope to be there soon for another of the dinners they so wonderfully prepare.
*****
Several photos in this issue show the process of clearing the former Dover Post building at Route 13 and East Division Street to make way for construction of a CVS pharmacy.
It’s obvious that I and members of the Flood/Kaltreider families, along with others who worked there, have a lot of memories tied up in that structure, which began as an airplane hanger in 1933 and saw several other uses before becoming the home of the Dover Post Company for 30 years.
That building allowed the Dover Post to grow. It served us well. May the site’s new use also be successful.
*****
A wife says to her husband: “You know, that young couple who moved next door are so sweet. Every morning when he leaves he kisses her goodbye. And every evening when he comes home he brings her a dozen roses. Now, why can’t you do that?”
And the husband says: “Why not? I don’t even know her!”
