Wilting? Here's help

With no real end in sight to our horrendous heat, sit back and relax .. and enjoy the sounds and scenes of winter.
It may help to ease the stress and take your mind off this weather...

how hot is it???

OK, I admit it, I'm not a big fan of summer.
And we're in for some scorchers, so please remember to drink plenty of water, stay out of the sun, take care of your pets and don't overdo.
And, if you're still just too hot to live, think back to February, when we were blasted by blizzard after blizzard.
Maybe these photos will jog your memory ... and even help you to cool off.
How many days till autumn???

a great offer for cats

There will be a great opportunity to take advantage of a low-cost spay/neuter program this Sunday for cats.
Do your part to lower the population and keep kitties healthier!
Dr. Ravi Muraka of Centre Square Veterinary Clinic, 1030 DeKalb Pike, Center Square, and local nonprofit cat rescues, Stray Cat Blues Inc. (SCBI) and Kitty Adoption Team (KAT) are sponsoring a community low-cost spay/neuter cat clinic from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day.
Costs are $50 for female spay and $30 for male neuter; and that price includes rabies and distemper vaccines, pain medicine, and antibiotics.
You MUST book an appointment and you can also volunteer to help.
To do either, e-mail savingstrays@yahoo.com or call 215) 631 1851 and leave your name and phone number.

Graduation photos wanted!

In this photo, Lansdale Catholic seniors step into a new era.


The future beckons to all of our local graduates, as Souderton Area capped off the commencements Friday evening.
It’s an exciting time for these teens, who may be heading off to college this fall, squeezing in a bit of travel or perhaps starting a job search that could develop into a career.
It’s a time for celebration and honors, and we’d like to be a part of that for local families.
You’ve no doubt seen the questions we’ve posed, “invitations” we’ve issued and explanations of a special project we’re involved in, dubbed the Ben Franklin Project.
It’s named in honor of the inventor-innovator-printer-publisher-newsman-statesman and it’s a fairly simple concept — opening the news process for everyone to participate. We’ll also be using free “tools” to produce our paper on July 4.
But those details aren’t what’s important.
What is important is building a closer relationship with the public as we ask officials the questions you want answered, tackle the stories that are important to you, feature more of your photos and personal stories, and make the whole process much more transparent.
And here’s where those graduates come in.
On July 4, we want to produce our Town Center page with your photos of your graduates.
We’ll fill that page with your photos and also create an online gallery of your photos — so please e-mail them to
editorbreaux@gmail.com or drop them off at our office, 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale.
Just include the pertinent information — but please help us honor your grads.
Another special part of this project is to honor service men and women, by having you tell their stories.
It can be about a current service person or one who served long ago. Perhaps it’s how they were changed by their service, perhaps it’s a fond memory of them.
You make that decision. This is your chance to write what you would like to say.
E-mail stories and photos to
editorbreaux@gmail.com.
We hope you’ll help us make the July 4 edition a very special one — and then continue to help us deliver the news that’s important to you.

comic relief?

OK, there's nothing funny about the BP oil spill.
But sometimes we have to laugh so we don't cry and cry and cry.
Hope this provides a little comic relief ... but it's not meant to take away from the horror of what is happening in the gulf.

It's a Jeep thing?

Late Monday afternoon as I was leaving Lansdale, heading toward Forty Foot Road in all that lovely traffic, I was behind a Jeep, obviously belonging to a nurse.

I know all this because of the various bumper stickers -- it's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand; ER nurse; be nice to me, I might be your nurse some day, etc.

All well and good.

But I can only hope someone else was driving the Jeep that day, because I'd think an ER nurse would know better than to do what this person did at Forty Foot Road.

What, you ask? Make a left turn onto Forty Foot after the light had turned a dead red.

Not yellow... red.

Yes, I see people do it all the time. I just figured an ER nurse would have better sense.

Sorry if I offended this person by pointing this out, but no one should be doing this.

Seeing what an ER nurse must see, there truly is no excuse.

And if you weren't driving, you'd better drive that point home.

a quick Vermont trip...

There's no time for a vacation right now, but thanks to the Associated Press -- and lifestyle editor Aixa Torregrosa for alerting me to this photo -- I did get a quick respite on a busy Friday.
This photo shows some Holsteins resting in a field of buttercup flowers in East Montpelier, Vermont.
Ah, to be there as well...

Honoring those who serve

For our July 4 edition, we would like to honor service men and women, by having you tell their stories.
If you would like to participate, e-mail
editorbreaux@gmail.com
and tell your story about them, plus include a photo, if possible.
It can be about a current service person or one who served long ago.
Perhaps it’s how they were changed by their service, perhaps it’s a fond memory of them.
You make that decision. This is your chance to write what you would like to say.
We will run several in the print edition and others online.
We hope to hear from you for this special project saluting those who serve!

ken u spel?

You wouldn't think there would be anything too controversial about a spelling bee.
But, in Washington, it seems there's always a reason to protest.
And the Scripps National Spelling Bee has drawn a few protesters, believe it or not -- from the American Literacy Council and the London-based Spelling Society.
The reason: They want to simplify the way we spell words.
They passed out pins to passers-by with their logo, "Enuf is enuf. Enough is too much."
The protesters also handed out literature that said it makes more sense for "fruit" to be spelled as "froot," ''slow" should be "slo," and "heifer" should be "hefer."
Some may agree. On some days, I may even agree.
And yes, I know, we sometimes make errors and spell things wrong in the newspaper. (I hope I haven't spelled anything wrong here).
We try, but we're not perfect. Neither is spellcheck.
But really, we seem to want to dumb down everything these days.
Let's not do that to spelling.