August 24, 2009

RECORD-REVIEW "Talk of the Town" - August 24, 2009

August 24, 2009


"TALK OF THE TOWN"
By Bonni Brodnick

S
ixteen years ago, I wrote “The First Day of Kindergarten” for “The Bedford-Pound Ridge Record-Review” (the original name of our town paper). The story was written on the eve of my 4-year old son starting kindergarten at Pound Ridge Elementary School. The next day would be his first bus ride to school, his first day at the “big boy” school, and his first meal in a cafeteria. I wondered how he would get through this without Mommy. All summer we had been preparing for the moment. My son is now a 20-year old senior at college.
Tonight, I am writing on the eve of my daughter leaving home and joining her brother as a freshman at the same upstate New York university. Her departure, too, has been a moment for which we’ve been preparing, especially since it would signify my new perch on an empty nest. Whether your children are leaving for their first day of kindergarten or first semester of college, the reality of new eras commencing can pull at the heartstrings.
     As my children begin the new school year together — a fraternity house and a dorm room away —husband and I will remain on the Salem Road campus. We’ll keep the front light on for our children’s fall-break return to their beloved hometown of Pound Ridge.

For many, August is an abundantly colorful month in the garden with salvias, black-eyed susans, zinnias, moonflowers, day lilies, Heliopsis, Phlox, and Coreopsis in bloom. Sedum and Solidago are close to blooming, and Nepeta and Yarrow are just starting to re-bloom. How does your garden grow? Mine is moldy and deer-bitten. I’m in serious need of a garden transplant.
After sharing my flora woes with Dolores Sisti from the Pound Ridge Garden Club, she mentioned that August is a good time of year to have a garden (or plant swap). Invite friends and neighbors to bring at least two plants that are over-abundant in their garden and swap. Share the bounty and keep it growing. Last year I traded a friend my iris for her hosta. In researching this lily-like plant on a gardening website I found, “If you have a shade garden, hosta are most likely your best friends. With the many colors, sizes and shapes, they are, by far, a gardener’s bliss. Hosta are hardy plants and make a beautiful addition to your shade garden.” The only thing is . . . deer also think my hosta are beautiful. And tasty. What was once a fine addition to my “garden,” is now a display of nubs. While I don’t exactly have “gardener’s bliss” like they describe on that website, when I look out, I think of my friend and of her generosity in giving me hosta that formerly grew abundantly in her garden. It has withered in mine, but hosta is a perennial and there’s always hope for next year.

Sum-sum-summertime. It’s blasting hot, the rain has stopped, and it’s the dog days of August. In our household, we call this time of year “augacious.” And while we carried on our day-to-day, the Pound Ridge swim team was mighty in their lane-to-lane triumphs. Many on the Pound Ridge swim team advanced from the Little Dolphins program to the full-fledged Dolphins Swim Team. Molly Henry and Brian Santos are among the young swimmers who improved so much that they competed in “A” meets. Colleen Roemer and Andrew Wasila also improved greatly this summer. And among some of the most team-spirited Dolphins, count in Gage Sgaglio, Heath Carmicheal, Chloe Jacobson, and Sarah Siano. Kudos to Billy Fierro-Joyce, who had a gold star on his shoulder again this season by breaking a Dolphins record.
On the diving team, Ruby Cuddy showed awesome improvement. She moved up to the A-team after learning TWO new dives in one practice. Charlie Asaro was also among one of the most improved divers this season. Christine Drpich broke the girls 18-and under diving pool record. Season review? From June through August, it went absolutely, indisputably, undeniably swimmingly.

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