Late winter brings hankering for spring

NEWS OF NOTE

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009

Usually, where I hail from (homely, like I said), the forsythia is in bloom by now, days with 60 degree highs are as common as days with 40 degree highs, the shorts and sandals come out of the closet and you can generally anticipate the definite end of the cold weather in just a few weeks. Of course there's usually a killing frost or two of the sort that drives orchard owners to distraction before it's all over, but still.

I got my first taste of more northerly winters when I went to college in Indiana. I had absolutely no experience with below-zero temperatures, and likewise with the clothes that make such temperatures endurable. I spent my first winter there sprinting from heated building to heated building, chattering my teeth and cursing the fate that sent me to what I thought was the Arctic tundra. If it hadn't been for the Salvation Army thrift store, where I procured a stout woolen overcoat — originally the property of a hotel doorman who was obviously on the portly side, judging from the volume of his garment — and my first sets of the thitherto unknown thermal underwear, I might well have perished, or at least transferred to a school in Florida. Being that I met my beautiful wife there, I'm glad I stayed.

I still shiver at the memory of one particular winter, that of my junior year. I was taking two history seminars, one on the Nazis and one on the Soviets, and a computer class. The weather was bad even for Indiana, with up to three feet of snow on the ground all winter and temperatures dropping to well below zero on numerous occasions. A housemate of mine was stricken very badly with cabin fever one evening and nearly frostbit his naughty parts streaking around the house a little while after midnight (I believe alcohol might have been involved as well).

I was convinced, by the time the redbud trees finally flowered, that all was evil in the world, that nothing but bleakness, grim torture and the steely logic of tyrants and machines awaited us all upon graduation.

Soon after, however, the institution of Friday Afternoon Keg Club, held in the woods beside a stream, was once again in full swing, and I regained my usual sunny optimism.

I was lucky to live on a farm in college, courtesy of the Agriculture in the Liberal Arts Program (yes, it was as useless as it sounds) so we had a wood stove we could fire up to painful levels of heat after the mile or so trudge from the main campus to our little hideaway, a much better deal than the uncertain heat (sweltering or freezing, with nothing in between) in the dorms. We also cooked our own, all-vegetarian meals, which was an enormous improvement over the nameless slop the cafeteria served.

Well, I've gotten off the subject of winter, and well away from any topic (and here's a new type of segue, the segue that deliberately is not a segue) even remotely connected to the item below, so I'll stop.

Murphy to open office in Waldorf

Del. Peter F. Murphy (D-Charles) will hold an open house on March 1 to celebrate the opening of his district office in Waldorf.

The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Southern Maryland Business Center II at 3221 Old Washington Road. A ribbon cutting will take place at 2 p.m.

To reach the district office, call 301-885-2424.

Need a laugh?

"It's Laughing Time," a dinner and Christian Comedy Showcase, will be held beginning at 6 p.m. Feb. 27 at Shiloh Community United Methodist Church at 12695 Shiloh Church Road, Newburg.

Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. followed by a comedy showcase at 7:30 p.m., featuring Sean Sarvis. Donations are $20 for the dinner and show and $12 for the showcase only. A portion of the proceeds will go to "It's Reading Time," a Shiloh Community UMC reading program for kids 5 to 10 in the Shiloh community. The event is sponsored by United Methodist Men of Shiloh Community UMC.

Call James Farmer at 301-259-4349 or Nelson White at 301-259-2034.

MDA seeks volunteers for summer camp

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is searching for volunteer counselors to assist and befriend youngsters with muscular dystrophy and related diseases at weeklong MDA summer camps across the country.

Applicants must be at least 16 and able to lift and care for a young person between 6 and 17.

Each volunteer counselor becomes a companion to a camper with a muscle disease and helps with daily activities such as eating, bathing and dressing. Counselors also assist with activities such as arts and crafts, swimming and horseback riding.

To obtain a volunteer application or learn about other ways to support MDA's summer camp program, call 800-572-1717. More information about the camps is also available at www.mda.org/clinics/camp.

Safety tips

From time to time the Charles County Sheriff's Office releases citizen safety information.

The sheriff's office urges citizens to take precautions and keep homes safe. If homes have glass windows on doors or next to doors, consider installing a double cylinder deadbolt lock. This type of deadbolt requires a key to open it from the outside and the inside.

Report suspicious activity immediately. If something doesn't "look right," it probably isn't.