New Year's Day in Philadelphia means that a whole lot of grown men dress up in feathers and sashay down Broad Street.
Even as a child, I never "got" the Mummers.
Well, if dressing up in feathers and sashaying is your thing, more power to you!
Recently in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Category
I used to think that former Philadelphia mayor John Street and his dumber than ditch water brother Milton were among the stupidest politicians in the country.
I used to think that Pennsylvania State Senator Vince Fumo was one of the most corrupt politicians in the country.
Uh-uh.
Meet Rod Blagojevich. That's pronounced bluh-GOY-uh-vich. Though perhaps it should be Stu-PID-uh-vich.
I mean even John Street was alert enough to have his office swept for bugs.
So today we have Rod Blagojevich, the Stupidest Politician in the World!
We've had quite a dry stretch lately.
Just look at these photos of the Robeson-Vandaren Dam before and after Hanna.
This is, I think, the sixth day of the heat wave.
Enough is enough!
First lightning bug of the season spotted tonight!
The good news first. No humans were hurt and property damage, even including the damage in the park, was minimal.
The bad news: the fire didn't burn all the bamboo.
And we're still waiting word from the wildlife. Hopefully, none of their homes were damaged.
I didn't actually see or smell the fire. I heard it. It sounded like some squirrels were prancing on my roof, so I didn't pay it any attention at first.
But after five or ten minutes, I decided the squirrels had had enough fun, so I went out on the deck to chase them away.
That's when I realized that those sounds were not the prancing of some animals on my roof, but the crackling of a good sized fire that was blazing in the park behind my house.
First thing to do, call 9-1-1. It took a bit of explaining when I said that the fire was actually in the park, not in my house (yet). The dispatcher didn't understand the Hundred Steps, either. But eventually the information was communicated.
Then I grabbed my camcorder.
And called my neighbor, JC.
Then I realized that I better get out my garden hose, because the fire was getting too close to my property. JC manned the hose while I worked the camcorder.
The fire department arrived a few minutes later and had the blaze under control in no time.
I'm still not sure what caused it. A tossed cigarette? Some kids playing with matches? I'm just glad that I was at home. Because if I hadn't been, who knows how long it would have been before someone noticed it.
Still, it would have been nice if the fire had consumed more of that blasted bamboo...
