Town Crier Articles

 

I thought I would devote the Front Porch Chat introduction, this month, to something crucial to all of us here in New Town:  Owner voting to approve our New Town Residential Association revised Governing Documents. I am hoping highlighting the campaign may motivate those who are yet uninterested—and caution those who may think otherwise—that this is a hugely important step in New Town homeowners taking full-ownership of their community and homes. 

 

We have this one moment in time to (1) rectify the outdated and misleading language of our developer, (2) level the playing field to make home assessment fair and equitable, (3) consolidate the documents for easier access and administration, (4) clarify the applicability of our documents to all lots by correcting errors and omissions affecting our neighbors and the services they are entitled to, and (5) limit the Commonwealth of Virginia from directing how we operate our community in the absence of our own requirements. On or preferably before October 18th, please take advantage of this opportunity to VOTE FOR the revision of our Governing Documents.  Carpe Diem.  Seize the day!  It will not come again in quite so advantageous or palatable a way.

 

 

Curious Happening:  In Edgar Allen Poe's 1838 novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, a four-man crew is shipwrecked and lost at sea without food or water. Ultimately, the team decides that they must turn to cannibalism to survive, and they draw straws to decide who will be sacrificed so that the rest may live. The character chosen (and subsequently eaten) was the cabin boy, Richard Parker.

 

In 1884, a real ship was shipwrecked, the Mignonette, an English ship bound for Australia, and one of the mates—the cabin boy, also named Richard Parker—became ill after drinking sea water. The rest of the crew decided out of desperation to kill and eat Parker, before he became too tainted by disease. The remaining men were saved, but charged with murder upon their return to shore.

 

Poems:    A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman

 

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.

 

Historical Fact:   Some scholars believe the werewolf made its debut in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known Western prose, when Gilgamesh jilted a potential lover because she had turned her previous mate into a wolf.

 

Halloween Riddle:  The person who built it sold it. The person who bought it never used it. The person who used it never saw it. What is it?  (Answer below; don’t peek.)

 

Spooky Quote:  Shadows mutter, mist replies; darkness purrs as midnight sighs. -Rusty Fischer

 

Holiday Hack:  Tired of carving the classic jack-o’-lantern? This year, carve a pumpkin with Halloween-themed cookie cutters, instead. Empty the pumpkin in the traditional way, then use cookie cutters—cats, ghosts, witch’s hats—to carve out the spooky silhouettes you enjoy best. Tap them in and pull out their centers. Viola! A carved pumpkin ready for your front porch!

 

PC Hacks:  Use Halloween Ambiance tapes on YouTube to make your house even more spooky, this year.  Find one and run it on your TV or laptop for hours of spooky images in your home. Try this one out! 

 

Recipes:  

 

 

Ingredients:  

 

Pet Care:  Pre-Halloween and during trick-or-treating, keep candy safely stashed in a high cabinet secured with a lock or child-safety latch. Many foods, such as chocolate, gum and xylitol (a sweetener used in many foods) are hazardous to pets.  Monitor your children! They may make the harmful mistake of sharing their loot. Make sure they know the difference between a treat for them and a treat for their four-legged friends.

 

Riddle Answer:  A coffin.