Ruba Ahmed’s book “Bring Now the Angels” was published on April 14 by the University of Pittsburgh Press, which has published such poets as Sharon Olds, Ross Gay, and Richard Blanco. We spoke recently by phone about the poems, her teaching, and how she got to Swarthmore, with her kids occasionally audible in the background.
We now know that comets – small icy bodies left over from the formation of the solar system – pass by Earth regularly. Astronomers discover dozens of them each year. Most of us are unaware that this is happening overhead because only rarely does a comet become bright enough to see with the unaided eye. This May, however, we may be fortunate enough to see a rare naked-eye comet. Or we may not.
Phil was like my big brother in the newspaper business. I watched him run the Daily Times when I worked there, and it was clear to me Phil knew what he was doing and how to get the most out of his staff. I was one of the first let go in a wave of departures that has finally reached the top guy. I’ve often said, I don’t know how they put out a paper every day when they have less than 20% of the staff they had when I worked there. It’s only because of Phil they could pull it off.
The COVID-19 Response Fund of the Foundation for Delaware County has made a first round of grants to local organizations. A total of $73,655 was distributed to 11 nonprofits to address emergency needs.
In response to the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 public health crisis, Swarthmore College is suspending its requirement that applicants submit SAT or ACT test scores for the next two years. The policy will affect student applicants seeking to be admitted for any term from fall 2020 through spring 2022.
The Swarthmore Public Library and the Delaware County Library System are offering programs to help alleviate isolation while we commit to social distancing.
In my last column,“Herp Alert,” I mentioned two snakes in the act of mating that were undeterred by my approach, fleeing into the creek, still conjoined in flagrante. Continuing that theme, Lily Scott of Swarthmore submitted a photograph of two American toads doing the dance with no pants, making the beast with two backs, or whatever your euphemism of choice may be.
Local company Keystone Quality Transport, like many medical providers, has struggled to acquire the personal protective equipment they need to function safely during the COVID-19 outbreak. Chief Operating Officer Justin Misner says hand sanitizer became unavailable from his usual suppliers in the middle of March. “The resources were depleted,” he says. “We tried to keep our ear to the street.” They got lucky when the company’s risk and safety director, Brian Eberle, heard that Eight Oaks distillery, which makes bourbon, gin, and other spirits, had recently produced some hand sanitizer as well. “They told us, you can come out here, and we’ll give you some, but you’ve got to come now,” Misner reports. “We sent a driver out there immediately.” What started as a modest experiment by a single distiller was about to get a lot bigger.
On Saturday, when I went to pick up groceries curbside, I wore a mask for the first time. And did I forget to mention that it’s National Poetry Month? April. It’s hard to keep track of these things lately. But the timing is good! Poetry may be just what we need right now.
On Thursday, April 2, the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District started distributing free meals to children 18 and younger. Families needing the service were asked to sign up ahead of time on the WSSD website, but administrators were unsure how many to expect. By mid-morning, cars were lined up along Copples Lane outside the school. “I’m surprised at the level of need,” said WSSD Business Administrator Martha Kew. “But I shouldn’t be. The world is different.”
In the summer of 2016, Wendy Tian moved to Swarthmore from her home in China to pursue a six-month fellowship in education at the University of Pennsylvania. Soon after arriving, she began to attend Sunday-morning worship services at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, as well as evening bible study. Tien and her family returned to China over three years ago. But in March of this year, SPC pastor Rev. Joyce Shin received an email from her.
In the expansive world of gardening, Swarthmore resident Charles Cresson is something of a regional celebrity. His century-old, two-acre garden, Hedgleigh Spring, on Swarthmore’s Amherst Avenue, has been written up in the New York Times and Martha Stewart’s Living. Cresson is an esteemed horticulturist who has studied and taught at public gardens in England, as well as at the famed Longwood and Chanticleer gardens closer to home. He didn’t think he needed more feathers in his canvas hat. That was, until British gardener Monty Don came calling.
In our house, we have 12 flat screens of various sizes (I counted). At any one time during the day, about half of them are on. They ding, and we pay attention. They are quite demanding. But what would we do without them?
While the sequestration imposed by the coronavirus has isolated us from one another in many ways, it has also united us through a range of shared experiences, as we all get through this departure from normal life, together (and at least six feet apart). Here is a glossary of the new lingo you’d be picking up in the world, if your friends and neighbors were speaking loudly enough to be heard in the social distance.
Swarthmore community members are invited to submit their vote for the final selection in the first virtual One Book, One Swarthmore community reading program. Virtual events will be held between May 1 and May 15. The theme for this year’s program is “Coming Together While We Are Apart.” We are living in unusual times and need to connect with our community now more than ever.
This aspirational edition of the community calendar comprises a collection of events we wish were happening this week.
Picking up dinner can be a way to give the cooks in your household a break. It’s also a great way to support local restaurants and delis. Here’s a list of options in Swarthmore, courtesy of Louise Coffin.
As is becoming widely known, the masks most needed by medical personnel are N95 respirators that, when worn correctly, filter out 95% of particles that can cause disease. But simple cotton face masks are in demand as well. A well made cotton mask worn over an N95 mask can extend its lifetime. Now, three local women are busy over bobbins and foot pedals making masks.
Last week we asked for your recommendations on great ways to fill some of the expanses of time many of us seem to have looming in front of us. We’ve assembled some of the responses: the recommendation itself and, for context, how the recommender completed the sentence “You’ll like it if you like…”
On November 1, 1918, Swarthmorean readers learned that there had been only two influenza deaths in the borough, “a fact which speaks well for the place and its fine force of doctors.” As of this writing (Tuesday morning, March 31, 2020), there are seven confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Swarthmore and no deaths. The Swarthmorean survived the 1918 pandemic, and we plan to survive this one too, with your help.
