Monthly Archives: July 2013

Calamine Lotion

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Roger Walck

What is calamine lotion?  It still seems to be the standard treatment for ivy poisoning, but what is “calamine?”   Turns out it is just plain old zinc oxide with a trace of iron oxide (rust) that gives it a slightly … Continue reading →

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Poison Ivy at Longwood Gardens

Posted on July 29, 2013 by Roger Walck

As an admirable example of egalitarianism toward all plant life, Longwood Gardens has this carefully cultivated display of poison ivy.  It is a pretty plant with its shiny leaves covered in oil, but scary for many of us.  The display … Continue reading →

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The Mysterious Lyme Disease

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Roger Walck

“The Lyme Wars,” by Michael Specter, The New Yorker, 7/1/2013. Recently I spent the morning hiking around nearby Brandywine Creek State Park.  I would have preferred to hike through the wooded areas where the shade would be cooler, but I … Continue reading →

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Charlie’s Hamburgers Revisited

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Roger Walck

“Turn left onto Kedron Avenue,” says the GPS lady.  She has led me north on I-95, onto the Blue Route, quickly off at the first exit onto MacDade Boulevard, East, and now, after about two miles, onto Kedron Avenue.  And … Continue reading →

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A Morning Run

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Roger Walck

I glance out my window in the early summer morning as I scan the web for the news of the night.  I see a teenaged girl run by in the street, in her early teens, only 13 or 14, getting … Continue reading →

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Eyebrows

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Roger Walck

Okay, women, what is this obsession with your eyebrows?  Why are you all so concerned?  Eyebrows look fine the way they naturally grow without any styling.   No pruning of the shrubbery needed. I could easily increase this blog’s readership ten … Continue reading →

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Spam Scams

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Roger Walck

Why is so much spam so obviously bogus? asks a recent BBC article.  We have all gotten emails from a Nigerian finance minister offering to share stolen funds with us.  The email is full of misspellings, and even the source … Continue reading →

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Excarnation

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Roger Walck

According to a recent Internet article, a French woman hiker in the Pyrenees was eaten by vultures within minutes of being killed in a fall.  The article was meant to shock and went on to describe how vultures’ strong sense … Continue reading →

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The McClatchy Building

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Roger Walck

In the posting of 10/1/05, I identified this large, very unusual, very theatrical, Moorish building across from the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby as the old Frank & Seder department store.  But I recently came across a photo in … Continue reading →

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William Penn, the Bratty Son

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Roger Walck

We are used to thinking of William Penn as a pudgy, humorless, conservative Quaker, as so he was in his later years.  But, like many of us, he was very different in his youth. The young William Penn was constantly … Continue reading →

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