Beaumont News December 2020

V o lu me T h i rt y F o ur , N umber 7

December 2020

December brings good news, bad news and a season of hope Text and photo by Lynn Ayres

The good news is that vaccines to immunize against Covid-19 are now in distribution—much sooner than anyone anticipated.

The bad news is that winter infections are higher than the autumn surge and much higher than the summer plateau.

Despite medical warnings to scale back Thanksgiving, it was “from Atlantic to Pacific, gee, the traffic was terrific.” Result?

Super surge.

At Beaumont, restrictions had been eased, step-bystep, although masks and social distancing were still required everywhere.

Now we’re back to step one, with indoor activities closed down. This is especially difficult during the holiday season, but modifications helped restore favorite events. We can no longer see favorite films in the Ballam Theatre, but we can watch them at home on Channels 1971 and 1973.

A favorite seasonal event has been the annual

Holiday Greetings!

Text and photos by Ann Reed

Here is a Christmas story from my past. It was written for a contest about “Kitchen Disasters,” but now I like it because it reminds me of our great horned owls.

In the 1960s, after my husband read Farley Mowat’s book The Dog that Wouldn’t Be, he ordered two great horned owl chicks from an advertisement in a hunters’ magazine. He had been charmed into this adventure by Mowat’s description of his family’s pet, a great horned owl. Among its other accomplishments, it flew behind their Model A Ford, and when weary, perched on the rumble seat.

Our chicks arrived at the Hartford Freight station sitting on a perch in a large, smelly cage, its floor littered with chicken bones. “Lady, you better get down here,” urged the stationmaster.

The children were allowed to name one chick, and we named the other. So Robert and Oona were installed in a large cage off the back deck, with access to the house through

THE CLASSIC CAROLERS perform outdoors for Covidrestricted residents.

Christmas carol sing-along, with a small group of Victorian carolers leading residents in song. The sing-along was followed by a traditional holiday buffet extravaganza.

This year, a large dining event was out of the question, but on December 15, the Classic Carolers, clad in their traditional Dickensian costumes, came to Beaumont to sing carols at different locations around the campus. Residents appeared on balconies and doorsteps to applaud and cheer. a window in the family room.

We fed them hamburger balls and an occasional mouse.

Friends sometimes brought additional mice. Hamburger balls and mice alike were stored in the freezer, wrapped in shiny silver aluminum foil.

Robert and Oona grew rapidly. Soon Oona was about 15 inches high; Robert was smaller. The owls explored the family room and kitchen and liked to perch on an open door ROBERT AND OONA OWL pose for the camera. (under which I rapidly slid a newspaper). They terrified Sam, the mastiff, clacking their beaks and extending their claws. When I placed the shiny packages of food out to thaw, they paced up and down the counter, impatient and demanding.

Eventually, we left a window open, and the owls

GREETINGS continued on page 10

Positivity is the name of the game

The American Cancer Society Challenge in honor of her sister, who is a cancer survivor. November is her self-care month with meditation, breathing techniques and working on saying “no” to activities that don't nurture her.

She loves life and staying positive.

Sonya enjoys travel, entertaining and cook- FLOWERS AND SMILES reflect ing. She says she “takes Sonya’s optimistic outlook on life. her kitchen wherever she goes” because she's always asked to bring her favorite dish (it’s mac ‘n’ cheese).

Ten years ago Sonya and her family started an outreach community program in the inner city that helped the needy.

They served dinners, worshipped together, took them on trips, went to plays and had computer lessons. They taught them basic life skills. The program closed before Covid-19, and she feels very good about preparing them for the challenges ahead.

Interviewing Sonya has been inspiring to both of us. She’s shared a lot of her lovely soul and enjoyed doing it for all of us at Beaumont. She brightens our day every day at the other end of the phone.

By Joan Bromley and Helen Vinnick

“Hi, you've reached the Food Services Department of Beaumont at Bryn Mawr and the voicemail of Sonya Clarke...”

Who's behind that cheerful greeting that we hear every day when we order our dinner? Sonya Clarke was born in Guyana, South America. She came to the U.S. when she was 14—a country girl that had to adapt to city life.

Sonya has worked at Beaumont for 22 years. She says, “I enjoy working here. The residents and co-workers are amazing, and I look forward to work each day.” She feels working here prepares her for her own life and how to treat others.

We make a difference in her life and she hopes she makes a difference in ours.

I asked Sonya what has given her this positivity. What does she do to keep herself centered? She said self-care is important to her. If you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others.

Before Covid-19, she came to Beaumont at 6:00 am and exercised at the fitness center, losing 30 pounds, which she has maintained by working out at home since the pandemic.

She also starts each day praying with her extended family.

Sonya is now setting monthly goals for herself. In October she ran more than 100 miles and raised money for

Green Tip: Conserve Energy

By Frank Kampas for the Green Committee

Now that winter is here, we should take various steps to reduce Beaumont’s electric bill for heating.

1. Obviously, windows should be kept closed.

Also, for Villa residents, garage doors should be kept closed, as well as both front doors, not just the outside storm door.

2. Drapes, blinds and shades should be kept open in the daytime to allow solar heating and kept closed at night, to reduce heat flow through the window.

These steps are especially important for very cold days, as the auxiliary electric heat needed on those days is much more energy consuming than the geo-thermal heating systems.

FIRST SNOWFALL on December 16 added to the holiday spirit.

Photo by Richard Stephens

BEAUMONT NEWS The Beaumont News is published by the residents and staff of the Beaumont Retirement Community, 601 N. Ithan Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

In Memoriam Carolyn Langfitt November 17, 2020

Irene Borgogno December 2, 2020

Florence Scott December 17, 2020

Alan Tripp December 24, 2020

Members of the Beaumont Community extend deepest sympathy to their families and friends.

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Executive Editor Lynn Ayres Managing Editor Irene Borgogno Deputy Executive Editor and Production Manager John Hall Graphic Designer TJ Walsh Photo Editor Louise Hughes Contributing Editor Linda Madara Quality Control Jennifer Frankel Index Manager Nancy Harris Consulting Assistant Editors Mary Schnabel, Jean Homeier, Peggy Wolcott, Wistie Miller

By Malcom Lee

Chinese American World War II veterans honored with Congressional Gold Medal Company A, in New Guinea and the Philippines, including during the battle for Clark Airfield.

He trained as a medic, stretcher-bearer and medical technician. Fellow medics were killed during their first night of deployment in tripwire, but he came under fire only from a crashing Japanese fighter plane.

He ran a clinical diagnostic lab in a medical clearing station field THEN AND NOW: Raymond Lee in World War II and in Beaumont now. hospital in the Philippines treating U.S. troops and Japanese prisoners, most stricken with malaria.

Raymond returned to college at University of Connecticut on the GI Bill and spent his career with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, working his way up from knocking on doctors’ doors to leading marketing in Asia, where he worked with future Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji in the 1980s to bring infant formula to China.

He was married for 66 years to the late Ivy Chun Lee, who was a World War II blood bank volunteer, July 1944 Coca Cola International Calendar Girl, President of the N.Y. Chinatown Ging Hawk Club raising war funds, and Hunter College B.A. and Smith College M.S.W. She spent her career serving learning challenged and behaviorally challenged students in the Philadelphia area schools, retiring at 82. They had four children, Bekki, Malcolm, Valerie and Pamela, with seven grandchildren.

Seventy-five years after World War II ended, Chinese American veterans are the latest honorees to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

A virtual ceremony held on December 9 recognized the contributions of some 20,000 Chinese Americans who served in all branches and all theaters of the war.

Chinese Americans “flew bomber missions over Europe, served on our ships in the Pacific, stormed the beaches of Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate Central Europe,” Rep. Mark Takano, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said during the online ceremony.

Specially designed each time the award is bestowed, this Congressional Gold Medal on one side depicts Chinese Americans in all the service uniforms, including a female nurse. The reverse side shows the various armed services in which they served.

Beaumont resident Raymond Lee, 94, was born in his family's Chinese laundry in New Haven. He insisted on enlisting in the U.S. Army at age 18 after being rejected at age 16 for bad vision. He served in 38th Infantry “Cyclone” Division, “The Avengers of Bataan,” 113th Medical Battalion,

Teamwork, multitasking and sacrifice get the job done. Thank you, staff.

By Bette Peterson

SCREENING: President Joe Peduzzi and Noel Lett (Security) take temperatures and conduct questionnaires for anyone attempting to enter the Mansion.

A big “Thank you” goes to our hardworking Beaumont staff. Each and every one of you has multitasked during the Covid-19 pandemic to keep Beaumont running smoothly.

You, our employees, have managed to come in and do a variety of tasks that were never in your job description: sitting at the front desk, taking temperatures and filling out a questionnaires, manning the entrance gate in all kinds of weather….

Despite the stresses of Covid-19 on your own health and your families’ complex lives, with children, elderly parents and serious illnesses, you have helped to keep Beaumont

TEAMWORK continued on page 4

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Photos by Eta Glassman

Resourceful fox catches breakfast Text and photos by Jane Ruffin

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In late September when I was at Bombay Hook, Delaware, I saw a young red fox. I parked the car and watched it for about 45 minutes. It made several leaps for food and I missed photographing them nearly every time, but eventually I succeeded.

Foxes are a bit like cats in hunting technique.

The two are of similar size, and both hunt small

rodents. They can see well in the dark, have large ears

that help locate prey, and often stalk and then

pounce to make a kill. Grey foxes (but not red) can

even climb trees.

In the leaping sequence, the fox was pounc ing on a shrew. After the leap, it emerged with the

shrew in its mouth. Success! But it looked at me as

if asking what it should do next.

After care ful delibera tion, it ate the

shrew.

It is not

often that

one sees

these foxes

with their

eyes wide

open, so this

was a treat.

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POETRY IN MOTION: Above—The graceful leap resembles a ballet, concluding with food for the fox and fatality for the vole.

BREAKFAST TIME: Right—The young fox is proud of his catch. The rodent is tiny but nutritious.

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TEAMWORK continued from page 3 functioning and residents safe. Joe Peduzzi, our hardworking CEO/President, Audrey Walsh, our marketing guru, and all the department heads and their staffs have teamed together by coming in on weekends for a broken electrical wire or storm damage during the summer—in addition to your regular jobs.

Beaumont has 244 employees and 15 departments to care for us. We send you all a huge round of applause. In June we posted signs saying “HEROES WORK

HERE” outside on Ithan Avenue. Then a few weeks later we had a special day of residents beating pots and pans, shouting, and applauding from our balconies and lawns.

Now, we all—staff and residents—are very Covid-weary. Days are short, nights are long, weather is cold, but we have not forgotten all of the sacrifices that you have made to keep us comfortable and safe. With rising numbers of cases all around us, the future remains uncertain, but we thank you so much for all you do.

MAIN GATE: Jake Bean (Grounds) monitors tradesman and visitors before they enter the Beaumont campus. Ed Johnson (Security) takes the snow shift.

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FRONT DESK: Paige Welby (Resident Services) and Jennie Frankel (Administrative Assistant) field phone calls and perform other front desk duties.

Snow photo by Richard Stephens

Beaumont Building Envelope Team

Becker and Frondorf, Owner’s Representative

B&F will serve as the owner’s rep on a day-to-day basis throughout the project. Their business is to manage construction projects for institutions to assure quality performance and fair, accurate costs. They are assisting us with developing the project budget, including the value engineering aspects of refining the construction plan.

methods to minimize disruption for residents during construction.

Intertek, Building Engineers

• They have an in-house Estimating Team to assist

with the bidding and budgeting process.

• They will help us prepare a comparative analysis of

trade bids received and the selection of the best

sub-contractors.

Intertek is an international building science firm with services in testing, quality assurance and material certification. They are expert in water penetration issues for building envelopes. They completed a more detailed analysis of our building envelope in 2019, which documented the extent of our water penetration problems, confirming our decision to replace the envelope rather than try to repair it.

Intertek is assisting the project team in working as a building envelope consultant to ensure the most current and effective material installation methods are used and performed properly, to assure quality control during construction.

They will develop prototype models of the correct construction sequence and methods, particularly the critical point where the stone, siding and board and batten materials join each other, and where they join the trim and flashing around doors and windows. This provides a vital quality control for proper construction to assure protection from water penetration.

• They will advise us with respect to the construction

management not-to-exceed contract with Warfel,

our construction manager, and the engineering

services contract with Intertek.

• They will develop and apply project control systems,

and prepare our cash flow projections.

• During construction, they will monitor on-site con struction activities, review and prepare payment

recommendations for all invoices, negotiate change

order payment amounts on our behalf, monitor the

schedule the budget, and conduct and document

coordination meetings.

• Their assistance will continue through project close

out inspections and punch list items.

We received very strong recommendations from The Franklin Institute, The Academy of Music, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Merion Cricket Club. They have extensive experience with minimizing disruption for senior living residents.

Lenhardt Rodgers Architecture & Interiors, Architectural Services

Lenhardt Rodgers Architecture and Interiors (LRAI) is an industry leading architectural firm located in Fort Washington, PA. Started in 1948, LRAI has been the lead design firm on several senior living, health care and hospitality properties in the area. LRAI is leading the team in design and material selection for the project.

Warfel Construction, General Contractor

Warfel Construction Company (WCC), based out of Lancaster, is a general contracting firm with years of experience in senior living and hospitality projects, including building envelope projects. WCC has been in business for over 100 years and has worked on Beaumont’s campus on two previous projects.

WCC’s commitment to quality workmanship and their constant value management approach to the project will be important to our success. Already the energy and experience they have applied to our cost estimation for the project, and their relationship with quality vendors have resulted in over $2 million of savings from original estimates. They have extensive experience working with other CCRCs so are familiar with the importance and

ML Baird, Landscape Architect

Mara Baird’s firm has extensive experience working with schools, colleges and institutions like ours. Some of her clients include Swarthmore College, Agnes Irwin School, Chanticleer Gardens, and Waverly Heights. She will coordinate with our contractor Warfel and with our Grounds Committee and Beaumont staff to assure that our residents’ gardens and plants are safely handled during the reconstruction process and restored to their previous location in the best possible condition.

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Autumn art reveals residents’ talents

cations: Swirl, Flip Cup, Dutch, Swipe, Drag, Puddle pour, Dirty pour and Swirl, to name a few.

Jane wrote, “I have always been fascinated with ice: Jack Frost on a car window or a frozen pond that makes extraordinary sounds when one skims a stone over the surface.

The shapes and patterns that appear right through a piece of ice are captivating. Leaves, bubbles, fish, flowers—there is always something to see and enjoy.”

That explains her many trips to Alaska, where glaciers, icebergs and frozen ponds abound.

Text and photos by Lynn Ayres

“Jane, Amanda, and 17 Friends,” the third exhibition of the three-part autumn resident art series, filled the Beaumont Room from November 7 until the end of December. It featured the works of Jane and Amanda Ruffin, the exciting mother/daughter team recognized for their outstanding nature photographs.

It also featured 17 Beaumont residents who work in acrylic pouring (the New Wave art rave) taught by Jane. Their work shows the evolution of acrylic pouring from abstract designs to carefully considered undertakings.

Techniques for acrylic pours have names for the paint appli-

CONFERENCE: Jane takes Amanda on a virtual tour of the exhibition.

PHOTOSHOP FANTASIES by Jane Ruffin

Above left—Beaumont frogs practice social distancing as well as wearing facemasks.

Above right—"Circle Fantasy" was created from a photo of an agave plant and a Mexican sunflower at Chanticleer Garden. Photoshop filters transformed the image.

ICE PATTERNS on Ohmer Creek, Alaska, by Jane Ruffin.

GANNETS. . . flying, diving, splashing. . .photographed by Amanda Ruffin in the Shetland Islands, north of Scotland and west of Norway.

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Acrylic paint pouring extends its reach

to make designs complete with funny shaped “cells” that give character to the canvas.

After three hours of mixing and pouring paints, the answer was very clear. I was hooked. It was fun and yes, messy.

I absolutely would love to do it again.

On the way home Jane and I decided that acrylic paint pouring did have a place at Beaumont, although participants did not know it yet. Then Covid stepped in. We shut down. Jane kept pouring in a large plastic trough in her kitchen. She was working on producing seascapes. We talked endlessly about pouring and watching YouTube presentations on different techniques and paints.

Finally, freedom! The Arts and Crafts room reopened. Potentially enthusiastic friends were invited to join us. The response at the end of their first pours under Jane’s watchful eye was universal: “When can we do it again?”

Classes and opportunities to pour will be posted on the Bulletin Board. Everyone is welcome to sign up. No artistic experience is necessary… but you do need an old shirt or a big apron. It is messy, but there are gloves for everyone!

By Linda Madara

A year ago, Jane Ruffin attended a Main Line School Night session on Acrylic Paint Pouring. I have to admit that I had never heard of such a way to use paint. Peculiar, to say the least, and not very tempting to me.

How wrong I was! Jane returned, practically dancing with enthusiasm, and could hardly wait to try pouring on her own. Teacher Julie Potter (complete with a purple streak in her hair) invited Jane to attend a private session in her kitchen. It was my very good fortune to have been included.

We arrived at Julie’s all set for the pour. What to expect? Jane had been enchanted, but would I be? I listened carefully and watched. It was my time to pour. It only took mixing paint like mad in little cups, pouring the paint onto the canvas, and waiting for my first masterpiece!

I did it! It worked … it really worked!

There is something rewarding and exciting about “letting go”—not being in control—allowing the paint

ACRYLIC POUR SETUP: Drips are part of the process.

“WATERFALL” by Jane Ruffin

“OUTER SPACE GUESTS”

by Linda Madara

1. “ANATHEMATIZING ART”

by Leslie Wheeler 2. “PEACOCK” by George Hollingshead 3. “CELL-E-BRATE CELLS”

by Wistie Miller

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4. “UNTITLED” by Ann Bloom allows the viewer to decide what it suggests. How about “Galaxy Formation?”

5. “IN HONOR OF A FRIEND”

by J.J. McNutt 6. “FLORAL FACE”

by Pam McMullin

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Photos by Lynn Ayres

New Englander travels the world but learns about Beaumont from college friend

people she certainly would not have otherwise met. She feels blessed to have had that experience, but her greatest source of happiness is her family.

A highlight of their lives occurred in the 1970s when her husband was transferred to Paris for three years with the Chemical Bank. Having traveled to Europe several times as a child, her adventurous spirit was rekindled, a passion that continues to this day. Her son, who lives with his family in London, told her he accepted that position so that his children could have the same experience he had had in Paris. She also has a daughter, who lives in Baltimore, much closer than Greenwich, from where Alice moved to Beaumont.

Because of her time-consuming career, Alice’s volunteer activities were limited, but she was trained as a hospice volunteer by one of Wistie Miller’s closest friends and found that experience both rewarding and humbling. She also worked with a program called Puppies Behind Bars, where prison inmates train Labrador puppies to become therapy companions for Vets suffering from PTSD.

After being here for three months, Alice calls herself an outlier, not being able to claim any connection to the Philadelphia community. For that reason alone, she is particularly grateful for the warm welcome she has been given and looks forward to the post-mask stage when she will find it easier to remember the names of everyone she has met.

By Sally Randolph

Alice Victor grew up on the campus of St Paul’s School in New Hampshire, where her father taught for over forty years. She graduated from Winsor School in Boston, followed by Vassar College, where she roomed with Sally Randolph, whom she thanks for introducing her to Beaumont.

Alice’s early career was in school administration, but ultimately, she decided to see what was beyond the educational field and began an M.B.A. program at the University of Connecticut.

That was interrupted when she was asked to interview for a position with David Rockefeller when he retired from the Chase bank in 1981, ultimately becoming Alice Victor

his Chief of Staff and remaining in that position until his death in 2017. Through him, she saw parts of the world she might never have seen and met

Facing the nameless and blameless

NEW RESIDENTS’ PREDICAMENT The sugHI, JEAN. HI, BETTY. gestion is . to visualize NAME TAG the new WEEK JEAN BETTY face in associa2 WEEKS LATER tion with an object MARY? ? or person whose BETTY. name is . very familiar. For SIGH. FLO? example, you might JEAN. visualize Susan with Idea by Irene Borgogno; art by Lynn Ayres a black-eyed Susan flower in her teeth. (Caution: Emphasize the big black eye so next time you don’t call her Daisy.)

How about Dorothy? Well you might see her as skipping down the yellow brick road on the way to see the Wizard of Oz with the tin woodsman, scarecrow and cowardly lion.

(It helps if you’ve seen the movie 10 times, as I have.)

By Peter Mead Abel

People like hearing their names. They feel appreciated and connected. So, it is an act of kindness and camaraderie if we remember their names. Easier said than done.

Name recall is a common issue. Researchers, memory gurus and psychologists have often reported on the subject.

Thanks to the Covid-19 isolation, I found time to review (online, of course) articles those experts have written. I will try to pass on what I have gleaned.

Most published articles agree that 50% of the time names are not remembered because they never reach full consciousness in the first place. We just don’t pay attention. We are diverted by an ongoing conversation or thoughts such as “Odd hair” or “I’m late, gotta move on.”

So the first rule for name recall is to focus—really pay attention. Bring the name into full consciousness. Then, bolster your awareness by repeating the name: “Hello Susan”; “Yes, it is very hot, Susan”; “Goodbye Susan.” (Caution: Don’t overdo this or Susan will think you’re nuts.)

The next mnemonic strategy is to Visualize and Associate. As all memory experts agree, we are more visual than auditory. We can remember things seen better than those heard. Therefore we remember the face, but the name escapes.

NAMELESS continued on page 9

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And so it goes

By Deborah Bishop

I felt poor in-between husbands, so I spent the winter in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). It was very inexpensive and wonderful. They still used elephants as tractors.

When I came home, my friend and neighbor Susan Schwartz, who lived two doors down from me, told me to come to her shop and get some clothes. I told her that I was broke, and she said not to worry.

Susan dressed me at cost.

No one would complain

to her SHOPPING SPREE: Left to right, David,

because Indah, Noel, Daisy and Deborah (seated). Anya

I was took the photo. known as the worst dressed woman in Philadelphia.

It was perfect because I was going to dressy parties.

I might add that I had a wonderful time. If you’re going to be single, the city is the place to be. After I got back on my feet and remarried, I tried to think of how to pay Susan back. It was hard; she had everything.

Finally, 40 years later, I figured it out. Her family owned a wonderful dress shop, Sophy Curson, right off Rittenhouse Square. I saw in the Inquirer that it had closed and reopened—there were photos, etc.

Susan’s son David is running it, so I called him and asked if I could bring my daughter-in-law, her teenage daughter, and my daughters for a shopping trip. We settled on the first Saturday in October, and we all went in. Even I did, in my wheelchair. We had a ball—bought lots.

As we left, I asked David to say “Hi” to his mother for me. Frankly, I was disappointed that she wasn’t there.

David told me that she had dementia and wouldn’t recognize me. Life is strange. David had been sending me wonderful photos of his mother, so I thought that she was fine. And so it goes.

PIE SOCIAL: Thanksgiving festivities were restricted by the severe autumn Covid surge, but on November 18, wearing turkey hats, Food & Beverage Director Zack Margolis, President and CEO Joseph Peduzzi and Administrative Assistant Jennie Frankel served slices of holiday pie to delighted residents.

In the background, residents’ acrylic-pour paintings brightened the Beaumont Room.

Photo by Jane Ruffin

NAMELESS continued from page 8

In some cases the images are obvious: Candy, Bunny, Mickey, Donald, Kitty, Henry. Sometimes more subtlety is required: Sam—eating a Virginia ham. Frequently, you can only provide a clue or a hint to jog your memory: Alfred – alligator; Dmitri – tree. Be creative.

If Focusing, Repetition and Visualizing let you down, then follow the advice of Oscar Wilde (or was it G. Bernard Shaw?) who once famously said something like “If all your usual tactics fail, then try honesty.” So, just fess up. Come clean. “Sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name.” “I remember you are an Eagles fan but not your name.”

And always remember: “At Beaumont, there is no shame if you forget my name.”

SEASONAL CONFUSION? In November, the burning bushes on Pasture Lane sported bright red autumn foliage—and the cherry trees started to bloom!

Fear not. This variety blooms in spring and fall.

Photo by Lynn Ayres

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P.S. I don’t care. I think she knows.

Rare visitor comes to call

By Julie Williams

At the end of October, DeeDee Ballard and Julie Williams were driving on Pasture Lane and stopped to see the new plantings in Baldwin East. All of a sudden, something flying caught DeeDee's eye. It landed around Donna Winsor’s feeders.

They could hear the chatter of surrounding birds and see a scurrying squirrel trying to find a safe place. The squirrel darned near climbed the apartment wall!

Fortunately, Julie had binoculars in the car—you never know what you'll see. Neither lady could identify the huge bird, but they made note of its light gray, unmarked breast and dark wings and back. It hung around for several minutes and then flew off with no prey.

They returned home to check their bird books and

concurred that it was a goshawk. They had never seen one before; apparently they are not too common. It was an exciting sighting, so keep your eyes open. You never know what you might encounter.

Lynn Ayres saw the goshawk at the same time as DeeDee and Julie. She heard activity near Donna's feeders, and when she looked out the window, she saw the predator in flight. She knew it was an extra-large hawk but had no idea Photos by Alvan Buckley, Cornell Lab of Ornithology what kind.

The northern goshawk is a bigger, fiercer, wilder relative of sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks. Its short, broad wings and a long rudder-like tail give it superb aerial agility. These woodland raptors can perform extraordinary twists and turns as they fly through dense trees.

GREETINGS continued from page 1 would venture outside, heads swiveling nervously as crows arrived. Crows mob owls. As they went farther afield, we could follow their progress by the terrible crow language. So we soon let them out only at night. Always, by daylight, they would be back, perched on the bird feeder, peering in the kitchen window.

But one morning late in the fall, they did not return.

How anxious we were: could they hunt? Could they figure out that mice did not always come in shiny, silvery aluminum foil?

Weeks passed, but Robert and Oona did not return.

NOSTALGIA for my Alabama childhood required me each Christmas to make a black-walnut/orange fruitcake.

Mix lots of butter, eggs, flour. Add walnuts, dates and—a tedious task—the grated rind of two oranges.

SAM THE MASTIFF loves people but

Bake an hour. Mean fears large creatures with beaks and talons

while (as they used made for mayhem.

to say in recipes) boil orange juice with sugar until a thick syrup forms (takes at least half an hour), punch holes in the cakes and pour in syrup.

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Then ice with an almond-paste icing. Rational people don’t undertake such folly. But I spent most of that day over a groaning electric mixer stirring up double and triple recipes.

By the end of the day I had 10 small cakes lined up on the kitchen counter. Each cake was wrapped in shiny silvery aluminum foil.

As I finished, the planets so arranged themselves that the phone rang. “Your owl is flying around our yards,” shouted an excited neighbor.

Sure enough, there was a crunchy noise on the bird feeder. Two large yellow eyes peered in. With a malevolent glare and a clack at the dog—who fled—Oona Owl stepped in. We rushed to the freezer, pulled out the hamburger balls, and threw them in the oven to thaw. Oona paced impatiently up and down the counter, indifferent to our congratulations, intent on dinner. She ate three packages of hamburger and a mouse and retired to a perch in the family room. Leaving a window open, we also went to bed, dreaming of a life-long owl friendship.

THIS, you may recall, is a story of kitchen disaster.

You will also remember those 10 cakes—which we forgot— lined up on the kitchen counter. Oona remembered them, too. Although she found no hamburger balls or mice and was gone in the morning, she left behind a kitchen carpeted in cake crumbs … and tiny pieces of shiny, silvery aluminum foil.

Happy New Year, too!

Autumn harvest season offers color and fun at Linvilla Orchards Text and photos by Louise Hughes

In mid-October, Beaumont hosted its first trip since Covid-19 restricted our activities. Seven residents visited Linvilla Orchards, a 300-acre family farm near Media, Pennsylvania, which is dedicated to agriculture, entertainment and education. Generations of Delaware Valley families have returned year after year to experience all of the things that make Linvilla Orchards exceptional.

Linvilla is open much of the year, but autumn is special. Our group shopped for pumpkins—there were thousands of pumpkins and gourds! Among them they found a “Covid” pumpkin—full of bumps. They also bought jellies and pies from the Farm Market and fall mums from the Garden Center.

Other offerings include hayrides, barnyard animals, “pick your own” fruits and vegetables, gifts, home décor, and much more.

COVID PUMPKIN with lots of bumps was discovered by Sandra Steigerwalt, Wistie Miller and Nelly Lincoln.

PLETHORA OF PUMPKINS and Halloween decorations beneath a blue October sky.

A cantaloupe comes to call

By Irene Borgogno

Wistie Miller says she is not a gardener, that she never looked at the plant growing at the end of her driveway until a passing neighbor brought it to her attention.

She certainly did not water it or give it any special care. However, she had an impressively large plant, with half a dozen round fruits growing on it.

She and her neighbors started checking on changes in the plant. The fruit started to grow bigger. And bigger.

Photos by Anne Butcher

The fruit looked like cantaloupes: big, “VOLUNTEER CANTALOUPE” vine finds a home on Pasture Lane. beautiful cantaloupes. Finally, one neighbor asked to taste a slice. Wistie cut one of the fruits. Inside looked like a big, beautiful cantaloupe. It looked as good as the offerings of the Amish farmers at the farmers’ market.

What a wonderful gift from some passing bird! That was what Wistie figured it was: a cantaloupe seed that arrived via some travelling bird. Such a lovely story.

She cut slices. The lovely story ended. The taste was nondescript; the texture was impossible. Hard as a rock, to say the least—every last one—and she did try them all. Sometimes, what you see is all you get.

CANTALOUPE WATCHERS: McBee Butcher, Wistie Miller, Tuppie Solmssen, Nancy Harris and Jean Bodine.

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Fall Fest Walk offers fitness and fun Photos by Linda Madara

In the spirit of autumn, Resident Services hosted a Fall Fest Walk around Beaumont’s campus on Wednesday, October 21, from 11 AM to 1 PM.

Starting in the courtyard outside the Fitness Center, the stroll around campus brought together food, friends and fun.

Members of the Beaumont staff were stationed at tables featuring favorite fall treats, games and raffles.

Halloween Social gives residents opportunities to express themselves Photos by Linda Madara

On Friday, October 30, “Beau-monsters” were encouraged to get into a spooky spirit for the Halloween Social in the Beaumont Room. There were lots of treats, including tea sandwiches, fruit and of course, Halloween candy. Reservations were required for the two designated time slots that promoted social distancing. And of course, masks were required.

And what great masks they were! Among the costumes were witches, ghouls, a spider hat, a black cat, and even a bat-dog.

Creativity was the theme of the day.

Wynlyn Jazz opens autumn season to a masked, socially distanced, ‘full’ house Photos by Linda Madara

Once upon a time, a resident named Marv Weisborg brought his group of jazz musicians and singers to Beaumont—and the rest is history. They became very popular, one thing led to another, and in 2018 Marv (composer) teamed with Alan Tripp (lyricist) to create songs that ultimately became part of their Senior Song Book, a DVD that went viral across the country.

Live performances went on hiatus this year because of the pandemic. After a trial period of relaxed constraints, a new Covid19 surge required restrictions to be reinstated.

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