This short video reminds me of the final moments that used to play on CBS Sunday Morning when it was anchored by Charles Kuralt.

A reminder that many of Trumansburg’s best visitors are quite inhuman.

A few months ago, I signed a petition requesting the placement of an Alternatives Credit Union ATM at Good To Go. Yesterday, the ATM was delivered. A representative of Alternatives was at Good To Go this afternoon, helping to put up signage directing people to the cash machine. (It’s right there next to the entrance, on the right.)

Starting tomorrow night, and for the two following nights, Once Upon A Mattress will be playing in the high school auditorium at 7:00. Prices are $8 at the door, with a $2 discount for students and seniors.

Synopsis: “If you thought you knew the story of ‘The Princess and The Pea,’ you may be in for a walloping surprise! Did you know, for instance, that Princess Winnifred actually swam the moat to reach Prince Dauntless the Drab? Or that Lady Larken’s love for Sir Harry provided a rather compelling reason that she reach the bridal altar post haste? Or that, in fact, it wasn’t the pea at all that caused the princess a sleepless night? Carried on a wave of wonderful songs, by turns hilarious and raucous, romantic and melodic, this rollicking spin on the familiar classic of royal courtship and comeuppance provides for some side-splitting shenanigans. Chances are you’ll never look at fairy tales quite the same way again.”

We’re an active community, but it’s difficult to keep track of everything that’s going on. So, it’s a relief to see that Tburg Events is online, compiling our village’s happenings in an easy-to-browse format.

If you’ve got an event of your own, you can add that too. So many things to do…

Given that the state legislature wasn’t involved in drawing the district lines, gerrymandering was kept to a minimum. We won’t be the southwestern corner of a twisted district that includes part of the Adirondacks any more.

Here’s a map of the new districts – as you can see, we’re in district 23, which includes all of Tompkins County and stretches across the Southern Tier all the way to New York’s westernmost border. Schuyler and Seneca County are included in the district as well, so no longer will people in the larger Trumansburg community have to wonder whether their friends are represented by the same politician in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The good news is that Trumansburg will no longer be represented by Republican Richard Hanna. The bad news is that the incumbent in the new congressional district will be Tom Reed, a right wing Republican whose politics are not in touch with Tburg values.

Democrats running against Tom Reed are Leslie Danks Burke, a lawyer who serves as the chair of the Town of Ithaca Democratic Committee, and Nate Shinagawa, a member of the Tompkins County legislature.

However, the Census has been taken, and that means that, for this year’s election, congressional district lines have to be redrawn. The state legislature has given up on trying to craft new congressional districts, and so, federal judges are set to publish a new congressional district map by this coming Tuesday, when the petitioning period for congressional races begins.

To the south of us in Ithaca, Maurice Hinchey is retiring, and his district may be completely dissolved. The district to the north of us is currently represented by right wing Republican Ann Marie Buerkle – an area currently listed as the 25th district, but may be re-numbered next year as the 24th district. It’s possible, however, that Richard Hanna may take the new 24th district, while Buerkle shifts over to the new 25th district over in Monroe County.

A proposed map shifts all of Tompkins County out of the 24th congressional district, which includes Syracuse, and into the Southern Tier 23rd congressional district, a seat currently represented by a right wing Blue Dog Democrat rather like Michael Arcuri – Bill Owens.

Until next week, nothing is for certain. What district would you prefer to see Trumansburg in?

It’s well ahead of schedule, following a winter that was barely winter at all.

One more sign of summer seen tonight: A bat, flying through the blue evening sky, snatching up insects that wouldn’t normally be out in the air for many weeks to come.

What’s next? Fireflies in April?

“You want to put them in as cold and wet a soil as you can…” I guess that means strawberry planting time may already be over with. The soil is still damp, but plenty warm.

Unlike other social networking systems online, this one requires a personal verification by regular old postal mail. They send a postcard to confirm your address, with information you need to enter. So, no snoopers from Enfield could crash this party.

So far, there are just three of us signed up. The way the system works is that, if there aren’t 10 more verified members in the next two weeks, Trumansburg Nextdoor will be shut down.

A network like this, used to spread news throughout our community, didn’t exist in our parents’ generation. Whether Trumansburg Nextdoor itself takes off or not, there will eventually be one or several such networks that do catch on, and that will change our lives significantly.

The technology is here, though, and I say that it’s better for us not to back away from it in fear. Is anyone else in?

On December 13th, 2011 at 7pm concerned residents will present a petition to the town Board of Hector, NY calling for the board to enact a local ban or a moratorium for hydrofracking in the town of Hector NY. Since the town hall can only safely accommodate 60 people, additional citizens will be holding a candlelight vigil outside the town hall.

Josh Harben, Volunteer, Media/Public Relations
Hector Clean Water Initiative
(607)-330-5724

Of course, global trends are not necessarily the same as local ones. There could be global warming but local cooling here in Trumansburg.

Given this afternoon’s snow, climate is on my mind. So, after I looked at tomorrow’s weather forecast, to see what kind of clothes my children will need, I peeked over at the record and high and record low temperatures for each day in the month of October. I wanted to see if there might be any pattern in this collection of extreme temperature events that would indicate a change in our local climate over time.

There was such a pattern, it turns out. The record high temperature, for all the days of October taken together, took place an average of 29 years ago. The record low temperature for all the days in October, however, took place an average of 35 years ago.

This data is suggesting a local warming trend, but not a very dramatic one. Of course, I’m only taking into account record highs and lows, not the broad range of temperatures in between, and I’m only looking at one month out of the twelve.

For what a quick after-bedtime survey is worth, however, my curiosity is satisfied for the present.