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Boil advisory lifted for areas affected by Kingston water main break

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On the Books: ‘The Blessings’ could be anyone’s story

<p>I swear to God, I am running something of a cross between &#8220;Animal House&#8221; and an episode of &#8220;Mutual of Omaha&#8217;s Wild Kingdom&#8221; at home.</p><p>You will recall the freaky intruder we had with a bat invading the house (&#8220;An Unwanted House Guest&#8221;). That all unfolded while I was on the way back from work in New York City and could do nothing about it.</p><p>That was a walk in the woods compared to what happened while my wife and I were visiting her daughter in the San Francisco area recently.</p><p>My cellphone rang while we are visiting Alacatraz and it was my oldest son, who just graduated from college.</p><p>He opens the conversation with &#8220;Hypothetically&#8230;.&#8221;</p><p>Let me interrupt the narrative here to say that nothing good ever follows an opening like that.</p><p>And, of course, there was nothing hypothetical about what he had to say next.</p><p>&#8220;Hypothetically,&#8221; he said, &#8220;what should we do if we had a visit from a bear?&#8221;</p><p>He proceeded to tell me that the door to the large shed that houses our garbage cans was open and he could see garbage strewn about.</p><p>He called public safety, which arrived and assured him that the bruin was gone.</p><p>But the thing that kills me is that for 10 years I have preached to my sons about the importance of keeping the lids on the cans securely attached and making sure the garbage bags go INTO the cans.</p><p>What a concept!</p><p>So here I am, 3,000 miles away, trying to coach him through the steps of what to do, which led to this exchange via texts:</p><p>Me: &#8220;Likely long gone the bear is. Concerned that once it knows of food source, likely to return.&#8221;</p><p>My son: &#8220;Great Yoda impression.&#8221;</p><p>I worried that once a bear is imprinted on a site as a source of food, it will make repeat visits. (Each of the houses adjoining us had been broken into by bears repeatedly.)</p><p>Like lamb&#8217;s blood marked on thresholds during the first Passover, Michael essentially opened up a fire hose of ammonia (said to repel bears) on the door, the doorway, the footing outside the shed, the doorknob, etc.</p><p>That led to this follow-up text message from him:</p><p>&#8220;Ammonia smells awful in case you were interested.&#8221;</p><p>Yeah, agreed. But it beats the smell of bear scat and rotting garbage.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Christopher Mele</p><p>Mele&#8217;s Musings</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p>About Men Radio is a show about men. Not all men, mind you, but specifically about a group of lifelong friends coping with rapidly changing gender roles and how they interact with their partners, their kids, their co-workers and each other. It&#8217;s funny, feisty, smart-assed and very, very real. To learn more, go to <a href="http://aboutmenshow.com/" target="_blank">aboutmenshow.com</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Christopher Mele is married and the proud dad of two sons and two adult stepchildren, all of whom have given him prematurely white hair. His childhood in the Bronx defined his friendships, which endure today and for which he is grateful. A career newsman, writer and editor, the Lords Valley resident is glad for the opportunity to share stories and insights about the challenges that the modern-day middle-aged guy faces in the world.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Mele’s Musings: The bear who came to dinner