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Mostly sunny. High 83F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Some clouds. Low 58F. Winds light and variable.

There are things in life that I’ve come to expect will get easier each time I do them. Even some things I don’t necessarily look forward to, like visiting the dentist or getting taxes done. When you tell that cranky voice in your head to hush, these things usually go by pretty smoothly and painlessly – the root canal from a decade ago notwithstanding.

What I’m convinced will never get any easier – and I had no delusion that it would – is moving our daughter into college. The experience was, by any definition, super crappy. Again.

Granted, it was slightly better than freshman year move-in day but only because on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being nearly unbearable, last year was a solid 50. At least.

I believe our family dynamic is the main culprit for the bouts of separation anxiety when the kiddo must fly the coop. I was an only child, my wife was an only child, and our daughter is an only child. We are an extremely close family unit, to say the least.

Which is amazing. . . except on days like Thursday.

It wasn’t so bad as we were lugging her things up three flights of stairs what felt like a hundred times or trying to figure out how to arrange beds and desks in a dorm room that clearly wasn’t designed for such furniture. (I still might go back with a Sawzall, sledgehammer and chisel for a few alterations.)

Staying busy was good and lunch was enjoyable, but when it came time to say our goodbyes and put Juniata College in the rearview, not so much. I do think I’d make a decent card player because my smiling poker face was maybe somewhat convincing, but there was no hiding the fact that I missed the kiddo before we walked out of her room.

And will continue to miss her each day she’s not at home. I now fully appreciate the talks my mom and I had when I went off to college and she conveyed how difficult those days could be. Funny how the things our parents taught us and shared with us can take years to be realized, and often only after we’ve become parents ourselves.

Having that perspective is helpful, but it still doesn’t make days like Thursday any easier.

Thursday evening, I was scrolling on Facebook when I came across a photo of an unusual Australian bird: the cassowary.

Immediately I knew I had to have one. Or five. Instead of chickens running around the yard, why couldn’t I have cassowaries instead? After all, they’re flightless birds, too.

So began my descent down the Google rabbit hole. First, I looked at the images. Wow, these birds looked like giant turkeys, standing at an average of 5.6 feet! Maybe I could ride them like an ostrich (side note: did you know ostriches can be over 9 feet tall?!). Then, I came across a photo of their four-inch claws. I thought about how much fun it would be to paint those bad boys.

Next, I watched a video of a group of cassowaries running in the wild. Cassowaries can reach speeds up to 31 mph- faster than the speed limit in downtown Gettysburg. I wondered if they would get a ticket for speeding in the borough.

As I was getting tired, I decided to wrap up my research and find another YouTube video on these strange endangered creatures. I clicked on one about a Florida man who was killed by his pet cassowary and quickly learned why they were branded as the “most dangerous birds in the world.” It turns out that cassowaries (or giant danger turkeys, as I prefer to call them) can kill humans and other animals with those giant claws I fantasized about painting not even 30 minutes prior.

I don’t want a cassowary farm anymore. Maybe I’ll settle for some guinea fowls instead.

It caught me by surprise, though I should have seen it coming six decades ago when my toddler niece Lori peeked through the fence at our dairy cows. While not every parent who loves animals passes that gene along to their offspring, in Lori’s case there’s no doubt.

Lori’s son, Brett Maupin, became a social media star and global sensation recently when he simply uploaded a few videos of working at his profession as a farrier. Brett’s posts have gone viral on TikTok, with viewers now into several million fans around the globe. His YouTube video,” Farrier Hoof Restoration Satisfying,” has reportedly been viewed by over 60 million.

Farriers, for those who don’t recognize the word, don’t set up county fairs. Rather, as their trade association, the Farrier’s Registration Council defines, “A farrier is a skilled craftsperson with a sound knowledge of both theory and practice of the craft, capable of shoeing all types of equine feet, whether normal or defective, of making shoes to suit all types of work and working conditions, and of devising corrective measures to compensate for faulty limb action.” In short, farriers care for horse’s hooves, thereby ensuring their comfort and enabling them to walk, trot, gallop or race around a track and win somebody a lot of money.

I’ve seen Brett’s trailer-borne “office,” as well-equipped as any rolling medical clinic. Largely self-taught, he’s now become a mentor to novices all around the globe. Plying his skills in California for years, where he was much in demand, he recently moved to Texas where there are probably even more caballos than out west. I’m guessing his sudden fame just raised the per-hoof rate above that of a Madison Avenue manicurist.

It’s kinda heady having a rock star farrier in the family!

There are only two members of major league baseball’s 4,000 hit club, Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. Cobb is long gone and finished his career with 4,191 knocks. Rose became the Hit King in 1985 and amassed a total of 4,256 base hits. He had more plate appearances than anyone in history. Four years later he was banned from the game for life for betting on his own team to win. He later went to jail for tax evasion.

Cobb was known to sharpen his spikes to do maximum damage to opponents’ s shins when he slid into a base. Rose was of the same ilk. His moniker was “Charlie Hustle” and he led two teams to World Championships. He once bowled over the catcher in a home plate collision, in an All-Star game!

Rose is 81 and cantankerous as ever. This past weekend, the Phillies celebrated a two-year delayed 40th anniversary of their 1980 title, the first of their long history. They were founded in 1883 so it was quite a dry spell. Tug McGraw struck out Willie Wilson to end it, but it was Rose who made the signature play when he caught the carom of a bobbling Bob Boone. Rose taught the talented team around him how to win.

There was another crown in 2008 but the Phils haven’t made the playoffs since 2011. The fans are hungry and, except for a smattering of boos, were happy to see old #14. Not so much Boone, who heard it when he told the fans, “I’m a Yankees’ fan now.”

Rose received a special dispensation from MLB to attend the event and didn’t disappoint. He walked with a limp but wore the same scowl. He played to the crowd. During a television interview, he showed off the range of his vocabulary, and not in a good way.

Love him or hate him, Pete squeezed every ounce out of his God-given abilities. Does he belong in the Hall of Fame?

For the umpteenth time, the Borough of Gettysburg has lost a legal decision regarding decisions it made about the termination of the employment of former borough police officer Michael Carricato. It would be no surprise to anyone if the borough “leadership” decides to appeal this decision again; after all, it is borough taxpayers who will ultimately foot the bill for the poor actions of their manager, the former mayor, and several former borough council groups.

From what I have been told, I was aware of the decision handed down by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board before most, if not all borough elected officials. What do they care? They will not be the ones paying out the nearly $200,000; it is the taxpayers. In the past when this payout was being discussed, there was talk about cutting police officers out of the budget. You have wonder when this talk again will raise its ugly head.

While writing the story about the recent decision, I reached out to all borough council members, the current mayor and Borough “Manager” Charles Gable to get their opinion on the ruling, and none of the cowards had the decency to respond to me regarding the decision. This either means they are afraid to make a public statement on their current manager allowing his ego to cost borough taxpayers $200,000 or they simply don’t care as the $200,000 is a drop in the bucket to them.

I get it; the previous councils were led astray by the borough manager, so what happens now? Does the current borough council just chalk it up, laugh amongst themselves and tell Gable to do better next time? Or do they take action on behalf of the borough taxpayers and hold Gable responsible for this $200,000 mess that while he did not create, he certainly used bad judgement and let his ego get in the way to the detriment of borough taxpayers; he could have done the right thing and settled this issue years ago for little or no money, but then we need to remember he considers himself smarter than the rest of us. My bet, council will do nothing. They will blame those who sided against them for making a bad legal decision, and they will continue to treat and pay Gable as if he has saved the borough.

When it is not your money you are spending it is easier to spend frivolously and justify the expense. In their minds, they are not personally writing the checks to pay for Gable’s ongoing mistakes. It is the taxpayers who have to foot the bill, and continue to tolerate his arrogance, dictatorship, and blatant disregard for those who pay his salary.

As far as the current council goes, two words can be used to describe their actions this week — clueless and cowardice!

History tends to repeat itself, especially when it comes to the borough taxpayers having to pay former employees to go away. This is at least the second employee this year to be paid by the taxpayers to not work for the borough due to Gable’s “tremendous” human resource acumen. How long will it be until the next lawsuit and the taxpayers are on the hook again? But of course it will not be Charles Gable’s fault, just ask him and he will assure you of that.

I received some positive feedback about the weird “writing prompts” I came up with for last week’s Reporter’s Notebook, so I thought I’d serve up another round.

The final one may be a bit too much.

• You’re very excited about the first day of your senior year in high school. When you stroll into your first-period class, the teacher looks shocked. “What are you doing here? You passed this class last year, before you graduated!”

• You wake up. You’re sitting on a hard metal chair, to which you’re handcuffed. A stranger faces you across a small desk. He smiles. “You know there were cameras everywhere,” he says. “Your only hope is to convince us we didn’t see what we saw.”

• At the supermarket, you go to the meat section. None of the merchandise is labeled. A white-aproned butcher comes out of the back room. You ask how customers are supposed to know what they’re buying. “You know what it is,” he says.

I have been on an organizing kick from last weekend, and it’s because of the show “Get Organized with The Home Edit” on Netflix. If you need to declutter your space and want motivation, it’s the perfect show to watch.

My husband Ben would say I’ve re-watched the series multiple times because it is fun to see their methodologies for organizing. Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin have come up with ways to keep spaces functional but also beautiful.

When the show initially came out, I instantly went to The Container Store to buy the products they were using. However, I learned very quickly how expensive it was, and I slowed down with it.

Recently, they came out with a product line at Walmart that is way more affordable, and some may argue even better quality. That has definitely prompted my organizing kick, and I have started with different areas throughout our house.

The most crucial piece of organizing is “editing out” items that are no longer being used. In following their method, it’s important to decide whether an item is more valuable or if space is. If you value too many items, you sacrifice the space.

I wouldn’t call myself a sentimentalist, but I definitely like to hold onto things thinking I may need it some day, like extra screws from a furniture set. I will say one of those extra screws did come in handy last weekend with one of my organizers.

This is a great show to watch, especially for inspiration or for learning how to get creative in smaller spaces. If you don’t have Netflix, they also wrote books about their mindset, “The Home Edit,” and “The Home Edit Life.”

Although I am feeling ambitious with my organizing tasks, I do not volunteer to organize Gettysburg Times reporter Jim Hale’s desk. That would take me quite a bit of time. I will leave it at that.

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