Category Archives: Columnists

Gardening Tips for Late July/Early August from ‘The English Lady’—”Deep Summer is When Laziness Finds Respectability”

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Summer phlox always offer a blaze of color. Photo by Steph Cruz on Unsplash.

Watering is so important during the heat of summer. If you planted trees or shrubs this spring, particularly evergreens, these plants require extra moisture to establish a strong root system. We have had an abundant amount of rain this spring and into the summer, however it is important to keep an eye on the weather.  

Here in New England, plants require at least an inch of water per week.  If you are using a regular hose, you lose 40 percent of moisture to evaporation. However, a hose is necessary for thorough watering when a plant goes into the ground and daily watering for containers.

A sprinkler can be an effective watering method. Photo by Anthony Lee on Unsplash.

Soaker hoses in your borders are the best method of watering, attached to a house spigot with a timer. By using this method of irrigation, moisture goes to the roots of plants where it is needed and not on the foliage, which can cause diseases such as black spot and powdery mildew. Soaker hoses attached to a timer can be used efficiently not only in the borders of the garden but also in the vegetable garden, where annual vegetables require a lot of water to produce a good crop. 

In addition, composted manure, when added to the containers together with copious amounts to the vegetable garden, helps to retain a good amount of moisture. Manure, used as mulch for the vegetable garden, adds more nutrition and manure used as mulch does not cap or form a hard crust, so water goes directly to the roots where it is needed. 

LAWNS

Water the lawn only when the green glow begins to fade.  An established lawn will bounce back following dry hot spells. 

I want to emphasize the importance of soil and soil health, which has been severely neglected and abused with poisonous chemicals for years. Soil is the most important element of plant growth; it is not an inert medium that merely holds the plants erect, it is a living organism that needs to be replenished with nutrients.

The nutrient is composted manure, manure builds soil structure and together with its bacteria joins the millions of microbes below the surface to produce nutrients for the roots of the plants. If you have not already done so, I strongly suggest that you carefully discard all chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

The addition of composted manure to your soil in spring, early summer and in early fall, together with natural brown bark mulch, builds the carbon compound or humus component in the soil.  We are all carbon-based creatures, as is every living element; carbon is our lifeblood and the lifeblood of the soil in our gardens.

As we build the humus component by adding composted manure and fine-bark mulch, we are producing the healthiest possible growing environment and the strongest disease-resistant plants.  As we add the composted manure and natural fine bark mulch season after season, the humus component continues to build in the soil, continuously extracting carbon from the atmosphere into the soil. 

ROSES

These stunning bushes flourish beautifully with the addition of composted manure and mulch, which should be applied on the soil about two feet away from the base of the plant. Roses also require deep watering once a week. Now, in July add another light layer of composted manure around the roses. Manure is food for the roots of the roses and no other products are necessary for growth and bloom. Stop adding manure to the roses in mid-August, so that they can gradually move into a slow dormancy through late summer and early fall, which is a natural part of their growth cycle.    

If you are a first time rose-grower or adding to your rose collection, David Austin English roses are my personal preference.  The David Austin nursery is only 21 miles from my hometown in Shropshire in England. Visiting the rose nursery in June was a fragrant and exhilarating pleasure that overwhelmed my senses. 

An ‘Evelyn’ rose, the author’s favorite.

David Austin roses are more trouble-free than many other roses and with the fact that they are repeat bloomers, with beautiful colors and fragrances extends our enjoyment of this lovely shrub throughout the summer months.    

Some of my favorite David Austin roses are:

  • A Shropshire Lad, a peachy pink
  • Abraham Darby, soft shades of apricot and yellow
  • Evelyn (my favorite) produces giant apricot hued flowers
  • Fair Bianca, a pure white
  • Heritage, a soft blush pink
  • Carding Mill Valley begins as a peachy orange double flower, changing to an apricot-pink

A lovely combination is climbing roses and clematis planted together; both enjoy the same planting environment with their heads in the sun and their feet (roots) cool, with the added nutrition of manure and mulch. This combination looks great, climbing over a fence, wall or arbor. The combination I enjoyed on a trellis on the chimney breast on the west side of my farmhouse was a purple clematis and a pink climbing rose 

MULCH

Please do not use artificially-colored red mulch, rubber mulch or cocoa mulch; use only natural brown bark mulch.  Do not mulch right up to the base of the plants, as this invites rodents to nest and gnaw on the stems or trunks of the plants.

Note regarding why you should NOT use Cocoa mulch: Cocoa mulch, produced by Hershey,  has a Thorazine compound and other poisons, which are hazardous to pets who are attracted by the chocolate odor. Ingestion of this chocolate mulch can cause seizures and death within hours.  

HYDRANGEAS

Plant Hydrangeas in a sunny area if you live near the coast, which allows them to enjoy gentle seas breezes. Away from the coast, plant Hydrangeas in part-sun on the west or east aspect of the garden. Plant them in organically-rich soil with composted manure and add extra composted manure this month around the base. 

A deeper color can be encouraged in blue hydrangeas by increasing the acidity in the soil around their base.. Photo by Gaetano Cessati on Unsplash

If you have the blue macrophylla Hydrangea, add some peat or aged oak bark around the base—the acidity in the peat or oak bark encourages a deeper blue color.   Hydrangeas are a wetland plant and require plenty of water throughout the summer. We had a late spring and with all the spring and early summer rain and good sunshine, the foliage and bloom of the hydrangeas are performing well.

Watch out for powdery mildew and spray with the following powdery mildew recipe you can mix yourself:
Recipe for powdery mildew –Two tablespoons baking soda, one dessert spoon of vegetable oil, a squirt of dish soap with a gallon of water in a sprayer.  For any recipe spray you make at home, spray only in the morning when there is no wind and when the temperature and humidity added together do not go above 180. 

PRUNING HYDRANGEAS

Prune Hydrangeas immediately after they finish blooming in late August or early September but no later, as Hydrangeas set their buds for the next season by mid-September. If you prune after September, you will lose next season’s bloom.   When you prune, cut out some of the old wood and the weakest of the new shoots.  In October, put more composted manure and brown mulch around the base to nourish and protect the roots through the winter. 

GARLIC

Garlic is the antibiotic of the garden. Photo by Shelley Pauls on Unsplash.

(The following recipes are from a garden book I am writing):
Did you know that garlic is the antibiotic of the garden. I love using garlic in my recipes. Garlic is an important anti-fungal element to protect your plants and I suggest plant more garlic in early fall. 

To avoid fungal diseases plant garlic around strawberries, tomatoes and raspberries to avoid fungal diseases. 

Plant garlic around mildew-prone plants to prevent mildew on such plants as summer phlox and bee balm.

Plant garlic under fruit trees to avoid scab and root disease.

Plant garlic next to ponds or standing water to control mosquito larvae or pour garlic water into the water to deter adult mosquitoes. 

Where you notice marauders have been munching, like insects or animals make a garlic spray to apply on the plants including vegetables. 

GARLIC SPRAY RECIPE

4 large, crushed garlic cloves, unpeeled
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
1 squirt of mild dish detergent

Put all ingredients in 2 cups of hot water in the blender, blend, then leave overnight, then put in a gallon sprayer with cold water and spray in the early morning when there is no wind, observing the rule of 180.  Observing the rule of 180 is when the temperature and humidity when added together do not go above 180.

HOT PEPPER SPRAY

To deter squirrels and chipmunks, try a hot pepper spray using either 4 hot chilies or one cup of cayenne pepper in 2 cups of hot water, in the blender, blend and leave overnight then put in a gallon sprayer with cold water and spray the problem areas in the early morning.

This pepper spray works well to deter squirrels, chipmunks, deer as well as dogs and cats that may be leaving their deposits in the garden. 

HANDS

Gardener’s hands are their tools of the trade so it’s important to take care of them. My hands remain healthy by indulging in a hot cream treatment once a week before bed. 

 HAND CREAM RECIPE

Combine Calendula cream with honey and essential oil of lavender heated in the microwave, apply generously and put on white cotton gloves for sleep. When I wake up my hands are soft and smooth as a baby’s bottom. Wear gloves, when working in soil that contains manure or when spreading manure. Manure is an organic product that contains bacteria; bacteria is great for the soil but like many bacteria not healthy for you. The garden gloves I prefer are the soft leather farmer’s gloves that are washable.  

FLAVORED OILS

Many herbs are at their peak right now and are ideal for using in flavored oils.  The oil I use as a base is organic olive oil. I harvest basil, parsley, sage, tarragon and oregano in the morning, rinse them well, pat them dry with a paper towel and then make the recipe. Then choose an herb you are using that day, and add to two cups of organic oil.  

For thyme and lavender, I use only the flowers with one cup of oil to a handful of blossoms.  

Puree the herb mixture in a blender and store covered in a wide mouthed jar for three days, shake at least three times a day for the first two days and on the third day let the mixture settle to the bottom, then strain it through a paper coffee filter or cheese cloth into a clean jar.  You will now have a tinted but clear mixture.  

Refrigerate each mixture and use within two to three weeks.  The herb oils I choose to make are rosemary, lavender, lemon, garlic, shallots and basil with olive oil as the base – these are my favorites and are great brushed on vegetables and meats for grilling.  The Lavender oil is great with desserts. Rosemary and lemon oil taste excellent on salads. 

MOLES

I know I have given you a few mole remedies in the past; but I have not given you the Exlax method for a while. I can attest to the fact that I have used this method as have many of my fellow gardeners for years, as it works so well.  Buy Exlax, the main ingredient of Exlax is Senna, a natural herb. Insert Exlax into the mole holes, the moles and voles eat it, then die of dehydration.  

If you have dogs and cats, do not use the chocolate Exlax but rather only the plain Exlax as chocolate is dangerous to pets.  

In early April of next year, apply organic grub control, which means less grubs for the moles to feed on, and without their supply of grubs, the moles will go elsewhere for food. In addition, the white grubs of Japanese beetles are largely diminished with the grub control.  

Japanese beetles love our plants and here is a method to deal with them naturally. In the early morning, the Japanese beetles are drowsy and can be captured.  Lay a drop cloth under the plant or plants where you see them and gently shake the plant; the drowsy beetles will drop onto the cloth, which should be gathered up and then drop them in a garbage bag and discard.   

Many of us are committed to organic gardening without chemicals, which has enabled the earthworm population to once again increase; earthworms are a great boon to the garden soil as their castings add 50 percent nutrition to the soil together with eleven trace minerals.  

SUMMER PHLOX

I just love my summer phlox and to keep the mildew problems at bay I use the natural baking soda mix I mentioned above. 

I have found that white Phlox Miss Lingard or white Phlox David are more resistant to mildew than other summer phlox.  

Monarda, commonly known, as Bee Balm and Hydrangeas are also prone to the problem of powdery mildew, and this is where the baking soda recipe once again can be used to excellent effect.  

For a second bloom on the Summer Phlox, prune off ten to twenty inches of the flower stems after the first bloom has gone by and within a few weeks you will experience a new bloom. 

KEEP YOUR GARDEN CLEAN

A healthy garden is a clean garden. Do not put any diseased items into your compost. 

Deadhead all annuals and perennials for a second bloom and clean up all spend blossoms.  

When Coreopsis and Spirea have bloomed, use garden shears to shear off dead flowers and they too will rebloom.

CONTAINERS

Make sure you have composted manure and fine bark mulch applied on top of the soil in your containers and water them daily. In hot weather the containers will need to be watered twice daily, morning and evening watering is the best. If you do not have time in the morning before you leave for work or errands, empty your ice cube trays on the containers; this provides slow -release watering until you can get to them later.  

Photo by LandscapesbyIanLLC.com.

Enjoy being in the garden, stay hydrated, continue to stretch and take time to ‘smell the Roses’.

If you have any gardening questions, please email me at MaureenHaseleyJones@gmail.com and I’ll see you in your garden later in August. If you would like a garden consult, let me give my son Ian a plug—he has a brilliant gardening mind. Contact him at LandscapesbyIan.com.

Maureen Haseley-Jones

About the author: Maureen Haseley-Jones is a member of a family of renowned horticultural artisans, whose landscaping heritage dates back to the 17th century. She is one of the founders, together with her son Ian, of, The English Lady Landscape and Home Company. Maureen and Ian are landscape designers and garden experts, who believe that everyone deserves to live in an eco-conscious environment and enjoy the pleasure that it brings.

Maureen learned her design skills from both her mother and grandmother, and honed her horticultural and construction skills while working in the family nursery and landscape business in the U.K. Her formal horticultural training was undertaken at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in Surrey.

Literature in the Lymes: ‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke

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I just know I can’t really do this book justice. I love it and writing about it immediately takes some of the magic away but I suppose if Susannah Clarke could do it, I can at least try.

Who is Piranesi? Where is he?

He is writing this book as a journal from a place that is both a world and a house. This house has tides. This world has floors and wings and grand halls. There are ballrooms and statues and sweeping staircases that are underwater as the tides change. 

Piranesi navigates the halls as the moon cycles to anticipate the waters. He salvages bones and seaweed to wear in his tangled hair. He visits his favored statues as honored ancestors. He lives as a recluse, who is both aware of and in respectful fear of the Other. 

This Other shows himself occasionally to bestow gifts or shower food as tokens from above. 

It becomes increasingly more apparent that Piranesi is less alone than he thought. There may have been others here before him.

He finds human bones. Animal bones. His anthropological worship of these, honoring them with flowers, is touching.

What is really happening around him?

He appears innocently unaware of something much more sinister. Is someone named Ketterley attempting to control the uncontrollable?

From the journals that become less unfettered in their hallucinations, we see patterns. We see hints at something.

Where are these offerings really coming from? Who is this ‘other’ person? Who indeed is Piranesi? It has a very Neil Gaiman-esque otherworldly tone that I like and mixed with very concise, interesting writing, sets a fascinating—almost scientific—perspective. 

It reads like a lab journal from an experiment, which we find out is very close to a truth.

It’s just wonderful to be in Piranesi’s mind as he unravels the mystery of the magnificent world.

About the author: Jen Petty Hilger grew up in New York and London, England, but finds herself happily quiet living by the water in Old Lyme.

She and her husband have six children between them and a myriad of rescued animals.

A View from My Porch: More on Idioms — “Wassup?”

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Tom Gotowka

Dateline: July 31, 2024 (less than 100 days to the election)

Last May, LymeLine published a “View” wherein I detailed my quest to determine the origin of the expression, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand;” which I began to satisfy my nine-year-old grandson, Will’s curiosity. I did not determine “popsicle’s” absolute origin for Will; but did help him begin to appreciate idioms and colloquialisms.

I followed up on a few “leads” that suggested the expression came from a Bogart movie from the 1940s and ‘50s, and watched the six Bogart films that were released in that period, a few with Christina; but did not find the exact phrase, although there were several points in each movie when I/we were certain that it would come up in the next scene. I also introduced Will to regionalisms like “wicked,” “ya’ll,” and y’ins.”

I continue my review of figurative language in this essay and present idioms originating in sports and the military, some that boomers will deny ever saying, and a few deserving of retirement.

Today’s “View” is an effort to provide a bit of nostalgia to serve as a backdrop to another divisive and frightening election and an unusual period of bad political theater in America; where the GOP candidate appears to rely wholly on second-rate and seventh grade insults and nicknames.

I will try to not stray into my observations regarding the events and threats that have occurred in that party’s campaign, although I anticipate that, with Madam Editor’s forbearance, the subject will be covered in a future “View;” well before November. However, there is an important public service announcement in the penultimate section of this “View.”

I begin with a consideration of the title’s origin, which has morphed unintentionally into a profile of an iconic star of the cinema. Note that like last May’s “View,” I have “peppered” this essay with familiar idioms to illustrate just how frequently they appear in conversation.

Origins:

“Wassup?”, sometimes, “Waddup?”, is considered by some as a  “cool” variant of the phrase, “What’s up?”, which appeared in O. Henry’s short story, “The adventures of Shamrock Jolnes,” (1904) and Jack London’s “The Sea-Wolf”, also published in 1904. Remarkably, “Wassup?” may be one of the most common, first texts sent by many teens.

Beyond O. Henry and Jack London, you should also reflect on Bugs Bunny’s characteristic greeting, “What’s up, Doc?”; which he used to surprise his two heavily-armed nemeses, Elmer Fudd (shotgun) and Yosemite Sam (two “six-guns.”)

According to CBS News, Bugs made his debut in theaters on July 27, 1940 in an animated short film (a ‘short’), “A Wild Hare;” marking the beginning of a fabled career where he starred in over 160 shorts that aired between 1940 and 1964.

Bugs Bunny made his debut in 1940. Image qualifies as Fair Use under US copyright law.

Warner Brothers reports that Bugs was born in a burrow beneath the turf of Ebbets Field; which was, of course, the home field for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 to 1957, when they were forced to “get outta here” by team owners; who relocated them from Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood to Los Angeles’ Chavez Ravine. 

Voice actor, Mel Blanc, gave Bugs a Flatbush accent; and so, Bugs is a bona fide Brooklynite, not unlike Tony Manero, who was played by John Travolta in the 1977 movie, “Saturday Night Fever,” or poet Walt Whitman, who wrote for several Brooklyn newspapers and was editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1846 to 1848.

Bugs starred in several WW2 propaganda shorts and the USMC named him an honorary Marine Master Sergeant in 1943, following his performance in “Super-Rabbit,” in which he donned a Marine uniform and sang the Marine Corps Hymn. In “Herr Meets Hare,” Bugs disguised himself as Hitler, encountering Goering in the Black Forest.

Despite Bugs’ impact on popular culture, “Wassup?” did not gain broad popularity until it was featured in an Anheuser Bush Budweiser commercial campaign that first aired on Monday Night Football on December 20, 1999; where the actors appeared to slur “what’s up?” as “Wassup?” on the telephone.

Bugs was no stranger to controversy; and in 1997, became the first cartoon character to appear on an American postage stamp, sparking angst and anxiety with philatelists, who were  concerned that Bugs would cheapen the commemorative stamp program and other more historically significant subjects might be displaced; although the USPS did issue its first triangle-shaped stamps, featuring a sailing ship and a stagecoach that same year. 

Nevertheless, a second series of the Bugs’ commemorative was issued as “forever” stamps in 2020, celebrating the 80th anniversary of his debut in “A Wild Hare.”

Warner Bros. disarmed Fudd and Sam in their new “Looney Tunes Cartoons” series on HBO Max in 2020; responding to concerns over gun violence in the United States. 

There was a somewhat heated response from guns’ rights groups regarding this “violation” of the Second Amendment. 

The show’s executive producer, Peter Browngardt, stated that, “Even though those two characters have been disarmed, viewers can still expect some cartoon violence. Elmer Fudd will be more “creative” in his attempts to catch Bugs Bunny, using a scythe instead of a shotgun; and there will be sticks of Acme dynamite exploding in characters’ faces.”

Especially relevant today is the children’s book “Daffy Duck for President,” which was published in 1997 by Warner Bros. and the USPS. It explores Daffy’s entry into politics in an attempt to change the law to favor perpetual rabbit season over duck season. During his pursuit of office, candidate Duck learned about the U.S. Constitution, the separation of powers, and our system of checks and balances. In 2004, a four-minute animated short, based on the book, was released, coinciding with that year’s Presidential election, in which incumbent George W. Bush defeated Senator John Kerry.

Although I promised above not to “stray,” readers may want to assess their level of comfort with the Heritage Foundation’s / Trump allies’ Project 2025, a collection of ultra-conservative and right-wing plans to reshape the federal government and consolidate power in the presidency, thus allowing Trump, should he be elected, to use that power to go after his critics. Project 2025 will certainly be included in my next “View” in a play-by-play of the presidential campaign(s). 

I return now to my review of idiomatic expressions.

Idioms from Sports:

A “game changer” refers to an athlete or decisive play that suddenly changes the outcome of a game or series. I illustrate with Willie Mays’ amazing over-the-shoulder catch of a 425-ft. drive to center field by Cleveland Indians’ first baseman Vic Wertz during Game 1 of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds; which stopped a Cleveland rally. The New York Giants then went on to sweep the series in four games over highly-favored Cleveland, securing their first championship since 1933. 

More significantly, the segregated Jim Crow policies of baseball changed forever on October 23, 1945 when Dodgers GM, Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson of the Negro League’s Kansas City Monarchs to a minor league contract that would bring Robinson into the majors on April 15, 1947 in Brooklyn.  Robinson went on that year to become baseball’s first “Rookie of the Year;” and the Dodgers went on to the World Series against the Yankees.

Staying with baseball, if “you “hit a home run” in business, you do something that is very successful. 

Notably, an American trucks manufacturer recently began touting its new EV model as a “game-changer in the pickup truck segment.”

More broadly, Henry Ford revolutionized the automobile industry in 1913 when he installed the first moving assembly line at his Highland Park, MI plant; significantly reducing the time it took to build a car; and so, making cars more affordable for the general public.

The term will certainly be used by analysts in reviewing key election events.

If you are a fan of basketball, you are probably familiar with the “slam dunk,” a scoring play where the player leaps in the air, and jams the ball straight through the basket while touching the rim with one or both hands. 

Off the court, “slam dunk” is often used as an expression of confidence and to describe a situation or action that is expected to be successful or easily accomplished. In other words, the action is a sure thing or a no-brainer.

Idioms from the Military:

The expression, take a “deep-dive” into the data,” suggests a more comprehensive analysis that goes beyond surface-level observations or assumptions; and can be traced back to a diving technique used by USN deep-sea divers during World War II, who would descend to great depths to inspect and repair damage on the ship’s hull from enemy attacks. In addition, contemporary submarines will take a deep dive after maintenance to confirm the integrity of the pressure hull. 

The British will use the expression “Everything’s gone pear-shaped” to describe situations that end badly or go awry or to indicate that a scheme has not been perfectly executed. My research suggests that the phrase originated in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during WW2, where it was used to describe the difficulty that pilots in training faced when attempting to perform aerial maneuvers, often resulting in pear-shaped, rather than perfectly round aerial loops. Note that “loops may be employed by a skilled fighter pilot as an evasive maneuver used in aerial combat; aka a “dog fight.” 

It was also suggested that “pear shaped” was RAF slang describing, in exaggerated terms, the shape of an aircraft that crashes in a nose-dive.

The expression, “in harm’s way,” is often used to describe a dangerous place or situation, particularly when applied to members of the armed services in war. It is attributed to America’s Revolutionary War naval hero, and founder of the United States Navy, John Paul Jones (JPJ). 

In 1778, while seeking a ship from the supportive French government, he wrote, “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm’s way”.

JPJ is also credited with another important USN expression: “I have not yet begun to fight;” which was his response when asked by Captain Richard Pearson of HMS Serapis if he had struck his colors (i.e. lowered his flag as an indication of surrender), after Jones’ ship, the Bonhomme Richard, had sustained significant damage during the Battle of Flamborough Head on September 23, 1779. This defiant response has since become a symbol of determination and resilience for the United States Navy. 

“I got your six” originated with WW1 pilots and refers to the rear of an airplane as the six o’clock position. The pilot sits directly in front in the cockpit at twelve o’clock. On a battlefield, your “six” is the most vulnerable; so, when someone tells you that they’ve “got your six,” it means they are watching your back.

The phrase, “Stay frosty,” means to stay alert, while keeping one’s emotions under control. People in the military, particularly those in combat, may need to be reminded by their fellow soldiers to keep a cool head when things get rough. However, the popular term now means “Keep cool,” and can be used as a farewell between friends.

A “Snafu” is a military acronym that stands for the expression “Situation normal: all fouled up.” — i.e., the situation is bad, but that’s the normal state of affairs. The acronym originated during WW2; and “Private Snafu”  was a series of instructional cartoons created by director Frank Capra, chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit; and produced by Warner Brothers. Remarkably, most shorts were written by Theodor Geisel, aka “Dr. Seuss.” (Note that there are other coarser definitions for “Snafu.”)

Author’s Thoughts: My goal in this “View” was to provide a bit of distraction for those of us losing sleep over the rhetoric produced by one of the candidates in this election, which is one for the history books with a former prosecutor versus a convicted felon. Next time, as mentioned above, I will dig deep into campaign events and associated rhetoric and provide a play-by-play of how we arrived at this point, less than 100 days from the polls. Ironically, given the section on pronunciation above, both Project 2025 and the 2024 GOP platform propose eliminating the U.S. Department of Education.

Public Service Announcement (PSA): The GOP candidate repeatedly botched Kamala Harris’ name while speaking recently at the “Believers Summit,” an event held by in West Palm Beach, Fla., by the conservative Christian group “Turning Point Action.” “Some people think I mispronounce it on purpose, but actually I’ve heard it said about seven different ways.” “There are a lot of ways.” “I could not care less if I mispronounce it or not. I couldn’t care less.” 

For everyone’s information, “Kamala” is pronounced “COM-mah-lah,” with the emphasis on the first syllable. It sounds like comma-la when said correctly and aligns with the Sanskrit origins of her name — meaning lotus. She released a PSA during her 2016 Senate run where a cast of kids explain which pronunciations were incorrect for her name.

This is especially bizarre because J.D. Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, whose maiden name is Usha Chilukuri also has a name that can be difficult to pronounce. Her first name is pronounced “OO-shah,” and her maiden name, Chilukuri, is typically pronounced “chee-loo-KOO-ree,” with the emphasis on the third syllable.

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Thomas D. Gotowka.

About the Author: Tom Gotowka is a resident of Old Lyme, whose entire adult career has been in healthcare. He will sit on the Navy side at the Army/Navy football game. He always sit on the crimson side at any Harvard/Yale contest. He enjoys reading historic speeches and considers himself a scholar of the period from FDR through JFK. A child of AM Radio, he probably knows the lyrics of every rock and roll or folk song published since 1960. He hopes these experiences give readers a sense of what he believes “qualify” him to write this column.

Literature in the Lymes: ‘In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife” by Sebastian Junger

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Editor’s Note: We are delighted to welcome Jen Petty Hilger back to LymeLine. She wrote a very popular ‘Literature in the Lymes’ column for us until 2014.

One could suppose this is the afterlife of a book reviewer. Welcome to review Number 101 … after a brief 10-year hiatus. 

Sebastian Junger is a very smart man. He is a well-educated man. He is a brave man, a well traveled man. He is a man, who has questioned death many times and faced death a few times, but until the summer of 2020 he had never truly questioned its finality. The place where his very smart brain and his very real soul intersect is what fascinates me. 

This book about his literal “time of dying” is remarkable for its ability to translate the experience. If you’ve read The Perfect Storm, you know how well he captures a tale. His investigative prowess, journalistic experience and sheer narrative skill weave a fast-moving powerhouse of a story. 

This time it is his own near death experience. He barely, barely, survives a ruptured aneurysm. As a an atheist, he comes at his experience from a purely scientific angle and is astounded to encounter something inexplicably outside individual consciousness.

As the medical team at the Hyannis Hospital desperately, almost impossibly, tries to transfuse enough blood to keep him alive while locating the rupture, Junger slips almost away. He sees both his dead father above him and an abyss below him. Neither is comforting nor expected. 

What Junger encounters is previously unfathomable to him and he tries to wrap his mind around it while explaining, quite rationally, the arguments for and against it. While telling us in great detail, the medical trauma unfolding, he presents scientific and philosophical ideas on the biology of the spirit. He references great mathematical minds like Einstein, Schrödinger, Leibniz, and others. 

From the minutiae of quantum mechanics to the greatest expanses of the known galaxies, everything we discover leads to more we don’t know. We don’t know what we don’t know. Nothing interests me more than the opening of a mind; the moment when a light turns on and the room will never be as dark as it was before.

This experience forever changed the way Sebastian Junger looks at the world. He is the first to admit it. I look forward to his writing in the future and the impact this breadth of insight will have.

About the author: Jen Petty Hilger grew up in New York and London, England, but finds herself happily quiet living by the water in Old Lyme. She and her husband have six children between them and a myriad of rescued animals.

Letter From Paris: French Populists Surge in Euro Parliamentary Elections, But Are Unexpectedly Denied Victory in France

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Nicole Prévost Logan

The elections to the European Parliament on June 9, 2024, raised more interest, but also more concern than ever because of the rise of the populist movement in the continent.

Every five years, the 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected by universal suffrage in a number proportional to the size of the states’ population, e.g., France is allotted 81 seats. The parties existing in each European Union (EU) country join the seven main political groups of the European Parliament, which can be described as follows:

  • The centrist EPP (European Popular Party) is the largest group with 186 members. The president of the Commission—incumbent and reelected Ursula von Leyen (who used to be the Minister of Defense in the cabinet of Angela Merkel)—belongs to the EPP.  The nomination of the leaders of the main EU institutions (Commission, European Council, diplomatic services, etc.) have to be approved by the Parliament, hence the importance of this legislative body.
  • The second largest party—S & D (Social Democrats)—has 135 members. The right-left coalition with the EPP has dominated the Parliament’s history for a long time.
  • In third position comes the ID (Identity and Democracy) It is a far-right group, which has just been transformed into the “Patriots of Europe” on July 8, 2024. It is growing fast, attracting populists from several countries like Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and a few others. It has 78 members.

Giorgia Meloni and her party, the “Brothers of Italy,” as well as AfD (Alternative for Democracy) in Germany, have been keeping away from the new Patriots party until now. For the time being, they they remain in the ECR group (European Conservatives and Reformists). Although a far right prime minister, Meloni is an Atlanticist and praises pluralism—she is gradually growing more pro-Europe and wants to assist Ukraine . 

The results of the June 9 elections were grim.

In Western Europe, governments of some countries are trying to adjust and contain the populists. As an example, in the Netherlands, a coalition of four right-wing parties runs the government, but Dick Schoof—the Prime Minister—is a centrist. In Germany, the left-wing AfD obtained only 16 percent of the votes whereas the ruling coalition of three parties (FPD, CDU and Greens) received 30 percent on June 9.

In Eastern Europe, however, the populists seemed to be losing steam somewhat. Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister is working hard at undoing the societal damages done by his predecessor in the PiS (Poland’s Law and Justice Party). The right-wing prime minister of Slovakia must govern with a strong opposition and so does Viktor Orban, who now has an opponent, Peter Magyar. A liberal is heading the Romanian government. 

But the populist onslaught came mostly from France. In meteoric progress, Marine Le Pen’s party the RN (Rassemblement National or National Rally) increased its number of seats in the Assemblée Nationale, from 8 in 2017, to 89 in 2022 and then to 193 on June 30, 2024.The Cac40 (French stock market) plummeted by 6 percent on June 9.  

It is interesting to note that In the new landscape of the European parliament, three strong women—Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni and Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas—cannot stand each other. 

On the evening of June 9, President Emmanuel Macron of France made a decision, which took everybody by surprise, including his own prime minister Gabriel Attal. He dissolved the Assemblée, which was not supposed to happen until 2027 at the end of his term.

French President Emmanuel Macron.

Actually Macron had been thinking of doing just that for several months. He believed that this decision could achieve two goals—first, give the population a chance to express its opinions through a referendum and second, gamble on the hope that the new legislative body would function better within the Elysée.

Working sessions in the Assemblée had become a dysfunctional exercise with the two extreme parties—RN and LFI (La France Insoumise, or Unbowed France.) The latter is a far-left party headed by Jean Luc Mélanchon. Both these extreme parties became allies to hamper debates with the repeated use of motions de censure (votes of no confidence.) It was a dangerous decision for the president to dissolve Parliament, but whatever the outcome, he had nothing to lose.

When Roger Cohen, the New York Times correspondent in France, declared, “The Macron era is over, a chapter is closed,” he missed the complexity of French politics, and the ability of the people to rebound and emerge from chaos.

Actually “Macronism,” consisting of holding the center and acting as a magnet for moderates in both the right and the left, is still a force to reckon with, although it had been depleted by the loss of 100 seats since 2022. Given the visceral hostility of most French people toward the president, however, Macron’s name is best left unmentioned.

The two-round French elections to elect a new Assemblée were scheduled for June 30 and July 7. Those dates coincided with the beginning of the summer vacations. Families had made plans months in advance. 

The problem was solved by creating more than three millions proxies and by people voting via the internet. There was a moment of panic but somehow the French got organized in record time. A swift electoral campaign got off the ground. 

Participation in the voting process was impressive, reaching 69 percent—a number unsurpassed for 40 years .

The extraordinary rise of the RN in the first round of the French election with the electoral map turning bleu marine (navy blue)—an appropriate color for Marine Le Pen—seemed to give a jolt to the population and incite it to rise up to block the hard right in the second round.

Instructions were given to candidates running for a seat in the Assemblée to withdraw from the race in the case of “triangular elections” in order to beat the RN candidate. It was quite an unusual sight to see French politicians disciplined enough to follow instructions! Since there were more than 300 “triangular elections,” the result was astounding.

The RN came out in third place with 143 seats instead of the 220 seats for which they had hoped. The former Macron ‘s majority, called today Ensemble, was second with 163 seats and the NFP (Nouveau Front Populaire or New Popular front) was first with 182 seats .

Between the two rounds Jordan Bardella, 28, the chief of the RN and protégé of Le Pen, had been trained for four years by a communications specialist. He began to behave like a prime minister during his official appearances, obviously relishing the prospect of a future “co-habitation” with the president. He considered it a done deal that he would become prime minister. 

He had set the bar very high, declaring that he would not accept that responsibility unless his party obtain the absolute majority. Bardella, acting effectively as a pure demagogue, made numerous promises and commitments which Marine Le Pen—a very seasoned politician—kept correcting and toning down. 

One must note that the politicians during this intense time of post elections behaved with absolute correctness. No one questioned the validity of the elections’ results. In fact Prime Minister Gabriel Attal offered his resignation immediately on the very night of July 7. 

Bardella said, “We have made mistakes and that includes myself.” They did not dwell on their disappointment but rather rebounded. Le Pen declared, “I have been a politician for too long to say that I was disappointed in the result.” Attal transitioned from being a prime minister to become the leader of the Renaissance party in the Assemblée.

Bardella turned his defeat in France into an advance in the European parliament. He now is the head of the new populist group called “Patriots for Europe” in Strasbourg. Unfortunately he will be even more dangerous there than in France by threatening to undermine the EU from within. Le Pen is placing herself in pole position for the 2027 presidential election.  

For several days after the July 7 elections, the political scene in France has been rather confusing. It is going through labor pains to form a government. The left-wing NFP had been the driving force in the prior elections. They feel that they have a right to nominate the prime minister since their party came out as a winner on July 7—but they do not have the majority enabling them to decide.

Furthermore their alliance is fragile and made up of socialists and hard left politicians, who do not get along. Belgian neighbors advised the French people not to be too impatient. Belgium remained one whole year with a “technical government,” which just managed routine issues .  Even Germany operated for two and a half months without a government.

None of the three French groups acquired the 289 seats needed to qualify for an “absolute majority.” In the future, whether they want it or not they will have to enter into alliances with other parties in order to govern. Otherwise, ironically, they will have to use the 49-3 (equivalent to Executive Orders) for which Macron has been so criticized in recent years.   

The NFP has a program, which appeals strongly to the people—raise the minimum wages or smic, return to the retirement age to 60, reduce the tva  (value-added tax.) But these measures will cost billions, which France can ill-afford. Besides, when the NFP declares that it wants to promote its own program and nothing else, and rejects compromises, it is a sure recipe for stalemates. 

Today the Elysée Palace looks empty. The power has shifted to parliament. 

France itself saved the day—at least for now. The results of the July 7 second round of French legislative elections were greeted almost across the board in Europe with a huge sigh of relief. 

Editor’s Note: This is the opinion of Nicole Prévost Logan.

Nicole Prévost Logan

About the author: Nicole Prévost Logan divides her time between Essex and Paris, spending summers in the former and winters in the latter. She writes an occasional column for us from her Paris home where her topics will include politics, economy, social unrest — mostly in France — but also in other European countries. She also covers a variety of art exhibits and the performing arts in Europe. Logan is the author of ‘Forever on the Road: A Franco-American Family’s Thirty Years in the Foreign Service,’ an autobiography of her life as the wife of an overseas diplomat, who lived in 10 foreign countries on three continents. Her experiences during her foreign service life included being in Lebanon when civil war erupted, excavating a medieval city in Moscow and spending a week under house arrest in Guinea.