ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610020004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BETH MACY
SOURCE: BETH MACY
Three things it's never too late to do: Tell someone thank you, send them chocolate and respond to their mail.
So, while there's still a smidgen of time left - and maybe one hearty zucchini left wilting on the vine - I'll begin with reader feedback on my ode to the much-maligned cucurbit.
``Don't be so hard on zucchini!'' wrote Claire Staniunas. ``It can be extremely useful.''
She listed a five-point strategy for usage, including: Disguise it in a pizza sauce, make a relish out of it, freeze for bread baking during next January's blizzard, compost it. And my personal favorite:
``Played with bat-sized zucchini and tomatoes which are split or suffer from blossom-end rot, zucchini baseball is a big favorite with children. You will have volunteer tomatoes and zucchini in your lawn for years afterward.''
Reader Janet Otey tried to trick me by sending a postcard of chocolate candies ... with a recipe for zucchini jam on the back. Proof that 3 cups of sugar and a box of Jell-O can make almost anything taste good.
My recent foray into the world of ear-nose-and-throat doctors - via too-vigorous Q-tip swabbing - made Bedford readers Manna B. McKinney and Clara W. Toms wax nostalgic about ear-wax removal:
``We were talking about Q-tips and [Toms] told me, `Never put anything smaller than your elbow wrapped in a quilt in your ear!'' McKinney wrote.
And a Roanoke College grad named Kelley (who does not want her last name used) called to offer this little tidbit she remembered from her college course on human sexuality:
``My professor Dino Pranzarone was talking one day about how good it feels when you clean out your ears with a Q-tip, and he called it: an EARGASM!''
Ann Masters responded to the column about my husband and son taking a vacation - without me - with an empty-nest story of her own. Goodbyes never get easy, she wrote, even when your children are grown with kids of their own.
``That is why I say, `Oh, just drop me at the gate, I need to read some material from the office.' My eyes are damp as they drive away. I leave my motherhood at the revolving door of the terminal and assume career woman identity with my luggage wheels, briefcase, half-glasses and reading materials.
``Gathering my thoughts about departure gates, aisle seating and such keeps me from running back to hug them one more time.''
Howard Hartman took exception to my summertime column on sick jokes and their function in society. He said it was insensitive and tasteless, and so am I.
``If you ever chose to terminate your employment with The Roanoke Times, I'm sure a journalist with your talent would have no trouble gaining employment elsewhere. People with `enquiring minds' would surely appreciate your sense of humor.''
Washington County school bus driver Pat Gardner responded to my back-to-school column called ``Grade Expectations'' with some pointers of her own:
``Please remind parents to secure loose straps on their children's backpacks and shorten the drawstrings on those cute little jackets and sweat shirts. Help the driver, the transportation supervisor and the school system keep your child out of danger getting off the bus. Secure those straps and drawstrings so they won't get caught in the handrail or the folding bus door.''
Photo documentation accompanied the missive of Salem correspondent Dick Howard, who responded to my reader-participation survey on whether the Wasena Bridge rocket should stay where it is, or move downtown. (Readers voted 2-to-1 for keeping things the same; this is Roanoke, after all.)
``I was surprised and delighted to read that one of your readers suggested an annual Hula Hoop toss over the missile contest,'' Howard wrote. ``About a year ago I became obsessed with tossing a hoop over that nose cone. It was my idea of an ultimate prank - the bright pink hoop would probably lay there forever and be a highly visible monument to my talent, ingenuity and tossing prowess.''
After several drive-by attempts, Howard deemed the prank a flop for two reasons: A Hula Hoop's lack of heft, coupled with its relatively large size, can't be thrown far enough. And the harder he threw the thing, the more it tended to flex, distort and crease at the moment of release, absorbing most of the throw power.
He toyed with a redesign - increasing the distance by running a piece of fuse-box wire through the inside of the hoop - but grew bored with the continuing deflection problem. Also, a friend told him to "get a life."
More from Dick later, no doubt.
The Cole Power continues: Many readers were moved by the recent story of 3-year-old Cole Patrick Thomas, who drowned outside his grandparents' home at Smith Mountain Lake in April.
Tonya Bowyer wrote to say that Cole's story ``DID make me look at my 2-year-old daughter differently, and I have definitely hugged her a little tighter this evening.''
Reader Kathy Kiger called to say that she and her son also are regular patrons of Dunkin' Donuts, where Cole often went with his parents, Tom and Shari. Kiger wanted it known that Cole was very close to doughnut-shop worker Rosa Hickman, whose obituary last month contained this quote from her boss:
"Rosa was a faithful and dedicated employee of Dunkin' Donuts on Franklin Road. Rosa was a very special person who loved people. She constantly went out of her way to help her fellow co-workers and customers. She had hundreds of friends and management was constantly receiving compliments for her excellent service."
``Rosa and Cole were very special to one another," Kathy says. "And we like to think that they're both up there now taking care of each other."
Joyce Faye Jenkins wrote to say that she hopes other parents who have lost a child can find some ``hope or meaning to a tragedy such as this.'' At Cole's funeral, which she attended, ``I have never seen such love and sympathy expressed under one roof. As I passed by the little coffin I noticed how carefully each small toy and keepsake was placed by his side."
Jenkins said she hopes people understand "what an impact this little brown-eyed boy had on his family's life.''
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