Guscio: Nervous squirrel visits The Store - if only briefly

Spring brings out the best of most things. Everything is bursting free from the winter slumber blahs. We can leave our windows and doors open and enjoy letting the outside in.

The other day I heard a loud shriek from one side of my store. It seems a squirrel raced in the open door and was frightened before running into a storage closet to hide. The animal could not be coaxed out no matter what. Nothing could be done to shoo it out again.

Fortunately - or unfortunately for the squirrel - the monthly cleaning ladies arrived with lots of armour and loud equipment. They were told about the enterloper in hiding and prepared themselves for battle. The vacuum cleaner was turned on and off and they marched into the closet. You never saw a faster departure.

I was glad because a squirrel was inside once before and had no mercy on anything during his night spent in The Store. You just never know who might drop in for a visit at my store ...the Easter Bunny is coming Saturday.

More time for Bluffton

Lash and Tom Woodcock were here last week with a batch of their besties from Macon , Ga. Tom has just retired from a very busy dental practice so he and Lash have lots more time to spend at their Bluffton Holiday House. I am so glad because I get to have more fun with them.

Imported snow makes the race

For the first time in the Iditarod history, Alaska's 43 -year-old annual dog sled race, snow had to be imported from Fairbanks via train. Snow has been non-existant so to speak this year in that spot.

The train brought enough snow to cover a ceremonial small area with two inches of the white stuff. The starting route had to be shortened from 11 miles to 3 miles.

I guess those snow machine “snow days” here on Hilton Head may not be so crazy after all. They could be used anywhere.

Old customs fit like a glove

We all think of gloves as something quite mundane. They keep our hands toasty warm in the winter and, not long ago, were de riguer for ladies to wear day and night - pristine and white to church and parties.

It was the fashion until 1850s to give gloves as presents to guests at weddings and funerals. Your station in life dictated the quality of the gloves you were given. Some gloves were so elaborate it might have taken three or four craftspersons to fashion the beautiful ones that can be seen in many old portraits.

Pairs of gloves were also exchanged between lovers. In the 16th to 18th century, one removed a glove to give to a favorite person. When King George IV died, his executors found more than a thousand miss-matched ladies' gloves among his possessions. Oh my!

Feeding the world

On April 26 The Global Food Security Symposium will be held in Washington, DC.

This event is invitation only, but anyone interested in agriculture and food policy can participate for free on-line.

This year the focus will be on how to bring small farmers into the supply chain that will feed the world’s increasing urban population. Go to thechicagocouncil.org for more.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Guscio: Nervous squirrel visits The Store - if only briefly."