The Press-Dispatch

Parental This fall has brought about a few home invaders, but none is more prevalent than the brown marmorated stink bug. Mul- tiple reports of home invasions from this insect pest have oc- curred in the past week as tempera- tures rose back into the 80s. Al- though no easy control meth- od exists for this bug, some considerations can be made to lessen their impact. Two reasons exist for a fall invasion of a pest. One in- volves the harvest season and lack of vegetation for an- imals like mice or snakes to hide and feed around. The oth- er involves the return of cool- er temperatures outside and the relatively warm tempera- tures that brick, concrete, and indoor heat provide. Asian la- dy beetles, stink bugs, mice, snakes, cave crickets, spiders, and more begin to migrate to- wards houses in the autumn for this reason, but no mutu- al exclusivity in the reasons abides. The brown marmorated stink bug was fi rst scientifi - cally confi rmed in the Unit- ed States in Pennsylvania in 2001, but carcasses have been found dating to 1996, accord- ing to the USDA. A fter the ini- tial confi rmation, rapid spread oc- curred, with speci- mens in Indiana by the end of the de- cade. Brown mar- morated stink bug infestations have ebbed and fl owed in Indiana since that time, although au- tumn weather con- ditions do infl uence total pop- ulations to invade homes. Other stink bug species ex- ist, although the brown mar- morated are most notorious as fall home invaders. The green stink bug, for some reason, happens to be green and in- fests fi eld and garden crops during the summer. Brown stink bugs are also more na- tive and can be pests of these crops, although native preda- tors and conditions do exist to mitigate their populations. Brown stink bugs and brown marmorated stink bugs dif- fer in two distinct ways. By appearance, surprisingly, the brown marmorated stink bug is marmorated. If you look at the traditional stink bug shield-like appearance, the difference shows on the edg- es. Brown stink bugs vary a little bit in light to dark color- ation, while the brown mar- morated stink bugs vary more greatly. In addition, the brown marmorated stink bug has white bands on the anten- nae and legs, while other stink bugs lack those bands. Final- ly, other brown stink bugs ex- hibit pointed shoulders on the shield, while brown mar- morated stink bugs show round shoulders. For those willing to stop and really take a look at the stink bugs, per- haps a few traditional stink bugs may mix in with the in- vasive marmorated variety. Control of these insects begins fi rst with exclusion. Wherein the stink bugs fi nd themselves inside the home, evaluation of potential entry points with emphasis on seal- ing cracks and openings is warranted. Caulking windows may help, while steel wool in crawl space openings will like- wise prevent entry. The stink bugs will infest close to the lo- cation where they initially en- tered at the start of the cool season. Once the bugs reach the indoors, insecticidal op- tions should be left to profes- sionals to prevent accidental inhalation. The best option for insect death when indoors involves hand grabbing and placing in soapy water. Avoid squishing the bugs to avoid their odor. Outdoors, contact insecticides exist, and the la- bel should be consulted for determination of appropriate species control. For more in- formation on stink bugs, con- tact Hans at hschmitz@pur- due.edu or 812-838 -1331. Katiedid Versus Cold skin By Katiedid Langrock "Do you need a cane? " my 4-year-old asked me on a hike. "You look pretty old." "How old do you think I am? " I asked her, hunched over, teeth chattering. "Hmm, about 88," she said so innocently it was almost endear- ing. Almost. "Eighty-eight?! " I ex- claimed. "I'm still in my 30s." "What? You're younger than Grammy? No way." I'm not sure whether I should be more concerned about her lack of civility or her lack of math and lineage awareness. "Yes, darling, I'm younger than Grammy." The weather has turned in Montana, where our RV has been stationed for the past couple of weeks. At night, we often hit below freez- ing. During the day, it's in the 50s and raining sporad- ically. I bundle the children up in sweatshirts and coats, hats and mittens, only to be reminded, as I am always re- minded this time of year, that children are actually X-Men and feel no cold. You wouldn't know they feel no cold, nos- es red and dripping, fi ngers white, teeth chattering, and yet... Every parent who expe- riences snow days knows what I'm talking about, the kids running up and sled- ding down the hill while the parents huddle in a circle like a waddle of emperor pen- guins, heads down, backs to the wind, risking hypother- mia to break from the waddle every few minutes to give a thumbs-up and a "yeah, I saw that! " to their respective chil- dren, asking in a not-quite- pushy way whether it's time to go home because it is, af- ter all, getting kind of cold. And didn't your child used to have a nose? It must've fall- en off on the 148th trip down the hill. It's often around this time when my children will say something about how my age has given me thin skin and I can't handle the plea- sures of the great outdoors when the temperature drops below 60. And there is proba- bly some validity to that. I'd like to argue, however, that my age has made me human and that somehow our youths are actually mutant crea- tures. Their veins fl ow with hot chocolate, their baby fat magically lined with whatev- er magical insulation is in the coats climbers wear when they scale Everest. The ba- by fat probably crackles like a warm Yule log, shimmers blue and plays music. All my adult fat is just, well, fat. And I'm cold. I checked on the children as they played. My daughter was in a tank top. My son was in shorts. I could've sworn I'd sent them outside in dif- ferent clothes. "You did," my 8 -year-old said proudly, pointing to a makeshift nest, where their jackets formed a circle fi lled with grass and topped with all sorts of stuffed animals. "We made a nest. We're hatching king co- bra eggs! " I took off my hat and put it on my son's head. I took off my sweatshirt and wrapped it around my daughter. I went inside and poured myself more hot coffee and got un- der the covers. When I went back outside, my sweatshirt had been made into a cradle. "You're a grandma! " my son declared as I bent over, shivering. The imaginary king cobra eggs had hatched. At least now that I'm a grand- ma, my look matches my family position. Last week, my family was at Glacier National Park. There was a 5 -mile hike that initially, only my son and I could do because the park- ing lot was always full. My husband and daughter want- ed to do the hike, too, so on our last day there, we tried to fi nd a parking spot again and were successful — but only because it was a cold, rainy day. The kids, of course, were not deterred by the weather. The kids wanted to go. I bundled them and my- self up, and up we went, into the icy rain. "Mama! " My son said ex- citedly. "I can't feel my fi n- gers! Isn't that cool? " I looked at his hands. They were white. I took off my sweatshirt from under my poncho and wrapped it around his hands. "What about me? " my daughter said. "I can't feel my hands, either." Neither child seemed too bummed by the pending frostbite. I knew I'd given them gloves, but they'd probably offered them to a chipmunk. I took off my poncho and put it around my daughter. She looked like E.T. trick-or-treating. Her hands warmed up. Walking back down the mountain, I was drenched and hunched to keep warm. "Do you need a cane? " my daughter asked. "You look pretty old." I should've asked for her mutant baby fat instead. But, "Yes." Follow Katiedid Langrock on Instagram, at instagram. com/writeinthewild. D-6 Wednesday, October 14, 2020 The Press-Dispatch Down on the Farm By Hans Schmitz, Purdue Extension Educator Invasion of the stink bugs Sweet's Column By Barbara Sweet To enter the Birthday Club, email your name, ad- dress, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@ pressdispatch.net. Only the person's name, town and birth- day will appear in the paper. As an added bonus, one lucky person each month will receive a free three month Press-Dispatch subscription. This month's birthdays have a chance to win a $25 gift certifi cate to Sue's Flowers, Gifts and Country Gather- ings, in Oakland City. THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS Rosella Hill ................................. Winslow ........... 10/15 Casey O'Brien ........................... Petersburg ......... 10/17 Allen Pancake .............................. Otwell ............ 10/18 Lester Willis ............................... Princeton .......... 10/19 Ethan Rembe .......................... Oakland City ....... 10/19 Azalin Vennard .......................... Petersburg ........ 10/19 Virginia Richardson ................... Petersburg ......... 10/19 Jill Estey ...................................... Otwell ............10/20 THIS MONTH'S SPONSOR Flowers, Gifts & Country Gatherings 310 W. Morton St., Oakland City 812-749-4500 • www.SuesFlowersIN.com SATURDAY, OCT. 17 • 10am EDT at the 4999 Camp Lane,Velpen , IN Auction pick-up available! KALEB CLARIDGE AU11700062 Follow on Auctionzip.com • ID# 46613 • is auction is featuring a backhoe, dump truck, Harley motorcycle, vehicles, saw mill, implements, all types of tools, antiques, bottle collection, 75+ pocket knives, gold and silver coins, unusual items, cast iron, military items, furniture and so much more! CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR AUCTION! No Buyer's Premium. AUCTION CAMP LIVING ESTATE Lic. #AU10800006 812-598-3936 Call Johny Ray for Details THURSDAY, OCT. 29 at 3:30pm CDT 114 E SR 68, LYNNVILLE Items of interest include 90 Guns, Gun Safes, Gun Parts, Chevy 2500 Truck, Trailer, Motorcycle, 4 Wheeler, Tools, Antiques & Furniture Estate of Brett Hilsmeyer & Julia Raibley PUBLIC AUCTION Hilsmeyer Estate & Raibley Collection GUNS, VEHICLES & TOOLS REAL ESTATE TRANSFERS Church Alive, Inc. conveys to State of Indiana, real es- tate as recorded in Pike County. Vicki L. McClure, Peggy D. Williams, Kristeena C. Rhodes and Martin Beck convey to James Wade and Pat- ty Wade, real estate as recorded in Pike County. Kayla Renae Cunningham conveys to Austin J. Law- rence, real estate as recorded in Pike County. Zachary Spencer Robinson Trustee and Dale F. Robin- son Irrevocable Trust convey to William Michael Martin, real estate as recorded in Pike County. Hi stars and welcome to the big stage all lit up in bright au- tumn lights and decorated to help celebrate with all our stars who will have a birthday or anniversary in the week of October 15 -21. Don't be shy. Come up onto this stage and take a bow. October 15 -Alexis Sim- mons; Rosella Hill turns 73; Anthony and Mykle Faith cel- ebrate 3 years. October 16 -Elaina Grace McGehee turns 14; David Miller turns 69; Hilda Schap- ker turns 97; Marlene Erwin; Mike Poehlein; Travis and Ashley Atkins celebrate an- other year. October 17-Justin Knight turns 35; Hunter Moore turns 13; Ruthie Kopple; Shauna Meyer. October 18 -Vanessa Ed- wards turns 48; Cooper Clif- ton Smith turns 11; Sara Baumgart; Emma Jo Schrief- er turns 16; Austin Lemond turns 9; Nancy Reutepohler turns 53. October 19 -Jim McFarland turns 56; Ronald Harper turns 61; Jeremy Epley turns 43; Au- brey Renee Schroering turns 5. October 20 -Rita Johnson. October 21-Jessica Meyer turns 41; Kavin Gayhart turns 31; Sarah Thompson turns 31; Mike and Darla Whitney cele- brate 3 years. May all our stars have a re- ally great day and may all your wishes come true. Keep in your heart and in your prayers all our stars who have COVID-19, those with colds and allergies, those go- ing through surgery and re- covering; and those who suf- fer with the aches and pains of everyday life: Ted and Terri Ann, Janice, Marie, Annabel, Lanora and all those at Amber Manor. EVENTS October 15 -Winslow Lions meets at 7 p.m. at the Gamble House; Winslow Parks Board at 7 p.m. at the Community Center. October 19 -Winslow Fire Dept. training at 6:30 p.m. at the station house. October 24-Winslow Ma- sonic Lodge pork chop din- ner, carry-out only, starting at 11 a.m. October 31-Halloween. Winslow American Legion and Winslow Lions will have a Halloween contest at 4 p.m. behind the American Legion; Sweets Column Halloween Yard Decoration in the city limits of Winslow. We will give out a small treat to those who decorate their yard to bring smiles to the faces of kids and adults. November 1-Daylight Sav- ing Time ends, set clocks back one hour. November 3-Election Day. Do your part as a citizen of this great county and vote for the person you feel will serve best. Winslow and Petersburg se- niors will not meet again un- til Governor Holcomb gives the okay. Sweets Column, Winslow, IN 47598 received no post- cards this week, but we do have one point of interest. Winslow Patoka River is low and the rain we got Saturday night, October 3, wasn't even a drop in the bucket to make much of a difference. On Mon- day morning, Winslow had a front, then on Tuesday, Oc- tober 6, we could open the windows, but at night, they were closed. Wednesday into Thursday, the windows were opened again and the cool air at night felt great. This won't last too long, but to have the air fl ow through the house was refreshing. The trees seem to change colors every day now from green to yellow, red and brown. Some are yellow and others have red, then the orange pops through. The bushes and smaller trees are changing to that reddish purple color. The mums look great as the colors of purple, yellow and red accent the fl ow- er spaces. Use these in deco- ration for the holidays. Last Saturday morning, October 3, Laura, Norm and I took Mom home and on the way, I-64 had spots of tree col- ors that we could enjoy. The Wabash River was low enough that the sandbar, which is usu- ally under water, had fi sh- ermen on it. The Little Wa- bash that is always full and overfl owing was low enough I could see two tires in the wa- ter. Rend Lake was even low with the white cranes at the waters edge, and a few fi sh- ermen on the lake. Every year around this time, for about two weeks, the white pelicans come for a visit. Mom was going to go so she could enjoy seeing them on the lake. Another area where the ponds were drying up was by the power plant on Hwy 64 at east Mt. Carmel. You can see the concrete blocks. A fter we got to George's and unloaded Ava, the eight of us went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant in Mt. Vernon, Ill., and caught up on what has gone on these past couple of weeks. Jacari got his permit to drive and he is driv- ing really well. Instead of com- ing back on I-64, we took our old Route 15, where almost ev- ery yard was decorated in the Halloween spirit. The fi elds were being harvested and a lot of new houses have gone up. It was great to have Mom here and when she comes back for her birthday on Hal- loween maybe Terri Ann and Ted can visit also. They are both doing well, but like us all, there are days that the body says it's not going to move so you try to deal with it, but like Terri Ann says, "it has gone to Florida or Alaska and didn't take her." Ted is slowly getting better and the hurts will ease in the next four weeks of heal- ing. Last week in the Press-Dis- patch, you saw the picture of Winslow Deputy James Har- rington and K-9 Jagger. A fter he was sworn in at the drive- up window, I got to meet our new part-time deputy and I heard Jagger. He is a person who will joke around and that is a great personality trait that all our Winslow offi cers have. Welcome to the Town of Winslow Deputy Harrington and K-9 Jagger. Last week, our two town workers swept Main St. from one end to the other end, plus more, not with a street sweep- er but by their two feet and push brooms. It looks great, guys. Our two humming- birds are still around as I have seen them at the feeder and I may have to refi ll one feed- er again. They love that one. I was sitting in the front room when I heard a crackle, then some- thing fell, not hard, onto the roof. When I stepped outside to see where it was, I saw a limb still hanging onto the tree but it had fallen onto half the roof. Now to get it off the roof and fi gure out how to cut the limb. It's high in the tree. We had driven through Campbelltown and there are several trees that are beautiful in color and in shape. Then, I looked over to a wooded sec- tion and several colors were seen. Besides the trees, sev- eral yards have added to the blow-up characters, such as two dragons have added an- other small dragon, and a large pumpkin head man in another yard. I also love the orange and black-checkered pumpkin of wood. Speaking of yards, Sweets Column Yard Decoration in the city limits of Winslow will be coming up and we will give out a small treat to those who decorate for the kids and adults to enjoy as they trick or treat. I also saw scary yards, but the non-scary yards are calming for some little ones. Have fun as you decorate, it's for all the children. The Open Fun Horse Show was on October 3. We haven't heard how many entries or what fun the Winslow Lions had, but at the meeting com- ing up, I hope to fi nd out what exciting enjoyment was had by everyone. I haven't written anything else down to talk about, so the lights are about to dim for this week. Please check in on fam- ily and friends to see how they are faring. Slow down and see all the wonders in your area. Stop for school buses. As al- ways, smile, wave and say "hi" to everyone you see this week.

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