The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1242000
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, April 29, 2020 B-1 HOME LIFE TO ADVERTISE: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: ads@pressdispatch.net Visit: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg Deadline: 5 p.m. on Monday Down on the Farm Assessing frost damage in the landscape NOW AVAILABLE Provider-by-Phone Appointments New Provider-by-Phone Appointments Available! In order to protect patients and staff from the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), Gibson General is now offering telehealth office visits over the phone in select provider offices. Established patients of the providers listed below can schedule telehealth telephone and video call visits to speak to their provider without ever stepping foot in the office. To schedule your Provider-by-Phone appointment, please call one of the following numbers: - Dr. Brink or Curtis Earnest, FNP-C ......................................................... 812-386-7522 - Dr. Clark, Dr. Wells or Tabitha Newman, FNP-C .................................... 812-386-7001 - Dr. Carter or Dr. McCord ....................................................................... 812-385-9420 - Cheryl Simpson, FNP-BC ....................................................................... 812-615-5071 For more information, visit gibsongeneral.com/Provider-By-Phone Not all appointments can be done by phone, and it may be recommended that you be seen in the office. Cheryl Simpson, FNP-BC Ft. Branch Rural Health Clinic STOVETOP CHEESEBURGER PASTA MEALS IN Monica's MINUTES By Monica Sinclair Right now, most people are having to pinch their pennies. It can be tough to feed a family on a tight budget and you might be struggling to come up with ideas on how to do that. Hope- fully, I can help over the next few weeks and give you crea- tive ways to stretch your dollar into an amazing meal. This week, I found a recipe that almost everyone in your family should agree on. I mean, not too many people will say no to cheese- burgers or pasta. This recipe combines the two and it won't break the bank. Enjoy! INGREDIENTS • 1 package (16 ounc- es) penne pasta • 1 pound ground beef • 1/4 cup butter, cubed • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour • 2 cups 2 % milk • 1-1/4 cups beef broth • 1 tablespoon Worces- tershire sauce • 3 teaspoons ground mustard • 2 cans (14-1/2 ounc- es each) diced toma- toes, drained • 4 green onions, chopped • 3 cups shredded Col- by-Monterey Jack cheese, divided • 2/3 cup grated Par- mesan cheese, di- vided DIRECTIONS 1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. 2. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook and crumble beef over medium heat until no longer pink, 5 -7 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon; pour off drippings. 3. In same pan, melt butter over low heat; stir in flour until smooth. Cook and stir until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes (do not burn). 4. Gradually whisk in milk, broth, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Bring to a boil, stirring con- stantly; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes. 5. Stir in tomatoes; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 5 minutes. 6. Stir in green onions, pasta and beef; heat through. 7. Stir in half of the cheeses until melted. Sprinkle with remaining cheese; remove from heat. Let stand, covered, until melted. Source: tasteof home.com MANAGING YOUR child's fears DURING THE PANDEMIC YOUTH FIRST TODAY By Shannon Loehrlein Youth First, Inc. COVID-19 has led us into unchart- ed territory. Never before have schools across the country closed because of a pandemic. As adults we may be worried about the future. How long will schools and businesses remain closed? We may al- so be worried about how closures will affect our monthly bills, paychecks, and childcare. Children are worried too, but they worry about different things. Children are concerned about missing school, completing virtual assignments, and missed play time with friends. My 5 -year old has been asking when she can go back to school to be with friends. As adults, we don't know the answers to a lot of these questions, but there are some things we can do to help manage our children's fears. Below are some tips for parents and caregivers. First, manage your own anxiety about the situation. As parents we are naturally anxious about this situation. This is a good opportunity to help our child co-regulate. If we can manage our own emotions, then our children will see positive coping skills in action. Let your child know it's okay to talk through their emotions. Allow them to ask questions, but don't feel like you must have an answer to all of their ques- tions. Listening is powerful. Some- times all we can do is say, "I can un- derstand why you feel that way." Chil- dren need to feel heard and validated. Limit your child's exposure to news. This is also helpful for adults. In the 24-hour news cycle it can be tempting to watch the news all day. It is impor- tant to stay informed but not oversatu- rated. Watching too much news can in- still fear and anxiety in children. Keep a schedule. Many parents are being forced to either work from home or find emergency daycare placement with family or friends during this time. Kids thrive on a schedule, and their usual routine has been disrupted. Kids of all ages–and even adults–do not do as well when they are off of their nor- mal schedule. So create a new sched- ule, and try to organize your child's day during typical school hours. You can find free examples of schedules online. Make sure you limit digital time. Al- though students have virtual learn- ing built into their day, make sure you weave in play time and non-digi- tal time throughout the day. Excessive use of electronics can increase anxiety, so make sure your child takes breaks from electronics during the day. Encourage outdoor play. Kids are used to outdoor recess. Even if the weather forecast is not ideal, encour- age kids to go outdoors in between the rain showers. They need to be able to run around and play to release energy and stress. Teach your kids coping skills. Exer- cise, belly breathing, and talking about their feelings are going to be really im- portant during this time. Also encour- age your children (especially teenag- ers) to reach out to their friends by phone and text. For teenagers, relation- ships with peers are very important. Lastly, use this time to reconnect as a family. Normally our busy schedules leave us little quality time with family. Use this time to play board games, have family meals, and connect. There are some helpful COVID-19 family care resources at Youth First's website – youthfirstinc.org. Look for the red COVID-19 Family Care but- ton at the top of the home page. Check them out and put them into practice with your family. This column is written by Shannon Loehrlein, LCSW, school social work- er for Youth First, Inc., a local nonprof- it dedicated to strengthening youth and families. Youth First provides 59 Mas- ter's level social workers to 81 schools in 10 Indiana counties. Over 39,500 youth and families per year have access to Youth First's school social work and after-school programs that prevent sub- stance abuse, promote healthy behaviors, and maximize student success. By Hans Schmitz Purdue Extension Educator hschmitz@purdue.edu The evenings of April 15 and 16 brought the last freeze of the year. The last freeze prior to that one oc- curred on March 7 and 8, according to the NWS station at the Evansville airport. The climatological normal for the last freeze of the year is between April 2 and 9. Between the unseason- ably last freeze and the lack of freez- ing temperatures for such a long period between events, southwest Indiana re- ceived quite a bit of freeze or frost dam- age two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the true extent of damage in many plants takes a little time to show itself in the landscape, as damaged tissue fails to grow while healthy tissue expands. Now is the time to be checking plants for any signs of sustained damage. In the lawn, grass was probably not greatly affected by the cold, ex- cept in areas where wildlife may have moved through while frost was on the ground. The indicative sign here are brown footprints or hoofprints in the grass. Other grassy plants like wheat or rye that might be grown for seed rather than mown need closer inspec- tion. Freeze damage on leaf tissue usu- ally is referred to as tip burn, as the tips of the leaves are exposed to cool- er temperatures and show the most dieback. The edges of the leaves fur- ther down may show some dieback ex- tending down to healthy tissue. For wheat, heads have been forming and will soon emerge from the sheath of the plant. Peeling back the stem of the plant to inspect the color of the head will de- termine plant health. Brown heads in the sheath are dead and rot- ting. White heads in the sheath may emerge but not carry any reproduc- tive capacity, and the af- fected white area in this event probably would not extend the en- tire length of the head, resulting in on- ly partial sterilization. Broadleaves are pretty uniform in symptomology. On leaves and flow- ers, tip burn exists, with extreme ex- posure resulting in leaf cupping and to- tal necrosis (death) over time. Some broadleaf plants will have a secondary flush of leaf growth that will overtake the affected tissue and allow for a rel- atively normal year later. Other plants may slow their growth as a result or show mild chlorosis (discoloration) un- til returning to rapid leafing out. Se- verely affected plants may lose their leaves for the year and begin again next year, although this event was not se- vere enough to have this result locally. Trees will be the interestingly af- fected by the cold spell. Fruit trees will have lost buds, flowers, and fruit for the year, particularly on early developing species like peaches and cherries. Or- namental fruit trees may have had their bloom period shortened by a few days, resulting in that tree in the backyard that is so ugly 95 per cent of the year being ugly 98 per cent of this year and still be a bear to mow around. We all have that tree that is some type of ornamental fruit tree but is so despised that the precise species has nev- er been researched for fear of giving evil a name. Digres- sion aside, trees are tall things. Tem- peratures tend to decrease as one ris- es in the atmosphere. A mild freeze event at the surface could be a major freeze event forty to sixty feet above the ground. Particularly for some old maple trees this year, seed production occurred at about the same time as the freeze. Both seed and leaf tissue are showing interesting discoloration. Some other trees are showing leaf out near the ground with very delayed leaf show at the top of the canopy that may present differences throughout the growing season. Careful inspection of plants in the landscape will show a myr- iad of different reactions to the unsea- sonably late freeze. For more informa- tion on this or what is probably an orna- mental cherry but one refuses to know for sure, contact Hans at hschmitz@ purdue.edu or 812-838 -1331.