RED RASPBERRIES have gone by but the blackberries are deliciously ripe. RLawn sales and golden rod are in full bloom. Hydrangeas are big as balloons this year. Last week the paving company pieced some pavement into the patchwork of the main drag through town. At Norwich, signs to welcome the football team appeared. August is slipping away.

Above the Common, the sky was large, blue and rounded the day we checked. “OPEN” flags flutter from the front of some shops and American flags seem to be flying everywhere. We said goodbye to DeFelice’s Sandwich Shop after 15 tasty years, last week. One store closes, another opens.

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Apparently some residents are not keeping up in eating their fair share of zucchini and summer squash because there are boxes of the stuff abandoned here and there around town, free to anyone who wants to be one with the rest of the community.

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Tom Kingston wrote in about the aerial photo printed in the June 10 edition. He said it looked like a bit of the former Kingston Farm at the foot of Dole Hill, Norwich and the Norwich tank course and may have been taken during a plane ride when he and a Viet Nam vet named Fairbanks rented a single engine plane at Knapp Airport and took off with Fairbanks as pilot.

Tom wrote, “It wasn’t long before we were over Northfield. I had him swing around over Dole Hill and take several pictures. Whether this is one, I’m not sure because I never saw them. He asked me if I ever had been in an airplane that went straight up and would stall out and not go any further. When I said no, he said hang on. We were as high as it would go and he pushed the stick forward. Down we went. I could see Northfield Common. The canopy flew off and caught on the rear of the plane. My cheeks were pushed in with all the pressure. He finally pulled out of it. I said back to the airport. Fast! We flew over the top of another plane and landed. Thank God.”

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Diane Knowles flew home to Brechin, Scotland this summer, the same time that Prince Andrew was visiting the town. No, she did not see him. Diane and twelve other members of the family attended a family wedding in England and spent time visiting there. “It was just a nice trip,” she said. “The English Channel was nice and blue and calm.”

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There was mischief before the annual pork supper at the United Church. One day, three portly pink plywood porkers were placed on the church lawn to proclaim the supper. One evening, mischief prevailed. One pig went to Messier Hill, one went down to the Common, and one stayed home. The police picked up the wandering pigs and returned them to the church. We also heard that the supper was a success.

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Our computer was electrocuted earlier this month in one of the major storms and it took us a while, and lots of money, to replace it. Now, once again, you may send your common news to us at commontalk@transvideo. net.