TODAY'S column
John C. Bernhartsen
Entering that terminal, he ran into an old friend he'd shared a room with in 1948, halfway around the world in Tokyo, who himself was going to a new posting in Europe.
Ten minutes' difference in flight times and they'd have missed each other entirely.
In 1974, Bernhartsen attended a large Smithsonian folk festival on the Mall in D.C.
"Wandering around, I heard some music I recognized and went over and talked to a couple as they came off the dance floor," he said. "It turned out to be my cousin's daughter and her husband, and he played my uncle's violin. My mother's family resides in a small mountain valley in central Norway."
Kelly Hicks of Fredericksburg had a response that mixed reactions to the small-world column and several on readers' favorite getaways.
The trip she was still excited about was a journey to Lockport, N.Y., where her family enjoyed a cruise on the Erie Canal.
"While on board, crew member Jeff Smith joined us to point out landmarks along the way and share the incredible history of the Erie Canal," she said. "He asked where we were from, and we said Fredericksburg. He became more animated, and said his brother lives here and was recently given an award for Officer of the Year" in a nearby jurisdiction.
"He spoke with such pride, lauding his brother's achievement in law enforcement," she said. "The sense of family and connection to Fredericksburg was palpable."
Ben Blankenship of Stafford County responded to a column about the difficulty people have saying some place and business names around here.
"When I first moved down to Stafford from Falls Church, my friends had fun with Foul-Mouth," he said of their attempts at saying Falmouth.
On one occasion, while living in Aquia Harbour, he and his wife were having dinner at the old Shoney's in Aquia Towne Center.
"A traveling couple, fresh off I-95, sat down in the booth next to ours and started chatting with the waitress," he said. Perplexed by the sign out front, they "asked her how to pronounce where they were."
He said she immediately replied "Show-nees," as if it needed a pronunciation key. "She had us all in stitches."
Blankenship's father and others always had trouble with Aquia, which he said many twisted into "Akee-yah."
Several letters to me or to our Letters to the Editor section attempted to explain a bizarre circle in the grass that was the focus of a column.
Reader Andy Garlington suggested the perfectly round ring of dead grass might be what's known as a fairy ring, fairy circle, elf circle or pixie ring.
He included a description from Wikipedia, explaining that the circles are naturally occurring rings or arcs caused by mushrooms.
"The rings may grow over 10 meters in diameter and become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground," said the description. "They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands."
It said the rings are also detectable by dead grass or a ring of dark green grass.
"That's my theory," said Garlington. "Oh, and you should warn the lady not to step inside the circle, especially at night when the moon is full, because she'll be doomed to eternity in the fairies' kingdom!"
Rob Hedelt: 540/374-5415
Email: rhedelt@freelancestar.com