The school bus just picked up the gaggle of kids on our block. May I say, on behalf of many a Rockland parent: Woo-hooo! School’s in!
Yes, it’s a similar refrain to when school’s out for the summer. By then, we all need the break. But, now, we all need a little more structure. Even the dog seems happy about getting back on program.
So, watch for school buses, crossing guards and kids on bikes. Slow down when passing schools. And give a cheer for good old-fashion learning!

I was talking cemeteries today with Joel J. Epstein, who is, among other things, code and zoning enforcement officer/community liaison for the Town of Clarkstown. He’s done a lot of work getting Clarkstown’s interdepartmental cemetery restoration program going, including the work on the Wood family cemetery off Congers Road in downtown New City.
I was telling him about my trip there, and the subsequent patches of poison ivy on my feet because my sensible office footwear was not sensible walking-through-overgrowth footwear. Even at the beginning of the summer, you could see the work of taming the plants and other general maintenance, evidence of the work by the maintenance department’s cul-de-sc crew and other departments’ workers.
Epstein has turned into something of a cemetery expert, recommending books (“Rockland County Cemeteries� and “So That All May be Remembered,�) and the Genealogical Society of Rockland County and their cemetery listings.
He promised to send me more information on some of the fascinating cemeteries that have been re-discovered that he and other Clarkstowners are working to maintain (including ones with Revolutionary War era markings that have been lost through history).
Any other tips on interesting little-known Rockland cemeteries?

Moments ago, Virginia Tech’s football team took the field for its first game since the tragedy on April 16—my birthday—took the lives of 32 members of the university community.
Today they are hoping the healing power of sports kicks in, providing an anchor for everyone trying to channel positive energy early in a new school year.
We’ve seen how that works in Mike Piazza’s towering home run in the Mets first game after Sept. 11 and in the New Orleans Saints’ return to the Superdome after the tragedy of Katrina. And just last spring, “We are Marshall” celebrated how football helped Huntington, West Virginia, come together in the aftermath of a plane crash that wiped out their team in 1970.
A newer tragedy—the Sego Mine disaster—was fresh in the minds of West Virginians the day 32 were senselessly murdered at Virginia Tech.
Like at colleges across America, West Virginia University reached out, lending support for Virginia Tech, whose Hokies have sometimes been a bitter football rival of WVU.
Just days after the massacre, my daughter and her coed fraternity at WVU took part in a day of solidarity with the Hokies.
When Kelly arrived home a few weeks later, one of the first things she brought into the house was a T-shirt the frat had created for that observance.
It combined what’s known as the “Flying WV” logo of West Virginia University with Virginia Tech’s stylized VT logo, creating a new WVT logo, forging a new symbolic connection.
Kelly draped it over a side chair in the dining room and it’s still there today, displaying the logo under VT’s longtime slogan that’s become so familiar since April 16: “We Are Hokies.”
This weekend is Family Weekend at WVU, whose Mountaineers will play later this afternoon.
As parents and students celebrate at WVU, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to remember that rivalry, the connection in April and to reflect on just how precious life—and college life—really is.