There's always plenty of drama, even in lazy days of summer

Who said there's not enough midsummer drama in Naperville?

Last week alone, the human experience played out on a variety of venues from an old home in downtown Naperville to a new pedestrian bridge over Route 59 near 95th Street and from local headlines to national magazines.

For me personally, the picture of comedy began last Tuesday when a friend called first thing to mock the distorted way my headshot misprinted with this column in some editions of the Neighbor section. To my delight, other readers teased about my "new photo," too. The good news is I became acquainted with a bunch of folks who read the hard copy of the Daily Herald.

Pressing my luck

You may recall that shortly after I recounted a childhood memory about finding a four-leaf clover back when I was 12, I found a second one in Buttonwood Park while walking our dog. (Supposedly, the odds of finding a four-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000.)

I put it between two pieces of absorbent newsprint (Luckily, we still have newspapers!), and placed it under "clover" in a big dictionary. One week later, as per instructions on how to press and preserve flowers for art projects, I opened the dictionary to discover a perfectly flattened keepsake, suitable for framing.

Also last week, Naperville again was fortunate to be recognized among the top three "Best Places to Live in America" by Money Magazine for the third year in a row. The news came while some homeowners set the stage to save the Queen Anne style home built in 1893 at 432 E. Chicago Avenue from being demolished.

Several individuals sent suggestions on how to restore the stately Victorian known as the Hammerschmidt House. One idea is for residents, real estate brokers and attorneys to join together to purchase the landmark with hopes local contractors could donate services to rehab the structure and save its historical significance. Another reader suggested contacting the folks who produce the home-improvement television series "This Old House."

The specific conditions for purchase as well as photos are available from Naper Settlement's web site at www.napersettlement.museum.

High maintenance

While I'd like to help champion saving the house, my 20-year-old house needs attention of its own. A little late with spring cleaning, we filled our garage with no-longer-usable items from our basement as well as many unopened boxes from our move here 15 years ago. We called for a dumpster and filled it to capacity in one day. And that was just an overdue start.

We dug up overgrown shrubbery planted when our house was built and chopped off low lying limbs from tall trees, some of which we'd planted. Then we called the tree care experts to trim the tree tops.

Our little Papillion Karl chewed out the tree trimmer from her front row seat at our bay window while he fed the noisy wood chipper.

Listening to Karl bark while the branches turned into mulch brought to mind some advice from our neighbor about cocoa mulch, a popular type of mulch with a rich chocolaty look and sweet aroma manufactured from the cocoa bean. Though dark chocolate may be the rage for a healthy heart in humans, cocoa mulch contains the ingredient Theo bromine which can be highly toxic to dogs if they ingest it.

According to Hershey's, one manufacturer of the mulch, most dogs won't eat it. But if you're a dog lover, you might want to spread the word about cocoa mulch, just in case.

Act tomorrow

Officials from Naperville, Aurora and Plainfield urge residents to take part in a Call to Action beginning at 6 p.m. tomorrow in regard to the proposed Canadian National Railway acquisition of Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway. The FYI Town Hall meeting will be held at Waubonsie Valley High School's Gold Campus, 1305 Long Grove Drive in Aurora.

The formal presentation begins at 7 p.m.

The main issue of concern is the potential increase in railroad traffic at local railroad crossings.

For more information, visit www.naperville.il.us.

Summer vacation, it seems, is a time to pay attention to the drama in Naperville.

With that, I'll leave you with the greeting on my neighbor's doormat: "No camera crews."

• Stephanie Penick writes about Naperville. Contact her at spenneydh@aol.com.