Emily Paine Carter

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A second serving of "summer ratatouille" -- selected short subjects:

- More about the charming cornstalks growing at the Salem Farmers Market: They weren't even planted there on purpose! Farmers market manager Alice Austin said the plants are "volunteers."

She said the stalks grow from corn left over from vendor Sandra Greenwood's produce stall. The two women have tossed pieces of cobs for squirrels to munch on in the parking lot's decorative median.

"But everybody tells me how much they enjoy looking at the growing corn," Alice said. "They all ask if we'll have corn to sell. Right now, though, some squirrels are chewing on the stalks."

By the way, it's a delight talking to her -- not just for information, but also for her friendly, old-fashioned Southern accent. By the end of our chat, I was happily lapsing back into a good-ol'-girl twang. Thanks, Alice!

- And a special thank-you to Susan Willard Stevens for helping Daryel Smith with the mailing for the Andrew Lewis High School Class of 1967 ("the best") reunion.

Have you been staring at your calendar, wondering whether to attend your class reunion? GO, y'all! Chances are you'll find much in common and ridiculous, adolescent grudges forgotten -- say, there's one benefit of an aged, failing memory.

Here's a smile: One friend had been voted "Most Likely to Marry Poor" by her (out-of-state) senior class. OK, so no one goes into poetry to make the big bucks, but she is widely admired.

Not feeling successful? Not to worry: It seems like no one is into posturing and bragging, especially after five- and 10-year reunions. A more likely comment: "Aren't you glad that incident is beyond the statute of limitations?" Hey, I was not drunk, and I never even got around to losing weight, yet I enjoyed our reunion.

- But here is a Wolverine who has indeed "done good" -- and yes, somewhere English teachers are twitching over that local phrase: Mack Banner, 1966 ALHS grad.

Lorain St. Clair Myer ran into her ALHS classmate at Roanoke's airport and introduced him to her family. When her husband, Jim, asked the what-do-you-do question, Mack replied that he ran a hospital in Thailand. Turns out that Jim had just heard Mack's interview on National Public Radio regarding "operation vacations/medical tourism": Folks travel overseas for surgeries at a fraction of the U.S. cost.

Lorain lamented a misidentification by NPR as Mack "Brenner." He is chief executive officer of Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, and I'm sure that kind, talented, humble Mack is representing us well.

And to think that 40 years ago he was just an old school pal opening my practical-joke package in the Virginia Tech dining hall: my dissected frog from Mary Baldwin College Biology 101. ...Ah, good times!

- And speaking of critters: Sharon Grey Wimmer e-mailed a list of recent bear sightings -- including three she and her husband, Woody, recently saw in their Glenvar mountainside yard. They had been enjoying watching two cubs, when it occurred to them that a third -- Mama Bear -- must be nearby. They backed away from the picture window ...

For more information on the Thai hospital: www.bumrungrad.com.

For audio of the NPR story: www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7615619.