Yesterday, we received an email from a reader asking if we would print a derogatory obituary about her mother if she submitted it. Why not print the truth? she asked.

While pondering our reply, I said to myself: Must be a full moon.

A short time later, a subscriber called to tell us she was dismayed that morning to discover when she opened her Mercury that the crossword puzzle had already been completed by someone. Press operator? Newspaper carrier? Early-rising neighbor?

About midafternoon, a caller asked for the editor. I said, "This is Nancy March; I am the editor." He said, "Marge! I got a great story for you."

He then proceeded to tell me that Jim Baker saved his life and he could tell me the truth about Tammy Faye. After several minutes of repeating his "story," he stopped in mid-sentence and asked, "This is CNN, right?"

Today, a local businessman, who is one of my regular fans, called before I got to my desk this morning. No sooner was I done returning his call then another regular, this one the opposite of a fan, stopped by the front desk to lodge his complaint of the month.

Next, an unsigned letter came in the mail suggesting that instead of riding a bicycle in the rain, I investigate the "real corruption" in Pottstown. The writer also mailed a photocopy of the letter to the home of another staff person. Information about the "real corruption" was hidden amidst HA-HAs and smiley faces.

A full moon?

Meanwhile, the computers are acting up more than usual and while driving through town on a lunch break today, I saw two intersections with green lights out. Just the green. The red and yellow worked fine.

Last night, while leaving a restaurant after a delightful dinner with a group of cousins, I looked skyward and saw what appeared to be a full moon rising. But a second look showed that the moon was almost full, but needs another day or two to reach its complete stage of "lunacy" (sorry ...).

So it's a full moon rising. It's still a day or two away -- stay tuned for what tomorrow brings.