You’ve been warned: No trespassing at Biden’s house

I like to drive by President Joe Biden’s house in North Shores every few months. There’s a professional responsibility associated with covering Biden, but there’s also a general fascination with having the president’s house here in the Cape Region. Maybe it’s a curiosity born from growing up near Kennebunkport, Maine, when President George H.W. Bush and then his son President George W. Bush occupied the White House. After a while, you get used it, but it’s still the president’s house.

In advance of Biden’s visit this past weekend, I drove by his home for an updated photo of the exterior. I don’t always stop when I drive by, but the last photo I took was in August, which means there were leaves on the trees.

While there, I noticed a new addition to the gated security wall – a small metal sign advising passersby that what’s on the other side of that wall is a restricted area and do not enter. I’m not sure when it was added, but it’s not on the gate in the photo that I have from August.

What really caught my attention was the sentence at the bottom of the sign that says, “This area is restricted as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Section 1752.” I was curious what this section of code said, so I looked it up. The code makes it a federal crime to trespass on restricted federal buildings and grounds. There’s a subsection specifically listing any place where the president and other people are protected by the Secret Service. I’d say Biden’s beach house falls under that umbrella.

To me, the sign says, “We know that you know this is the president’s house. Feel free to stop and take a photo, or maybe even protest, but you’ve been warned that if you come too much closer, linger too long or try to restrict us from entering, the status quo will change quickly.” It reminds me of the handful of interactions I’ve had with the Secret Service since Biden has become president. The agents are quite willing to carry on a conversation with members of the public, but the underlying feeling is that courtesy only extends as far as the imaginary line their feet create. Cross that line and the polite conversation will end.

An extra day to walk The Point

This is the annual reminder that the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control will be closing The Point in Cape Henlopen State Park soon.

Every year on March 1, in the name of protecting the area’s threatened and endangered beach nesters and migratory shorebirds, The Point is closed to vehicular and foot traffic. The beach side will reopen Sept. 1, while the bay side will reopen Oct. 1. The good news is it’s a leap year, so there’s an extra day to walk The Point.

After all these years, I still don’t see why the area needs to be closed to pedestrian traffic during the summer. I don’t know about anyone else, but my dog and I don’t come anywhere close to catching the piping plovers when we chase them around the beaches that aren’t closed off.

Joke of the Week:

Since it is a leap year, and it’ll be another four years until I’ll have the opportunity, I’m here with a leap year joke. You won’t be surprised to hear there were a lot of frog and kangaroo jokes to choose from. This is the one I liked the most.

Q: What do you call a frog with no hind legs?

A: Unhoppy.