A Good Day

 The alarm went off earlier than usual. It was Friday the thirteenth and Ann Marie and I were going out for an early morning ride. I walked over to the front door and took a look outside. The bright star Spica could be seen peeking through the branches of the tree across the street.

    Knowing that an ISS (International Space Station) pass was going to be happening soon, I got dressed to go outside to watch it. Due within a couple minutes, I returned to the door only to see it appear above the house across the street. I was able to watch it without even leaving the house! Now that is the way to observe on cold days!

    After eating breakfast, I went to pick up Ann Marie. Going out to the car I noticed the thin crescent moon hovering above another neighbor’s house. Four days away from new, it was only 16% illuminated. I think that crescent moons are so much nicer to see than full moons, since they are harder to find and we see them less often. Seeing one without searching for it makes it even more special. What a great way to start our journey!

    We had some rough plans to head towards Apollo and the Kiskiminetas River. Our plans are always open to change. We had some geocaches to find and hopefully we would also find a coffee shop to refill our car cups. The first stop of the day was a visit to our favorite bakery, Stocklein’s. This bakery, originally opened in East Liberty back in the 1930’s, was relocated to its present location, Penn Hills in 2009. We like it because of how everything there tastes like the baked goods from our childhoods.

    Our first geocache was an interesting find. It was hidden inside an upright post. A piece of cord hung inside it, wrapped around a bolt. It took us a couple minutes to figure out how to get the cache. We had to pull on one side until the cache was raised up to where we could grasp it. We found most of the caches, but a couple were inaccessible because of frozen piles of snow.

    While driving we passed a small coffee shop and promptly turned around to check it out. At Bear Roots, (on rt.66) the woman behind the counter put a fresh pot of dark coffee on for us. While we waited we looked around the shop and watched as cookies were made being in the back. Along with our coffees we got a couple cookies to take along with us. They were desert later in the evening. Our bill came to $13 which was appropriate for Friday the 13^th!

    We drove along some nice back roads, a couple paved only with gravel. They were covered with snow and ice but we had no problems traversing them. We drove through woods and fields and in places we were on top of hills, giving us nice views into the snow covered valleys below. We passed cemeteries both large and small, along with Churches and old cabins.

    When we reached Cochran Mills we turned back. At one time there was a community here. The first mill in Burrell Township was built here in 1800. Before long more buildings joined it along with housing for the workers and a small settlement evolved.

    One of the residents of the town was Elizabeth Jane Cochrane who later became well known as she wrote under the name of Nellie Bly. In 1887, she wrote about the injustices and evils of the Blackwell Island Lunatic Asylum by going into the asylum under cover as a patient. She also wrote about her journey around the world, challenging Jules Verne’s story, Around the World in Eighty Days. She accomplished the trip in 72 days.

    The town was demolished in the 1930’s. Supposedly there are still foundation ruins of some of the buildings along Crooked Creek. We didn’t attempt to find them, preferring to stay in the car rather than hiking through the snow, perhaps we will do it another time.

    Returning towards home, we stopped at the Pittsburgh Mills to meet our friends Frank and Kelle for lunch. After a filling meal we all went and found a couple more caches hidden around the mall area. Then we returned home.

    As far as Friday the 13^th’s go, this was a good one. Really though, I can’t remember any Friday the 13^th that was bad. It is just a number; of course it’s one with a bad reputation. It’s sort of like how the full moon is supposed to cause more crimes. I figure that every day will be good if you look for all the good things in it. By concentrating on the better things in our days, they tend to stay productive and worthwhile. Always keep looking for the positive and hopefully our days will all turn out well.

    Two of my favorite words are; triskaidekaphobia (meaning the fear of the number 13) and triskaidekaphilia (meaning the love of the number 13).  In case you’re wondering when the next Friday the 13^th will be, it will be next month and before the year is over there will be another one in November!

Chances are, they'll be good days!

Losing Our Borders

 Sitting in front of my TV, I came across a video about Borders Books stores. Watching it brought back a lot of good memories.

    We are coming up to the 15^th anniversary of Borders filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I find it hard to believe it has been that long. It was February 16^th, 2011. First opened as a used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1971, it grew to include over 1200 stores worldwide. The store prospered for 40 years during which time they became a part of so many of our lives. Just about everyone I talked with has some memories of a Borders bookstore somewhere!

    My daughter Chelsey and I spent a lot of time at the McKnight Road store. We would look around and get a couple books or magazines and then go to the café and get a cup of hot chocolate and a cup of coffee and sit down and skim through our books, enjoying the ambiance.

    I can remember vividly the time that I attended a performance by the Pittsburgh Opera at the store. A woman, I only wish I knew her name, was singing “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle”, or “Love is a rebellious bird”. Also known as “Habanera”, it is a very sexy song! As she worked her way around the tables, she came to mine and looking me directly in the eye, she completed the song. I forgot about the others sitting around me, she was singing to me, to me alone! Wow, I thought I was in love! I wonder if she knew what an impression she made that day.

    There were many events I went to at that store. Two that I really enjoyed was when I went to see Neil Gaiman do readings at both the Northway Mall store on McKnight Road and the one on Rt.19 in the South Hills. Neil wore a black leather jacket, as did many of his fans. The place was packed. I hadn’t realized how popular he was. He signed a couple books for me at both readings.

    I also remember a night, sitting beside the window during a snow storm. With my usual mug of coffee beside a couple books or magazines, I was staring out at the blowing snow. I could feel the cold coming through the glass. My notebook and pen were on the table also but weren’t being used. The books sat unopened. It was a depressing night, I was thinking about the failure of my marriage. The cold weather outside reflected the way I was feeling inside. The bookstore gave me a warm place to go on a cold bitter night.

    Thinking of that night reminded me of how careful you had to be when going to your car on nights like these. The parking lot was sloped, and it was easy to slip as you went down to your car. Icy nights at that location were treacherous!

    Even though Pittsburgh had other bookstores, Borders became a favorite spot to go. They offered thousands of books, and they had a great children’s section for when my daughter came along. There were books about “almost” any subject you could want. Music and movies were a big part of the store also. Chairs were scattered around for your reading pleasure and then there was the café. Good snacks and caffeinated beverages were there for you while you shopped.

    Unfortunately, their internet presence wasn’t quite up to par. Try as they might, they just couldn’t keep up with Amazon and Barnes and Nobles. The costs of their huge stores also worked against them. After filing for bankruptcy, their final store closed its door in September of 2011. The company is gone, none of their stores remain, anywhere, including “my” store on McKnight Road.

    I can remember going through the store and looking at the shelves and trying to figure out where I could put them in my house. It was really sad to see price tags on the furnishings, it just didn’t seem right.

    There are a lot of books I bought at Borders in my collection. I’d be willing to bet that there are still a few Borders bookmarks slipped in between the pages. I have a poster from the store hanging on my library door. Even though it has been only 15 years, it seems like so much more. Borders bookstores have contributed a lot to me; at times I think the best things I got there were the memories!

    (Note: Now days, for our book buying needs, I hope you are taking advantage of the services of your local independent bookstores! Support small bookstores!)

A Week of Snow

 This past week was a cold one. A lot of it has been spent inside, looking out. I made a couple little trips during the week, to fill my lungs with fresh air and to give myself a change of scenery. It started off on Sunday, with the beginning of what the weather forecasters predicted would be anything between 3 to 80 inches of snow. They had been warning us about this for the past week. As usual, supermarket shelves were getting bare. I myself was looking forward to it!

    For once the forecasters had gotten it correct. First came the snow and then later, cold, cold temperatures. As the snow started to accumulate, I made numerous trips out to shovel my walk. These outings were the only times I left the house that day. As darkness fell, there was about 9 inches of snow in the yard. It was still snowing as I went to bed. 

    Monday morning I started digging the car out of the mounds of snow pushed up by the plows. Once the car was free, I took a short ride down to Etna and back. I was thinking about getting some pictures but most places hadn’t been cleared yet, so finding a spot to park was difficult. Back home again, I returned to my books and the boob tube.

    On Tuesday morning, Ann Marie and I went for a drive to get some breakfast. The drive to her house was uneventful but there still weren’t many spots to pull over for pictures. The hills and valleys still had that undisturbed look to them; the deer and kids hadn’t spoiled the smooth surfaces yet. The snow piles were getting higher at the ends of people's driveways. The diner wasn’t crowded and the food was delicious. It is always nice to have someone cook for you. The roads were still relatively car free.

    Wednesday morning I took a ride to Bakerstown to visit the farm market. I arrived before they opened so I continued north on rt.8. At the Country Kitchen I stopped to take a couple pictures and then returned to the market. The parking lots and roads still had large piles of snow around them, they wouldn’t be melting soon. At the farm market I bought some fresh vegetables, some apples and a loaf of bread. I then went to Ann Maries to share my bounty. 

    Later that night I braved the cold to watch the International Space Station pass below the planet Jupiter and then I took another short ride. Afterwards back at home, I retired to my book and a warm bed.

    Thursday morning, the frost was forming on the windows. I went down to the North Side to visit Arlan at City Books and to watch for trains. I finished the roll of film in my camera, so when I got home; I developed the film and then scanned it. I stayed inside for the rest of the day working on that, nice and warm.

    Friday, the end of the month, was a cold day! Ann Marie and our buddy Jim went to visit a coffee shop that was new to us. On the way to pick them up, I met a man down beside the Alleghany River taking pictures, wow, crazy huh? Who would ever want to do that? (Me???) I only stayed for a few minutes… As I was driving over to Ann Marie’s house, the car thermometer was showing that it was -3 degrees outside. We picked up Jim and then after a short drive we stopped for coffee.

      We had to search a bit before we found a spot to park but we found one about a block or two away. The sidewalks were a bit treacherous but we managed to get there and back without any problems. At Constellation Coffee we had sipped hot coffee while we BSed, sitting in the sunlight coming through their front windows. The shop smelled like fresh ground coffee like any good coffee shop should. We were warm and happy. Good coffee and good friends generate good conversations!

    Leaving the shop I saw a sign showing two things, both the state of our nation and the state of the weather!

      Saturday was spent at home. I only went outside to get the mail and to put out the garbage. I also made a trip out to the bird feeder but that was it. I took two pictures that day…here’s one of them. Afterwards… I ate my model!

    And then it was Sunday again. A week had gone by, the snow was still piled up on the street in front of the house, and the temperatures were still hanging below freezing. I like it but hopefully the temps will be rising soon, and the snow will start to melt. This IS Pennsylvania in the winter; it makes me look forward to, and to appreciate the rains and muds of spring. 

    I’ve reloaded my camera with another roll of film, and the digital camera is charged up, I’m ready for the next week, bring it on!