Decisions, Decisions

 Watching the steam coming off my freshly brewed coffee and looking at the yellow and brown leaves outside of the window makes me want to stay right where I am. I have no gumption this morning to get up and do my morning dishes. I don’t want to collect the trash from my wastepaper baskets. I don’t want to go to the store to get needed items. Today, I am quite happy to sit here and watch the rain bounce off the leaves. The coffee smells too good to leave it before it cools.

    There are lots of chores I could do with Thanksgiving just a day or two away. But the view through the window keeps calling me back. It has been lightly raining for most of the night. The sounds of it helped me achieve another good night’s sleep. It would’ve been better if the windows had been open but those days have passed, the furnace is on now. As my father used to say, “We aren’t paying to heat Glenshaw!” It also might have been better if there had been a thunder storm, but I’m happy this morning, beggars can’t be choosers. Some say that the excessive amounts of negative ions caused by rain and storms help us to relax and to sleep better. I’ve always belived that, rain always helps me sleep.

    For the time being, the smell of the coffee and the relaxing view of the dancing leaves is enough to keep me relaxed. Occasionally a dark leaf will fall making me think that a bird has flown by. But the birds are elsewhere this morning. The rain is keeping them hidden from me, but they’ll be back once the bird feeders are hung up. That’s another chore for another day.

    The puddles in the yard reflect the tree limbs above them, these perfect images are disturbed as the rings from the rain drops distort the picture. Most of my views are straight out the window, 20 feet off the ground. The puddles are mostly unseen.

    The rain helps quiet the sounds of the morning. It blocks engine noises and horns. The morning trash pick-ups at the business’s below my home aren’t quite as noticeable, if heard at all. The sky is dark; there was no colorful brightening along the horizon this morning. The leaves continue doing their dance and I take another sip of my coffee and contemplate. Should I pick up a book and get lost in it or strike another chore off my list?

    Maybe I’ll just refresh my cup and think about it for awhile!

Making Memories

 Thanksgiving is a time for memories. Most often good one, families sitting together sharing meals, visits with relatives and friends. For others it might simply be watching movies or sleeping the afternoon away after a really big meal.

    I’m thankful for the fact that memories are still being made in my family. If I might entice you to come along with me, I’d like to take you back, just a couple days, to something that I know will stay with me for a long time.

    My daughter and her family haven’t been to Pittsburgh in nearly three years. Their oldest child is just over three and he now has a younger brother. It was Thanksgiving and the family was coming out to visit Pittsburgh. Everyone was excited and their schedule was rapidly filling up. Ann Marie and I were anxiously looking forward to our time with them in the days ahead.

    The house had been cleaned, rugs swept and washed, baseboards wiped and shelves dusted. Piles of books and papers scattered around the house were put away and the recently washed clothes had been put in their proper drawers and hung in the closet. If I say so myself, the house looked better than it had in a long time!

    One of the things I wanted to do was to show Mateo, my first grandson, the planet Saturn through a telescope. We both share a love of the planets. While he is only three years old, he knows their names, the order in which they orbit the sun and he feels bad that Pluto has been designated down to being only a dwarf planet. Some children gravitate towards dinosaurs; Mateo has been pulled towards the stars! Of course, a lot of what children find fascinating comes from what their parents present to them, after that, it is their own minds and imaginations which take over. This wise young lad also has a fascination with trains; his parents are leading him well!

    The day was looking great, not a single cloud was in the sky. The house was clean, cookies were cooling on a rack on the kitchen counter and the makings of hot chocolate sat beside them. I went outside and set up the telescope. Night was coming! Now all we needed was “the family”.

    I popped outside a couple times, looking to see if I could locate Saturn. The first time out I could see Jupiter, nestled in the limbs of a tree. Saturn would be further west, unencumbered by branches but unlike its brighter neighbor Jupiter, it wasn’t visible yet.

    Going back out again a half hour later, the ringed planet was visible. I turned the scope and lined it up. There it was, yellowish in color, just a small object in the wide eyepiece I was using, but the rings were visible!  Young children often have a difficult time focusing through telescopes and binoculars. It is something they have to learn how to do, some pick it up quickly while others need to practice. I wanted to present Mateo with the largest view of the planet as possible; a stronger eyepiece was needed.

    Luckily the air was nice and steady; the views with the higher-powered eyepiece looked great. Just as I was focusing on the planet, I bumped the scope. The planet slipped away, right as their car pulled up. The time required to remove two children from car seats gave me the time to relocate and center the planet!

    After exchanging hugs and kisses we took a quick look through the telescope and then we went in for cookies and hot chocolate. (There are priorities!) Mateo said he saw the rings and I’m happy to go with that! Inside, he ran around the house, having fun spinning the world globes. We sat around the table and talked while we snacked. What a nice evening, spending time with people you love, people you haven’t seen in a while, making memories!

    The family had other obligations later on so this night’s visit just a short one. As they were leaving, I moved the telescope over to Jupiter. The planet was a nice sized orb in the eyepiece, bands could be seen crossing its surface and the four brightest moons were in a nice line. Mateo saw them and counted the moons. The telescope was set so that he would be able to easily look into it; the adults had to crouch down a bit. But, this was for Mateo, not us!

    After my daughter’s family had left, Ann Marie and I tore the telescope down and put it away. Even though there were no clouds to be seen in the sky, I was floating on “cloud nine”!  I had shown Mateo Saturn, he had seen the planet’s rings and, he had seen Jupiter and its moons. In reality, to him, I think the most interesting thing he saw was the red buttons on the control paddle. It isn’t important, as long as he remembers the night.

    I can only hope that someday, way off in the future, he will think back to this night and possibly tell his own child about it as he shows them Saturn though his own telescope. Making some more memories!

    One more thing, just before they left after dinner a couple nights later, a train went past. Mateo and I went outside and watched as it crossed the intersection below the house. How’s that for a memorable ending to the visit?

Crossing the State for Thanksgiving

     Ann Marie and I headed across Pennsylvania to join Chelsey, Jamie and Mateo for Thanksgiving. Both of us had been looking forward to the visit! We were going to share the holiday dinner with them and some of Jamie’s family. 

On our way, we came across lots of interesting views and sites. You can’t help but find these things as you explore Pennsylvania. The state is full of them. Here are a couple of the ones we came across, some for the first time.

A fork in the middle of the road in Centerport.

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it”  (Yogi Berra)

We did!

An old paddle wheeler sitting in an empty ditch, nowhere near ANY water.

The Midtown Scholar, a fantastic bookstore that is comprised of a group of interconnecting buildings, one of which used to be a theater in the 1920’s. Owned by the current mayor of Harrisburg and his wife, the bookstore sells both new and used books. There are hundreds of thousands of old books and it seems as if it has nearly as many rooms. You can easily get lost in here!

An old factory foundation where the town of Frankstown used to be located,

 not far from Hollidaysburg.

One of a few decaying and abandoned homesteads we passed.

The Rockville Railroad Bridge, the longest masonry arch railroad bridge in the world!

    Since railroads have been brought up, we also saw a derailed train in the mountains above Altoona.  We passed the Statue of Liberty…sitting on a bridge pier in the middle of the Susquehanna. I always watch for it when we head out to visit, there is a geocache hidden on the piling!  Someday I’ll get it! We grabbed a couple geocaches on our trip, but skipped this one. We stopped in Harrisburg, both coming and going. Neither of us had ever seen the Capital so we did a drive by while we were there. We also found a memorial for the people of Lily, a town that forced the KKK out of their community in the 1920’s.

    Pennsylvania has so many things to offer, you never know what you might find! These were all fun to see but the best part of the journey was spending time with the family!

    On the first day, we went with Chelsey and surprised Mateo at his school. Afterwards, we went home and played with his train set and read books together. It‘s such a nice feeling to forget your age and let your inner child out!  We drove his trucks and trains around on the table for what seemed like hours.

    The next day, on Thanksgiving, we played some more and after Mateo went down for a nap, Ann Marie and I went to search for a couple more geocaches. After we came home, some of Jamie’s family came over. We sat and talked, we snacked and then sat down together and ate dinner. We shared stories and laughed. The meal was lovely but the camaraderie was even better. To see how a family is growing gives us strength for the future. We listened, we learned and we loved!

    Seeing family we hadn’t seen in a while, hearing about both the victories and the disappointments in our lives, these are all part of the gathering. We took our forks, (from the table, not the road) and ate a wonderful dinner. We listened to each other as we shared our views and experiences. I can’t help but feel that everyone was thankful for all the wonderful things we have!

    I thought about those we lost and also about those who are on their way. I am thankful for those who have gone, thankful that I had the chance to know and love them, thankful for all the beauty and love they brought to my life! Reveling in the present, I played with my grandson and imagined how he will progress as he grows up, how he will accept and help his new brother. These are some of the things I couldn’t help but think about and give thanks for!

    On Friday we played with Mateo and then more of the Pittsburgh family arrived. The 7 of us did another round of the Pizza Bracket Contest. Jamie got pizza from 3 different shops and we voted on which one was best. (A shop called Anthony’s won this time) This contest has been in the works for years now. Someday, we will find out what the best pizza in the Harleysville area is!

    Saturday morning, we left and headed back. We were missing Mateo (and the family of course!) by the time we came to the stop sign at the end of the block! The warm glow of the holiday and the visit stuck with us. We headed home happy and content and thankful for all the things we hold dear!