Coming Down the Mountain

 

     Rain pelted the windshield and the headlights reflected off patches of fog gathered in small dips making the seeing difficult. This caused the speed of the car to drop even further than its normal creep. On one side was a steep fall with nothing but trees to stop the plunge, the other had a deep ditch used to drain water from the road. If you want to call it a road!  At the top of the mountain, it is gravel and dirt with large puddles, often spanning the road. It twists and turns following the topography of the mountain. There was no bulldozing a straight path, when a dip or a curve is encountered, that’s what the road does, dip and curve.

     When you are going down, the drop off is on your left, right outside the driver’s window. Like so many West Virginian mountains, you can’t see the bottom. Especially when it’s raining with fog laying around each bend. There are a few spots where you can’t see the road at all, even in the daylight. As you come up the rise, nothing can be seen beyond the hood of your car. You say a prayer and hope that no-one is coming in the opposite direction.

     Whenever an encounter occurs, one of the vehicles has to back up to one of the few “wide” spots and let the other pass before the trip continues. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of traffic on these roads. A mile or two down the mountain the road is paved but it is only the width of a car or truck. The paving makes the edges seem even closer.

     I had left Big Laurel around 6 in the morning, trying to get an early start on my drive back to the Pittsburgh area. The rain and fog was setting the stage for a dismal day of driving. Rain continued all the way from southern West Virginia to the border of Pennsylvania; from there it changed to snow.

     Big Laurel is a learning center, a place that does summer camps, community outreach and promotes social change through education. It sits on 400 acres perched on a mountain top.  Big Laurel is located about 10 miles up the “hill” from Kermit, West Virginia. Ann Marie had been house-sitting and I had dropped down to visit her.

     The night is dark up there. There are houses on top of the ridge but they are widely spaced and even though some have lights on them, the light doesn’t travel very far through the trees. I was searching for an open spot that would give us a good view of the stars but we can’t always get what we want.  Rain followed me down and then tapered off for two days and then returned for the ride back. Clouds remained during the nights.

      During the day we drove around the area, searching out a couple geocaches and looking for things to photograph. There was never any disappointment on that account! On my second day, we borrowed the Jane Deer to explore the roads scattered across the top of the mountain. 

     During the evening there were cats and dogs and chickens to keep us company. The cats and dogs are like therapy animals. Always near-by, ready to be petted or to lick your hand.

     The houses we visited and stayed in were beautiful, filled with pictures and books and of course, dogs and cats. I can only imagine how tough it would be to live up here permanently. There is no store right up the block and the drive up or down would be treacherous in icy conditions. The neighbors always help in emergencies but to get an ambulance or a fire truck up there… I don’t want to think about it.

     Daffodils were blooming along with the crocuses. Greenery was starting to show up alongside the roads and some forsythia was starting to show their yellow leaves. It is always a good sign to see that fresh color of green that the spring brings. We still have a month or so to wait in Pennsylvania but in West Virginia, the beauty of spring is already breaking out.

      While driving back, thoughts of the fun we experienced kept running through my head.  I also kept marveling at the mountain tops, hidden by the low hanging clouds. The peaks were all shaded in different colors, the colors determined by how near they were. 

Taken on the way down, north of Seneca Rocks

     This state is such a scenic place, high hills and mountains, dramatic outcroppings of rock and deep, deep gorges. Everywhere I looked there was beauty. There were so many potential pictures I passed on my way home, but the rain kept me in the car. The “pictures” are saved in my mind, along with all the other great memories of this fantastic state. 

     Wild and Wonderful, that says a mouthful and yet it just barely touches the surface! 

Going Old School

     We as a society have a tendency to jump into any new type of advancement that shows up. We are always being tempted with new ways to communicate, to share our opinions and our art.

    The old methods often lose their appeal and some just die off and disappear. A lot of these “older” systems are still around and are being used but their permeability is always suspect.

    Phones are a wonderful example. Going back in time, the people of a town used to rely on a telegraph operator, someone knowledgeable in deciphering Morse Code. Before that, the quickest means of communication was by a rider on a horse. Then along came the phone lines.

    Both the mail service and the telegraph services are still being used. Delivery by riders on horses has pretty much disappeared and Morse Code is used mostly by amateur radio operators. You have to admit, it is pretty rare when anyone gets a telegram.

    Phones once held a special place in our homes; some houses even had a special niche where it could be placed. The number of land lines has slowly diminished, now days; nearly everyone has a smart phone. We can be called at anytime, available whenever anyone wants us. This is the way of today’s world!

    The computer industry has changed our lives, just as the printing press did many centuries ago. Portable phones got smaller and also smarter! The desire to talk with someone, anyone, at 11PM as you troll down the aisles of your local grocery, was enough to ensure that everyone gets one.

    Phones enable us to search for information, to find out where we are and where to go and how to get there. They take pictures that rival, if not surpass the quality of most cameras. You can read a book on them if you so desire or listen to a concert or even watch a movie.

    Our world is filled with things such as this. Devices which enable us to be better at the things we do. We have smart refrigerators that tell us when to order items that will be needed. There are door bells that show us who is on our front porch, even when we aren’t home. Furnaces can control the heating and cooling cycles of the house along with countless machines which help us save money, save fuel and save us from frustration.

    I’m not saying that is bad!

    I am just saying that we shouldn’t forget the “old ways”. Don’t forget how to use your brain to figure out problems. Skip asking Alexis how to do things and let Google sit for awhile. Read some books, memorize some facts, write some notes to yourself or even better, write a letter to someone. Put a stamp on it and allow the mailman to deliver it. Visit the local library and use their reference section and always, always, keep books in your house!

    Play around with old technologies. Go outside and look at the stars. Open a star atlas and compare the map to what you’re seeing above you!

    Maps are another thing, open a paper map and plan a road trip. Go through some towns with interesting names rather than taking the quickest or least congested route. Stop at a restaurant in one of the little towns, don’t rely on a “good review”, instead rely on luck.

    I have recently been taking pictures with an old 35mm camera, using Black and White film. The only convenience it has is a light meter. It is up to the shooter to decide what aperture and what shutter speed to use. The pictures won’t be seen for a couple weeks so care is needed in composing the shots. There is no instant check on whether or not the picture came out correctly. Practice and experience is the true teacher!

    Our modern world is wonderful, but don’t forget the past. Don’t forget how to use your hands and your mind. Pick up an old hobby and try your luck at it, you might enjoy the experience. Let your computer and phone sit for awhile!

One final note, I used a fountain pen to write this originally…

 in cursive no less!

The TWOs

     This is it, the morning of the 22^nd. A Tuesday morning, a bit early, just a little over TWO hours into the day. It isn’t the time which is important so much as it is, the numbers.

    I have a weird obsession of seeing certain numbers come together.  Watching the odometer turn over to 100,000 miles, or on π Day, May 14^th, 2015, watching the clock turn to 9:26:53am.  (π= 3.141592653 or May 14^th, 2015@9:26:53)

I even baked a pie for the occasion

    Yes, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this. Right now I am waiting for the clock to hit, 2:22:22AM, on TWOsday, February 22^nd, 2022. That’s a whole bunch of twos in there! How could anyone NOT get excited about that? I imagine there are alarm clocks going off all over the eastern part of the country right now! Today is a great day to celebrate the number TWO!

    The number TWO is a very important number, it governs most of our lives. We have TWO eyes to see, TWO ears to listen, TWO arms to hold and hug and TWO legs to move us around. The majority of us end up with another, the forces of love drawing us together into a pair, TWO people.

    Later in the day, Frank and I are heading towards Altoona to do some geocaches and maybe, see a train or TWO. Geocaching.com has a souvenir they are awarding any cacher who finds TWO caches today. We are planning on adding that souvenir to our banks.

    The time has come…gotta take a picture!

2:22:22am on 2/22/2022

    A few hours later, I arrived at Frank’s house, a little before 5. We wanted to be in the Altoona area by seven, just in case there might be a sunrise.  Frank got us there right at our scheduled time. There wasn’t much of a sunrise though, it was more of a brightening of the sky.

Sunrise?

    We didn’t complain; it wasn’t raining! (Yet) Our first cache was near a railroad crossing.  Sadly, no trains passed by while we were there. Our second find was hidden close to where a sanitarium used to be located. The high altitude and fresh air was thought to be helpful for the patients.  It was later turned into a prison and is now owned by a hydroponic company.

    Hmmm, this could be a future exploration site!

Frank at the Sanitarium Cache

    TWO caches later we came to one hidden near a line of coke ovens. The trip down to them was very treacherous because even though the temperatures were in the 40’s, the dirt road that led to them was covered with a thick coating of ice! Walking was treacherous, thank heavens for hiking staffs! Snow along the edges provided some traction but with each step, you would sink in an inch, making simple walking a step, lift, step type of procedure. It got a bit tiring. The cache was only a ¼ mile away from where the truck was parked but it took much longer to get there. Follow the road or climb/fall down cliffs…

    I believe it was Archimedes that said that the shortest distance between TWO points is a straight line, he obviously never went geocaching!

Me at the coke oven, #2000!

    This was my TWO thousandth find!  I had found my 1000^th cache about 5 miles away from this one. (Altoona has some good caches.) The find was worth the slippery hike down to it, the difficulties are part of what make it fun!

    To read about my 1000^th cache, click here: ​​Books, Adventure and Life: Grail of the Alleghenies Legend, My 1000th Cache! (booksadventuresandlife.blogspot.com)

    The coke ovens are part of a community that once was here called Bennington. There is a near-by cemetery with the foundation of the church beside it and a few other remnants hidden in the woods.  The town was built when the RR tunnels in Gallitzen were dug. Originally a shanty town to house the Irish and other immigrant laborers who hand-dug the tunnels, it could only be reached by train. Coal miners also occupied the houses of the village. It was abandoned in the late 40's.

    After this find, Frank and I then headed down towards the Horseshoe Curve and found four more caches. We passed on climbing up to the curve because the rain was starting and frankly, we didn’t want to get wet, or fall! (Such wimps!)

The last cache

    The last cache of the day was hidden in some rocks about 20-30 feet above the trail. We had to get around a large, icy culvert to get to the cache. The path had lots of ice on it and care was needed to mak sure we didn’t slip. Once we were at “ground zero” we made a quick find and then returned to the truck where it was nice and dry.  The ride home was uneventful and went quickly.

Almost home

    Fog was rising off the streams as I neared my home.  Like all our trips, we had a good time, I believe that this is caused by the TWO people involved! There was only one train we saw in AlTWOna, but we found all the caches we had searched for! There were no unfortunate slips or falls, we stayed fairly dry and, I made my 2000th find! On top of all that, we both received a souvenir! Not bad for a day of Twos!

    One final shot, taken just a few minutes ago…

22:22:22 on 2/22/2022

On the Road Again

     During the night, my dreams were all about geocaches. Traveling along unknown roads on a big motorcycle. Stopping at a bed and breakfast that was a tailor shop during the day, the dreams had nothing that brought them together except that I was on a trip, to find geocaches. It was almost as if I had this subject on my mind…

    When morning finally arrived, I loaded my car with the usual gear, a camera bag and my GPS. YES, I was going on a search to find geocaches. Frank and I had planned a trip, driving towards the east on rt. 22 going out to Blairsville and then dropping to the south before eventually returned home. We had 22 caches on our list.

    The planet Venus was shining in the east as I got into the car. I located Mars below and to the right with binoculars, but had no luck seeing it by eye, the sky was too bright.  This was a rather late start for one of our trips, we are often on the road an hour or so before sunrise. The sun came over the horizon on the drive to Frank’s house. It would have made a great picture except I was on a narrow road with cars behind me and nowhere to pull over.

    Being the second week of February, the days tend to be rather grey here in the Pittsburgh area. Bucking the average, this morning’s sky was blue and the sun was bright. Things looked promising.

    Our first find was alongside a pull off, hidden near a sign saying “No Hunting”. That was just the opposite of what we had planned. Hunting was exactly what we were going to do today! We got into a rhythm; we’d drive a short distance and then pull over to snag another find. Sometimes we had to circle back on the opposite side of the divided highway to locate one, then turn around again to continue our search. 

The further away from Pittsburgh we went, the nicer the scenery was!

    Coming into the town of New Alexandria, we had a couple caches which involved a bridge which no longer exists. We drove down a rutted and ice covered road, passing some “Road Closed” signs sitting on the berm. It was obvious that the area here had been recently flooded. Thick pieces of ice lay cracked in the swampy area beside the road. Broken ice had been pushed to the sides by plows. The salt had only partially cleared the road.

    Driving under a large concrete arched structure, we came to where the bridge once crossed the Loyalhanna Creek. The cache was easy to find but we stayed for awhile to take pictures. Later research showed that the bridge that once crossed here used to be rt.22 before the road was modernized and widened. 

In the 1830’s the bridge was a covered toll bridge.

Builders working on the RR bridge. The covered bridge can be seen behind it.

    The concrete structure was part of a railroad bridge that the Pennsylvania Railroad crossed. The line is now gone but parts of it remain. There are some foundations in the near-by woods from a station that was located here. (Those will be for another trip!)

    We continued on our journey, eventually coming into Blairsville. Going south on 217, we did a short detour to visit the area around Torrance State Hospital. Ann Marie and I had found a nice, abandoned building here and I wanted to show it to Frank. When we arrived, it was gone, the land leveled with no signs that there had ever been a building here.

    Driving through the town of Derry we found another old building to explore, the Ralph Smith and Sons Building. Crossing a bridge, we saw the building below us. Turning around we navigated the back streets to get to it. It appears to be an old RR building; the structure is similar to many of the buildings often situated near railroads. The doors were locked with NO TRESPASSING signs posted on them. We spent awhile taking pictures, of course, staying outside! It was obvious that no one had been here recently, except kids. Most of the windows were broken and graffiti was sprayed on the insides.

  

    The time spent there was worthwhile. We got some nice pictures and some much-needed stretching. It felt good to walk around for a bit! Back on the road again, after a couple more caches, we turned right on rt.30 and headed back in the direction we had come from. 

The intrepid explorers @ their final cache!

    We did one last cache in the parking lot of a Speedway Service Station. It was our 22^nd cache of the day, a record for both of us! To celebrate we stopped inside and got a couple Slim Jims for the ride home.

    We had a great drive; we got lots of pictures and found every one of the caches we planned! This rarely happens. There was one hidden against a telephone pole but luckily, the snow had melted enough that we were able to locate it. If the snow was still there, it would’ve been a DNF. (Did Not Find) The weather was great, our hands were a bit cold at first but as we were heading home, the windows were opened to allow the fresh air into the car.

    Another great adventure, you never know what you might find, so keep on looking!

It’s what keeps us caching!

  

Watching Shadows

     Watching the birds on the feeder outside the window, their colors become so much brighter as the shadows move away from them. The details of the feathers become more noticeable. The red hood on the woodpecker “pops” and the bright blues of the Blue Jay's feathers stand out against the brown of the trees. You can easily distinguish between individual birds!

    Whenever a photograph is taken, shadows and light make up what we see on the paper. (or on the screen) The composition of a good shot involves positioning the lights and darks in a pleasing way.

    The earth’s rotation as it orbits around the sun brings us into the earth’s shadow every night. Day and night depend on where the sun is in relation to us. When we see a Lunar Eclipse, we are watching as the earth’s shadow moves across the surface of the moon. When we see a Solar Eclipse, we are watching as the shadow of the moon passes across the earth’s surface.  The sun is being hidden by the moon.

    On a separate note, isn’t it amazing that the orbit of the moon and the size of the moon is just right to completely cover the sun? If the moons orbit was further away from the planet, we wouldn’t get complete coverage. For that matter, isn’t it neat that the orbits coincide with each other to properly line up to provide these events!

    Here’s another note for you…On April 8^th, 2024, we here in the Pittsburgh area will be treated to a nearly complete solar eclipse. (Approximately 95% of the sun will be covered from here) By driving north to the area around Erie, we will be able to see a complete solar eclipse! 100%!!! The shadows path cuts across more than just the Erie area, there are plenty of places you can go to see this event! If you can do it, I’d suggest making that drive! You will be inside the shadow of the moon! The surrounding area will be dark even though it will be the middle of the day! Mark your calendars! Don’t miss it!

The Chinese S.S. (Tiangong) going from west to east (R to L) at top of picture

(Click to enlarge)

Tiangong disappearing as it passes over the Pleiades

    I experienced another example of the earth’s shadow a couple nights ago. There was a pass of the Chinese Space Station (Tiangong) going over Pittsburgh. After it passed overhead, it started to fade and then disappeared from view. It had just passed into the earth’s shadow. While it was visible, about 250 miles above us, the sun was shining on it and illuminating it. Since it is so far away, no details could be seen, just a bright star like point of light traveling across the sky. When its orbit took it into the shadow, it appeared to disappear.  There one minute and gone the next!

    There are lots of satellites which orbit the earth, many which can be seen without any optical aid. Two of them, Tiangong and the ISS (The International Space Station) have crew members living on them! You can get an idea of when they will be passing over your area by checking various apps and web sites.

 I use Heavens-above.com to see what’s going over my house.

    You know that it doesn’t take a lot to excite me. I find that something to be proud of! Things like watching shadows of Jupiter’s moons crossing the planet’s surface. Seeing the peaks of mountains on the moon being illuminated by the sun while their bases wait in the shadows for the sunshine to reach them is always cool to see. Simply watching the shadows on the hillside across the valley slowly rise up the hill as the sun gets lower and lower can be exciting.

    Watching the shadows move across the snow in the back yard, I can’t help but think, it is such a neat world we live in! There are so many interesting things we see every day. So, keep your eyes open, who knows what we might see next?

Ralph

     Twenty-six years ago this week, my nephew Rolf died in an accident on a mountain on the opposite side of the country. In his late 20’s he had a good career in the food industry. He was on his way up the ladder. Thinking back to that time, the rush to find tickets, the funeral, the sorrow, the re-acquainting with the family that was split by the width of a nation brought back memories of his father, Ralph, my brother. 

    The emotions are still there and are still felt over a quarter century later. They are part of a bundle of feelings and thoughts which make up some of the supports that hold families together. Births, vacations, weddings and sadly, also deaths combine into a strong root from which families grow. My brother is a common factor in many of the strands which make up my support structure.

    Ralph was born twenty years and a month earlier than me. When I was a child, he was already in the Navy, exploring the world. When I was in grade school he was in Viet-Nam, on multiple tours. He spent years on aircraft carriers and on the country’s last operating battleship. He spent his days behind his cameras. He photographed the men he worked with along with planes taking off and landing on short steel runways. He also spent time on shore, taking pictures of men armed with rifles who were trying their best to stay out of the enemy’s sights. He did this with his camera and camera bags to protect him, along with his wits!

Christmas-1959

    Growing up I rarely saw him and when I did, it was only for a few days before he was called away again. When I was in fourth grade, he would send letters home and I would take them with me to school. The teacher would read them to the class, letting us hear about what was going on in our world. He told us about Viet-Nam and the people along with what he did for work. He never mentioned the dangers of war in those letters, just the good things he saw in a foreign land.

    The only mention of him being in peril was on a tape he sent home. The hotel across the street from where he was staying was bombed while he was in his room. It gave me the realization that what he was doing and where he doing it were both very dangerous. Other than that, he left the newspapers and the nightly news tell us about the cruelty and ugliness of war.

    During one of his visits, I was talking to him in the front yard. Being a young kid, not even a teen yet, my ideas of war were based mostly on movies I had seen. I asked him, the fool that I was, if he had ever seen a man get killed.

    I remember it was a very serious answer he gave me. The exact words have long since disappeared but basically he told me that war was something I would never, ever want to see. He told me how awful it was without going into any details. He never did answer my question but during that talk he helped align my thinking and directed me a bit on my path through life. He handled it in a way that satisfied my curiosity and at the same time let me know that this is something he hoped I’d never know or experience. This was the first serious adult talk we had.

My muses, Dad and Ralph-1975

    He had picked up the love of photography from my father. Dad had been a photographer since he was a young man. He had pictures dating from the 1920’s. He and his pictures inspired both Ralph and me. Ralph became a professional and I became an avid hobbyist. It was probably the combination of Ralph and my Dad that dragged me so eagerly into the field.

    Ralph took pictures out of the doors of helicopters and planes and photographed ships as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge while perched high on top of one of the bridge piers. He took shots of places all over the world along with lots of photos of his kids growing up. I’m pretty sure he was happy being behind a camera!

    After his tours in Viet-Nam he and his wife moved to the suburbs of Washington DC. Their family was just starting to grow. I spent about a month with them one summer. I was bored, I didn’t think there was anything to do. I started collecting pull tabs from pop and beer cans for something to occupy me. Ralph sat me down one night and suggested that I take a bus into Washington and do some sightseeing.

    This opened a whole new world to me. I visited the FBI building and came home with empty shell casings from the machine guns they shot during tours. I visited the Smithsonian Museum and saw the Wright Brothers and Lindbergh’s planes along with the Hope Diamond. I climbed the stairs inside the Washington monument, a couple times!

    To be on my own, deciding what I wanted to do was something new to me. It was another thing he showed me that helped me along as I went through life. He showed me that I have the ability to do things on my own and also, that he had trust in me.

    During that visit he took me to work one day. He showed me how he took negatives that were taken from planes flying over Viet-Nam and how he made large prints out of them. The photographs were used by Commanders to help determine battle strategies. He was introducing me to the working world.

    We watched fireworks after listening to a concert while sitting on the lawn near the Jefferson Memorial for the 4^th of July. The family visited sites around the Capital and before I knew it, my parents were coming to pick me up.

    Our paths didn’t cross enough. He moved to the far side of the country, settling in first near San Francisco and later the Seattle area. For a while they lived outside of the country. My parents and I went to visit them after I graduated from High School. I got to know his children better, now much older. We visited the City by the Bay and rode the trolleys and climbed the hills. On one trip we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and saw Redwood trees in Muir Woods. I saw many things I had never seen before. San Francisco is nothing like Pittsburgh, not by a long shot!

    Along with photography Ralph shared an interest in trains with me. Before I was even dreamed about, he and my father had built an HO train set up. They had constructed buildings to put on their layout, one of which resided in my attic for many years. Complete with ladders and stairs and coal chutes ready to fill the coal cars which ran underneath it, the coaling tower was painted to show the dirt and dust which resulted from the operation. Sitting atop a chest of drawers for several decades added even more dust on it!

    With a dim light hanging in the rafters, I would look at it and imagine how a structure like this would work. I’d spin it around and imagine climbing the ladders and stairs and wonder what would be behind the doors they led to. As a kid this model took me into another world. The location it was stored in helped, a dark attic, filled with cobwebs and mysterious boxes, unidentifiable because of the blankets covering them. It gave my imagination a bit of a kick, giving my visions of Hardy Boys and Edger Allen Poe stories a background. The imagination of children is a mighty thing which many of us lose as we grow older.

Mom and her boys-1985

    Ralph showed me a lot and most of it was without my even realizing it. I always looked forward to seeing him, he was my big brother! I adored him and looked up to him. He lived only one year into this century, that day seems as if it was only yesterday. I only wish we had been able to spend more time together.

(Taken by his daughter Erika)

    Webster’s Dictionary describes "Hero" as a man admired for his accomplishments and noble qualities. I guess that it just proves what I’ve always known;

He was my hero!

Traveling

     Snow was starting to fall outside and the weathermen were predicting a rough morning. I was content to sit near the window and enjoy the scene from inside the warmth of my house. There was a book I was reading so I wouldn’t be bored if the snow got high enough to keep me indoors. 

    Watching the snowflakes accumulate brought back memories of hiking during the winter months in the Laurel Highlands, visiting the mountains near Port Angeles Washington and driving through snow storms in West Virginia. Visiting Stonehenge on a New Years Day popped into my mind along with a visit to the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.  Driving through the snowy German countryside, those were the days!

               

                                                        (Not my shots)

    I haven’t been on an airplane in ages. New York City is the furthest I’ve traveled lately and it definitely whetted my appetite for another visit.

    Due to the current state of our world, the amount of traveling has decreased everywhere. Whether it is because of fears of the pandemic, travel restrictions, the dropping of the economy or just worries about the general safety of visiting foreign places, people seem to be leaving their homes less than before.

    No matter what your reason may be, the opportunities for travel are always with us. There are numerous ways to leave your house without stepping out the door!

    The internet has provided ways that you can work without leaving the house, why not travel also? Whether it is to research places you’ve always wanted to visit or by watching other people’s adventures, you can visit the world while sitting in front of your laptop or TV.

    My own personal means of traveling without leaving the house is via literature. Books have the ability to take us to places we’ve never been to. We can learn about the citizens, the economy, their language and their weather. We don’t have to learn a new language to travel across an ocean. There is no need to take a two week vacation or to spend thousands on expenses.

    Of course, there will be some things missed such as the smells, the tastes of unknown foods and the excitement of trying to figure out foreign languages. Granted there is nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING that can compare to actually going to a new locale. But, reading can come mighty close!

    A good author can describe those smells and sounds along with the excitement of new experiences. They can share joys and the insecurities of travel along with the wonder of seeing things never thought of before. Good writers can take you along on their journey and make you feel as if you are experiencing it for yourself. If you want to, they can also take you to places inaccessible to man such as to the moon or other planets or even the center of your mind! They don’t have to be just non-fiction!

    Looking at my shelves I quickly pulled out some books that have taken me on various trips. I didn’t look long or hard, I just grabbed a couple. These are a few of them.

     A long time favorite of mine is Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck. Written towards the later part of his life, the book tells about his journey across the United States in a pickup-truck along with his pet dog, Charley.  This book never fails to excite the traveler in me. How much of it is factual and how much is fiction…it really doesn’t matter.

    The Wheels of Chance by H.G. Wells tells about a man’s bicycle journey across the English countryside and the meeting of a young lady while on his trip. The book describes the scenery and also describes a time when the automobile wasn’t a constant user of the roads. Wells was a cyclist himself, perhaps drawing from his own experiences when he wrote this story. I read this book when I was an avid cyclist myself, it helped pass time on a few of those rainy Pittsburgh days.

    Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin describes for us the authors attempt to climb K2, the second highest mountain in the world. After his failure to get to the top he takes us into the villages in the lands below. His book not only explores the mountain tops of the Himalayas but also exposes us to the living conditions of the people who live with these majestic mountains in their backyard. He took me to a place I would love to visit, but I know I never will.

    Is it more than just scenery, oceans, seas and mountaintops that interest you?  Jules Verne takes us on an exciting trip in, Journey to the Center of the Earth. First published in France in 1864, one hundred and fifty eight years ago, it still tells a great story. Professor Lindenbrock believes that there are volcanic tubes which lead down to the center of the earth. He and his nephew and a guide go into an inactive volcano in Iceland and eventually return to the surface in Italy. During their adventure they discover an underground ocean and prehistoric creatures along with other dangers that threaten their journey. I read this first in grade school but I still find it an enjoyable bit of travel in my sixties!

    A completely different type of trip is told by John Waters in his book Carsick. Partially fact and partially fiction, (?) he tells about the time he hitch-hiked across the country. He carried a sign saying, “I’m not psycho!” It is a fun story that sometimes delves into his weird mind. When you’re reading it, consider who it was that wrote it. Enjoy your trip!

    To round out my little batch of books, I pulled out Walking With Spring, written by Earl V. Shaffer. In 1948, the Appalachian Trail wasn’t in the same shape that it is now. There was neglect in the marking of the trail and sections were filled with blow downs and were rerouted due to lack of manpower during the war years. Shaffer, a vet, decided to hike the trail from one end to the other. He ended up doing it twice and wrote this book shortly afterwards. He was the first documented person to walk from one end to the other in one continuous hike. If your idea of a trip is one by foot, this is a great read for you and while you’re reading it, you just might get excited about going out and doing some hiking yourself! 

    These are just a few books that I pulled out. All took me on journeys to different places. Whether they are non-fiction or just the imagination of the author, either way, they took me on a journey. The only danger consisted of staying up too late while I was reading!

    Books are literary travel agencies! Who know where you might end up when you open the cover of a book.

    I love to go to places I’ve never been to before. The best way to travel is in person but as I get older the circle of my travels has decreased. I do know that more adventures await me but for the time being, my next big adventure is right here, in-between the pages of my books!

    So, grab a book and let it snow!

Snowmageddon Chase

     For a couple days now, the forecasters have been warning the Pittsburgh area about the terrible winter storm heading our way.  This naturally sent people running to the stores and gas stations to refill everything that needed stocked. The snow didn’t start in Pittsburgh until late Sunday afternoon.

    By eleven there were a couple inches on the ground and people were wisely staying in their homes. The only vehicles seen on the highway below the house were snowplows. The walk was shoveled in preparation for additional snow that was forecast to come during the night.

    The morning was bright. Birds were working at depleting the seeds in the feeder. The walk needed another shoveling and before I could leave to go anywhere, the car needed cleared of snow and a path shoveled onto the road. After some coffee and breakfast, I went out to play in the snow. There was about 6-7 inches in my yard though in other places I went, it was deeper.

    The township where I live is very good at keeping the streets cleared after a snowfall. Thankfully the near-by communities had followed this lead. The roads I gravitated towards were the back roads. They were smaller roads which followed streams and railroad tracks, roads which tended to have less traffic on them than the larger ones. The car handled what little snow we encountered with no problems. I drove down one road that no plows had visited yet. A mile or two was enough for me but luckily, I encountered another road, just as the plow passed by!

    In Hampton Township I went to my favorite “go to” spot and pulled over and took a small walk down to the stream. I heard some loud bird calls and hoped it might be the heron, but I didn't see it. Walking along the railroad tracks heading back to the car, I couldn’t help but think that this would be a perfect time for a train to come along.

    A truck pulled in behind the car and a man got out with a camera. I said hello and asked if he was shooting “snow scenes” or “train shots”. When he replied "trains", I asked if one was coming soon. He said it would be here in a couple minutes! I started to hear the rumble of engines as we were talking. In less than a minute a train being pulled by three engines rounded the bend. What luck! He took some shots and returned to his truck and raced off after the train.

    A couple pictures later, I did the same. The train had passed the first crossing and as I took to higher roads above the tracks, I couldn’t see or hear it. I figured I’d have to chase it all the way to Mars. (Pennsylvania, not space!) Not far from Wildwood Road, I encountered it again. 

    The train had slowed down to wait for a signal that would allow them to continue on. Workers were clearing the snow and ice off of a switch further ahead. I learnt this by talking to the photographer I had met before.  He works for the RR in the publicity department and was taking some snowy rail shots of the train.

    After taking some more exposures I continued on looking for other subjects. Hunger and the need for another cup of coffee brought me back to the house. My feet had stayed dry but the bottoms of my jeans were soaked. It felt good slipping into some sweatpants and slippers. It was no big deal, sometimes you have sacrifice your comfort for your hobbies! 

    Note: As I am writing this, I hear the whistle of the train. The three engines are returning after dropping off their load. Instead of rushing out and chasing after them, I’ll simply take another sip of my coffee and watch as the lights below start to flash, the engines will be here in no time. I’ll simply stay inside where it’s nice, dry and warm. Maybe I'll read a book!

The Barlow That She Carried

     When I was but a boy, my mother would walk me to school. The two of us would walk about a mile up the hill to the local Catholic School. We took a short cut though a section of woods. I always enjoyed this part of the walk. Going into the unknown, we were off the streets and following a narrow path that in the springtime was partially covered by spreading bushes and in the winters, with ice and snow. These walks helped me appreciate the wonders that the world has to offer and I’m sure, helped nudge me towards the camping and hiking in my future.

    When I was born, we lived on a farm. It wasn’t a large place, about 20 acres or so but it filled a desire that my father had. He was always interested in nature and plants. The idea of living on your own, growing crops to help feed you, having a greenhouse and a few chickens and a couple geese to provide eggs was something both of my parents thought was important. In the end, financial matters got the better of them and we moved to a neighborhood surrounded by houses. Perhaps it was the fact that there was now a new child in the family and the idea of being closer to stores and eventually schools drew them to our new home.

    While we were living on the farm, my mother would bake bread and take it to the near-by town to sell at a small grocery store.  After the move she continued to bake bread. I remember those days fondly, watching her kneading the dough, flour coating her arms and the counter tops. Waiting as the dough slowly rose with white kitchen towels placed across it. Then came the best part, all the smells coming out of the kitchen as the loaves baked! There were always a couple small loafs made and if I was good, I’d get one for myself. Butter melting into the still hot, white crumb, oh, it was pure heaven to a young boy!

    My mother did the daily cooking but my father was the gourmet. When friends came over or family arrived for a holiday get-together, he was the one in the kitchen. These were the days when Julia Child was a big influence. There are still cookbooks in the house dedicated to the fine art of French cooking. I don’t remember any special dinners he made but I know he experimented a lot. His notes in the margins of the cookbooks tell his story. His cooking history is described by how many he fed and whether or not the recipe was worth having again. Stains of ingredients on the pages help tell the story also. 

    Cooking… this brings me back to my original story and the walk to school with my mother. In the springtime, as we were preparing for our walk, my mother would always put a paper lunch bag in her purse. Arriving at the entrance to the short-cut, if the conditions were right, she would open her purse, remove the bag and then dig a bit deeper and pull out a small Barlow pocketknife. The knife was used to cut dandelions, digging down below the fresh leaves and cutting off the roots. The dirt would be shaken off and they would be put in the bag. She looked for young plants, leaving the older and bigger plants behind, saying they were bitter. It didn’t take long until the bag was filled and she would fold over the top, put it in her purse along with the folded knife and we’d continue our walk through the woods, up the hill to the school.

    In the evening, for dinner we would be served a fresh dandelion salad with hot bacon dressing. Seriously, I really think my true appreciation of this salad was the bacon, not the fresh leaves! It was a salad that we had many times, not only tasty but economic!

    The idea that she had a knife in her purse always intrigued me. I was never allowed to hold or play with it, in fact it was never even thought of except when she was trimming the fronds of the dandelions for that nights dinner. She had other knives also, including a slender Case knife with a deer antler handle, stored in a belt sheath. When going through her belongings after she passed, I came across them and had to keep them, both are now in my collection.

    I recently was looking at my knives and wiping the dust off of them, oiling and sharpening a couple, when I picked up her Barlow knife. A bit worn but still tight, the blade shows signs of being re-sharpened many times. Holding it in my hands brought back those walks we took almost 60 years ago. The walks and the taste of her salads, but best of all, it brought back memories of times spent with Mom. 

    All this from just holding the Barlow she carried.

Watching for The Space Stations

    It was the morning of the 4^th, a little after 6 oclock, the light of dawn hadn’t arrived yet. For the most part, the neighborhood was dark and quiet. My neighbor’s porch light did intrude a bit but I could work around it. There was no moon in the sky making it appear even darker.

    I had gotten up early to watch two space stations pass over my house. Who would have imagined doing this 50 or 60 years ago? Science fiction HAS come true!

(No comment needed!)

    Finding a spot that was shielded from the obtrusive porch light next door, I familiarized myself with the stars above. The camera was set up with hopes of getting a couple shots as the stations passed bright stars. Then, all that needed to be done was to wait and enjoy the silence.

Tiangong passing towards the left (East) under Arctures

    The first to appear was the Chinese space station Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace”. It came over the trees right at the scheduled time. Presently there are three astronauts on board this structure. Watching as it got higher in the sky, I was startled by a woman walking her dog. I pointed to the satellite and told her what it was, she simply said “cool” and continued her walk. I'm guessing she wasn't impressed.

    Nearing the end of its passage across the sky, off in a different direction the International Space Station (ISS) had appeared behind some other trees. For a brief while I could see both space stations in the sky at the same time! While it might not excite others, I found this fascinating!

    I swiveled my camera around to catch the ISS and when I looked up, I saw a bright object beside Polaris. (The North Star) As I watched, it proceeded to get brighter. I pushed the shutter on the camera and when I looked back up, the object had disappeared. 

The ISS passing over Polaris, heading towards the right (East)

    Once the ISS had completed its pass, I went inside (into the warmth!) to see if I had caught the flare. The pictures came out nicely, the ISS appearing much brighter than Tiangong since it is a bigger structure. (There are seven crewmen from different countries on the ISS presently.) Someday I'll get a picture with both of them in the same shot!

    As far as the flare goes, I can only guess to what it was. It reminded me of an Iridium Flare. Years ago, there was a fleet of satellites that were shaped in a way that caused bright flares to appear as the sunlight shined on them. If you happened to be in the proper spot at the proper time, you could see them. They were fun to point out to people at star parties.

    There had also been a meteor shower that peaked the day before. It could’ve been one of them. I failed to notice which direction it was coming from, it appeared to be coming straight towards me.  There was also a report of a possible meteor exploding over the Western Pennsylvania area on New Year’s Day…could it have been something related to that?

    Whatever it was, it made for an exciting morning! I always find it rewarding to see things in the sky, or elsewhere, that I wasn’t expecting.

    I had planned on going back inside and slipping back under the covers but this changed everything. I had to see how the pictures came out and to check a few web sites to see if any other bright satellites were in the sky at that time. I found nothing on-line, so I’m leaning towards a flare from a random satellite. There are thousands of objects floating around up there…who knows?

ISS to the left in the trees, the flare and Polaris, all in line

(6:30:42AM EST)

    A couple of satellites, a flare, a good cup of coffee and a bit of research, yup, this day was off to a great start!

Starting Out the New Year

 

New Year’s Day 2022

    Here it is, the first day of the New Year. Ann Marie and I discussed what we could do and decided to take a drive into the country. "We’ll find a place that we haven’t been to before!" The weather wasn't inviting; in fact, it was downright miserable. But, rain and fog has never stopped us before!

    I pulled the Pennsylvania Gazetteer out. Ann Marie gave me a page number, I opened it up and dropped my finger onto the page. This was where we’d go, West Middletown, a community in the southwestern part of the state. That would be our ultimate goal, now whether or not we’d get to it…the afternoon would tell.

    We purposely didn’t pay much attention to the roads on the map. I found a couple geocaches in the area and programmed them into my handheld GPS. Once we got to Washington, we would just follow the needle on the GPS and as any geocacher knows; you can’t get to a cache by going straight to it. We’d see what roads we happened across to on our way.

    Driving past Pittsburgh, clouds were hanging at the tops of the buildings. Fog hung in the valleys and above the neighborhoods we passed, our windshield wipers were on continuously.

    We ended up taking a very roundabout route to the first cache. (The first of the year!) The roads we took were definitely “back roads”! The hide was near a historical “S” shaped stone bridge. Built around 1818, it was bypassed when a near-by intersection was redone. A plain uninteresting straight bridge was constructed beside it. Now grass covers its surface instead of asphalt. While we were there, we met a neighbor walking his dog and he told us a little bit of the history of the area. The house near the end of the bridge, built in the 1880’s, was at one time a stop for stagecoaches.

    Following the GPS’s arrow again, we followed lots of small roads, some dirt and some, supposedly closed. We found two more caches, the last one a micro, about the size of a pencil eraser. It was hidden beside a covered bridge. I had to look closely to find it…in the rain.

    We were getting hungry, and needed some coffee, the day was getting darker and the rain was coming down harder. As we drove around, we were watching for anywhere that we could satisfy either of these wants! Good luck with that out in the farmlands. Heading home was in our thoughts.

    We came to an intersection and across the road was a sign pointing towards West Middletown! We had completely forgotten about the town and our goal to visit it. So, naturally, we took the turn, laughing at the coincidence. We were only a mile or two away!

    The community of West Middletown is rather small, there are only about 100 people who live here. It was founded in 1795 and a lot of the buildings were built in the early 1800’s. Later research told me that the town is perhaps one of the most well-preserved examples of a 19^th century rural commercial community in Western PA.! Believe it or not, we passed a small building on the main street with a sign out front that said Coffee. We quickly turned around to investigate.

    Going inside we discovered that the store, Poor Johnny’s, sold both coffee and unique antiques! What could be better? The store was PACKED with all sorts of “stuff”. You name it and chances are, you could find it in there somewhere. It is orderly but there was no way I could have seen everything in this small brick building. Andrea and John, the proprietors, were wonderful hosts, telling us stories and the history of the town. We were served some GREAT freshly made coffee and we spent awhile exploring the three floors of their store. In ways it reminded me of going into an “olde cabinet of curiosities”. 

    If you are ever in the area of West Middletown, on rt. 844, stop in Poor Johnny’s for some coffee, good conversation and some wild picking. Ann Marie and I both walked out with a couple purchases.

    The store was definitely the highlight of the trip. We had no idea that by pointing a finger to a spot on a map, it would lead us to this cool find! This was truly the highpoint to our journey! Finds like this are what exploring is all about!

    We took a couple more small roads, through foggy valleys and past flooded streams and eventually got back to our home grounds. We were home by 6, just in time for dinner!

    The first day of the year, even though it was wet and foggy it turned into a great day. In fact, I'd have to say, it was the best day of the year! I hope yours went as well! 

Happy New Year!