The Mountain House

I was unfamiliar with Tioga County before this summer, althoughI knew where it was. I could find it on a map in the north central part of Pennsylvania, bordering New York State. Early this year I learned it would be our vacation spot for the summer, rather than our usual shore spot on Long Beach Island. The basic idea i had was that Tioga County was all mountains and farmland and that we would be vacationing in a remote rural area rather than the crowded Jersey Shore. It was fine with me if my brothers felt they could get more for their money there. I could see what they meant by that when I saw the picture of the house we would be staying in and the vast amount of farmland and mountains around it.

As our vacation week approached in late July, the weather forecast wasn’t looking too good. Rain was predicted for most of the week, and was expected to arrive on the day we traveled there. That Saturday started sunny and humid, and remained that way as we were making our way up the turnpike. The clouds were taking over by the time we reached the Poconos, and the rain started as we were making our way west on I-80. It continued on and off after we exited and made our way up US 15. It seemed to get steadier, but still light as we passed Williamsport and went through north Lycoming and Tioga Counties on a steadily uphill incline. After cutting through some rural roads, we were on US 6 for a small stretch before arriving at the house late in the afternoon. 

We turned in and came down the long driveway through the cornfield until we arrived at the hexagonal shaped house that would be our home for the next week. We were surrounded by mountain ridges. It seemed peaceful and relaxing except for the sound of the trucks making their way up and down nearby Route 6. The long gravel driveway curved through the property leading to a farmhouse and silo. Right behind the house was the Pine Creek, about 10-15 miles upstream from the Pine Creek Gorge, known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. That is probably the main attraction of Tioga County, aside from the hunting. The quaint small town of Wellsboro, another popular spot, was about 15-20 miles away. But there was still plenty that could be done right on the property, which was good since most attractions were at least a half an hour away. The gravel driveway was great for biking and taking walks, and the Pine Creek was a good spot for fishing.

This was not roughing it in the woods by any means, but we dealt with some inconveniences that would not have existed 25 years ago. There were apparently no towers around, so phone communication was painfully slow, at least by text. Any message I texted out was still sending a half hour later. There was no Wi-Fi in the house, so any connection to the internet was an equally slow process. Fortunately my brother brought his MiFi along. That helped, but timely texting and internet connections were limited to when it was on. I brought my radio, but I only remember being able to pull in 2 stations, one an FM country station known as Bigfoot Country, and the other WOGA AM, which called itself “Woga in Tioga”.

The one television provided was a large late model CRT sitting on the kitchen counter, carrying stations on basic cable from Elmira, New York. I thought we were a little closer to Williamsport, but it looks like that part of Tioga County is in the Elmira media market. This was one place where a land line could actually work better than cell phones. I don’t remember having any problems receiving the few calls I got, but the advantage to a land line is that the signal is carried by wires and doesn’t depend on being bounced off of towers.

We spent most of the evening hours sitting around the fire pit in the yard on the side of the house. The air was slightly chilly and sweatshirts and jackets were needed. That was a welcome relief from the humidity of the Philadelphia area. A slight disappointment was the fact that there was almost always a cloud cover and the star scape was visible only one night. And that was only for about an hour, after which the clouds rolled back over.

I don’t know what the plan is for next year. I’m ok with whatever the family decides to do. Wherever we go I hope to get more sunny days and clear nights. If we go back to Tioga County I would like to see a few more sights I didn’t get to see this year. But even without that the thought of just being in the mountains for a week is appealing to me.

The Storybook House

One evening this past summer we were taking a walk in my brother’s neighborhood in Oreland, Pa. This particular time we took a different route, and I saw something I never really took notice of before. It was a house that stood out among the others, for its yard and the house design itself.  For one thing, it sat on a bend in the road, and all of it was contained in a fairly small triangular shaped piece of property.  The landscaping was perfect, with a neatly mowed lawn and trimmed shrubbery.  The house looked like it jumped off the pages of a children’s story book.

Around the periphery stood a white picket fence, the small gate adorned with a floral wreath, displaying autumn colors, although this was still in early August. There were some other decorations that are obscured in this picture, such as the wooden goose on the window. It was all kept immaculate, looking too perfect to walk on.

As for who lives in the house, I don’t know. It could be anyone, but I’m guessing an elderly woman who authors children’s books. It looks like the whole appearance of the property is designed to provide surroundings for writing the stories that would fill those books. The inspiration is right there. It would take only a short stretch of the imagination to have gum drops growing out of the trees, or to have lollipops and candy canes growing out of the ground. Snow white, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood can easily be placed in the front yard.

It is also just as likely that the house is occupied by an average nuclear family. Maybe both parents are doctors, lawyers, or postal workers.  Whoever it is, they do a great job maintaining both the house and yard, or they pay someone 

College Football: A View From Just Outside

I finally had another opportunity to attend a Temple football game on September 30. As usual our seats were behind the opposing team sideline, which on that day was the University of Houston. This year was slightly different as were down the field, around the 20 yard line, where before we usually sat around midfield, about halfway up the lower level. Unlike previous times, our tickets put us not behind the Houston players, but bordering on the small corner area occupied by the faithful contingent of UH supporters who made their way to Philadelphia from Texas. Although we were not very far from the Houston players, we were now closer to the cheerleaders and mascot. I would be seeing a lot more of them that I ever do watching television.  The experience of seeing a football game will always be different from watching it in the living room.  There is only so much to it that can be captured by the camera, and when it is, it can only be given a few seconds of viewing time before being edited back to main focus of the game.

We arrived at our seats about 45 minutes before kickoff.  The players were warming up on the field, but now that our seats were much closer to the cheerleaders, I noticed their pre-game activities more than the players.  I watched as they arrived with their signs to cue the crowd and their letter flags, which they no doubt hoped to be flying frequently during the game.  There were about 7 or 8 of them, all stunningly beautiful.  There was uniformity not only with their outfits but also their long straight hair tied with a bow in the back. I was close enough to get the pictures which I posted here. As they went about their business in preparing for their game, they talked about whatever cheerleaders talk about at that time. They probably sounded like most college age girls, but no doubt with a distinctive Texas twang. Directly across the field from them stood the much larger Temple cheerleading unit, male and female.  What I saw was a bare bones road cheerleading crew, probably just enough to carry the letter flags whenever the Cougars got scored a touchdown.

Nearby stood Shasta, the cougar mascot.  Shasta is a name I associate with a brand of soda that I’m not sure still exists on the market. The cougar suit Shasta was in looked to be short from where I sat, which led me to believe that its occupant might be a girl. I didn’t see Shasta perform any flips, cartwheels, or any other gymnastic stunts, but I still thought maybe there was a petite female gymnast inside. I have no real way of knowing, so I’ll just leave it at a guess.  I wasn’t close enough to get the actual size.

Sitting behind the players inevitably made me wonder what the student athlete experience was like for those fortunate enough to receive an FBS scholarship offer. But now I was wondering about the auxiliary performers at football games who travel with the team, particularly the cheerleaders since I was sitting near them. And what did they think about? Maybe their boyfriends, maybe the calculus exam or chemistry lab project that was waiting for them when they return to Houston. During the flight, was everyone banging away on their laptops, writing their history papers? Beyond that, was this the first time in Philadelphia for most of the freshmen?  Were there some freshmen who never felt a snowflake before? This day in Philadelphia was a cool overcast autumn day, but there may be some late season games coming in Connecticut or Tulsa.

This goes without saying, but only a few of the players on either side have any realistic hope of playing in the NFL. If what I learned watching Rudy is right, some of the scholarship players don’t even dress for the games. Maybe a few of the starters think they have a shot at going in the late rounds of the draft in April.  For most of them it could be assumed they are happy to be playing game they love, and not only that, receiving a free education, complete with living expenses while in college.  They stand on the sidelines hoping for a shot to get in the game, but the most important thing to them is getting a degree and launching their career or getting into grad school.

I did actually go there to see the game so here is a brief summary. As a Temple fan, it was disappointing at first, but after falling behind 20-0 early in the second half, they rallied and made this into good game before losing 20-13.  Most fans though the game was over after Temple turned the ball over on downs late in the fourth quarter and like us, started to make their way to the exits. But Temple did get the ball back with a few seconds left, just enough time for a Hail Mary pass, which was intercepted.  It was not over until the clock showed all zeroes. It doesn't always go the way I want it, and I'm not a season ticket type, but I always like going to games. What was different about this experience was that I remembered what being a student was like, but the world of college sports was something I never went near. This is about as close as I’ll get to it. Since I was that close, I tried to get into the mind of the student athletes as much as I could. And all of the auxiliary members of their entourage.