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.

Tracks Back on Wax

I took this photo in the Barnes and Noble bookstore at the Neshaminy Mall in April.  Although that display held the only vinly records I saw there, it was enough to show that vinyl is back, at least to me.  Sitting among the classic records from the 60s,70s and 80s was Adele’s record, seen in the bottom left.  Adele was born in 1988, so if she ever saw a vinyl record, it was probably in her parent’s collection, likely sitting in a closet attracting dust.  Also note that Dr. Dre’s The Chronic sits in that display bin as well.  That album dropped in 1993, several years after the last vinyl record was purchased at a mainstream record store.

This wasn’t entirely new to me, as I had been hearing about this revival for a while.  Vinyl had been creeping back onto radio, and in some cases never entirely went away.  But now there seem to be more and more segments devoted to vinly, as well as articles about increasing interest and sales wherever vinyl records could be found.  When I walked into the Barnes and Noble back in April, what I saw in this display bin confirmed what I was hearing and I made sure to snap this picture as photographic proof.

I don’t know if this will mean anything in the long run.  I don’t think that vinyl will replace the more technically advanced forms of recording that have long since taken over and made the vinyl record obsolete (with the exception of party djs and collectors).  But it has now found a niche, if not a permanent place.  Or at least that is what it seems like, unless this all turns out to be a fad.

Winter on Lake Caroline

About three and a half years ago I published a few photos I took at Lake Caroline in Fairless Hills, PA. Today I returned to that site, on a sunny and very cold Saturday morning.  The weather has been brutally cold lately, but it looks like we had just enough sun and warmth to keep some of the lake from freezing, and to leave most of the ice thin.  The snow on the ground is what remains from the winter storm last Monday night, which was originally forecast to accumulate 12-18 inches.  It turned out to be much less, and I was at work on Tuesday morning, although the office opened late.

I am not very familiar with the habits of seagulls, so I found their activity here a bit interesting.  They walked along the frozen surface of the lake for a while, then walked over on to the snowy ground and perched in their spots as captured in the picture here.  Maybe they were warming the ground to bring up some of the earth worms.  From what I have observed previously, their diet seems to consist of fish whatever discarded food scraps they could find.  It is common to see them flocking around shopping center parking lots. Here, they could probably find fish, but I think the lake is only stocked during certain times of the year.  And if this was fishing season, I think there would be people fishing all around the lake, no matter what the weather. 

My plan wasn’t to stay around long, however, and it was too cold anyway.  At least, I didn’t come dressed to spend a lot of time in arctic weather.  But whenever I can, I’ll keep sneaking in these photos

The Unfrozen Lake

Today I set out to get some winter photos, figuring most of the lakes and small creeks in the area would be frozen.  But that wasn’t what I found.  Either the current cold streak wasn’t long enough to solidify the larger bodies of water in the area, or the thawing yesterday was just enough to melt it.  

This photo shows what I saw when I got to Lake Luxemburg near my home.  The water around the edges was covered with a thin sheet of ice, and the rest remained unfrozen.  It was too cold and windy for me to stay around long, so I just got this one picture with my phone. After that, I hurried back to the warmth of my car, which had not been parked long.

Maybe I’ll get another chance soon.  It’s still early January, and there are still about two months to go to get through the bane of winter.  Like all seasons, winter has its own beauty, and I’ll try to get out as much as I can to capture some of it.

The Colors of Nature

Back in October, I went out into Central Bucks with my Samsung Galaxy and my Canon Power Shot to capture some of the fall foliage.  I found a spot I liked behind Buckingham Elementary School.  There wasn’t a whole lot of open field back there, but all the fall colors were there, although yellow was lacking a little.  And there was also some green left.

The above picture was taken with the Galaxy.  I still have the pictures on the camera, but haven’t uploaded or edited them yet.  It seems too easy to do everything with one hand held device, but I still want to work with a machine that was engineered specifically to take pictures.  And I hope to be taking and publishing more of them soon.

One More Round

I’m anticipating the next winter storm, which will literally be any minute now as I write these words around 10:45 PM.  In the meantime, here are some pictures from last week’s storm.  Most of the precipitation has been snowfall this season, but last week it came in the form of ice. Since early December, we have been averaging about one winter storm a week.   Although there have been more winter storms this year than the last several years combined, the cycle should end soon, as we are now in February.  The Phillies are reporting to spring training in Florida, and in two weeks will be playing their first exhibition game.  With the beginning of the baseball pre-season, spring can’t be far off.  The fact that baseball is being played somewhere has no effect on the weather, of course, but it does give hope.

In the meantime, these pictures tell the story, and it is about to be repeated.  I took them from our front porch, with lots of snow and on the ground and hanging from the trees.  All this looks pretty, but just makes getting around difficult and often hazardous.  And within an hour I will be dealing with more.  At least all the kids will love it, but even they may be getting tired of it, especially since they will now be going to school until the end of June.

The First Storm of the New Year

Since we were hit with another snowstorm last night, and the roads were still covered when I started my car this morning, I figured it was best to wait a while to head out.  When I was advised later that the roads were still bad for sedans like mine, I decided to stay in.  As of right now, we are still sitting in what looks like about six inches of snow, and although the roads are now somewhat clearer, we are still in a spell of arctic cold.  Every winter we get a few cold snaps that give me an idea of what it’s like living in Minnesota or Wisconsin, only there it is perpetual throughout the winter.  Back here, most of that snow should stay until Sunday, when we will have a brief warming period and some rain.  After that, it’s back to the single digits and teens.

I will probably be taking the car out soon to do some shopping, although I don’t intend to be out long.  The good thing is that now I am looking at a clear blue sky, rather than the all-day cloud cover yesterday, which was followed by the blizzard last night.  It does look like the conditions are now better.

I did want to get one picture of the snow today, and because of the conditions I didn’t want to go far. So I got this quick picture of the backyard.  I only got as close as the middle of the driveway, since my car is as far as I went to dig out of the snow.  From there, I took this picture.  I don’t like driving in snow, and I don’t like having to trudge through it, but I do like the way snow can make everything look nice.  And I’m glad I got this picture to capture the beauty of the snow after this latest storm.  The Weather Channel may be trying to establish a trend of naming every storm that comes through, but to me this is just the first snowstorm of 2014.

Fort Washington State Park on a Perfect Autumn Day

Last Sunday, I took advantage of a perfect autumn day and made my way to Fort Washington State Park, which is just outside Philadelphia.  After passing by the park for a long time, I figured it was time to venture in and explore with my camera, and the weather last Sunday provided me that opportunity.  Since I had a few extra hours that day, I made my way in.

I parked near the bird watching platform and picked up one of the pocket sized park maps that are always provided at state parks.  The first thing I looked for was a trail along the Wissahickon Creek, which turned out to be easy to find by just following the map and find the creek.  I also liked the fact that it was macadam trail, which made it easier on my beat up sneakers.  While walking along, I got a few pictures of the wooded area surrounding the creek, two of which I posted here.  The other I took near the bird watching platform. 

I still need to explore more of the park, and get more shots, so I plan on heading back soon.  But for right now, I’ll just share what I was able to capture last Sunday.

A Few Spring Pictures

These pictures I posted here go about one to two months back, when the spring foliage was near its peak.  I took the first two along the Delaware River in Bristol, Pa., where I have gone and taken pictures frequently in the past.  I took these two pictures from two spots near each other on the walkway, pointing the camera in two different directions and playing with different color temperatures in Picasa.

I took the next shots at my workplace in Newtown, Pa., another favorite spot where I have taken and posted several pictures.  Although my position there is temporary, it has lasted for well over a year now, and I have been fortunate enough to watch the vegetation change through all four seasons.  Eight million Americans were displaced from their jobs in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, and I was one of them.  I have struggled with periods of unemployment since then, so I am grateful to have been at the same place long enough to watch the foliage change through all four seasons.  And most importantly, I like the work itself.

Memorial Day Parade and the Gateway to Summer 2013

The annual Memorial Day parade is generally the same every year, but it does only come once a year.  It’s also a kind of reunion day, since we live right on the parade route, and attract all the friends and relatives to our place for the parade and the backyard barbecue afterward.  All up and down our street, all the grown children come back and bring their children along.  It gives everyone something to look forward to, especially the kids.  And, of course, it kicks off the summer season.

This year, our parade caught the attention of Fox News, which dispatched a crew to the scene to cover it.  Our town holds some kind of record for the Memorial Day Parade, I think for consecutive years.  Of course, there were some years where bad weather forced the cancellation of the parade, but it has been running for a long time.  As far as I know, there has at least been a parade scheduled every year.  I didn’t notice any Fox reporters or equipment where I was at, except for a blimp which passed overhead.  It bore a likeness of SpongeBob on the side, or maybe it was supposed to be a smiling fish.  I have the photo posted here, which I took through the telephone wires above me.  I don’t know if that blimp belonged to Fox News, since I don’t think Nickelodeon is owned by Fox.  I did do a quick check on YouTube, but didn’t find any uploads of the Fox News feature.  I suppose it only lasted about a minute, with some quick snippets of a few bands and floats.  If there was anything in the parade I wanted to see featured, I would likely have missed it if I blinked my eye.

I included a few shots of some bands, including the Avalon String Band, which I believe is based in Center City or South Philadelphia and is probably a regular in the annual Mummer’s Parade on New Year’s Day.  There was also a bagpipe band, which I think was the Loch Ranoch Bagpipe Band, based somewhere in Upper Bucks County.  They make it every year.  By the time the emergency vehicles rolled by toward the end of the parade, I was out of power for the camera.  I had two sets of cheap dollar store batteries to use for this event, and I went through both of them before the parade ended, and saved what power I had left from the batteries to upload the photos.

Other than the emergency vehicles, I missed getting pictures of the Action Karate students, who stopped right in front of our house to give us a demonstration.  But as the parade was winding down, I was going back and forth between the front lawn and the backyard, where my brother was on the grill.  He has a way of timing his cooking so the first hot dogs are ready for the kids just as the tail end of the parade passes our house.  Everything then moved to the back.  The hours went by, and after everyone was gone, there was the cleaning.  Next morning, it was back to work and back to normal, except that summer had now unofficially begun.  There will be more things to look forward to, and more pictures to take.

After Sandy's Visit

Like many people, I was left housebound last Monday by Hurricane Sandy.  By Tuesday morning, the conditions had improved enough to walk around my neighborhood and survey the damage, although for me, like most people, there would be no work.  As I made my way around on foot, I saw pretty much what I had expected.  There were several fallen trees, and limbs were strewn everywhere.  One tree in particular fell across an alley that I usually walked through, and it was lying between two houses on either side of the alley.  It looks like it barely missed the house across the way from the property it formerly stood on.

In one way, however, we were fortunate.  Through it all, we never lost power, although our lights dimmed a few times.   We still had lights and heat, the important things, although our cable and internet service were knocked out for about a day.  Many of my neighbors were not so fortunate.  As soon as I walked out the door, the air was filled with the sound of generators humming.  The 7-11 and the shopping center nearby were also without power, and apparently much of the refrigerated and frozen food in stock had to be discarded.  One of the traffic signals nearby was out, with only portable stop signs to direct traffic. 

Walking past the golf course at the Middletown Country Club, I saw the downed tree that appears in this photo.  Fortunately, this tree was fairly small, and was nowhere near any property it could damage other than the ground.  It certainly wasn’t in anyone’s way, since no would be out golfing on that day.  But there may be more storms like this coming, and I’m hearing it may be the new normal.  Scientists are saying that global warming has changed the weather dynamics for good now, and we will be seeing more of this in the future.  I don’t know what kind of evidence is provided.  I haven’t really researched it.  I hope it’s not true, of course, but I do know there will be more storms from time to time, as there always were, along with the flooding and down trees they bring with them.  

A Day at the Grange Fair

Sheep

Sleeping Pigs

Alpacas

Tractor display

On this particular morning in mid-August, I woke up without any plans for the day, but that changed when I got a text from my brother.  He was going to the annual Middletown Grange Fair with his wife and son, and invited me to come along.  Farm animals are not plentiful in my area, so I jumped at the chance to go with them.  There actually was a time during my childhood when most of the area north of my home was farmland, but that changed with the development boom that hit in the 70s and 80s. Over a fairly short period of time, the acres of cornstalks and pumpkin patches that defined the countryside were transformed into housing developments and shopping centers.  Narrow country roads were widened, and bypasses were soon built to handle the volumes of new daily traffic that soon followed.  Small patches of farmland remained, but the rural to suburban metamorphosis was pulled off fairly quickly.  That is one of the reasons why I was quick to grab my camera go with them.

The grange fair is usually held during the third week of August, in Wrightstown, Pa. and is similar to what I imagine the old county and state fairs were (and still are) like.  Once there, we moved quickly through the covered pavilions that served as temporary homes for the animals on display.  The first thing I noticed approaching the stalls was the noise.  I heard plenty of farm animals, such as cows mooing and roosters crowing.  Although I am quite familiar with those sounds, I only know them from hearing recordings and watching television.  I rarely ever come close enough to these animals to hear them live.  I heard them all, except for the pigs, which were all sleeping.  One other thing I noticed about the animals, especially about the pigs, was the smell.  That is something no audio or video recording could convey. Being around pigs would take some getting used to for me, and building a tolerance to their odor would take a while.  I also got to see the alpacas that were on display there.  I guess some farmers around here find use for these Andean camels, unless they came from a petting zoo.

We didn’t stay there too long, since my little nephew was starting to get antsy.  I would have liked to have stayed around to see a few more things, such as the pig races that were about to begin when we left.  But overall I’m glad simply to have made my way there, and that I brought my camera with me.  I guess if I could define the fair in a nutshell, I would say it’s a celebration of all things rural, and a reminder of the historical roots of this area.  And it is good to celebrate our rural heritage as it fades further back in the rearview mirror.

The Abbreviated Trip to Long Beach Island

This year I knew my annual trip to LBI would be different, since I don’t have PTO benefits where I work, and I had already taken some hours off here and there for my ongoing dental work.  I didn’t usually spend more than a few nights at the shore anyway, but even if I did spend the whole week there, it would be a small sacrifice when it comes to working.  This year’s trip to LBI was a day trip, which I didn’t mind.  I was glad to make the journey to the island, and I had taken day trips there before.

And as I wrote previously, I like the ride to and from the island almost as much as I like spending time at LBI itself.  Once I get past the Burlington and Mt. Holly areas in New Jersey, the rest of the trip is mostly woodlands.  After I get past the Four Mile Circle near Pemberton, the landscape becomes dominated by the famous Atlantic Pygmy Pines that this area of New Jersey is famous for.  It’s not a particularly long stretch, maybe 15-20 miles between the circle and Manahawkin, where route 72 meets the Garden State Parkway, and where the large development known as Ocean Acres is located.  As I make my way through Manahawkin, the road is once again surrounded by the houses and shopping centers that I am familiar with.

This year as I was approaching Manahawkin I noticed something different about the landscape.  It seemed that many of the pine and oak trees were bare and dying.  It may have been the result of the forest fires that are part of the nature cycle there, but to me the trees didn’t look burnt.  It looked to me like the trees were dying a natural death, like there was some kind of disease that had infested them.  I’m not a scientist and I don’t know much about these things, however.  I guess I’ll look up what happened, and see if I could find anything. 

Once I got to the island, I only visited a few places.  There are a lot of places I try to see every time I visit LBI, but this year my time was limited, and I just hit a few spots around Beach Haven, where we stay.  Of course, I wanted to see the ocean, which I captured in the above photo.  If I remember right, it was around 5 or 6 in the evening.  I had taken pictures from that spot before, around that same time in the late afternoon/early evening, but something looked different about the sky this time.  I guess it was the arrangement of the clouds hanging over the ocean.

After having dinner, it was time to leave and head back home.  I wanted to get at least most of the way home before darkness fell, but I was way behind.  The sun was setting behind the tree line across the bay as I was making my way up the main boulevard toward route 72 in Ship Bottom, which carries the only bridge connection to the mainland.  It was getting darker as I made my way through the Pine Barrens, and night had fallen by the time I reached the Four Mile Circle.  By the time I crossed the Burlington Bristol Bridge to Bucks County and got home, it was getting late.

Looking Back to Winter

Although we didn’t see much snow in my area this winter, the first snowfall actually came to us early, in October.  I thought that might have been a sign indicating that we were approaching a long, cold, and snowy winter, but it didn’t happen that way.  We only got a few light snowfalls, and none that I can remember accumulated more than two inches.  One of those rare occasions came in early February, and I was able to get out with my camera and capture it.  It happened overnight, and by rush hour, the sky was clear.  However, the snow was still on the ground, and I wanted to get out and take some pictures before the morning sun melted it all off.  I had a small window of opportunity to get out and make it happen, since I didn’t know if we would get another snowfall this season.

Snow may be difficult to drive through, but it has a way of making everything look nice.  Here, the light snowfall was just perfect for me.  I got out to the park without any real trouble, and most of the snow was still there.  In the meadow, it looks like the snow had already melted off of the trees in the distance.  In the wooded area, the sun had not gotten to the vegetation yet, so the snow cover was still on.  The snow on the cattails and reeds created something that resembled frosted mini-wheats. 

Now we are a week past Memorial Day, and the unofficial summer season is now on.  There are plenty of things I’ll look forward to doing during the next three months.  I’ll look forward to the fall, too, when the time comes.  But now, for no particular reason, I just wanted to post these pictures and take a look back at this past winter.  There are some things I like about the winter, as well, when that season comes around.

A Small Patch of Land

These are pictures of a farm in Newtown, Pa.  I took them from a rural road just off of route 332, near I-95.  It is one of the few farms remaining in the area, since the Newtown area was transformed by the building boom of the eighties.  Until that time, there were plenty of places where horses like these could be seen, as well as cows and sheep.  But the proximity of Newtown and neighboring Yardley to New Jersey and Philadelphia made it a prime area for sprawl coming from those areas.  And during that time, gas prices were not so much an issue, so people were willing to drive an hour each way to and from work.  Especially for those in the metro New York and Princeton areas, Bucks County provided an ideal place to fulfill the American dream of owning a home for those who were willing to drive a little farther (or sometimes a lot farther).

However, if I am correct, the farm pictured here is either on or across route 332 from the proposed site of Aria Hospital’s new Bucks Campus.  Aria’s current location is a few miles away, near Sesame Place.  What is shown in this picture may not be there much longer.  The fairly new houses in the background also show that this farm was larger until recently.  But as of right now, there is still this small patch of farmland.  How much longer it will remain that way, I don’t know.  I may someday be able to show the date on the corner of this picture as evidence of how late this patch of land remained rural.

The small creek seen in these pictures is the Core Creek, which flows a few miles until it is received by the Neshaminy Creek.  Shortly before it reaches the Neshaminy, a park was built around the creek and named after it.  Sometime during the late 1970’s, a dam was constructed and Core Creek was flooded into a lake, known as Lake Luxemburg.  Here it lies in a natural setting.  I have never been out west, or to the plains, but in this picture, the creek looks like the streams I have seen in movies set out in the prairies.  On the East Coast, it seems that most bodies of fresh water are surrounded by trees and other vegetation, while here the Core Creek is just running through grassy ground, without anything big growing on its banks.

Under Construction

Last week, I visited Bucks County Community College last week for the first time in a while, several months at least.  I found things to be quite different this time.  The campus was under construction, which was nothing new, but I found more areas being renovated than before.  Also, some of the areas I thought would be finished by now are still being remodeled.  The first thing I noticed as I was making my way across the campus was the fencing on both sides of the walkway.  The area outside of Pemberton Hall (the administrative building) was now occupied by heavy construction equipment and the beginnings of what will be known as Newtown Commons.  The accompanying picture should give some idea of what it will look like when completed.   I’m guessing it will be ready to open in time for the fall 2012 semester, but I am quite clueless when it comes to guessing on these things.  I didn’t bother asking anyone, and I’ll try to remember next time I’m there.

Next, I made my way to the library, which has also been under construction for quite some time now.  For years after I was a student there, the library looked generally the same, but in the last few years, has been radically altered.  A good part of the lower floor was partitioned off and converted to the bookstore, which moved there from its previous location.  Until a few years ago, it occupied a room in the area where the Newtown Commons is now under construction.  The upstairs, where the book stacks are located, is now entirely closed off due to the construction.  Anyone who needs a book checked out has to give the name and number of the book to one of the student aides, who will then run up and pull the book.  The tutoring lab that was formerly upstairs had been moved downstairs for the construction.  It is unrecognizable to me since the lower floor has been renovated to handle the entire library operation process, except for the books. 

There are other areas being renovated as well.  Construction work in the cafeteria appears to have been completed.  That had also been going on for a while as well.   I thought some of the work being done was only temporary, but the work seems to have stopped there, unless there is another phase planned for later.  I included a photo of the garden.  I didn’t see any workers or equipment there, but the muddy patch with tire tracks all over it indicates that there is work being done there, not to mention the fact that the area is taped off.  Again, I’m not sure how long it will be before everything is done, but at least some parts of the campus will look a lot different from what I remember, even just a few years ago. 

Overlooking the Train Tracks

The track pictured here is part of the Norfolk Southern railroad system.  It’s not far from where I live in Langhorne, Pa.  During my childhood I often hiked along these tracks and through railroad property to the banks of the nearby Neshaminy Creek.  A few things have changed since then, as the rail line changed ownership a few times, and there were previously two tracks there.  The other track was torn up sometime in the eighties or nineties.  The volume and frequency of train traffic has probably dropped somewhat, although I didn’t really notice.  There has also been a lot of development in this area since then, some of it bordering these tracks.  People still brought the houses knowing full well the development bordered railroad property, and most of them probably didn’t mind that.  Some developments were built next to grade crossings, which require the train engineers to sound the horn four times at each crossing, which I heard later did cause some homeowners to protest at township meetings.  But most people either were ok with it, or found a way to live with it or soundproof their homes.

I always wanted to find out where this line went.  I saw on maps that going eastward, a spur splits off and junctions into the CSX owned tracks near the Oxford Valley Mall, and follows that line across the Delaware River into New Jersey.  From there, it cuts across the state until it reaches the terminal in Kearney, outside Newark.  The trains that don’t merge into the CSX line go a few more miles to the U.S. Steel Industrial Park in Fairless Hills.  I don’t know how much business comes from the U.S. Steel Industrial Park today, but I do know that some trains still go there.  There is still some business to be done, and some cargo to be picked up.  Going westward, the line eventually runs alongside the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Southampton, and continues along the highway past Norristown.  It runs near the turnpike for a while, and then apparently junctions in with the Amtrak line going toward Harrisburg.  From there, I don’t know how long it stays with the Amtrak line, but I do know that the trains running near my home eventually make their way across the country and terminate in Pittsburg, California, in the Bay Area.  So I think at least some of the trains running on this track are travelling from coast to coast.

There may be other uses for this line in the future.  About ten to fifteen years ago, I read that SEPTA considered using this part of the line for their proposed Cross County Metro, a commuter line running between Norristown and Trenton.  However, SEPTA has long been financially strapped, going back well before the recession hit.  Construction for this project would probably last several years as it would involve making these tracks ready to handle passenger trains, and to have the passenger and freight traffic co-exist.  For one thing, the line would likely need to be electrified, running a catenary wire overhead to power the passenger trains.  This would affect the freight traffic, since the freight cars are often double-stacked along this line, and there may not be enough clearance with the wire.  For this reason, and also to be able to handle the increased volume of train traffic, the second track may have had to be rebuilt.  Stations would need to be constructed.  It would be convenient for me personally if a station was constructed right near my home, but it’s probably not one of the proposed locations, and it doesn’t look like there is room to construct a parking lot there.  The traffic on route 413 going under the tracks is already heavy, and it doesn’t look like it would handle the incoming and outgoing cars well.  I imagine the closest station to me would probably be somewhere near the Oxford Valley Mall, or maybe in Southampton, a few miles to the west of where I live. 

One thing for sure is that I think it would be a good idea to have the Metro Line constructed.  I’m for anything that will leave fewer cars on the road.  It would also make certain places more directly accessible than if I drove a car there, although those places would be limited.  If I worked somewhere along the line, and I found it affordable to do so, I would take the train there.  However, I don’t know how many other people would take the train to these places.  Transit will help make our society less car-dependent, but of course accessibility would be limited to what could be reached by a train or a bus.  It just simply may not be practical to invest in something like this.  But one thing I’m fairly certain about is that this line will continue to be used.

The Bane of Winter

  It is now early January, and we are just a little past the Christmas season.  The holiday lights and decorations are gone, except for a few lingering reminders.  Soon those few remaining displays will be gone as well. We are now entering the bane of winter, which is why I took the pictures that appear here.  I wanted to go out and get some shots of bare trees to convey the image of this time of year, just past the holiday season, and the winter solstice, and before the thawing of spring comes.  It’s a time of short, cold days although they get progressively and noticeably longer as the winter moves through February.  There is often snow on the ground, although there has been very little of it so far in this area.

  The weather was actually warm on Saturday when I took these pictures.  It was a great day to go outside, especially since there won’t be too many days like it in the months to come.  But the actual weather didn’t matter a whole lot to me when I took these pictures.  The trees will still be bare, and the camera can’t catch the unseasonably warm weather unless there are some visual indicators in the background, like someone wearing shorts or a few crocuses popping up through the grass.  There were boats out on the lake that day, but not at that moment.  What I got was a winter picture, although a frozen lake and snow would have made it look more convincing.

  In the months ahead, we’ll be looking at more cold weather, with a few mild days here and there.  Although there has been very little snow so far, there will likely be some snow days coming.  We have a few snow shovels in our basement, and I expect to be using them before the winter is over.  I’ll be using my camera as well, to capture the images of the fallen snow when it comes.  Right now, I’m still using the heat and defrost in my car.  The cycle of time will turn as it always does, and spring will be here before we realize it.  The weather will get warmer, the days longer, and the trees and bushes will bloom.  But until then, we’ll be going through the bane of winter, as these pictures show.