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They Saw the Bloody Handprint – and Orbs
My sister Katie and her husband Brendan visited two different places this summer that made me envious: 1.) The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida (and they saw the six-toed cats that…
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5 Spooky Places for New Ken Ghost Stories
I love ghost walks and ghost stories based on local history. The last time that I Googled “PA Ghost Walks,” I found several dozen cities in the results. Gettysburg. Pittsburgh. Philadephia. Erie. Harrisburg.…
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So Many Questions . . .
What ghost stories exist for Elliott’s, the Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End Village? I read about Elliott’s in two historical novels: “The King’s Orchard” and “The Day Must Dawn” by (Western PA…
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5 Ways That Mackinac Island Reminds Me of Home
Once a year we ride a ferry on Lake Huron for our day trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan. People come here to see: The Grand Hotel. Tourists everywhere on bicycles. Tourists everywhere in…
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Sault Ste. Marie Adventure, 2014
Yesterday I saw the largest boat that I might ever see, and then I dragged my in-laws into my fascination with old buildings and old neighborhoods. We made our annual trip to Sault…
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Elegy to My Old Front Porch, c1930 – 2014
I am getting a new front porch for my birthday this year. Jonthan and I planned and saved for this for years. We tweaked some of our career goals for this. We can’t wait…
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Remembering World War I
This month (June 28) is the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The aftermath led to World War I. My relatives suffered and sacrificed as a…
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In Which I Embarrass My Younger Sisters
Olivia turned fifteen years old last week. Olivia and I have the same mother and father, but I am the oldest of the five Gaffron sisters and she is the youngest. I grew…
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It’s Maple Sugar Season!
Every winter, my sisters and I listened to a radio broadcast of the Maple Queen Contest for the Pennsylvania Maple Festival in Meyersdale, PA. When March came, I and the other members of…
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My Hometown Has an Elephant Farm
This is the first blog post in an occasional series about what makes Berlin, Pennsylvania fantastic. About a year or so ago, I saw a job posting on the Pittsburgh Zoo’s website for…