Western Pennsylvania
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Holiday Cooking Story
Not my cooking. I wasn’t there. I heard this story from my dad. Decades ago – I think that this was during the 60’s, when my dad was a teenager – one of…
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This Place Could Be Haunted
3 Things about this photo: 1.) Jonathan took this in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm in early July 2013. 2.) This is the former site of the Grandview Point Hotel. I, personally,…
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Pennsylvania Water Platters
I guess that tonight’s hard rain put me in the mood to blog about water platters. I saw them at two different conservatories / gardens on opposite sides of Pennsylvania this summer. Yesterday…
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Vultures
I can’t believe that I’m blogging about vultures. I’m no raptor expert. I learned almost everything that I know about vultures from Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal.” (BTW, I fell in love with “The…
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7 Things to Know About Mount Davis in Somerset County
1.) Mount Davis is the highest point in Pennsylvania. 2.) Mount Davis is the absolute best place to leaf peep in Pennsylvania. 3.) A 50 foot metal observation tower / fire tower sits a…
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The Good Old Days
For the first part of my life, my family lived in an old house in a very small town in Central Pennsylvania. My parents heated the house using a wood burning stove. My…
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Did You Hear About St. Basil’s?
St. Basil (or Saint Basil) Catholic Parish in Carrick was all over the Pittsburgh news last month. They shut down their church festival – their big fundraiser – for safety reasons (social media…
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This One Time at Phipps Conservatory . . .
This weekend the 2015 Spring Flower Show opened at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens . Jon and I went to it today (even though he’s still getting over a bad cold) because he will be…
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Parnassus in the Spring
Here is Parnassus in the spring. I intend to post more in a few days. Tonight I will listen to Jonathan baking bread and try to forget that we still have to finish…
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When the Johnstown Flood Came to the Alle-Kiski Valley
Here’s something that I learned this winter: Shortly after the Johnstown Flood of 1889 (the flood that killed 2,209 people), tourists took picnic lunches to Johnstown, Pennsylvania so they could sight-see the damage.…