Life Lists

I read in the NY Times today that Rachael Hubbard, a preschool teacher in Oregon, has published her life list of 78 things she wants to do before she dies. She's now 24 years old. Her list includes things meaningful to her: like, "see a dinosaur fossil".

Now, I'm a birder. I have a life list already of the birds I've seen.

And, I've already seen the dinosaur fossils at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. Some were of a newly discovered kind of dinosaur-- so new, that the museum was still going through the process of naming the new find.

So, I got to thinking about my own Life List. And I was reminded of my biggest desire. I want to travel across the country. Taking my time. Not using the Interstates. Meeting people. Opening myself up to adventure.

One of my Christmas gifts last December was the latest edition of Frommer's USA-- the one with the cowboy on the cover. It has lots of useful information like: Don't Get Side-tracked: Big Bend Ranch State Park is different from Beg Bend National Park. Who knew?

So I'm working on a travel plan. My goal is one that includes the Ramsey Canyon Preserve in Arizona which is home to 14 different species of hummingbird and excludes any formal Disney place. Yes, I'm shunning the Mad Mouse.

They Raced in the Rain

Sunday, after worship at St. M's on Elm, I went over to Ridge Street. For the second day, there was a soap box derby being held. Boys and girls raced in the rain. I like the contrast in this photo between the youth, color, and speed of this contestant in contrast with the solid grey of the background. The cars were clocked at 16 to 18 mph at top speed near the end of the downhill run. But sometimes speed does not get you where you need to go. Sometimes you just have to go slow. The trick is knowing when to go slow and when to let go.

It's All Happening Along Keystone Avenue

Whew! A busy day all along Keystone Avenue. There was a Peach Festival at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church on the corner of Keystone and Elm. Over on Ridge Street, the annual soapbox derby was in full swing. The Emmaus Library had to be closed for the day.

Then, the intrepid could take Keystone north all the way to Fish Hatchery Road where the 27th Year Anniversary Roasting Easrs of Corn Festival was being held at the Museum of Indian Culture.

We arrived in time for the exhibition dancing on the pow-wow grounds. My favorite are the Grass Dancers. This traditional men's dance is fiery and fast and colorful. Some say it has it origins in the practice of scouts and warriors going ahead of the people to trample down grass on the praire to make the tribe's way easier.

It is also a dance done for healing. Often it is the first dance after the grand entery to prepare the sacred circle for dancing. The dancers wear sweet grass. They move with each beat of the drum.

Third Annual Peach Festival Draws Crowds

By 10:30 a.m., the Kitchen Crew had sold 28 homemade peach pies and there was a short wait for Crystal, the Face Painter. The weather was almost perfect for a summer day in August. People lingered at tables enjoying peach crisp, peach cobblers and peach muffins. Some walked the Labyrinth. Children earnestly completed drawings at the "Coloring Contest" center.

It's Peachy....

Friday morning, I bought peaches in South Jersey for St. M’s Third Annual Peach Festival and Churchyard Sale. The peaches are beautiful this year.

Here’s some good news. The Zee peach farm has not been sold to Walmart. It has been sold to Rowan College (formerly Glassboro State). Somehow this seems like a nobler land use to me.


My first job was packing peaches on the Zee’s Farm. My brother and cousins picked the trees in the orchard. Two cute college guys drove the fork lift truck in the warehouse. They brought boxes of peaches from the fields to the conveyer belt and took away the packed and "ringed" peaches to be stored in the cooler. We could eat as many peaches as we wanted on our breaks and take a bag home at night. Another day, another blog entry - my search for the "perfect" peach.








It is hard to visit the area and see the sprawl. New housing developments are named for fruit and animals and habitat they have displaced. There are fewer working truck farms in the Garden State. . I cheer each time I see a Gloucester County farm preservation sign.

My Grandparents and four Aunts moved across the Delaware River to live here in Elk Township after World War II. Five households. We were visitors. Literally, coming "over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house". We took the Chester-Bridgeport Ferry.

Which farm produce stand had the sweetest corn? best Jersey tomatoes? juiciest peaches?
My aunts knew. Respectively, Mood’s, Sorbello’s and Heritage Farms. The real trouble begins in the Fall when the apples are harvested!

Two years ago, Carol B. asked if I’d ever heard of anyone else doing a Peach Festival. I said sure but could not name a single church or fire company or women’s club that held one. So today...there it was ---the Methodist Church in Richwood is holding their Peach Festival tonight.

And of course, tomorrow-- Saturday, August 18th,
St. Margaret’s holds it’s Third Annual Peach Festival. That’s the corner of Keystone and Elm in Emmaus.
The pies are waiting!!

Going to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

+ + + + + + + +

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

How about you, you, you...

Do you want to come too, too, too?

I'm going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

+ + + + + + + +

August 9th, I went to the Philadelphia Zoo. Not for the first time. I've been there with family and school groups as a child. I even mangaed to get lost once...but that's a tale for another day. I've been to the Zoo on dates, with my spouse and several times with my child.

I was disappointed to learn that our country's oldest zoo is giving up on housing elephants. By this autumn, there will be no elephants at the Philadelphia Zoo. I understand. It's decisions about resources and how best to keep the large mammels. Our standards of housing animals in cages has changed to one of letting animals move about in larger spaces that resemble their native habitats.

Change. Few of us like change. And even fewer of us handle it well. The passage of time and the gaining of understanding through information both help. Sometimes venting and whining is necessary.

The other big change at the zoo was the new "Big Cat Falls". No more lions and tigers in cages. Guests of the zoo walk along paths that show the edges of green habitat with the cats moving around the enclosed area.

Trivia for this post. What's the difference between "big" cats - lions, tigers, cheetahs and the black leopard --and "small cats"? Two things. Big cats can roar and the pupils of their eyes close to a circle, not a slit- like the small cats' eyes do.

Historic Route 6 - Our Detour

My Sister and I stopped here on our way home from Keuka Lake where we visited with family. The Red Rose Diner is on historic Route 6 in the town of Towanda PA. It was built by PJ Tierney and Sons in 1927 and lovingly restored by its current owner. We had a piece of a tasty homemade blackberry/raspberry pie and we could taste the butter in the crust. Worth a stop if you're traveling that way.