Friday we took a quick trip down to Philadelphia for a Parkinson's seminar. It was a chance to get away (just overnight, but still . . .) and to escape our dreary, wet, cold weather.
Strange but every time we take the northern spur of the PA Turnpike, the weather is different on one side of the Lehigh Tunnel than it is on the other. I know the tunnel goes through a mountain ridge, but it's like entering a new region entirely. This time it was early, early spring on the northern side of the tunnel, more like mud season, and definitely spring on the southern side.
What an encouraging sight - blooming dogwood, magnolia, crabapple and other trees. Daffodils everywhere, along with forsythia, tulips, hyacinth, a few crocuses left, lilac, and other flowers. The grass is a lot greener in Philadelphia even though it was chilly and quite windy Friday and Saturday.
Speaking of Saturday, we hated to come out on the north side of the tunnel on our way home. Sure enough, rain and heavy gusts of wind greeted us and lasted all the way to our house. Last night I thought the roof would blow away the wind was so hard. Couldn't get the cat to come in though. I guess she made her way across the street to the barn. This morning she looks a little mussed up; the wind-blown casual look you know.
Good news for those who travel Route I-81 in northeastern Pennsylvania! Bingham's at the Lenox exit is just about ready to reopen. (An arson fire last year burned the old restaurant to the ground.) We saw cooks and waitresses stopping in to get their schedules as a crew was getting ready to pave the parking lot Friday. If you've never stopped in, Bingham's has a wonderful menu with meals from broiled seafood to comfort foods like mac 'n cheese, but most people love the place for it's home baked goods: especially breads and pies. They have the best, probably most fattening, homemade granola in the world. End of commercial.
Showing posts with label signs of spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label signs of spring. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Mud Season in Pennsylvania
Who has been digging in our yard? It looks like someone is looking for buried treasure. Oh, that's right, despite the cat, we have moles all over the place and they've been having quite a family reunion by the looks of things. There are piles of dirt everywhere. We should have known this would be the case since there were little trails just under the snow all winter.
Must get out our secret weapon, one of the few gadgets we've ever bought. It is an electronic plastic thing that looks like a small rocket. It is battery driven (note: buy batteries) and you stick it in one of the mole holes. It emits a noise humans don't hear but moles sure do because they quickly decide to go elsewhere. Miracle - a gadget that actually works!
Two years ago we succeeded in driving the moles all the way out into the hay field. Apparently this winter they returned, so the cat will have fun hunting them and we will put the gadget into each area until they're gone.
Our yard is always damp since there are many springs under our land, but after several inches of rain and lots of melting snow, it is now a quagmire. It will be a while before I can get out my trusty Cub Cadet, which looks and sounds like it's been through a war but still runs great. Then I can roll down all the hills and molehills, by which time it'll be time to mow. Before long, though, I'll already been tired of mowing.
For now I'm just happy that the male red winged blackbirds are back. They're the first true sign of spring I see every year. We have a few robins too, V formations of geese overhead, and grass turning a little more green than brown. Subtle changes but heartening anyway.
Must get out our secret weapon, one of the few gadgets we've ever bought. It is an electronic plastic thing that looks like a small rocket. It is battery driven (note: buy batteries) and you stick it in one of the mole holes. It emits a noise humans don't hear but moles sure do because they quickly decide to go elsewhere. Miracle - a gadget that actually works!
Two years ago we succeeded in driving the moles all the way out into the hay field. Apparently this winter they returned, so the cat will have fun hunting them and we will put the gadget into each area until they're gone.
Our yard is always damp since there are many springs under our land, but after several inches of rain and lots of melting snow, it is now a quagmire. It will be a while before I can get out my trusty Cub Cadet, which looks and sounds like it's been through a war but still runs great. Then I can roll down all the hills and molehills, by which time it'll be time to mow. Before long, though, I'll already been tired of mowing.
For now I'm just happy that the male red winged blackbirds are back. They're the first true sign of spring I see every year. We have a few robins too, V formations of geese overhead, and grass turning a little more green than brown. Subtle changes but heartening anyway.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
March Madness and Spring Fever
This sounds like a medical post, and feels like one too since I'm just recovering from bronchitis. (Thought Dave would throw me out of the house the way I was coughing.) Seems like I've been sick a lot this winter so I'm very happy to see spring come in with the grass getting greener, crocuses popping up, turtles and frogs around our pond, and swelling buds on the lilac and forsythia bushes.
Yesterday felt like Christmas. I've been tossing old magazines, not renewing subscriptions, and getting books ready to donate to sales. Really felt virtuous. Then yesterday a friend brought two boxes of books he and his wife had finished, and another friend is bringing yet another bundle. Oh my! I'm so excited and anxious to read the books, but time is at a premium. My to-be-read pile just morphed into boxes of TBR.
Meanwhile, my reading time is greatly lessened by March Madness. Can't help it - I grew up in basketball country you know. Even President Obama's brackets have been shredded by the upsets this year. It's really exciting; if you like basketball at all, you should be watching. Small schools like St. Mary's and Northern Iowa are just racing up and down the floor leaving big guys in their wake.
The only problem with watching basketball on TV, or any other sport for that matter, is that the broadcasters and color commentators don't listen to what they're saying. They are so determined not to call things by their actual names that we hear about touchdowns in basketball and field goals in skiing for Pete's sake. Now they keep talking about players leaving their feet! Where do they leave them? Mine go with me wherever I go. :)
They tell us individual stories about players, and that can be interesting or heartwarming or whatever. But then they remind us every time that player touches the ball. Give it a rest already, would you? I almost threw something at the TV set during a Syracuse game, I think it was the conference championship game but I'm getting a little foggy about details at this point. At any rate, one of their star players had lost his mother a few days before the game. His father bravely sat in the stands watching his son play, and of course his face was on TV more than the game. The media just couldn't wait for him to cry. Finally after the game, he did cry and the camera stayed on him for waaaay toooooo looong. Don't television people have any humanity?
Despite my yelling at the TV, things are looking good around here. The deer are back every morning and evening and rabbits are wallowing in all that grass. Life is good.
Yesterday felt like Christmas. I've been tossing old magazines, not renewing subscriptions, and getting books ready to donate to sales. Really felt virtuous. Then yesterday a friend brought two boxes of books he and his wife had finished, and another friend is bringing yet another bundle. Oh my! I'm so excited and anxious to read the books, but time is at a premium. My to-be-read pile just morphed into boxes of TBR.
Meanwhile, my reading time is greatly lessened by March Madness. Can't help it - I grew up in basketball country you know. Even President Obama's brackets have been shredded by the upsets this year. It's really exciting; if you like basketball at all, you should be watching. Small schools like St. Mary's and Northern Iowa are just racing up and down the floor leaving big guys in their wake.
The only problem with watching basketball on TV, or any other sport for that matter, is that the broadcasters and color commentators don't listen to what they're saying. They are so determined not to call things by their actual names that we hear about touchdowns in basketball and field goals in skiing for Pete's sake. Now they keep talking about players leaving their feet! Where do they leave them? Mine go with me wherever I go. :)
They tell us individual stories about players, and that can be interesting or heartwarming or whatever. But then they remind us every time that player touches the ball. Give it a rest already, would you? I almost threw something at the TV set during a Syracuse game, I think it was the conference championship game but I'm getting a little foggy about details at this point. At any rate, one of their star players had lost his mother a few days before the game. His father bravely sat in the stands watching his son play, and of course his face was on TV more than the game. The media just couldn't wait for him to cry. Finally after the game, he did cry and the camera stayed on him for waaaay toooooo looong. Don't television people have any humanity?
Despite my yelling at the TV, things are looking good around here. The deer are back every morning and evening and rabbits are wallowing in all that grass. Life is good.
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