Great to go away and great to come home again!

My 2021 vacation is over and it's back to the rest of the year starting tomorrow. But, one more memorable sight from the time away. 

I think it's part Norman Rockwell, part rural America and part back-to-school.

The Mid-County Trail we walked daily is sometimes totally bordered by trees, bushes and vegetation and sometimes a few houses are quite near the trail. I'm guessing that the houses were there first and when they put in the power lines and the trail under them, they wove as best they could around the suburban-rural parts of the towns they needed to get through. 

Here is a scene I walked past on the first day of school this week. New clothes, new backpacks, new sneakers and eagerness that showed itself by the constant looking down the lane for the big school bus that I also passed later on. 

A great scene...but don't miss their house and environs behind the kids!

  

  

Sitting in a little bit of heaven

 

Do you have favorite chairs? No, not a special type of furniture, a chair or chairs that's become a special place to sit! Like your Dad's old recliner or Mom's TV chair with the side table of all her projects or readings. I've reached the "favorite chairs" stage of my life and here's one that I have even on vacation. This photo was taken from my favorite outdoor chair here, a very comfortable tall back lawn chair. Its place is on the patio facing west, which shows a small flower garden, a little lawn area that borders the complex, with Rte 9 on the other side of the fencing. You can even see the homes across the street.

This is where I read Give Us This Day every morning, check my emails and read the Erie Times News  online with a Diet Coke beside me, and where I am swallowing great mystery novels day after day after day.

Nothing "too exiting," certainly nothing "earth shattering" but oh, so wonderful.

A Great Nature/Walking Trail

 

Hope you have one near your home...this one is a beauty: 4-5 miles long, diversity of nature, private and even somewhat hidden, well taken care of but not groomed, and a real haven for bikers and walkers.  

Welcome to New Jersey

 

We have arrived in New Jersey---welcomed by three of my favorite Jersey sites:

Here is "our" Wawa.

And, again, "our" library...which was our salvation last year in the beginning months 

of the COVID stay-at-home time.

And here is a very un-Erie sight from those of us

in small town USA--toll booths: E-ZPass, cash 

or a picture of your license plate for billing.

Big city ways

I had an experience this week that I hadn't had in 25-30 years: I went out to "the beach" on a busy August weekend. What  a rockin' place, as they say. There were people everywhere: on bikes, in boats, in cars, in the water, on foot and coming down water slide after water slide and then climbing up the walkways to try it again. Here are four scenes that I caught from my place: reading and walking around at Perry Monument, at the furthest point on the peninsula.

You can rent kayaks, canoes and individual pontoons and travel throughout the lagoons or the bay. 

The Lady Kate was busy, busy, with long lines waiting for the next trip--every hour on the hour.

 

This shot is taken across the bay to the city side. There were many, many sailboats out, as the warm summer days will be ending soon.

And my favorite new travel experience. A bicycle built for four peddlers...and don't miss the two younger ones in the very front seats. Many of these were along the sidewalks all the way from Waterworks to Perry Monument--a couple miles for sure.

But, the greatest surprise was as we were leaving. I have always wondered why our Waldemeer amusement park added on a huge parking lot, expanding its original one all the way up to W. 6th Street. Well, I found out Sunday--the entire parking lot was full--packed with cars. As was the "overflow" parking lot across the street at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. I had never seen cars in the expansion area at all, let alone filled to the very edges. Just like amusement parks everywhere I guess--especially on summer weekends. So glad to see Waldemeer doing a good business.

My Little Town

 

Because of the death of one of our sister's brothers, I was able to visit a lovely, little, little town that is about 25 miles southwest of Erie, very near the Ohio border.  Albion, PA was founded in 1861 and reached an all-time high population in 1980 at 1,800 people. Today it settles in at about 1,500. 

I guess you could call it a very rural small town suburb of Girard or Fairview, PA, located about 10-15 miles away. It is near the major rail line going through northwestern PA (see above) and is close enough to the lake to be well-known also for its trout fishing. However, the major employer and raison d'etre today is the Albion State Prison, a state facility for men.

Our sister's brother owned and operated a funeral home there until his retirement a few years ago and from his obit he left a very proud legacy of involvement and care in the Albion community during his decades living there. 

Although the lyrics don't fit that closely perhaps, there still must have been similarities, at least in days gone by, in growing up in little towns throughout the country. Here's a link to Simon and Garfunkel's original beautiful ballad,  My Little Town.

This week

 This week, thanks to a break in our record-breaking amount of rain in July 2021, workmen started on the new cement sidewalk in our inner courtyard. Here are two looks at the project--the first from the door in the foyer behind the switchboard; the second from the double glass doors in the hallway on the way to the dining room. Hopefully, if the precipitation holds off, they can finish this week.

BTW: our local weather guy was absolutely giddy as he shouted, "We've made the Top 10!" when our July rain (6.5") came in 7th in historical July precipitation lists.

And indoors we continue to welcome guests that haven't been able to make the trip to our place for almost two years. It is a continual homecoming experience.