local locale: York museum

Among several museums, we chose the industrial one, featuring transportation. The station wagon was so named because it carried stuff to the train station--this one built in York in the year my Lehman grandparents were married--1906. Seems that York and tons of towns were bustling with early auto builders. Then cheaper factories appeared in Detroit and those jobs were "shipped" there. Hmm, sounds familiar. Midwest then, China now. Get it? Doesn't mean I like it. Seeing our local carriages every day makes me forget how elegant one can be.

local locale: York

Nice thing about York--you can go far back in time, but the drive home is short. Milton and I took a half-day getaway. The first congress hid in York. I guess the official business was conducted in the stately brick, and the unofficial business in the bar across the street. How often do you see a mural about the constitution? The oldest church in York is the Quaker meetinghouse, 1766.

back in time

Saturday, Ryan and I enjoyed a half day at the Renaissance Faire. Part re-creation of 16th century Europe, part costuming extravaganza, part freak show, part acrobatics and sword swallowing, part jousting, part education--there's more than enough for a day. The Renaissance can be pegged at about 1550, with a century or two at each end. Some of the previous era, the Middle Ages, over-lapped. Hence the jousting and the battle axe throwing.

corn harvest

Farmers get out all the horses, the picker, a wagon, and, in this case, a daughter and march into the corn fields on days like today. The ears drop with a thud. The horses look interested and up for the challenge.

zipper spider wraps it up

Autumn came yesterday. Already the prima donna of Monterey arachnids, our fall yellow monster, had harvested the final bugs of the season and had packed up her web. Look up other pics online if you get a perverse pleasure: http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=&q=arachnids&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=0BSaTK-nHoWBlAectdw3&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQsAQwAw.

corn roast and hobo pockets

Two weeks ago...this year we built the corn roast fire on the mulch pile at the end of the barn. The fire was started two hours before eat time, so the bed of embers was much broader which did the ears on the end of the plate as well as the ones in the middle, and cooked the hobo pockets (in tin foil) to perfection. Ryan helped me watch the fire while others worked the kitchen and the grill. (pics by Joel)

world's shortest detour

The intersection of Monterey Road and Newport downtown Monterey (ha!). Let's see...the detour starts at the big sign and ends at the little one?

Dorcas birthday

Joel fires up the grill on Mary Street and puts on the red snapper and fillet; Dorcas gets gifts, including a wrist watch, and blows out three candles for 62--well, not too far off. When the Barnstormers shoot off the Labor Day fire works the sixsome settles on the back porch to cap off a rich evening. (Dorcas photo by Joel)

bridge out

Monterey Road, which connects with Newport on the East end of downtown, is out while a narrow span from horse and buggy days is replaced. Miller Lane is the last exit. The plywood form for one of the abutments is built. The stream feeds into the Mill Stream west of here.

not a tobacco ad

It's a pretty picture, but not an ad. In the day, tobacco was harvested green and only wheat gave us a golden color in the fields. This year I'm seeing lots of yellow tobacco. This from within a one-mile radius. The sticks are laths.

late summer family

L. to R. Ryan, Sarah, Chris, and Bonnie at a late August gathering on Charlotte Street. Among those four one could talk authoritatively of Iowa, Manitoba, Oregon, Louisiana, Virginia, and Illinois, to name just the locations considered home at some point.