Since the colors were perfect and tourists were busy looking at them and not historic sites, we only met two other couples at our visit here. We didn’t even have to fight for a window with a view ~ or wait in line for the elevator!
. . . this may have been a battlefield 200+ years ago, but it’s a gift shop for the battlefield today ~ and yes, we spent money here. Three dollars each, to be precise.Now for a couple other facts that are not included on this sign ~ Those 417 steps only had 4″ risers, so the walk up was not a strenuous one. There were 4 stopping points on the way up, by each of those 4 long slits (windows) that you see on the front of the monument ~ and according to our “tour guide” (elevator operator) nobody complained! After all, before the 1970′s that was the only way to get to the top and experience the awesome view!On each side of the monument are 5 slits up at the top. This picture was taken from the ones on the right of the monument ~ looking down, of course! If you look carefully, you will see a white steeple at the end of the street. Well, in reality, it is not the end of the street, but on a continuation of the street. The steeple sits on top of The First Congregational Church in Bennington. This Church dates back to 1806 and Robert Frost rests for eternity in the cemetery behind it.This picture was taken through one of the five slits on the back of the monument. The colors were awesome and the house in the foreground even more so!
As we got off the elevator after our descent, we noticed a sign we had not seen before our ascent ~ or rather it was pointed out to us! and then we were told to look up! Sure enough, there it was, hanging!A large kettle, over 200 years old, missing one leg! Can you imagine how many men were served out of this? A nice hot meal out of it in August! Yummm. . . . and of course, no good tourist leaves anywhere without having their picture taken somewhere on site, just to prove they were there. (Jim in his shorts, Linda in her flipflops, the typical American tourist!)

We chose this guy to have our picture taken with  ~  the guy who had his right foot shot off!

Dawn finally came. While Jim slept, Linda tiptoed around the house looking out each window to see what damage we’d sustained. West side, nothing! East side, nothing but a lot of twigs and leaves, and the south side we were afraid of, nothing! No trees on the south side so I wasn’t afraid to look there! Well wouldn’t you know it, this was the side I saw the damage!However! It was not our damage! From my bathroom window it appeared that two branches had fallen off of the large, majestic tree in our neighbor’s backyard.  The yard had recently been groomed since our neighbor’s have relocated and their home is for sale. I didn’t think anything of just two branches falling until Jim told me there was a branch blocking the alley on the other side of that swing set and sandbox.Since the branch appeared (to me) to be on the fence side, I really didn’t think he knew what he was talking about!Until! I walked around to the alley and saw this! Holy Cow! It even took out a telephone drop that you can see hanging on the right hand side of the picture! . . . and this! That’s some branch! Nobody could accuse it of being a twig! That’s for sure!The branch is so long it goes from their swing set into and out of our hedge! It was a long time ago that this branch even began to grow and now it’s life is over. sad.Irene took out this branch and along with it a telephone drop and a fence, too. It doesn’t appear that the swing set was damaged, though.If you look hard at the middle of the picture you can see where that branch split off of the tree. That’s a large split! We were aware that this was not our problem, but this branch was blocking the alley and there are people who use this alley. We have on ocassion since we have a parking place beside our shed. Jim said it would be so easy just to cut the branches that were blocking it, but I told him, we shouldn’t unless we had permission. My theory was somebody may already be contracted to do so, and if they came out to do it they homeowners would still have to pay for it! Jim agreed.As I was downloading the pictures the phone rang and it was the homeowner! She explained her sister had called her and she didn’t know when somebody would be out to clear everything, but it would be done. I then told her what Jim had relayed to me and she was appreciative and said to go ahead. Cutters in hand, Jim went to work!Good deed done for the day! Absentee homeowner happy. Well, as happy as you can be about storm damage to a home you are no longer living in, anyway!

These pianos are an interactive art project . . . of sorts. Each of the 10 pianos have been donated and each one has a different theme since each was designed by a different person and/or group. The “Music for Everyone” website can shed more light on this subject. One of the better blogs about the project can be found via a link on that page. It’s great! . . . and be sure to click on the tab for Keys for the City for locations of the pianos! but back to our personal concert on Thursday evening!This particular piano is protected by the front of Millersville University’s site on Prince Street, next door to the Fulton Theater. This multi-million dollar building was built by and for the now defunct Pennsylvania Academy of Music and is a gorgeous facility. It seems only fitting that a piano should be placed in front of this facility. The bright pink of the piano contrasts beautifully with the teal of the glass above it ~ and the music from the keys beacon to stop and enjoy as you walk down the street. Such was the case for us Thursday.Mr. Pianoman played continously from the time we first saw him until we left and walked to our car. We had, in the meantime, walked into Carmen and David’s, ordered our treat, sat at a table on the sidewalk and enjoyed the treat and our concert! He had a jazzy honky tonk style and I have no idea what the name of his particular piece was, but

Play on Mr. Pianoman . . . you have at least two fans!

PLAY BALL!! and the game began!  It was going to be a good game, First place team being challenged by the third place team, with the Barnstormers being in the top position. First two innings no score, top of the third the Somerset Patriots scored three, bottom of the fourth, Lancaster scored one. Fifth inning each team scored one, with the Patriots on top 4 – 2.  In the middle of the game Jim told me he was going to the restroom. Twenty minutes later, when he had not returned, I spied a man who looked an awful lot like him down the hall on the balcony of the Suite that Manheim Auto Auction had for the evening! Yup! He went a visiting! and I caught him red-handed! Not only did he visit, but he brought back a plate of wings and some tiny (compared to the ones WE HAD) cookies! Just as he was finishing up the wings, one of the Clerks from Giant came over from the Box next door, because she wanted to say HI! to Jim! (What did I tell you? He knows everybody!!) Jim offered her wings and she politely declined, until he insisted and she accepted. And that is her boyfriend enjoying a plate of wings, thanks to Jim who got still another plate! . . and on this side of the divider is our Salesman, Paul, who offered us the tickets for the game.
But back to the game, since that is what we really came for! The score remained 4 – 2 until the bottom of the ninth. With two on base, Fernando Seguignol hit a grounder past the third baseman allowing Gilberto Mejia to score. Barnstormers were closing the gap!  Aaron Herr hit a single allowing the next run and the game was tied! Barnstormers were back in the game! Extra innings will determine the final score!  Whoo Hoo!!Pitches were pitched . . Strategy discussed . .and fireworks from another event predicted the outcome of the game for THE HOME TEAM. The game took another four and a half more innings for just one more point added to the Barnstormers column thanks to Ozzie Chavez’ single at the bottom of the SIXTEENTH INNING! With two outs, just a few minutes past the witching hour,Chavez’ hit brought Alvin Colina home, breaking the tie and finally finishing the five hour game!

Since the city of Lancaster has regulations as to what the final hour fireworks can be set off, the show that had been scheduled was cancelled. (unhappy face!) But! on the way out we were each given a free ticket to a game of our choice! and two free compact flourescent bulbs apiece, courtesy of PPL, the Power Company! (happy face!)

Three Cheers for Certified Carpet, and our wonderful salesman, Paul, for inviting us to this event. (That’s one cheer each for the rooms they’ve floored for us in the past year and a half ~ kitchen, foyer and bathroom!)

We’ve got more to do, and Certified is certainly our choice for flooring needs!!

Around the corner from the goat was another goat, being fed by a little girl, who had to head butt the fence before he’d eat! He’d put religion in me, but not so the little girl who fed him anyway!
Consensus? My friend, who I thought was a real  Ass, wasn’t after all! He was the friendliest one of the whole bunch!

or maybe figured the way to somebody’s heart was merely a big smile!

Hmm-m-m-m, is it the guy who stripes the infield?He took an awful lot of time to do each line, never lifting his head, and making sure each foot was on either side of the just striped line as he walked. I bet he had a sore neck when he went home last night.Would the best job be this guy who drug this gadget around smoothing out the dust on the baselines? He could walk forwards and backwards, and probably got dizzy when he got to each base when he went in circles. I don’t know about this job, I have too many allergies to be stirring up dust intentionally!It could be this guy ~ he wiped down every seat in the section before the game began. He had counterparts in each section doing the same thing. Only problem would be he used the same cloth on each seat, so I’d think he was just transferring the dust and dirt from one seat to the other . . . Or would the best job be the guy who is wearing this Mascot costume in almost 90 degree heat? . . . and wearing it throughout the entire game! I don’t know about this job. They’d have to pay me big bucks in July and August to romp around the field in this!This is one job that just doesn’t appeal to me. In the heat? I don’t mind children on a one to one basis, but packs of children can be overwhelming sometimes, With ages from toddlers to pre-teens? No way! Not my job!

The way I saw it, the best job in the Stadium was behind the scenes somewhere, in an a/c office, just counting the money that flowed freely through the snack bar, concessions, gift shop and ticket booth.

Yup, that was it! The best job and out of sight so I couldn’t take a picture!

By this act in 1900, Catharine Long, the daughter of a Lancaster County Judge, gave the City of Lancaster the best gift it would ever receive. Long’s Park is “The Destination” of families on a summer day, a gathering place for family reunions and annual events like The Long’s Park Art & Craft Festival, The FREE Long’s Park Summer Music Series on Sunday evenings and the once a year Sertoma Chicken BBQ.Yes, this is Guiness World Record certified as the Largest one day Chicken BBQ in the World! We try to make this an annual event, first of all because it’s an event, secondly our money goes to a worthy cause, and last, but certainly not least, not only do you get your $$ worth, but the chicken is to die for!Car running and tickets in hand, Jim was waiting for me when I got off work on Saturday, and we joined the line of traffic heading to Long’s Park. The line started forming just before we turned onto Harrisburg Pike, on President Avenue. Traffic was moving (slowly) all the way to Long’s Park about 1.5 miles. Once in the Park, traffic was separated, with two lanes going on one side of the circle, and two lines on the other, all four lines merging at an intersection and tapering into two lanes of traffic.  The top portion of Killdeer was one lane, and then traffic once again became two lanes as you approached the “Pick-Up” Point. From the time we left LancasterHistory.Org until we pulled out of Long’s Park, only one hour had elapsed.  Most of the people in this picture are volunteers ~ the others are “consumers”.There are a number of tables down the center of Woodduck Road, stacked with the meals, and as tickets are handed to volunteers, they are exchanged for boxes that contain 1/2 a Chicken, ice cream, potato chips, a banana, drink, roll, and 2 little bags of M&M’s. This volunteer was motioning for the line to keep moving and come pick up their meals from her. This was the first table in the line. Most of the food in donated by businesses in Lancaster County, M&M Mars, Turkey Hill, Kegel’s Produce, Pepperidge Farms and Herr’s Potato Chips.A Turkey Hill Cow is no stranger to any event in Lancaster County, and this BBQ was no exception. Since Turkey Hill was a sponsor and donated 2 parts of the meal, it was no surprise to see a Cow here.

Some had their picnic on the grassWhile others found an open table to enjoy theirs “hot off the grill!”There was a bit of Frisbee playing and the men on stage were dancing to “The Chicken Dance!”Although we would have loved to join the merriment in the park, we had company coming, and after all, it was Linda F’s birthday week! The table was set on the front porch and we waited for Linda to show up. Not that we minded sitting, rocking and watching the world pass by. . . With the meal over and boxes full of the trash, it was time to sit back (once again) and enjoy the spring weather, with just three of those three thousand chicken dinners consumed on that front porch on Atkins Avenue!

. . . and we can hardly wait for the Summer Music Series again this year!

Long’sPark Rocks!

Other regions have their version of Phil, too.  Lancaster County has Octoraro Orphie, Dover has Dover Doug, York has Poor Richard, Lebanon has Uni, and  Mount Wolf has Susquehanna Sherman.  Staten Island in New York even has Staten Island Chuck! This year the the majority of them said six more weeks of winter.  

Today my backyard was full of robins!  Yay!  A harbinger of spring!  Right?  Wrong! Another myth and fun thing to believe in! Robins don’t go anywhere.  They stick around all winter.  Canadian Snow Geese migrate, and are much more accurate in determining seasons, but robins, not so.

However! The way I see it is if Phil predicted six more weeks of winter on February 2nd, that means we only have two to go!

Come on Spring.  Winter has worn out it’s welcome!

Picture your ancestors going to Church in the early 1800′s, walking, on horseback, in wagons or buggys, going in the evening to sing carols with fellow parishoners, in the snow or cold.  No electric lights or heated buildings, no organs, guitars or other musical instruments, simply the sounds of beautiful voices singing those traditional hymns and carols people have sung through the ages.  This is what we did last evening.Well, not exactly. We went to the Church in our “buggy” AKA Murano, but we experienced everything else, starting with candles lighting the path to the Church. We arrived in plenty of time to secure a spot in the balcony for two reasons; one heat rises and two the view is a little better, especially from the front row in the bacony!  The only form of lighting in the building (yes, it really is utility free!) was this awesome light hanging from the ceiling, providing both illumination and a bit of heat, and those little candles placed here and there, around the perimeter of the room. That lamp was huge, and the top tin lined to reflect light. I couldn’t even begin to count all the crystals hanging from it. It was awesome!

Since this picture shows better in black and white, I adjusted it so you could see how cold it was in the building.  (It would have been rude to use a flash, and I wanted a picture of these awesome musicians!) These are members  of the  “Old Heritage Chorale of Lancaster” who led the singing of traditional, and not so traditional Christmas hymns.  Before each little set of hymns, they awed us with renditions of traditional Moravian hymns, a Johann Sebastian Bach selection, an English Carol and a Spanish Dance Carol. The ending hymn we sang was “Stile Nacht” and yes, we sang Silent Night in German.  After all, our ancestors, if they had attended Old Zion German Reformed Church, would  have.This was taken just as the Chorale was taking their seats. The girls in the balcony opposite us are reading “graffitti” that has been on those walls for over 100 years! I didn’t get a chance to go photograph it, but perhaps, next year. The Church was decorated with greens, bows and candles, and that doesn’t put you in a Christmas mood, nothing will! Tucked behind the stairway was this decorated window. Somebody had to sit on the stairs to decorate it!The picture above shows something that is used in Churches on certain occasions. As we walked up the stairs to the balcony, it was on the landing between floors. I know what it is, do you?. . . and my final picture is give you an idea of exactly how cold it was. Check out that glass!

Enjoy your season ~ and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!