Fall 2011

The wettest September on record followed our summer drought. We removed all the volunteer sunflowers after they matured and found, with the cooler temperatures and plentiful water, our garden had thrived.

Even the roses, which had disappeared in the sunflower jungle, made a comeback:






















Autumn color has been somewhat subdued. Many leaves fall as soon as they turn.

One of Those Things

October 6, 2011: Stuff happens in the big city and, for the most part, you never hear anything about it ever again. At one point we had 8 police cars and traffic was blocked on our street and, for awhile, on the cross street as well. The rumor was that a man had attacked a woman on the Access bus. We'll never know for sure.

We Checked Out York

York, PA, October 1, 2011: We took the Old Lincoln Highway from Wrightsville into downtown York, stopping first for lunch at the Central Market.

We ate at J.R.'s Fresh Cut French Fries (below):



























We walked by the York Meeting (1766) (below); and then came upon this unusual railroad crossing gate for pedestrians (l):













York was the fourth capital of the Continental Congress after Philadelphia, Baltimore and Lancaster, PA. York however but claims to be the first capital of the United States of America as that term was coined in the Articles of Confederation which were enacted in York.

The Barnett Bobb log house, built in the English colonial style in 1811 (l) was moved behind York's oldest structure, the Golden Plough Tavern built in the German half-timber style in 1741 (far right). To the left of the Golden Plough is a English colonial style home built in 1751 and known by its most famous resident General Horatia Gates, who conspired to replace George Washington as head of the Continental Army.
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This statue of Gates (l) stands in front of the Golden Plough and the "Gates House" (below):














Downtown York has 80 different murals. The County 250th Aniversary mural is on the right; and the Four Chaplains mural is below left. Alexander D. Goode (2d from left), the rabbi at York's Temple Beth Israel, was one of 4 Army chaplains who gave up their life preservers to other men during the sinking of the troop ship Dorchester in World War II.

































The downtown streetscape features these industrial metal planters (above and below), benches and trash can screens.




































The original Temple Beth Israel (1907) is now a Catholic chapel; nearby is St. Patrick's Church (1895).














This Victorian Italianate house was built in 1863 by railroad car manufacturer Charles Billmeyer.













Nearby we found a Buddleia (Buddleja is a British misspelling) growing out of the sidewalk. Later, we saw this Victorial oriel window as we drove out of town.

La Casa de Dávid

October 1, 2011: This house on the outskirts of Wrightsville, PA, caught our eye.

At first glance it seemed Mexican in inspiration. The three feathers may be a Christian symbol for faith, hope and charity:













But on closer inspection it had Buddhist elements including a Sanskrit Om symbol.













Parts of the structure and some of the walls had green roofs and much of the property was covered with solar panels.












The major sculptural element was a pile of boulders reminiscent of Gravity Garden.

Bridge Bust

Wrightsville-Columbia, PA, October 1, 2011: The 23rd annual Bridge Bust was cold, blustery and pretty low market. The Susquehannah River was at flood stage, out of its second banks, and very muddy brown. It was a rough day for food vendors. Nobody wanted ice cream or cold drinks and not many wanted to stand out in the elements savoring the warm delicacies. We had intended to walk over and back but instead walked one way and then took the bus that shuttled between both ends of the 1-1/4 mile highway bridge (1930).

We parked at East York High School on a high point overlooking the Susquehannah Valley and took a shuttle to the Wrightsville entrance to the bridge:

By the time we were midway across the bridge, it was clear that most of the crowd was walking from east to west rather than west to east:

On the left the flood swamps the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal; below are the piers to a former railroad bridge. During the Civil War, Union forces burned a bridge at this location as they retreated from York to Lancaster.