Hold On

 It's the New Year and for some reason I am looking back instead of forward -- at least temporarily.  I am also thinking of things that I sort of miss from the past.  Plus ... I am wondering about things I used to find interesting when much younger.

Does the PA turnpike still have those ramps for run-away trucks? In all my growing up years of traveling that road, only one time did I ever see a truck stuck at the top of one of those ramps. What a thrill that must have been for that unfortunate truck driver.

Will I ever forget the hair and voice of Roseanne Roseannadanna or the sway and voice of Mamma Cass singing Monday, Monday with the "Mamas and the Papas"? (Where and Why in the world did they come up with that name for their group?) And... what about Simon and Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence?  Have you heard Disturbed's  rendition of it?  Amazing!  If you haven't, I suggest you Google or YouTube it. I suggest you close your eyes while you listen.

I have some vivid childhood memories ... and ... at the same time, I can still see my grown-up kids as children and wonder if I am actually remembering moments or revisiting photos caught in my head somewhere.

One other question running through my mind.  How is it that I have lived 76 years about 45 minutes from a Great Lake without ever knowing of weather that includes episodes of massive waves and seiche?   Seriously --  I swear I do not remember ever seeing or hearing the word seiche or the seeing photos of the  phenomenon of seiche and now recently seiche talk and photos have appeared twice within a few weeks.  Think about it - one side of a Great Lake recedes because of winds and causes twenty-five foot waves at another location????  This is nuts! I sort of wish I never heard of seiche.  I don't even like the way the word catches behind my front teeth when I say it,  and I am not sure that I am even pronouncing it correctly. Does it rhyme with quiche? Am I alone in this? Had you ever heard of this phenomenon? Please tell me no. 

Anyway -- years come and go.  Everything changes.  It's hard keeping up sometimes. No wonder we occasionally look back to things familiar... and cherish them.

Even holidays.   "... Times they are a-changin'" (Remember Bob Dylan?).   Once in awhile I speculate about this  change phenomenon.  I think it is what Time does to Living ... or.. is it what Living does to Time?

Hold on for the ride. Personally I am hopeful for 2026. It will be amazing to look back on this one.  I also think that you can look backward and forward almost at the same time.  I am doing that right now. Enough on that.  

Happy New Year!

Fond Memories

When I was a child my family used to travel from NW Pennsylvania to the Philadelphia area at least once a year to visit family there.  We traveled diagonally across almost the entire commonwealth on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, aka America's First Super Highway. The first section of this toll road (turnpike) was actually opened just nine years before I was born and... eventually it had seven tunnels between my house and my grandmother's.  I found it all rather amazing, but I also remember the tunnels as stinky, dark and sort of scary. I understand at least one reason why people try to hold their breath in tunnels. Anyway -- the tunnels brought together both directions of traffic into a single lane in each direction. Don't know if it is still that way. I do know that several changes have been made over the years.  Anyway -- the phrase "light at the end of the tunnel" has always had special meaning for me.  

As the years passed by though -- cross commonwealth carsickness tempered the excitement of travel.  The only thing that saved me was the sight of an orange roof.  Howard Johnson's.  The best restaurant ever.  The best ice cream ever.  28 flavors!  We would stop for one meal along the way.  For me it was always "Grilled Frankforts and Boston Baked Beans with Brown Bread" which, by the way,  cost under a dollar. (I ran across an old menu on eBay recently so I know this is accurate.) My big sister had more expensive tastes in food -- always preferring to order the "Crispy Fried Chicken dinner for a little over $2.00.  It came with cranberry sauce, French fries and coleslaw.  Makes my mouth water to even remember. My dad used to grumble that the chicken would take a half an hour, but always let her order it anyway.  I think the grumble was part of his "Dad" routine. 

All the Howard Johnson restaurants are gone now.  I think the last one was in Lake George, NY.  It was sold and closed in 2023.  Odd thing -- I used to live about 12 miles from Lake George and I never knew that there was a Howard Johnson restaurant there.  Drat.  However... the  childhood HoJo memories remain.... a favorite meal and an ice cream cone on the way out to eat in the car.  Nice. I will just hang on to those small bits of childhood ....  No harm in that.

The Gathering

My four-year-old granddaughter calls it The Gathering, a title which freaks out some of the older generation of my family, reminding them of something Stephen "Kingish". So -- what is a "gathering" in this case? It is a getting together of three generations of family who have not all been together for ten years, if ever, when you consider marriages and the addition of five children. That sounds so simple, but it was a lot more than the traditional single afternoon of fun reunion. This gathering involved people rearranging their lives to come here for several days, or in the case of my daughter and her family -- helping to plan and prepare off and on for some time in advance. (Thank you all!) Family members started arriving on Wednesday of this past week. People came from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, and Illinois with most staying until Monday and some until Tuesday of this week. By the way --a big thanks to our only hotel in town --  The Cobblestone Inn -- where everyone could stay comfortably and all be under the same roof.  I would have had to stack people up like cord wood in my basement to fit everyone in my house; that's for sure. 

Now that everyone is home safely and my home way too quiet, I am taking this time to thank all the participants for making it here at no small effort on each of their parts. Not only did vacation time need to be arranged, but also, cars rented, care organized for beloved pets, fireworks, coolers and large games purchased and transported, and ... people had to deal with traveling issues -- some got stranded on the PA Turnpike, others traveled for long hours with small children, and some had to endure traffic trouble and/or heavy rains on the way home as well. Yet - everyone said it was worth the effort, and I don't think they were just being polite. It was a gathering to be remembered. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and we pretty much lived outside during the day - every day.  Also fortunately -- most of my family live in areas that are a lot warmer than it is here, so they found the August weather of Northwest Pennsylvania to be refreshing.  While I found myself seeking shade, they explored the property in my work vehicle (the beloved Margaret), rediscovered croquet, played bocce and corn hole and... the big favorite -- practiced throwing a boomerang around in the pasture for a competition orchestrated by my eight-year-old grandson. The little ones also enjoyed splashing around in a kiddy pool and singing the Tooty Ta song with the experienced nursery school teacher of the bunch (we have photos and video for future reference if needed). Most importantly, we caught up with each others' lives and had the opportunity to get to know new additions to the family.  

All in all, it was an amazing few days...a gift to each one of us.   Who knows when we will be able to "accomplish" such a gathering again.  It was huge. I am still smiling. Oh -- did I mention that all of this happened to coincide with my birthday?  It doesn't get any better than that. I will always remember this past week. There is something profoundly touching about watching adult children taking charge in wonderful ways while remembering when they were little and they were doing things like stuffing gum up their noses, dressing up like policeman ... and putting on plays together at holidays, etc.  I started missing everyone as they pulled out of my driveway to return home. So -- I now have a week full of wonderful memories and ... all the "leftovers".  Plus -- we didn't even need to use the First Aid Kit even one time.  Nice....