Flood 06

Pennsylvania is wet, y'all. Just about all of it got some damage from the rain, in the form of road closings, washouts, and mostly flooding. A lot of areas have been evacuated. The northeastern part of the state seems to have been hit the hardest; we're just on the edge between NEPA and the central valley region. Below are some photos I took today of our region.

This used to be someone's enclosed porch, judging by the lamp and the ceiling fan.

Sign O' The Day!

The Twin Bridges were recently restored. The hubby and I have been across this set of covered bridges and fished just above them. This is all I could find of the west-side bridge.

East Paden Twin Bridge and the foundation of the now-gone West bridge.

The Susquehanna River invades Bloomsburg.

One of many.

Talk about an opportunist! :-)

Tree down on power lines over flooded road = not good.

Used to be a road on the left and ball field on the right. Now it's been claimed by the Susquehanna overflowing its banks.

Some of the things we saw today... cows standing in water up to their knees, campers and trailers submerged, cars washed off the road, roads caving in and crumbling, mud and rock slides, downed trees everywhere, houses with water up to the windows, washed-out bridges, fast-moving muddy water, people in town with everything that was in their basements and on the first floors piled under tarps in their yards... and our area wasn't even the hardest-hit. We are very fortunate that where we live seems to be above the flood plain. Our creek was high but never reached the road; other places here were flooded (including my dad's house; he had a creek running across his driveway) but right at our place everything stayed above water.

The folks who were flooded could sure use some prayers.

More news and photos: www.wnep.com

Eh Day

Weekend roundup:

• Went to Carlisle on Sunday for the GM show. It was mostly rainy and we got soaked to the bone, then froze in the Waffle House air conditioning. The chili we ordered wasn't heated up enough, but the coffee was good and I finally got a great slice of lemon pie.
• Got chills on the way home; stopped and bought a cheap throw blanket to wrap up in.
• Felt like poo the rest of the night, all day Monday, and called off work today. Everything either hurts or feels like it's 15 pounds heavier than it should be. My back is killing me, my glands are swollen and painful, and I have a headache. I hate it.
  
• Speaking of rain, it's weathering out there again today. It's supposed to rain every day this week, anywhere from a 60% to a 100% chance from now through the weekend. This does not bode well for our plan to camp at the cabin Sunday night. Hubby wants to waterproof our tent, but we have no place to set it up where it won't be in the rain so he can do that.
• I learned how to use a morphing program I got with my editing software. Hubby's sister and her roommate were here visiting from North Carolina; we took pics of them and the dog and kitten they brought along and made some funny morphs. B's sis was leaving earlier than we thought. It was nice to see her and her friend for a while; glad we got to visit before they left for home. Last time we were down South we didn't make it to their place.
  
• We let my 16-year-old brother drive down to Harrisburg and back, his first time driving in city traffic. In the rain, no less. He did okay, only a couple of times when the clench factor zoomed up to 8 or 9. B was navigating, Dad was explaining various driving techniques, and I was in charge of bopping my brother in the back of the head. ;-P

What was the highlight of the weekend? Hmm, that would be a toss-up between Waffle House and seeing the display cars that were still at the show. Camaros and pie, yay! Being sick, boo!

He's a Dream!

When I was younger I said I'd never get married. As I got a bit older, I changed my mind, but in my dreams I wasn't going to get hitched to any old Joe Shmoe. Like a lot of fantasy-obsessed young women, I dreamed of being a "kept woman," married to a wealthy, gorgeous underwear-model-type who gave me everything I wanted and took me on exotic trips. Other women would fawn over my man and tell me how fortunate I was to have him.

And then I woke up.

And married Joe Shmoe... but you know what?

I'm a kept woman. He keeps me safe and happy. He keeps my car running, keeps the rent paid, keeps track of things I forget, keeps me laughing, and keeps coming home every night after work.

He's wealthy. He has unlimited smiles, hugs, kisses, and love for me. He has a rich sense of humor and a heart of gold. He gives me everything I could want from a partner, husband, and friend.

To me, he's gorgeous. He has blue eyes and great hair and long legs and looks mighty fine in a cowboy hat and boots. Just ask Mom... ;-P

Other women love him. Our nieces run straight for him when he shows up, grab him and vie for his attention. My best friend wants to clone him. My relatives tell me I'm lucky to have him.

We go on unusual trips all the time. On our honeymoon, he took me fishing in a rainstorm. We went to the Philadelphia Asian and Italian districts, plus rode in an ambulance to the ER, for our first anniversary. We've slept in the back of a pickup at a NASCAR race, floated down a creek in a rowboat with hundreds of bats flying around us, challenged the suspension on our other truck getting to a cabin in the Smokies, been serenaded on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry (during tourist hours), come out ahead in Atlantic City, nearly got steamrollered by a pro wrestler at a match, and walked on a southern beach in shorts on New Years Day while our northern relatives were shoveling snow. We've been stranded in a broken-down vehicle more than once, climbed down a mountain in a snowstorm (lugging a deer), and seen the World's Largest Pothole. No shortage of excitement there.

And as for the underwear-model part... I buy him new underwear, he wears them. What more could I ask for?

Our anniversary is in a couple of weeks and not once in the four years we've been married or the seven years we've been together have I regretted anything. In fact, I believe my dream came true. Funny how that works!

LOVE YOU HUNNY!!! XXXOOO

A visit from the Queen

Our bucolic area isn't exactly on a list of Greatest Places to Visit. The local college isn't on Playboy's Party List. In fact, the only list we've made recently (that I know of) is 100 Weirdest Places to Visit, and that wasn't even us, it was a nearby town with an underground mine fire that's been burning for decades.

Needless to say, celebrity spotting just doesn't happen here. Maybe there are local celebs who keep a low profile (Jack Palance) or former residents stopping by (Mike Mussina) but you'll never hear of someone running into, say, Julia Roberts or even heirhead Paris Hilton (who seems to be EVERYwhere). Sometimes during Fair Week a musical guest will turn up in the Big Town, but they're usually good ol' boys like everyone else.

Somehow, though, we rated a regal visit by her Highness, Queen Oprah of the Media. Yes, Oprah Winfrey and entourage were "just passing through" and stopped at the area's classiest restaurant (natch) for some grub. Okay... nobody "just passes through" here. Turns out the Divine Miss O is documenting a road trip slated to be aired as a segment this fall. She was en route to New York; apparently someone in her group called the restaurant and made reservations for 20 people for lunch using his/her own name, and no one at the restaurant knew it was for Oprah until she walked in the door. Also not known is whether any footage was shot during her stop that might make it to air.

Restaurant owner Marty Walzer said he didn't know why Oprah chose his restaurant for dinner. "I'm almost guessing they found our Web page," he speculated. But he's not complaining.

"What could be more pleasing than to be able to show some small gesture of service to someone who has done as much as Oprah has for so many people?" said Mr. Walzer. "We were certainly very pleased and thrilled she would get that far off the interstate to eat lunch here." (source: Daily Item)

The wait staff said Oprah didn't stay long, but did pose for pictures and "left a nice tip."

Here's my six degrees: one of the gentlemen who waited on Oprah is the brother of a guy I used to work with, and I once helped on a catering job for that restaurant. (My boss's wife used to be a manager there.) So any far-flung connection I have comes through my own place of work, which has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Oprah... unless she wants to do a segment on ballooning health-insurance premiums in high-risk labor jobs. Or investigate the mysterious "purple haze" that the large plant across the street swears is an "air inversion," not the crap they pump into the environment that makes us all choke and wheeze and tear up instantly. But I digress....

This apparently isn't her first trip to this area. My husband is from a town about 15 minutes away. He told me back when the newly-redesigned Ford Thunderbirds came out (the retro-looking ones) Oprah was looking for one in a certain color. The dealership in his hometown had one, so she went there to buy it. I haven't verified this but someone said it was a turquoise T-Bird and that sounds very Oprah-ish to me so I'm going with it.

I wish I had a new T-Bird...

Nature's Irony and Other Bits

• My husband is going to bale hay this weekend. A lot of folks have been trying to do the same but the weather hasn't been cooperating... we've had rain and hail in between the hot days for the past week or so. Yesterday was a good "drying" day with late sun and a breeze so maybe they'll be able to bale today.
  
• The head grower at work (my boss's boss) forgot to put in my vacation request again. I was actually betting on him not submitting it, but the result is that I didn't get paid for taking last weekend off. So I decided to use the time next month for another weekend. The double whammy: my boss will be on vacation... I usually take over while he's gone... now neither of us will be there, and the guy who forgot to put my vacation time in will have to step in. Bet he doesn't forget next time!
• Don't mess with Momma Nature! Yesterday I was walking through the service area/loading dock. There was a cardboard box lying on its side on top of a big soil bale. Something in the box moved when I walked by... I looked, and a young kestrel was perched on the inside edge of the box, not three feet away! I called a couple of the guys to come look, thinking maybe we could fold the flaps up, trap the bird in the box, and take him outside where there was food and light and all those things birds need. I didn't want to risk getting pecked or talon'ed, but one guy walked right up to the kestrel and carefully closed the flaps without incident. We took the box out behind the building and let the bird go in our field... he flew straight to the roof, where unbeknownst to us, a family of robins had a nest full of babies. The robins went nuts and started screeching and dive-bombing our poor little kestrel. Then a red-winged blackbird joined the cacophony, swooping at the robins AND the kestrel. Poor little guy! What a wake-up call... he hadn't quite mastered the art of flying except in a straight line, but he did get away eventually. (More about kestrels, with photos, HERE.)
• In other critter news, we watched another set of baby robins fly the coop last week. They nested on the braces right over our heads in our outdoor "lunch hut." When the last one left, after hanging around pooping on everything for three days, he went in a straight line directly from the hut towards the truck staging area. We watched, saying "He's heading for a trailer." "Is he gonna hit the side of the rig?" "Nah, he'll pull up before he gets there...." WHAP, slide, thud *little poof of dust rises* "Oh. Guess not." He was okay though. Flew off finally. Maybe a little brain damaged now, but I believe all robins are demented anyway.
• I have scrapbook fever again. For once, I was in on a "fad" when it first got big, as in a decade ago. Even though people have been making scrapbooks for ages, that was when manufacturers started coming out with a bunch of neat little gizmos and tools and templates and such. I did two or three pages before moving on to something else (My last page was my nephew's birth announcement. He's 7 now.) Last week, after looking at the hundreds of photos on my computer, I thought it would be neat to make some "hard copy" scrapbook pages and spend time with the hubby in the evenings putting it together. We went to A.C. Moore. I think my eyes bugged out a good inch... when did all this STUFF come out? Nobody even has to be creative anymore, it's all done for them! Just buy preprinted papers, preprinted titles, pre-inked stamps, premade cutouts and page kits, add a photo or two and stick it all together with some handy no-mess glue strips and you're done! Yeesh. I mean I know it's a Big Thing; scrapbook classes, groups, and shops have popped up everywhere over the past few years and some people actually DO make their own add-ons. But other than "do I put the bunny cutouts on the right side or the left?" there's hardly any skill or thinking involved anymore, as long as one has the money to buy all the premade items. I'm going to be defiant and use old-fashioned Elmer's glue.
  
• 'Nuff writing, but I want to leave you with an awesome link. This guy takes balloon animals to the level of art form... the farther down you scroll the more incredible it gets!
  

Friends and Fun

Just a bit more on the weekend...

While waiting outside a pavilion for a guest appearance to start, I got jumped! This woman came running and launched herself on me... it was Sally, a friend and former co-worker, who was at the show with her boyfriend Jack (one of my hubby's good friends). We haven't seen either of them in months so it was great to chat a bit and get a picture. Would have been nice to have dinner together, but they were leaving earlier than we were. Maybe next time.

I got a few photo ops I couldn't pass up. Here's me with two Bills: Goldberg and Carlisle Events co-founder Bill Miller.And so I don't hog the blog, here's my husband learning why he can never buy a Shelby Cobra; he doesn't fit in one!


We both got to sit in it, but Hubby was so excited that he forgot to take my photo. That's okay though. I was invited to pose for a pic in a Ford Skyliner and he wasn't. ;-P
As I said, we had a great time. Everyone was nice, food was incredible, doing it again in a few weeks (but just a day trip next time). If you're at Carlisle come say hi! We love to meet new people!

Weekend at Carlisle

Oh, where to begin?!?

We just had the most fantabulous weekend in ages... only thing that could have made it better would be if we'd gotten some fishing in somewhere. (I just found out that we're going to the cabin over the 4th of July, so look out fishies!)

Okay, if you read my car blog, you know that we went to the All-Ford Nationals at Carlisle this weekend. Our original hope was to have our Bronco on the show field for the Bronco 40th Anniversary but schedules just didn't allow it. That turned out to be a non-issue, since everything else was so much fun that we weren't too disappointed.

Quick recap: we saw a former Atlanta Falcon/WCW wrestler, got to sit in a Shelby Cobra, listened to a man recount stories from Vietnam, had a great dinner and an even better breakfast, met some nice folks, took a buttload of photos, walked a zillion miles over two days looking at cars, were given VIP passes by a Carlisle show founder, played in the mud in the parking area, saw a little Ford Focus literally smoke the bigger cars and trucks in a burnout competition, and had some of the BEST pulled-pork BBQ north of the Mason-Dixon line. (Holy pigsticks, Batman, that was awesome BBQ...)

Now we're home, and I have to cook again.

Also need to sleep... will post more over the next few days!