We stood in the thick darkness deep in the earth, only feet away from an underground river. We knew the water was flowing, but the surface was still and there was no sound. Normally, I don't descend into the depths of the earth any deeper than the cellar. But earlier this month, when my friend Regina arranged for us to visit Alexander Caverns in the Kishacoquillas Valley, I was an enthusiastic proponent. "It's on a Nebraska Amish farm," Regina told us. "They don't have phones, but I … [Read more...] about Alexander Caverns
Teacups and Hatchets
Sometimes the invitation reads "bring your favorite teacup", sometimes it says "bring your own hachet". Here's a few photos from two very different parties I attended this month. For her fifteenth birthday, my niece Mikayla wanted to host a tea party for her girl cousins closest in age, her grandma, and her mom's sisters (including me). Normally, we don't do too many birthday parties— we'd be going to several each month— but Mikayla is an only girl with seven brothers, so she got a … [Read more...] about Teacups and Hatchets
The Day I Saw the Queen
"We can't visit the palace tomorrow. The queen is in town," said Nancy, looking at her computer. It was the summer of 2014, and I was visiting my friend Ruth in Scotland. On the last full day of my visit, Ruth and her mum Nancy were planning a day of sightseeing in Edinburgh, including the palace where Queen Elizabeth normally stayed during the occasional visits to the Scottish capital. "What's she doing? Maybe we can see her," joked Ruth. Nancy skimmed some websites. The queen would … [Read more...] about The Day I Saw the Queen
A Weekend at the Lake
Raystown Lake is the largest lake totally within Pennsylvania— an S-shaped, man-made reservoir in Huntingdon County that's just far enough away from home for the denizens of Lancaster County to make it an ideal vacation spot. Well, for the some of the denizens, anyway. Until this summer, I had never been there. In fact, I couldn't say I'd ever spent more a few hours at a lake. So when my friend Regina invited me along with friends to go camping and boating at Raystown Lake, I was happy to … [Read more...] about A Weekend at the Lake
A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers
A week ago, I made a wrong turn and discovered thousands of sunflowers— golden fields on gentle rolling hills. I pulled off on the side of the road to stare at the beauty. I was less than ten miles from home, but I had never seen sunflowers grown on a large scale before. Most sunflowers grown in the United States are raised in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, not Pennsylvania. Later I went back to the sunflower fields with my sister and nieces to take more pictures. We parked at … [Read more...] about A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers