Six years ago, one month after we moved here, we experienced what the forecasters called a "hundred year flood." We've had a few other wee floods since then, but they never approached the magnitude of the first. Until Monday. Tropical Storm Isaias quite literally blew through the Philly area, dumping around six inches of rain in about eight hours. When the rain lightened up, the wind took over and hammered the area with 60 mph... Read more →
As I've said before, one of the disadvantages to living next to a river (besides motivational speakers living in vans and people shooting their babies) is the possibility of flooding. The Great Flood of '14 has made us a tad skittish when heavy rains fall. The weather lately has been heavy on the rain. And I do mean heavy. Like torrential downpour heavy. On Monday morning, there was an amazing heavy rainstorm in this area... Read more →
Four years ago today we loaded up the truck and moved to Bev-er-ly! Oh okay; we let some very good movers load up a truck and we moved to Pennsylvania! "So - after four years there, how's it going?" I hear you cry. Well, it's going just fine. Here are ten things about that finery. We still love our apartment; in fact, we just renewed out lease! We now have a different sofa (Ikea, EKTORP),... Read more →
Last weekend Joe and I visited the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. It is amazing. The Side of the Mercer Museum It's a seven-story concrete building conceived and built by Henry Mercer -- the same man who built Fonthill Castle. He needed it to store the massive amount of stuff he collected. It has everything from an actual stagecoach to ivory hair combs. It's a vast journey through the everyday artifacts of America. Because we are... Read more →
Last weekend we went to Lower Perkiomen Valley Park for a nice long walk along Perkiomen Creek. This park is lovely! It has ball fields, picnic pavilions, secluded picnic spots, and a wide paved trail. It's not as rife with superhero cyclists as the Schuylkill River Trail, which I appreciate! There's a little dam at one point, which reminds me of the deadly Brookmont/Little Falls Dam on the Potomac. Perkiomen Valley Park We left the... Read more →
Last weekend we had a play date with the lovely and talented Mike and Maria Pratt. We quaffed some beers and ate some barbeque at the newly opened beer garden at Stable 12 Brewery. We enjoyed sundaes at Zwahlen's. And, thanks to Maria, we saw one of three Witness Trees in Valley Forge National Park. A Witness Tree is a tree that was alive during the Continental Army's encampment at Valley Forge in 1777 --... Read more →
One year ago today, this happened: Here are ten things about that momentous day. We got up really early to be ready when the movers arrived. They were a half-hour late. It didn't matter -- they were great! Tom the Foreman explained everything and we pretty much got out the way, busying ourselves with last-minute packing and loading the car with delicate stuff. I was especially impressed with the care they took with my Gramma's... Read more →
Here is the year's first Sunday Stealing! 1.What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren about? How a single email changed my life. 2.If you had to describe your 2014 in 3 words, what would they be? Great. Big. Adventure. 3.What new things did you discover about yourself? I'm braver than I thought I was. I hate merging onto the Schuylkill Expressway. With the exception of the PennDot bureaucracy, I... Read more →
So -- 2014 was an order of magnitude better than 2013. It was a Leap of Faith year. A year ago at this time, I was waiting to see if the leap would be possible. I wondered what I would do if I got an offer; I wondered what I would do if I didn't. The offer came. I took it. No wait -- I didn't take it; I grabbed it and held on tight.... Read more →
The day before yesterday we finally visited Valley Forge National Historical Park. I say "finally" because we live all of about five minutes from it. In case you're rusty on your US history, Valley Forge was where the Continental Army spent the winter of 1777-1778. It's a beautiful piece of land, situated high on a hill where the army could spot any surprise attacks from the British forces. The Visitor Center is great, with lots... Read more →