Followers

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Progress

I have no idea of what motivated me to write this. I was 40 then. It was the 70's. I guess I've always been resistant to change and "Progress."


Progress

Once there was a man
Who lived within the wood,
He’d hunt and fish and sing,
And knew his life was good.
And then they found the man
And took him far away…
“To a better land,” they said,
“He’d have to learn to stay.”
But soon the man grew sad,
His body wracked with grief.
They killed the lonely man
Because of their belief.
Why did people try to change
His happy way of life?
Did they know he left behind
His baby and his wife?
Now the child is grown,
His mother died today,
So deeper in the woods he’ll move
To live his father’s way.


By Geraldine, 1976


My Great Grandparents James & Malinda


James and my mother 1915


Family Picnic 1916


Now, this is GOOD PROGRESS!!!!!




And I Know Why........

First a rant............

This early morning I rushed to town with my two baskets of laundry to get it washed before the laundromat became crowded. I have been doing this since 1997 when we moved into the cabin.
I'm lucky to have nice weather today and they will dry on the line well. It's a beautiful day!

Usually, I stay in the small laundromat, reading, but this morning I decided to sit in my car while listening to the radio. The laundromat is 5 miles from our place at the lake and I don't often go into town except for laundry and grocery shopping chores. That may be why I never before noticed how many gas drilling trucks travel to, through and from our little town. They sure caught my attention with their oversized loads and number! And it is SUNDAY!


I observed these huge and invasive, to my thinking, carriers traveling fast and furious on the main avenue. They were all in transit hauling water, frack sand, frack fluids, fracking pumps, residual waste and more.


Some call them soup trucks or kettle trucks and I call them AWFUL. Their stacks emit black stuff to pollute my air. They're noisy. They cause damage to the roads. Some nearby counties have had their roads put off limits to natural gas drilling trucks by PennDOT until the roads are repaired.


The natural gas extraction in my area has grown and I don't like the activity at all. People jumped at the chance to earn money by leasing their land and now the cost is very evident.


In 1900, 1,827 people lived here, and in 1910, 1,914 people lived here. The population was 1,664 at the 2000 census. A 2007 estimate states that the population is 1,843. This town of Montrose was laid out in 1812 and incorporated as a borough on March 19, 1824. It sure seems a shame that it has changed so much in the name of "Progress."

The truck that was involved in yesterday's accident is owned by Casa Grande, Arizona-based Southeast Directional Drilling LLC according to the Times Tribune. I noticed that many of the tags are also from Texas, Wyoming and others.


Fatal Crash

By WBNG News


July 30, 2011

Updated Jul 30, 2011 at 5:18 PM EDT

Liberty Township, PA (WBNG Binghamton) A Susquehanna County man has died in a crash near the state line.

Pennsylvania State Police say 57 year-old John Jones of Brackney was killed when a Mack Truck used to haul natural gas drilling materials overturned on to his car.

The accident happened around 8:00 p.m. Friday night on Route 29 near the intersection of Laurel Lake Road in Liberty Township.

Jones' passenger was an unidentified seventeen year old. She sustained moderate injuries.

50 year-old James Hoffpauir of Montgomery, Texas was driving the truck for Southeast Directional Drilling, based in Arizona.

State Police are continuing their investigation.


Man Killed in Susquehanna County Crash

  • By WNEP News

9:04 p.m. EDT, July 30, 2011

We now know the name of a man killed in a crash in Susquehanna County.


According to state police, John Jones III of Brackney died Friday night when a mack truck overturned on his vehicle.


It happened around 7:00 p.m. on Route 29, just north of Montrose.


The driver of the mack truck was injured.


Troopers are still investigating what led to that deadly crash in Susquehanna County.

Friday, July 29, 2011

The Best Things....

It's corn time! We're country folks and really enjoy the summer corn. Tonight we had a corn dinner. That means that all we ate for dinner was corn - on the cob, of course!

Sure, we do know that it is high in starch and such, but so what! Several blogs last year, I posted about our love of corn. I'll repeat that post here, later, BUT.... The shock was that we paid 50 ¢ an EAR for this sugar and cream corn today! We bought five. They were EXCELLENT!

Now years ago, we were very spoiled by having instant access to our own garden corn and the nearby farmer's corn as well. We had all we could eat and our horses did too. I guess times have changed since we no longer have a garden. The local farmer's stand is 5 miles away so there is where we were "forced" to buy our supper.

I have my own method to cook it too, just like my mom and my grandma did. I put a little water in a big pot. When it comes to a rolling boil, I dump the corn into it, replace the lid, and time 10 minutes - EXACTLY! I then immediately remove the cooked ears (with tongs - mine are OLD) onto a platter. We serve ourselves. The butter, yes, I said BUTTER, (stick) is on a special flat dish and we ROLL the corn directly on it. Then we sprinkle salt and pepper. We've learned that we don't like sea salt at all. It isn't salty enough and doesn't stick or dissolve correctly. The pepper can be fresh ground from the mill or shaken from the regular shaker - it doesn't seem to matter to us.

1907 kitchen tongs

Our favorite is "bodacious" but we can't find any locally - YET!

Enjoy my previous blogs from last year about corn now......

Monday, July 12, 2010

Corn Fed

Here in the country, a local farmer brings his produce to town. He sets up in a vacant parking lot. Corn is all the rage now. It sells for 45¢ an ear and is well worth it.

The first we had was "Silver Queen" but it wasn't mature enough to suit me. This week it's "Butter and Sugar" and is WONDERFULLY delicious!Our favorite is "Bodacious" but he doesn't grow that variety. It's the one Ed used to plant here many years ago.

The first step is to find the large kettle which is stored waaaay in the back of the cupboard as it isn't used often.


The Hunt


Isn't it BEAUTIFUL!!! Yes! Corn is beautiful.

Satisfying too! YUM.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Corny Lesson


Bodacious (Top) and
Silver Queen

~The Bodacious hybrid is great eating and is still delicious well after harvest. The ears are about 8 inches long with 16-18 rows of kernels. The Bodacious hybrid does better in warm soils.



~The Silver Queen hybrid is a very popular white corn with 8 inch ears. The ears grow 14-16 rows of delicious kernels. The Silver Queen variety of corn is widely adapted to many different areas.



Hybrid: Hybrid seeds are seeds grown from the crossing of 2 parent plants to produce a new offspring. Most hybrids are an F1 variety, meaning that they are a first generation hybrid. Hybrid seeds incorporate the desirable traits of both parents to make strong plants.


Hybrid seed cannot be saved, as the seed from the first generation of hybrid plants does not reliably produce true copies, therefore, new seed must be purchased for each planting.

~Butter and Sugar kernels are yellow and white with delicious flavor. Ears are plump and sweet. This very sweet bi-color variety is great for eating fresh or freezing and canning. Ears grow about 7 1/2 inches long with 12 to 14 rows of kernels. They grow on tall, vigorous stalks.


Back for a Bit .....

Well, as can probably be expected, I've not been in the mood to write anything. I've been obsessive/compulsive about making computer generated movies and slide shows, using my personal photos. I don't have a movie camera so are all taken with my regular snap camera; (wish I had a zoom lens). It takes a great deal of persistence to learn how to do this and complete them so they are pleasing and interesting - at least to me - and hope others can have fun too.

I'm a slow learner when I teach myself, so bear with me. Some of the movies really mean something to me, such as the Hawaiian wedding of my girlfriend's daughter. She eloped unexpectedly 25 years ago and it is a successful and productive marriage. The couple liked my work and that brought us all enjoyment. The Yummy show used photos she sent me from HI and she didn't realize she had taken so many to show us "mainlanders."

The flying whirlygigs are an important part of living here because they are my imaginary friends. Everyone needs those. "Alvin" is the special one.

I DO love bugs, beans, and other such things. So........

My other obsessive actions this month seem always to involve my love of music. Today I uploaded many Leon Redbone renditions of old songs that I especially like. I just float away on his wavelength! It's hard to control my wants and "needs."

The weather here has been muggy and miserable so I have stayed indoors - with my friend, iMac.

By the way, James celebrated the 4th with a new outfit and then went fishing with another.
Oh, and....we just might have pink ducks and geese and also black flamingoes next year here at the lake. We have had company on the lake's floating log.


Try to have a good time with the 8 new movies here. I did!


Linda Likes Yellow

Fish Escape Try

Bobbi 29 years

Green Beans

Night & Day Alvin Flies Away.m4v

Busy Bugs

Yummy Yummy.m4v

Anniversary Memory