Big Spring 8/23/13
Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
Good morning, Eagles Mere
GOOD MORNING, EAGLES MERE
From your friends down the road.
We wish you a fantastic Fourth of July week ahead.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Lori Joseph re Parade
[In 2011, Lori Joseph, whom I don't know and who was then living in Nebraska and who previously lived in Williamsport and had visited EM, saw Terry Wild's photos of the parade, and composed the below piece, which she sent to Terry. Terry forwarded it to the Treetop Diaries. I posted the piece in 2011 and do so again here.]
Maybe you were there…
I woke to see the light filtering through the open window into my room. Stretching to rise and greet the day I can already hear stirring outside. This small American town has been buzzing for weeks in preparation for the celebration of,
“ Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.
My trips to the post office weren't only for mail, as I found myself looking forward to the conversations and learning about
Who's coming to town, what packages are expected to arrive, planning the festivities and so much more. Anticipation of the days' events is unparalleled.
Although I have marched in my share of parades, this year I have elected to visit the ice cold lemonade stand hosted by my next door neighbors grandchildren and take a seat in the old white wicker rocker waiting for me at the edge of our lawn. A right of passage so to speak, as I will be joined by the elders in our community. We have front row seats along the parade route. As I look down the line I see the very same Americana vests and bowties that have been donned year after year on this special occasion. Weathered hands are waving at the passersby. There is joy all around us with children teetering to keep their balance on their decorated bicycles. Flag waving songs played on kazoos with drums keeping time. Performers and politicians, young and old throwing candies and promises.
We gather after the parade to share food and fellowship, play some games, take the boat out or go for a swim. The black and white images from yesteryear are replaced with an unmatched luminance. The sights and sounds are so vibrant I feel a joyful tear slip down my cheek. I am filled with a gladness that I am here to witness the culmination of generations writing their chapter for this story by realizing their dreams and embracing life with gusto. Fireworks punctuate today's freedom to celebrate, freedom of choice. It's been a long wonderful day that will forever remain in my heart and in the hearts of those who came to Eagles Mere.
LJ 7/7/11
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Monday, June 23, 2014
Backlog
From: tiseye@mailstation.com
Sent: 6/16/2014 6:32:58 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: 88mm camera lens guard found
Sent: 6/16/2014 6:32:58 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: 88mm camera lens guard found
-----Forwarded Message-----
>From:
>Sent: Jun 15, 2014 5:27 PM
>To: tiseye@mailstation.com
>Subject: 88mm camera lens guard
>
>Edwina, can you send out an announcement that a 88mm camera lens hood was
>found on the guard rail on Lakewood Ave. where the view is of the footbridge
>over the lake on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps someone was taking a photo late
>Saturday of the sunset.
>If they would email you and you can email me, I can contact them if that is
>okay with you.
>Thanks for your assistance. Claudia Leo
Sunday, June 22, 2014
LT Mile 49.25 to 53.60 - 8/16/2013
[Done by Conservancy group on 8/16/2013. Done by below family 10/22/1994. My recollection is Conservancy group was told future use of section was going to be curtailed.][Well, actually below family seems to have traversed the section two times. A little confusing.]
Loyalsock Trail
Mile 49.25 to 53.60, hiked east to west then doubled back, October 22, 1994
Mile 49.25 to 53.60, hiked east to west continuing to World's End , October 13, 2003
Sones Pond past Porky Den and Alpine Falls to Big Run
Our third and final hike of Fall, 1994 followed a relatively flat segment -- by LT standards -- which continued to extend our series of day hikes to the east of World's End State Park toward the end of the trail at Route 220. It took a bit of scouting to determine the best way to access the parking area at Sones Pond by car. There was a sign for Loyalsock Road, a gravel road, intersecting PA Route 154 just west of the state park, but the sign indicated the distance to the pond was 11 miles. Have you ever driven 11 miles on a gravel road in a Ford Escort station wagon? The LT topo map indicated an intersection on Route 154 with Rock Run Road somewhat over five miles east of the park, and about two miles west of Route 220 near Laporte. After driving back and forth on 154 a bit, we finally saw the unsigned gravel road intersection. Our recommendation would be to start at 220 and drive west on 154 as the intersection is easier to spot from this direction because of its angle.
From Route 154, Rock Run Road travels a bit over two miles to the intersection with Loyalsock Road just before Sones Pond. About halfway there, there is an iron bridge over Loyalsock Creek, and the LT crosses the same bridge and follows the road for 1/6 mile before turning off. That section of the LT is to the east from Sones Pond; we parked at Sones Pond and hiked in a westerly direction this day.
The parking area is across Loyalsock Road from the pond and a roofed pavilion or shelter near a fishing area. It's possible -- and shortest -- to access the trail by hiking to the right along the southeast shore of the pond, but there's not really a defined trail. To make sure we didn't miss the LT, we hiked back along Loyalsock Road to Rock Run Road, the way we had just driven from, then turned left onto Rock Run Road until reaching the LT crossing at mile 53.60 in about 1/4 mile.
The only steep hiking in the first three miles was near mile 52.10 in the vicinity of some rock formations called "Porky Den," where porcupines live in the crevices of the rocks according to the trail guide. We didn't see any. This area was more of a nuisance with climbing over rocks than it was physically exerting -- the elevation change was 40 or 50 feet at most. The LT continued flat, jogging along Loyalsock Road at mile 51.67 to 51.60, then beginning a gradual descent into the valley formed by Tom's Run, dropping at a more moderate rate within the last 1/3 mile of the stream where it descended about 250 ft.
The LT reached Tom's Run at the top of Alpine Falls. A side trail (blue markers) leads from the LT to a view of the falls. (This trail was formerly labeled RX-9 with Red X markers prior to 2005.) The LT descends alongside the falls and is quite steep. At the bottom of the falls, the LT continued downhill along a railroad grade to the low point of the day's hike, elevation 1480 ft, at mile 50.23. Here, the LT switches from following Tom's Run downstream to following Big Run upstream, and the remainder of our hike to the turnaround point was gradually uphill, past an overlook at Ken's Window, mile 50.03. When we reached the same Big Run crossing at mile 49.25 where we'd stopped on the previous hike in the opposite direction from World's End State Park, we turned around and returned to our car by the same route, except for taking the old RX-9 (no longer blazed) over Alpine Falls and for following the shore of Sones Pond to our car rather than hiking up the LT from the pond to Rock Run Road.
As Maria got older, she began to do more hiking on her own two feet. Of course Mike wanted her to have the opportunity to do the LT "for real." On October 13, 2003, the two of them left a car at World's End State Park then rode with Aimee to Sones Pond where she dropped them off to begin a 7.5 mile hike of section seven of the LT.
As their photos show, the weather was pleasant for hiking that day -- blue sky and temperatures in the 60s. The only downside to the hiking experience was caused by another group of four adult hikers who left the Sones Pond area just ahead of them and talked loudly as they hiked. Usually it's not hard to find solitude in the woods when there are only six people along three miles of trail -- but not when all six are within a quarter mile or so during the whole trip.
As mentioned above, this segment from Sones Pond to Alpine Falls is relatively flat, except for a drop as the falls are approached. Even Porky Den is not much of an elevation change.
Mike and Maria stopped for lunch at the falls, sitting on a large rock slab in the stream at the very top of the falls. (Actually they had to wait for the other hikers to vacate the area.) After lunch they continued across the falls, following the trail as it rose slightly then dropped alongside but just out of viewing distance of the stream. When the low point was reached at mile 50.23, the ascent away from Tom's Run to follow Big Run upstream was quite a bit steeper than Mike remembered. But once Ken's Window was reached after about 1/5 mile, the elevation change became slight again.
When Mike and Maria reached the stream crossing of Big Run at mile 49.25, she had finished this segment on her own two feet. The two of them continued on to World's End to finish the day's hiking.
Footnote: In 1994, at that point in our hiking lives, we would have considered nine miles -- mainly flat -- to be a relatively routine hike. Just a month earlier, we'd hiked over ten miles of the LT with some very steep and lengthy climbs. For some reason, Aimee felt really tired, especially when we had to reclimb over the rocks at Porky Den about 7 1/2 miles into the hike. She attributed it to lack of sleep and to being tired from a variety of activities we'd done earlier in the week while entertaining Mike's Auntie Mary, who was visiting us from Chicago. Well, we didn't hike the LT any more that fall, but Aimee continued to feel tired and run down. Then she started to have some strange food aversions -- like throwing out a half gallon of cookies and cream ice cream she had just bought. Mike was pretty oblivious to the situation until Monday, December 5, when he returned from work in the afternoon and launched into a discussion of some lab experiments that had gone on that day. Aimee replied that she'd done a little experimentation of her own, and pulled out a pregnancy test kit indicating a positive response. Later, as we were counting Maria's mileage on the LT, we decided to consider this day as representing Maria's first hike on the LT to recognize Aimee's effort in carrying her the distance.
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More poems from last summer
What Summer Means To Me
The gentle breeze
Blowing in my face
The warm sand
All over the place.
My skin is red
From all the sun.
Yet I fit in
With everyone
Girls and guys
in tanks and shorts;
Hanging out at the beach
Some surfing on their boards.
Making each day count,
Since we're out of school.
Doing what we want,
There aren't any rules!
Hangin' with my buds-
Making new inside jokes
Finding a summer love,
While drinking cold, ice-filled cokes.
This is what summer is all about-
A time you are free.
Free to run, and loudly scream and shout.
That's what summer means to me!
© 2002, Rachel Webb
Things I Love to Do
I love to walk in dripping woods
When raindrops drum on leaves,
Where sodden footsteps tell of streams
Beneath the roots of trees;
Where violets grow, and snow-white trilliums
Lift their heads in countless millions
...In spring.
I love to loll upon a bank,
And watch the puffy clouds
Shape maps and woolly forms of sheep
That melt away in shrouds;
Where brown-eyed daisies and Queen Anne's lace
Flaunt their petals in my face
...In June.
I love to tramp a dusty road
When August days are mellow,
When noontime heat in shimmering haze
Turns goldenrod to yellow;
Or hear cicadas lost in trees
Shrill their tunes in myriad keys
...In summer.
I love to tread a golden path
When aspen leaves are falling,
Or listen to the quiet dirge
Of blue jays softly calling,
Or sit upon a country fence
And breathe October's sweet incense
...In autumn.
I love to see a crystal world
All sparkling in December
When brilliant skies and frosted earth
Have blotted out November;
When every shrub and tree is dressed
In silvery lacy loveliness
...In winter.
by Sybil Beulah Maus
Old Familiar Landscapes
Those old familiar landscapes
Within my heart are longed,
Though many years have passed now
The time has not assuaged.
The willow trees in springtime,
The ducklings on the pond,
The scent of sweet magnolia
Bring memories dear and fond.
A rustic fence that traveled far
And made a boundary line
Enclosed a world that I knew best
With treasures I called mine.
A sprawling house of many rooms
And stair with spiral rail
Overlooked a broad expanse
That often I would trail.
I've travled to a distant place
Where friends have been so kind,
But old familiar landscapes
Are etched upon my mind.
BETTY COOKE
Solitude
HOW still it is here in the woods. The trees
Stand motionless, as if they do not dare
To stir, lest it should break the spell. The air
Hangs quiet as spaces in a marble frieze.
Even this little brook, that runs at ease,
Whispering and gurgling in its knotted bed,
Seems but to deepen with its curling thread
Of sound the shadowy sun-pierced silences.
Sometimes a hawk screams or a woodpecker
Startles the stillness from its fixèd mood
With his loud careless tap. Sometimes I hear
The dreamy white-throat from some far-off tree
Pipe slowly on the listening solitude
His five pure notes succeeding pensively.
Archibald Lampman
THE ARBOUR
I'll rest me in this sheltered bower,
And look upon the clear blue sky
That smiles upon me through the trees,
Which stand so thick clustering by;
And view their green and glossy leaves,
All glistening in the sunshine fair;
And list the rustling of their boughs,
So softly whispering through the air.
And while my ear drinks in the sound,
My winged soul shall fly away;
Reviewing lone departed years
As one mild, beaming, autumn day;
And soaring on to future scenes,
Like hills and woods, and valleys green,
All basking in the summer's sun,
But distant still, and dimly seen.
Oh, list! 'tis summer's very breath
That gently shakes the rustling trees--
But look! the snow is on the ground--
How can I think of scenes like these?
'Tis but the frost that clears the air,
And gives the sky that lovely blue;
They're smiling in a winter's sun,
Those evergreens of sombre hue.
And winter's chill is on my heart--
How can I dream of future bliss?
How can my spirit soar away,
Confined by such a chain as this?
Anne Brontë
Pleasure
True pleasure breathes not city air,
Nor in Art's temples dwells,
In palaces and towers where
The voice of Grandeur dwells.
No! Seek it where high Nature holds
Her court 'mid stately groves,
Where she her majesty unfolds,
And in fresh beauty moves;
Where thousand birds of sweetest song,
The wildly rushing storm
And hundred streams which glide along,
Her mighty concert form!
Go where the woods in beauty sleep
Bathed in pale Luna's light,
Or where among their branches sweep
The hollow sounds of night.
Go where the warbling nightingale
In gushes rich doth sing,
Till all the lonely, quiet vale
With melody doth ring.
Go, sit upon a mountain steep,
And view the prospect round;
The hills and vales, the valley's sweep,
The far horizon bound.
Then view the wide sky overhead,
The still, deep vault of blue,
The sun which golden light doth shed,
The clouds of pearly hue.
And as you gaze on this vast scene
Your thoughts will journey far,
Though hundred years should roll between
On Time's swift-passing car.
To ages when the earth was young,
When patriarchs, grey and old,
The praises of their god oft sung,
And oft his mercies told.
You see them with their beards of snow,
Their robes of ample form,
Their lives whose peaceful, gentle flow,
Felt seldom passion's storm.
Then a calm, solemn pleasure steals
Into your inmost mind;
A quiet aura your spirit feels,
A softened stillness kind.
Charlotte Brontë
Barrett Noone
In 2013, Barbara Noone recognized her grandson Barrett Noone for the below sonnet for which Barrett won second place in the Ardmore Public Library poetry contest. Barrett is the son of Bob and Gwen Noone and grandson of Barbara and Barry Noone.
The last few leaves still clung to barren trees,
And fought an endless war against the wind.
Their numbers dwindled, none could fight the breeze,
The air had won, and leaves were sparse and thinned.
The job was done, and snow was soon to fall,
To coat the world, and limbs of weakened wood.
And fall it did, in flakes both great and small
That formed a blanket, cov'ring like a hood.
The branches were defeated, coated white,
And cold and brisk the winter air did flow.
It sneaked through every crack, both day and night,
And worked in chilly harmony with snow.
The winter, like a visitor, is here,
Until the leaves of spring again appear.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Not a Pretty Petal
Who can tell us why this is not a Pretty Petal? [This needs to be considered in a larger context.]
Do you remember?
Do you remember Pretty Petals 2013?
That pretty much bombed, I believe.
We are nonetheless cranking up for Pretty Petals 2014.
In other words, the 2014 Summer Bloom has begun or is about to begin!!!
That pretty much bombed, I believe.
We are nonetheless cranking up for Pretty Petals 2014.
In other words, the 2014 Summer Bloom has begun or is about to begin!!!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Theme Song tradition
We have made it a regular tradition to play the 2011 July Sports week theme song. We are less regular regarding the date we play it on. Sometimes we have played it twice. Whatever, here is the 2011 July Sports week theme song:
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Wow
Do we have a photo of the honey moon taken on Friday by someone in EM?
Photos: Rare Friday the 13th 'honey moon'
Photos: Rare Friday the 13th 'honey moon'
This June's full moon, also known as the "honey moon" or "strawberry moon," coincided with Friday the 13th. A full moon on Friday the 13th won't happen again until Oct. 13, 2049. Your Takecontributors had their cameras ready and shared photos from around the U.S. of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
In California, contributor Leslie Sigala shot this image of the moon at sunrise over San Francisco.
Greg Hogan gave us a detailed look at the full moon from Kathleen, Ga.
Crystal Pommet framed the moon as it appeared in Signal Hill, Calif. "So happy the clear night allowed us the view," Pommet wrote.
"Tonight I didn't even have to leave my backyard. What a rare and beautiful treat," said Lisa Cecil of her photo taken in Lebanon, Ohio.
As the moon rose over Murrells Inlet and Garden City, S.C., Austin Bond snapped this shot.
The full moon glowed with a yellow tint over Woodbury, Minn., in this photo byJonathan Watkins.
Do you love capturing images of the night sky? Share your photos with us through Your Take!
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Friday, June 13, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
The early, early show
We have come up with an early, early show. We have hidden it. You can see our early, early show
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Could be cool
Will cool people be doing the Spring Cleanup Weekend?
From: "Eagles Mere Borough" <em17731@epix.net>
Subject: Spring Cleanup Weekend
Date: June 9, 2014 12:29:46 PM EDT
Edwina,
Would you please send this message out on your email blast members, there seems to be some confusion?
The Eagles Mere Spring Cleanup Weekend will be held on June 20-21-22, the third full weekend in June.
It will not be on Father’s Day weekend this year as Father’s Day is a week earlier than usual.
Thank you,
Kay Wilson, Secretary
Eagles Mere Borough
Ooops. I forgot, all the women are strong, all the men good looking, and all the children above average, so I guess everyone is cool.
From: tiseye@mailstation.com
Sent: 6/9/2014 2:21:45 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Spring CleanUp Weekend is June 20-21-22
Begin forwarded message:Sent: 6/9/2014 2:21:45 P.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: Spring CleanUp Weekend is June 20-21-22
From: "Eagles Mere Borough" <em17731@epix.net>
Subject: Spring Cleanup Weekend
Date: June 9, 2014 12:29:46 PM EDT
Edwina,
Would you please send this message out on your email blast members, there seems to be some confusion?
The Eagles Mere Spring Cleanup Weekend will be held on June 20-21-22, the third full weekend in June.
It will not be on Father’s Day weekend this year as Father’s Day is a week earlier than usual.
Thank you,
Kay Wilson, Secretary
Eagles Mere Borough
Ooops. I forgot, all the women are strong, all the men good looking, and all the children above average, so I guess everyone is cool.
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
The North Mountain Club
Maybe the Treetop Eagle can collect memories of those who climbed the North Mountain Fire Tower.
Maybe The Museum has photos taken from the Fire Tower.
NORTH MOUNTAIN TOWER
Internal Captions:
North Mountain Fire Tower in Sonestown (left)
North Maintain From Muncy Valley (center)
Ricketts Fire Tower (right)
Haystack Rocks in the Upper Loyalsock (bottom)
Internal Captions:
North Mountain Fire Tower in Sonestown (left)
North Maintain From Muncy Valley (center)
Ricketts Fire Tower (right)
Haystack Rocks in the Upper Loyalsock (bottom)
If you were Beach Czar
If you were the Beach Czar, would you allow discussion of The Affordable Care Act on the Beach?
Monday, June 9, 2014
One hundred years ago
Hotel Allegheny *
Postcard Photo
Eagles Mere, PA
Reportedly Taken in 1914
Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Source: An Old Postcard Auctioned on eBay in October 2013
Note: Mis-spelled on the postcard.
Postcard Photo
Eagles Mere, PA
Reportedly Taken in 1914
Contributed by Scott W. Tilden
Source: An Old Postcard Auctioned on eBay in October 2013
Note: Mis-spelled on the postcard.
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Sweet Shop. Sweet Shop. Sweet Shop.
Tonight, tonight, tonight.
Mum, Mum, Mum.
Please, please, please.
Can Markie and me go by ourselves?
Mum, Mum, Mum.
Mum, Mum, Mum.
Please, please, please.
Can Markie and me go by ourselves?
Mum, Mum, Mum.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
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