An online news story, published by yours truly. :) It's a followon to an earlier series done here and on deviantArt.
Centralia PA - A town on fire | The News is NowPublic.com
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Frogs playing in the snow
This past weekend, I found myself in Suburbia. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was in the suburban area north of Philadelphia PA. To my eyes, it's all one big city for many, many miles. Maybe not full of skyscrapers, but certainly full of homes, gas stations, and shopping centers.
When I was leaving, I drove northward and eventually the country got a little more rural, till I hit I-78 and started west toward home. The temps were nice, mornings cool, but afternoons getting warmer each day.
Yesterday, back home, finally, I heard frogs for the first time this year. In the morning, I walked outside my house and I could hear them, in the wet area here (taken less than a month ago):
In the afternoon, it got up into the upper 70s before rain showers moved in and cooled things off. It was nice hearing the birds singing, the frogs croaking, walking around in short sleeves and still being comfortable.
But tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow we go from that to potentially 4 to 8 inches of accumulating snow. :nod: It must be March in Pennsylvania or something. They say the ground is warm enough that at first it won't stick, but that there'll be enough coming down so that a lot of it will stick, at least for a day or two.
When I was leaving, I drove northward and eventually the country got a little more rural, till I hit I-78 and started west toward home. The temps were nice, mornings cool, but afternoons getting warmer each day.
Yesterday, back home, finally, I heard frogs for the first time this year. In the morning, I walked outside my house and I could hear them, in the wet area here (taken less than a month ago):
In the afternoon, it got up into the upper 70s before rain showers moved in and cooled things off. It was nice hearing the birds singing, the frogs croaking, walking around in short sleeves and still being comfortable.
But tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow we go from that to potentially 4 to 8 inches of accumulating snow. :nod: It must be March in Pennsylvania or something. They say the ground is warm enough that at first it won't stick, but that there'll be enough coming down so that a lot of it will stick, at least for a day or two.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Snowy Morning
This morning, there was snow everywhere.... The main roads in town were not too bad, but farther out in the country, the snow was coming down fast and furious. Only a few inches, but enough.
I stopped to take some photos, then went on toward work. After I left the one back road that crosses over the mountain, and turned onto a state highway in the middle of nowhere, I was at first the only car on the road.
I had gone no more than a mile or so till I saw someone approaching from behind. I sped up, so that I wouldn't hold her up, but I was uncomfortable with that speed on those roads, so when I saw a pulling off area ahead, I turned my signal on.
Just as I did so, I looked in the mirror, and she had tapped her brakes. On the downhill grade where she was at, she lost control of her car, spun across to the other side, then skidded back, finally coming to rest facing the direction we came from.
I finished stopping and backed up, and got out to offer assistance.
Her door was against the guard rail, and her front bumber and grill were slightly bend inward, but the car was still running and no sign of structural damage. She was shaken up a bit, and her grand-daughter in the back seat was crying, but no one was hurt.
I suggested that she might want to go ahead and move her car, since someone else topping the slight hill might repeat her moves, and then ... well - I don't imagine it would have been good.
Her car just sat there and spun, so she tried backing up - gaining a few inches, and then I told her to turn hard right and move forward. She did so, and was able to get back up the road. She turned around and drove back to where I was parked, and pulled off.
She was going to call someone but where we were there was no signal. But since her car was still running fine, she decided to continue on down through Harrisburg and return the little girl. I followed her into the city and then turned off and came into work.
No one was hurt. A car damaged, but it could have been much worse. I feel kinda bad, for turning on my signal to pull off, but at the same time I recognize that she WAS moving a bit fast for conditions, and I was way up ahead of her so could have gotten over way before she got there.
I think someone was watching over us all. :)
-- and for the record, I did resist the urge to document the scene with my camera. I thought it would be in bad taste. In addition, I did follow her all the way into the city without stopping even though I had planned to stop here and there and capture you some snow scenes.
Guess the ones I got before the incident will have to do!
(Note: The following will redirect you to my Picasaweb page, and the files in this album are 'video' files, and rather large, so I wouldn't recommend that you attempt it unless you have a high-speed connection).
The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.
-- Eric Berne
I stopped to take some photos, then went on toward work. After I left the one back road that crosses over the mountain, and turned onto a state highway in the middle of nowhere, I was at first the only car on the road.
I had gone no more than a mile or so till I saw someone approaching from behind. I sped up, so that I wouldn't hold her up, but I was uncomfortable with that speed on those roads, so when I saw a pulling off area ahead, I turned my signal on.
Just as I did so, I looked in the mirror, and she had tapped her brakes. On the downhill grade where she was at, she lost control of her car, spun across to the other side, then skidded back, finally coming to rest facing the direction we came from.
I finished stopping and backed up, and got out to offer assistance.
Her door was against the guard rail, and her front bumber and grill were slightly bend inward, but the car was still running and no sign of structural damage. She was shaken up a bit, and her grand-daughter in the back seat was crying, but no one was hurt.
I suggested that she might want to go ahead and move her car, since someone else topping the slight hill might repeat her moves, and then ... well - I don't imagine it would have been good.
Her car just sat there and spun, so she tried backing up - gaining a few inches, and then I told her to turn hard right and move forward. She did so, and was able to get back up the road. She turned around and drove back to where I was parked, and pulled off.
She was going to call someone but where we were there was no signal. But since her car was still running fine, she decided to continue on down through Harrisburg and return the little girl. I followed her into the city and then turned off and came into work.
No one was hurt. A car damaged, but it could have been much worse. I feel kinda bad, for turning on my signal to pull off, but at the same time I recognize that she WAS moving a bit fast for conditions, and I was way up ahead of her so could have gotten over way before she got there.
I think someone was watching over us all. :)
-- and for the record, I did resist the urge to document the scene with my camera. I thought it would be in bad taste. In addition, I did follow her all the way into the city without stopping even though I had planned to stop here and there and capture you some snow scenes.
Guess the ones I got before the incident will have to do!
(Note: The following will redirect you to my Picasaweb page, and the files in this album are 'video' files, and rather large, so I wouldn't recommend that you attempt it unless you have a high-speed connection).
The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.
-- Eric Berne
Friday, March 02, 2007
Bridges of Perry County
Originally published Summer 2006. This is a March 2007 update with new photos:
Here are two more shots that you may find interesting (If you have problems viewing this, please leave a comment so that I will know...)
Wagoner's Bridge in Winter by =arkansawyer on deviantART
Kochenderfer Bridge by =arkansawyer on deviantART
In Pennsylvania, there are a ton of old barns and churches and cornfields and all sorts of things like that. This past weekend, however, on a trip into the woods with my son, we detoured, and by memory I found a few of the covered bridges of Perry County.
According to perrypa.net there are fifteen covered bridges in Perry County, Pennsylvania (one county west of Dauphin County, where I live). I didn't look this up before our trip, and just blindly stumbled across a couple, and remembered where a couple more were, and visited a total of five bridges, which will be featured here. I really encourage anyone who likes my shots to visit the Perrypa.net and ohiobarns sites for more information. All of the information referenced here, except that of my own personal observations, were extracted from these two sites.
The first bridge we visited was Wagoner's Mill Bridge (also has been called Thompson Bridge). It was at the same time my own favorite of those we visited, and the one that made me the saddest, and I hope there are plans to revive the bridge before it collapses someday.
It is closed off - inaccessible to the public. You can pull off the main road, and look at the structure, but it's got a gate across it to keep out the curious.
One end leans precariously.... Not terribly but at the same time enough to definitely get your attention. From the side, some boards are beginning to come loose. This is one that it would be really nice to see someone apply for a grant to restore it to it's former glory. For now though, I did get a few pictures of it, and I think I like this one the best, overall - even if you cannot see the entire structure in it. A wintertime shot may be seen in the ohiobarns link below.
This bridge is located in Tyrone Twp., (east of Fort Robinson) about 1-1/2 miles west of Loysville. It is located on an abandoned section of Route 274. The bridge crosses Bixler's Run. It was built in 1889 by Joseph D. Lightner. It is 84 feet long and 17 feet wide. This Burr-arch bridge is located near the remains of Wagoner's Mill.
(Note: Another site listed the length as 93') For more information see http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-15.html
and http://www.perrypa.net/wagoner.htm
After leaving Wagoner's Bridge, we drove west along Rt 274, and soon I saw a road that just "felt" right. I've been to see these bridges before, but it's been a few years, and I figured that this was the right area. So I turned off and headed for the next one, which turned out to be Adair's Bridge.
This bridge is located in Madison Twp., just south of Cisna Run on Couchtown Road (SR 3008), east of Andersonburg. It was originally built in 1864. The bridge crosses Sherman's Creek. The bridge is sometimes called the Cisna Mill Bridge. This is a 176-foot-long bridge. Adair's bridge was damaged by flood & rebuilt in 1919. It's a Burr Arch Truss and the builder is unknown.
This following image shows one of the most fascinating things about the covered bridges, and how they were made decades ago and still hold up to day-to-day traffic (within limits). The joint is a classic Mortise and Tenon held together with wooden pin(s).
For more information about Adair's Bridge, visit http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-04.html and http://www.perrypa.net/adair.htm
The next bridge we visited was... well... it was the most "perfect" bridge. That is to say, the newest. It had fresh concrete pilings, and new wood and paint, and steel rods reinforcing it.
There was nothing wrong with Book's Bridge, but I was at one time impressed with the fact that they spent so much time building a bridge with such style in this day and age, and disappointed that it didn't feel old.
The original bridge was closed to traffic in 1992. It was 70 feet long and was built in 1884. It is located on State Route 3003, about a half mile south of Route 274 and about one mile southwest of Blain, where it spans Sherman's Creek.
In 2004, it was basically torn down and rebuilt, in the old style but with new materials. More info including some very interesting shots of the bridge during reconstruction may be found at the following links http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-13.html http://www.perrypa.net/book.htm Note that the ohiobarns page only has information concerning the original - not rebuilt, Book's Bridge.
The Mount Pleasant Bridge was built in 1918 and is located on Mt Pleasant Road in Jackson Twp., just south of State Route 274, where is spans Sherman's Creek. It is a 60 foot long Burr Arch Variant Truss, built by L.M. Wentzel. You will notice, unlike the first few bridges, the Mount Pleasant Bridge (and the New Germantown, below, have angular trusses, instead of the rounded arch that was typically used in Burr Arch construction - thus the term "variant").
For more information visit http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-12.html and http://www.perrypa.net/pleasant.htm
The last bridge we visited was the New Germantown Bridge, named after the nearby village of New Germantown, PA (and it was named, according to a road sign as you enter the village, after Germantown, PA, near Philadelphia). This bridge was very similar in looks and construction to the Mount Pleasant Bridge.
The New Germantown Bridge is a 75-foot bridge that was built in 1891. It is located on Township Route 302, just southeast of New Germantown, in Toboyne Township, and spans Sherman's Creek. It is the westernmost of the covered bridges in Perry County. This bridge is in very nice shape. It has a new roof and some huge I-beams holding it up from below. It is a Burr Arch Variant Truss, built by John W. Fry.
For more information and some very interesting photos, refer to http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-11.html and http://www.perrypa.net/germantown.htm
Here are two more shots that you may find interesting (If you have problems viewing this, please leave a comment so that I will know...)
Wagoner's Bridge in Winter by =arkansawyer on deviantART
Kochenderfer Bridge by =arkansawyer on deviantART
In Pennsylvania, there are a ton of old barns and churches and cornfields and all sorts of things like that. This past weekend, however, on a trip into the woods with my son, we detoured, and by memory I found a few of the covered bridges of Perry County.
According to perrypa.net there are fifteen covered bridges in Perry County, Pennsylvania (one county west of Dauphin County, where I live). I didn't look this up before our trip, and just blindly stumbled across a couple, and remembered where a couple more were, and visited a total of five bridges, which will be featured here. I really encourage anyone who likes my shots to visit the Perrypa.net and ohiobarns sites for more information. All of the information referenced here, except that of my own personal observations, were extracted from these two sites.
Wagoner's Mill Bridge
The first bridge we visited was Wagoner's Mill Bridge (also has been called Thompson Bridge). It was at the same time my own favorite of those we visited, and the one that made me the saddest, and I hope there are plans to revive the bridge before it collapses someday.
It is closed off - inaccessible to the public. You can pull off the main road, and look at the structure, but it's got a gate across it to keep out the curious.
One end leans precariously.... Not terribly but at the same time enough to definitely get your attention. From the side, some boards are beginning to come loose. This is one that it would be really nice to see someone apply for a grant to restore it to it's former glory. For now though, I did get a few pictures of it, and I think I like this one the best, overall - even if you cannot see the entire structure in it. A wintertime shot may be seen in the ohiobarns link below.
This bridge is located in Tyrone Twp., (east of Fort Robinson) about 1-1/2 miles west of Loysville. It is located on an abandoned section of Route 274. The bridge crosses Bixler's Run. It was built in 1889 by Joseph D. Lightner. It is 84 feet long and 17 feet wide. This Burr-arch bridge is located near the remains of Wagoner's Mill.
(Note: Another site listed the length as 93') For more information see http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-15.html
and http://www.perrypa.net/wagoner.htm
Adair's Bridge
After leaving Wagoner's Bridge, we drove west along Rt 274, and soon I saw a road that just "felt" right. I've been to see these bridges before, but it's been a few years, and I figured that this was the right area. So I turned off and headed for the next one, which turned out to be Adair's Bridge.
This bridge is located in Madison Twp., just south of Cisna Run on Couchtown Road (SR 3008), east of Andersonburg. It was originally built in 1864. The bridge crosses Sherman's Creek. The bridge is sometimes called the Cisna Mill Bridge. This is a 176-foot-long bridge. Adair's bridge was damaged by flood & rebuilt in 1919. It's a Burr Arch Truss and the builder is unknown.
This following image shows one of the most fascinating things about the covered bridges, and how they were made decades ago and still hold up to day-to-day traffic (within limits). The joint is a classic Mortise and Tenon held together with wooden pin(s).
For more information about Adair's Bridge, visit http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-04.html and http://www.perrypa.net/adair.htm
Book's Bridge
The next bridge we visited was... well... it was the most "perfect" bridge. That is to say, the newest. It had fresh concrete pilings, and new wood and paint, and steel rods reinforcing it.
There was nothing wrong with Book's Bridge, but I was at one time impressed with the fact that they spent so much time building a bridge with such style in this day and age, and disappointed that it didn't feel old.
The original bridge was closed to traffic in 1992. It was 70 feet long and was built in 1884. It is located on State Route 3003, about a half mile south of Route 274 and about one mile southwest of Blain, where it spans Sherman's Creek.
In 2004, it was basically torn down and rebuilt, in the old style but with new materials. More info including some very interesting shots of the bridge during reconstruction may be found at the following links http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-13.html http://www.perrypa.net/book.htm Note that the ohiobarns page only has information concerning the original - not rebuilt, Book's Bridge.
Mount Pleasant Bridge
The Mount Pleasant Bridge was built in 1918 and is located on Mt Pleasant Road in Jackson Twp., just south of State Route 274, where is spans Sherman's Creek. It is a 60 foot long Burr Arch Variant Truss, built by L.M. Wentzel. You will notice, unlike the first few bridges, the Mount Pleasant Bridge (and the New Germantown, below, have angular trusses, instead of the rounded arch that was typically used in Burr Arch construction - thus the term "variant").
For more information visit http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-12.html and http://www.perrypa.net/pleasant.htm
New Germantown Bridge
The last bridge we visited was the New Germantown Bridge, named after the nearby village of New Germantown, PA (and it was named, according to a road sign as you enter the village, after Germantown, PA, near Philadelphia). This bridge was very similar in looks and construction to the Mount Pleasant Bridge.
The New Germantown Bridge is a 75-foot bridge that was built in 1891. It is located on Township Route 302, just southeast of New Germantown, in Toboyne Township, and spans Sherman's Creek. It is the westernmost of the covered bridges in Perry County. This bridge is in very nice shape. It has a new roof and some huge I-beams holding it up from below. It is a Burr Arch Variant Truss, built by John W. Fry.
For more information and some very interesting photos, refer to http://www.ohiobarns.com/covbri/pa/perr/38-50-11.html and http://www.perrypa.net/germantown.htm
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