Parchment Paths

  I love when a place goes all out for Christmas, fake snow, tiny villages, gifts, trees, lights, the works.   Places that play Christmas music get extra points.   I feel this way every year, but even more so this holiday season. This year has been the absolute worst so, I think that we all deserve a good holiday this year  , no matter how different things may be. No matter how changed Christmas 2020 is, Christmas itself is still the same. Visitng friends and family may take place online, but we can still connect.  Church services may be smaller or online, but we still have Christ’s birth to celebrate.   I pondered this things as I explored a local farm and dairy store, Hillside Farms. The store and even the barns are always decked out for the holidays. Exploring the grounds and the mercantile always cheers me up no matter what is going on. Christmas will not be the same this year, but eating a peppermint bark sundae and looking at a parade of trees reminded that Christmas will always

  I know worrying does no good, but not worrying is a struggle. I know I will never stop worrying though; it’s a part of life. Maybe, instead of trying not to worry, I should try to worry less, remember more blessings, do more of what makes me happy, or do nothing and rest. Rest is so underrated in a society that glorifies constant activity.   If you can’t check of a lengthy list than what have you accomplished? Sometimes, rest overrules any to-do list, sometimes it overrules everything. Sleep in, lay in bed listening to birdsong, savor coffee while still in pajamas, just rest. Rest with a good story, whether on the page or the screen,  , rest with a bubble bath or a hot shower, whatever refreshes your body and spirit.

            Wilkes-Barre. We all know it for one reason or another. Maybe for the two colleges squeezed unto the same street, maybe for The Fine Arts Fiesta or possibly The Kirby Theater. Or maybe you know it because the best library book sale in perhaps the state also takes place in Wilkes Barre.             Like most communities in North Eastern Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre has its own local ghost stories. As in most ghost stories, the dark past does not stay buried forever.             Francis hadn’t heard the stories though she grew up just a few towns over from The Diamond City. As an adult, she found herself working at The Shady Oaks Nursing Home by the Susquehanna River.  At first glance, it seemed to be a standard nursing home, a cute name and elderly patients crowding the T.V. room no matter was happened to be on.             Aside from the lack of oak trees on the grounds, she found her orientation to be a bit odd. “You can wear any color scrubs you want,” the head nurs

                       The light is dim; the air is musty, and yet there is something else lingering in this house. House, it can hardly be called a home any more, if it ever was.  How could it have been with its macabre paintings and its ghastly past?              The trouble is, that ghastly past is so vague and yet it hovers over the house like the dust that lays on every surface.  You need only to creep in through the broken windows, edge your way over the broken floors and come to the main staircase with its askew red carpet to see what I mean. Look at those skeletal paintings atop the stairs. Were they placed there for a Halloween party? Stories say no, they were part of the home’s normal décor.  What does that tell you? Maybe nothing, maybe everything.  Stop by some time and find out, better yet, stop by some Halloween night.             Why Halloween night, you ask? Because, that is when the house is the most active.  Brave Trick or Treaters and tricksters alike have told t

        Opening weekend of the Pennsylvania RenaissanceFaire looked different this year, the masks, less crowds, no wondering performers, actors, or vendors. Some performers, vendors, and shows were missing from past seasons.   Notably missing were the Lady Mayor, the Grave digger, The Bee Folks, and Human Chess.       While, I couldn’t help but notice the changes, I kept thinking, “I’m actually here, it’s actually open.”  Most faires made the painful but understandable decision to close this season. I can only imagine how difficult that was for all involved.       That being said, those of us who call the PRF home are so blessed that we can walk through the gates at all, We can see shows, shop, and enjoy good food and drink.       Yes, the shire is quieter, some vendors and performers could not join us, yet, the shire is open. For an entire day, I was home again. I bought incense and soap from my favorite shop, TheEnchanted Forrest. I had coffee with my friends, saw some favorite ret

  This Tuesday I finally made it back to my local farmer’s market. It’s been around a year since I was there last and I’ve missed it. There’s just something special about coming home and making a sandwich with bread from a local bakery and a tomato from a local farmer and then washing it down with cider from a local orchard.   I know that the people who sold me the honey crisp apples either grew or picked them, maybe both. The couple who sold me the bread and cookies baked them.   The market doesn’t just provide me with healthier food and allows me to support local business, it keeps my community connected. This year has been difficult for everyone, which makes community connections even more important than usual. I try to support local businesses whenever I can. We will get through this, it will just take some time.    

I returned a library book today,  a book I finished months ago. It's been sitting on my shelf  Waiting to go home.   Finally, today it did.  This simple event made me wonder what else could go back to  normal? 

As a Disney fan, I was moved to tears to read that Walt Disney’s lamp was still being lit in Disneyland.  During Walt’s life, he had an apartment on Main Street in Disneyland in California. Whenever he was there, he’d turn on a lamp in a street facing window to let people know he was there. After his death, cast members continued to light the lamp as a reminder that his spirit would always be in Disneyland.   Some even claim that his spirit literary  resides in the lamp. The park is closed now due to the Corona Virus, but maintenance and security continue to maintain the grounds. They also keep Walt’s light lit.   The light reminds visitors and furloughed workers that someday they will be welcomed back. It reminds the remaining staff that they while conditions seem bleak now, the light will always be there. Their co-workers will come back, visitors will come back, and happiness will come back. Things seem dark right now all around us, jobs have been lost, lives have been l

We are not superheros. We do not wear capes, or even scrubs. We run registers and stock shelves. We keep you fed, clothed, entertained, and well.  Please, respect that. We only want to work and pay the bills. We do not want to die because you want to shop. Your "get out of the house" shopping trip is our hazardous situation.  

I finally got around to seeing Frozen 2, and I loved it, which isn’t a surprise. It takes a lot for me to dislike a movie, much less hate it.   I’m a much harsher book critic for some reason.                 While I love the first movie, I think I loved the sequel even more. It has some of the best world building I’ve ever seen in a Disney movie. In fact the character development, plot development, and world building were amazing for any movie.                The thought that struck me throughout the movie was that it felt like a fantasy story. Yes, Disney movies always have a fantasy element, talking animals, fairy godmothers, witches, magic, and so on. Animated Disney movies have become their own genre so much that sometimes I think of them as Disney and not fantasy.   I love them but when I’m thinking of my favorite fantasy movies, I don’t always think to include them.               However, Frozen 2 felt like Disney and fantasy