Parchment Paths

My first trip to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire this season was a different experience for me. It rained; it rained a lot.   I’ve been there before in the rain light drizzles and even down pours. But this time the weather was tricky.   After the first down pour the sky lightened, tricking us into thinking the rain was over. I think we had a good fifteen minutes before the sky let loose again.    From the doorway of the bakery, we saw a show still carrying on, the actors soaked and the audience huddled under umbrellas.  Becosue that's what happnes in the shire, people come together not just to enjoy themsvles but to support eachother. And then the sun shone out from the newly blue sky, and while the humidity returned it was still a lovely day.   We still got to see some shows, and wonder the shops. As I like to say even a bad day at the renaissance faire is still better than a good day at work.   Once you enter the gates, the w...

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the waiting room of my garage waiting for a tire to be replaced and rereading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.  I was at the part in the book where Elinor and Marianne are just beginning to learn what a terrible jerk Willoughby is when it occurred to me that the bare bones plot is very similar to a new favorite story of mine, Frozen. Yes, there is magic, royalty, and a talking snowman in Frozen, elements not found in Austen’s novel. but the character traits of the main cast are quite similar. First you have the older sisters, Elinor and Elsa, both are cool, calm, and collected. (In Elsa’s case the cool part is literal). They both take great care to control and hide their feelings in order to act as rational as can be, though Elinor doesn’t have to worry about inflicting frostbite on her loved ones when she loses control.                          Second, you have the younge...

Today was a wonderful day in spite of or perhaps because of some unexpected twists.   Aside from sleeping in later than I intended to, the day began as planned. I mailed a story off to be entered in a contest, then headed to the Pittston Farmer’s Market.   I walked away with delicious blueberries, lovely honey, a delicate scone, and a gorgeous tomato.               My shopping bag a bit heavier, I visited the Purple Squirrel for iced coffee before heading home.   Once parked outside my house, I heard a strange hissing sound issuing from the front driver’s side tire.             Upon further investigation, I noticed a small, metal shard protruding from the tire. Clearly, I ran over the shard and it punctured the tire.   AAA was able to send a truck within five minutes of my call to replace the holey tire with my spare tire.    ...

  You can learn a lot from your local historical society. Maybe a Native American Tribe once populated the area, maybe there used to be an ice cream factory, maybe the town boasted a high number of World War Two service men and women.      I discovered these and some other facts when I explored the Plymouth Historical Society. It was literally packed with display cases, mannequins in period or reproduction costumes, and artifacts such as Native American arrow heads and toys from an era gone by.                  The only problem was that the old church building that housed the collections was not air conditioned.   I cannot wait to go back and spend even more time reading the plaques and even the books they have. The staff is very nice and welcoming, so if you are in the area, please go visit them and learn about Plymouths past...