We're still in the backlog of photos from August... it was a very nice month for taking pix. (fourth post of the day)

This time we're at Fallbrook, PA, (map: ) formerly a thriving town of 1,400 people with an opera house and a railroad that connected to Corning, NY. (wikipedia: ) It's now a ghost town. The cemetery is amazing but I haven't shot it yet.

Eventually the spot I photographed became a state park with a big picnic area including a pump well, a pavilion, and guardrails along the cliff above the creek. The park has been abandoned. I'm guessing it was abandoned because of the severe acid mine drainage from all the mining (see Uncle Dudley's coal mining museum (e:heidi,49799)). Although the Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee has been working on AMD remediation for about 20 years now, there's still a lot work to be done for the stream to support aquatic life and be rid of its sulfuric smell. I'd love for this to be a usable park again with fishing, swimming, camping and hiking. Fall Brook is part of the headwaters of the Tioga River which runs north into New York state and then turns back down into PA becoming the Susquehanna, eventually feeding into the Chesapeake Bay.

The entrance bridge. I'm guessing it was built by Civilian Conservation Corps members but I don't know that for sure.


That bridge is so beautiful!


A and Nisha on the trail


Nisha checking out a mushroom


Mushroom on the trail


Settling in for the nice view.


We sat up there for a while... and then I dropped the hood to my telephoto lens 20' down the cliff on the bank of the creek. A thought he was going to scale down the cliff and I said absolutely not! There's a trail down. Nisha was the first to give up hiking from the base of the trail to where the hood landed. she was pretty upset that she couldn't figure out how to follow any farther. Then A had to stop - he boosted me over a pretty big rock & tree combo so I could finish the trek. I know I'm making it sound very arduous, and it was, but it's all within a very small area, just a couple acres.

A little way down the cliff trail looking up


part of the cliff


River, waterfall... The orange tint is real - it's from the acid mine drainage. TCCCC does educational events with schoolkids where they can tie-dye white t-shirts in a concentrated version of the orange water. It's pretty gross.














Back at the top we checked out the cement pad where the picnic pavilion was.

Blackberries. Yum!


Pump for the well


Spider & web

(third post of the day)

Well, it's not really Uncle Dudley's museum, it's her boyfriend Bernie's coal mining museum.

Silver tea set for (e:Matthew)



Miners' lunch boxes


Old telephone, radio, lamps and bottles


Helmet with headlamp, lantern, sitting on a dynamite box


Five different trivets poured by Ward Manufacturing to celebrate Blossburg Coal Festival and the 75th anniversary of Ward Manufacturing a square nail (there's a word for this - penny nail? it's more of a spike but not big enough to be a railroad spike), a coin bank from Miners National Bank in Blossburg, beer chips from the Duncan Tavern in Antrim, PA (still exists!) and from the Bloss Hotel, which my great aunt & uncle Jack & Vera Reid owned, glasses, and an employment card from the mines. There's an old brass plumb bob in the background.


Bird cage for canaries the miners would take into the deep mine shafts. When the canary died, they had to get out of there quick - there wasn't enough oxygen.


Better shot of the bank with some kind of oil can.


Whiskey, moonshine, and other jugs


Business card from Jones & Brague Mining Co., the last of the coal mining operations in Hamilton Township. My grandfather worked for them washing coal trucks. He also worked for Ward Manufacturing.


Telephone directory for Morris Run Coal Co. Bernie couldn't tell me an approximate year, but it was really early - no numbers, just dashes like Morse code. (Sorry for the glare with my reflection - I tried a couple different shots - I would have had to move it to get a decent one.)


I'm trying to get a good picture that conveys the luxurious summer lazy feeling of Uncle Dudley's back porch. It's latticework covered in old olive tree branches.

The queer women's meetup group took a hike at Zoar Valley in August with Albert Brown, an excellent tour guide who has been involved in the successful conservation and preservation efforts.

The foot of the "Pyramid"



Trail



Scrambling down the pyramid



I'm fascinated by the shale formations

Like (e:carey), i have a photo backlog, but only since end of July, not last year!

I went to several Infringement Festival events... really enjoyed them. Such a crazy mix.

Albright-Knox - poetry slam in the courtyard. Photos of people reading poetry are not very exciting so I didn't post any.


This little girl posed for me as I took about 10 shots of her. She loved it.



Bellydancing in the theater





Firedancing in Days Park - awesome to watch, hard to photograph.

I had lovely adventures in Tioga & Potter counties (PA) this weekend. Here are some cell phone shots - some very nice real camera photos to be posted soon.

On my way to Blossburg Thursday evening, both the sunset and moonrise were amazing.


Hung out with Andy and Brenda (best bartender ever) at the Bear Ass Thursday night.


At the office Friday, Kelly & I checked out the chickens they've been raising. (see hatchings & babies (e:heidi,48491) and (e:heidi,48889)) The chickens are living in deluxe chicken coops and roam around the back yard of the office with roosters as guards. Some have just started laying eggs.



Kelly's special chick Silky








A shot of Nisha chasing a chicken from about a month ago



Uncle Dudley & Nisha


A had a gig in Germania, Potter County, PA last night at the Germania Hotel, built in 1859 by some guy from Buffalo. It's been in use as a hotel/bar/restaurant ever since. A ballroom was built on in about 1900. We spent the night in the hotel and then went to Germania Old Home Day, the fire company's big fundraiser. Marci, the bar owner, told us it's a big day of drinking and gambling - bingo, pull-tab tickets, and raffles ranging from $1 to $20. The event sign said they had discontinued the $100 raffle for the 2009 event. (Map of Germania )

Germania Store. Rooms for rent. I've got some great real-camera pix.




Tractor pull at the Germania Old Home Day


The event poster - $5 raffle tickets are for a 46" Sony LCD tv that will first be used to show the NASCAR race live at 4:30 pm.
6:00 pm is "Pig chases for women and children" Unfortunately we had to leave before that and my real camera battery had died anyway.


A enjoyed his hot sausage. The fresh-dug, fresh-cut french fries were really good.

Great addition to my wall: The Income Tax Map: A bird's-eye view of federal income taxation for law students.




Lisa, her gf and I went to Anchor Bar and I found (e:MrMike)'s license plate. I really like the Hippeau plate too - is it Eau de Hippie?

(e:terry), (e:paul) & (e:jim) @ Silent Exchange via Buffalo Rising

A Tioga County friend of mine is a reporter for the weekly newspaper and asked facebook friends for health care stories. Amid other responses, BD wrote:

American healthcare isn't perfect. No country's is, but it is by far the very best in the world. Anybody ever stop to wonder why leaders and diplomats of the world come here to be treated and not in their own "Utopian" society? Why are we even considering allowing the Federal Government to take control over something the private sector does exceptionally well? Look at medicare, medicade, social security and the VA, as an example. Nearly bankrupt. Does anybody think that when everybody is on the government option that the quality will remain the same as the demand spikes and supply drops? The government needs to reform elements like malpractice lawsuits, immigration laws, etc that drive costs up for everybody else. We have a great health care system. Not perfect. The government has yet to prove that when it assumes responsibilites previously held by the private sector it improves it. Everybody please raise their hand who would like the gov't to have greater control over you.

Someone else responded

Jason, I'd be happy to tell you all about how I can't get any decent, affordable coverage because I had the audacity to survive Cancer.

Another responded about the $800 copay she paid for a wheelchair for her very very sick daughter.

I responded:

[BD] - how exactly do you define "best"? Most expensive? Yes. Most $ lost on corporate profits? Yes. Healthiest citizens? Nope. Most measurements indicate that the US has the worst or bottom of the barrel health outcomes of any developed nation and worse than some not-so-developed nations. For example, the US has maternal death rates of 11 per 100,000 live births in 2005, but Kuwait has 4, Croatia has 4... pages 30-34. Do you know anyone on Medicare who wants to give it up? Its administrative costs are minuscule compared to private insurance. The US spends nearly 16% of GDP on heallth care with poor outcomes while the other developed countries, who are only spending 7-10%, are getting coverage for everyone with good outcomes.
See also this Johns Hopkins report on causes of out-of-control US health care spending:

Jason - I'd be happy to give you an earful! :-)

Another responded:

Health is overrated! Why doesn't anyone stand up for being sick? We live in a country that respects your right to be ill!.

BD replied back to me:

Heidi, our people may not be the healthiest people in the world and insurance companies can be a pain to deal with for our country's system is not perfect, no country's is, but the QUALITY of care provided is second to none. Our system needs some reform but the more the government controls the more liberty we lose. I want private sector solutions that the government can't provide. We should consider the health savings accounts that incentives good health and responsible behavior not more government options that disincentivize poor behavior.

Tioga County, Child Care Worker, future high schoo history teacher.

and

also.....equal access will not mean equal quality or equal supply. it's be great if it did, but it can't and it won't. quality is more important that quantitiy.

The cancer survivor wrote:

I have to say that any option, government or not, has to control costs, and stop eliminating pre-existing conditions...I don't think the private sector will ever voluntarily eliminate pre-existing conditions.

me again:

[BD], again, I'd like you to define "quality." Outcomes are a great measure of quality. We are not getting the quality of care that we deserve, or that we pay for. Are the people providing health care top notch? Absolutely - they're the best trained in the world, however, in a fee-for-service system where defensive medicine is a requirement, their education and skills are not used to the fullest advantage. Our system is not focused on prevention or good long-term management of illnesses. See
and

If we really want to "disincentivize poor behavior" then we need to change the ag policies that favor Coke over broccoli - it's only personal choice to the extent that our food market is sick. (See the documentary Food, Inc.)

And BD replied:

Heidi, I will concede. Our system sucks and we should outlaw coke, pepsi, oreos, and cigarettes. We should destroy our system and model it after Cuba and tax insurance companies out of existance. Then all of us could be equal. Equally miserable. Last message.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate the depth of the conversations we have here.

On Main Street, Mansfield, PA, 8/14/09

thanks to all the (e:peeps) who came out to meet lisa... we had an awesome time!