I realized the other day that I might not be able to vote in PA under the new super-strict voter ID law.

I'm registered in PA - obviously, those are the politics I care about, and I have enough residency to make it legitimate. I have a post office box, a bank account, a PA attorney license... you'd think that would be enough, right? Especially in a town where I know the poll workers and used to work at the polls?

Well, PA's new strictest-in-the-nation voter ID laws say that I need PA photo ID. Seriously. College ID? Nope - out of state is not acceptable. Drivers license? I've still got my NYS license. Other photo ID? NYS attorney secure ID - I can get into any courthouse in NYS but can't vote in PA. I don't have a passport because I don't like to travel and my NYS enhanced license ID lets me visit Toronto and go swimming at the quarry as much as I like. PA doesn't participate in the "REAL ID Act" I can't even get the stupid free voting ID because I don't have a lease, not that I have time to get to the DMV - our county's DMV is open 2x per week, for a total of about 12 hrs. Fuck you, Corbett! And you too, Matt Baker!

Voter ID laws are all about suppressing votes and not at all about fraud prevention:

PA House Majority Leader: "Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it's done. First pro-life legislation -- abortion facility regulations -- in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done."

Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS SuperPAC has already pulled out of PA because it's going for Obama. Ha.

(I'll be voting by absentee ballot.)

One is a scotch bonnet (right), the other is a cute sweet pepper.

I forgot I took pix until I saw (e:paul)'s!

Silo City art event was cool but the actual silos were amazing. Some of the art incorporated the silo echos - really incredible. I kept getting disoriented by the sound, it was all encompassing. (e:) terry got several compliments on his singing both with and without (e:enknot). I get to hear him noodle everyday - glad other folks got to share! And then we found a couple silos with broken off funnel-like bottoms and stuck our heads inside, (e:terry), alex and (e:enknot) sang. It was incredible and intense - I've never experienced anything like it. Someone took a recording-how did it turn out? They should clean some of them and charge for use. I'm pretty sure we'll all going to die of some disgusting bacterial infection from inhaling guano or cancer from the rust.

I want to know how the facilities actually functioned. There were intact ovens, big and little scoop pulleys, leftover bits of a conveyor system....all intriguing.

The past 48 hrs have been illustrative of my crazy life:

Yesterday, Tioga County Bar Association lunch at a country club - iceberg lettuce in the only salad available, then a trip up to Morris Run (pronounced Mor'shrun, where I lived till I was 13) to get A's gifted car from the mechanic, someone I went to school with. A significant number of twenties changed hands and A now has a functional, registered and inspected vehicle that gets more than 11 mpg. To the office where Nisha and I watched the chickens and I fixed up Jill's new laptop. Back to the country club for dinner with the lawyers - feeling rather sophisticated in comparison, except for the commercial litigator from Pittsburgh who at one point had a DAILY commute between Pittsburgh and LA. More freakin' iceberg lettuce, this time with an icky raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Then pasta primavera with icky soggy veggies. I should prolly be grateful they weren't from a can? Back to A's house - he made me actual food. Today, I drove back to Buffalo after 9 days in PA, longest I've been there in four years. Kaydara for dinner - super yummy! - and then a bike ride to Silo City.

I have a bipolar life.

Nisha is curled up next to me in a circle with about a 10"diameter.

Birdland Road


A weekend of forest wandering, moon watching, sleeping, and reading dragon stories, I'm starting to unwind and reflect.

I have been kicking myself since Friday night that I didn't bring my camera. I still took a ton of shots with my phone anyway. I skimmed it down to this set - some are pretty awful shots but I wanted to illustrate the story.

Friday night, A and I went to Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, PA. Map. What a gorgeous night. It was a blue moon and right after the death of Neil Armstrong, so they played a discovery channel video of the Apollo 11 mission. I can't find a link to it. All those white men smoking cigarettes in the control room. The incredible bravery to have your life depending on the equivalent computing power of the phone in your pocket. Actually my phone might be able to calculate trajectories on the fly and their computer couldn't. Neil Armstrong had 17 seconds of fuel left when he landed the Eagle. The astronauts had instruction manuals that they read while performing tasks.

The park educator had three telescopes set up, he guided at one, and volunteers worked the others. There were only about 25 people there, so we got to ask him good questions and learn neat stuff and look at the moon as much as we wanted. I definitely want to go back on a weeknight new moon with my camera. I want to take shots like these.

Saturday afternoon we traveled down the Pine Creek Gorge, one of my favorite routes. As cranky as I was from being in the truck so long and not having eaten, it actually made the whole trip worth it to see that moonrise from the top of a mountain.


Sunday we went to Loyalsock State Forest. Of course gas drilling threatens or has harmed all these places. This Saturday there's a protest at Rock Run by the Responsible Drilling Alliance's Keep It Wild campaign. The river cuts through the bedrock and has made fantastic sculptures. There are few small stones or pebbles. (I have a lovely chapter from the Tao Te Ching in mind but my Ursula K. LeGuin version is in Buffalo.)






I love this keyhole.



Looking upstream

Looking downstream from same spot.


We then traveled the road up to the McIntyre Wild Area and on the direction of a pair of old men who gave us some history of the town that had been there, we walked to the Bandstand Rock, where you can see for miles across and down the valley. The old men told us that a brass band would play up there for holidays and could be heard down in the valley. We just missed seeing the sunset - clouds rolled in during the 10 minute walk. As we were driving back down the mountain, we saw the men pulled over so we thanked them for the directions and they told us more history about the cemetery and one of the other creeks. And then they handed us Christian literature. :-p

Cloudy sunset with windmills - across the valley


Valley views - looking southish down PA Route 14



I got on my stomach and wiggled out to the edge of the cliff to take a shot directly down. It's far and kept making my tummy flip. I couldn't get anything for perspective unfortunately.



Big foot little foot


I spent Monday reading dragon stories and cuddling with Nisha.


My camera is moving to Tioga County.

A client had eight garbage bags full of cotton candy in his office today. A friend had told him she had about five bags leftover from an event she had planned... He thought she meant five single serving bags. Oops.

This was on my truck today.

Strong Museum of Play in Rochester was lots of fun. I'd definitely go back and check out the butterfly conservatory and read more.

Wendy's elderly deaf kitty Honey watched Nisha and me hang laundry.





One of my community orgs replaced the trees in the planters this summer. Aren't they pretty?