ephrata

 Today Angel and I drove to Ephrata to do the Volkssport walk and also go to the Cloisters. I’ve always wanted to go there. 

We didn’t have much traffic for the drive. It was really quite pleasant. We arrived at the Hampton Inn and retrieved the walk-box. We signed in, stamped, hit the restrooms, and we were on our way.  The trail was rated 1B. That means it’s almost flat, and not always on sidewalks. It opens it up for trails. 

We walked 95% thru residential neighborhoods, and saw the most unique twin houses ever. They we conjoined split levels and ranches. We just asking ourselves why? And they were freaking close together.

And there was a lot of hills. Big hills. At minimum this was a 2. I should have looked at the wheelchair rating. That was “difficult”. (Damn near impossible I’d say.) I’ll know next time. 

We were 3/4 done and it said we should walk down Pine, past the cemetery, etc and cross X, Y, Z. We did. But the street we were looking for was nowhere in sight. We are waiting at the light to cross the street, I looked left and at the top of the hill is the hotel. We abandoned the course and headed back. We probably shaved close to a half mile off.

Sister’s House and Meeting House (Saal). Buildings are green because of the wood preservative used during restoration.

Then we drove to the Cloisters. I had no idea what it was about. I knew it was a religious community. I had this image of a utopian society much like the Moravian, Amish, and Shakers were trying to build. We ate in the picnic area, and then went into the gift shop. If you need hand crafted gifts — especially wood  or books on Pennsylvania German life, and life in Pennsylvania during colonial times— then this is the place to go . We headed to the Visitor’s Center. We had a half hour till the next guided tour which would allow us to go inside the buildings. So we walked around the museum.

If it wasn’t clear in the museum, it became clear in the movie. These people were creating a utopia. They were a 18th Century cult. I’m pretty sure of it. It was begun in 1732 by J. Conrad Beissel. Now he had a hard time in life starting with being an orphan and he found his people with the pietistic Schwarzenau Brethren after moving to Philly from Germany.  Eventually he broke ties with them because, well, they weren’t holy enough.  He didn’t like people much, just God, and retreated to the woods to be a hermit. Instead he ended up founding a religious movement. The members were celibate—that must have been a hard sell—ate a sparse, mostly vegetarian diet, and wore white robes to hide their bodies. They were mostly equal and everyone looked alike. They prayed, meditated, and slept. But only for 6 hours a night. going to bed at 9, waking at midnight to watch for the 2nd coming, going to bed again at 2, and sleeping till 5. See what I mean. A cult.

Meeting house (Saal). Men on the first floor, women in the balcony. Always separate.

Anyway, the building were marvelous. It makes one wonder how there were some building remaining. Some were rebuilt using old techniques. Our guide was chatty Cathy, and there was one family in our tour that asked so many questions. We were told that the tour+movie were about 1.25 hours. If there was a lot of questions the max would be 1.5 hours. Ours was almost 2 hours and we didn’t go to Conrad Beissels house. Just the sister’s house, the meeting hall, and the kitchen. We couldn’t wander the grounds because Mr. Long Winded used up our time. One thing that pissed off Angel was that the guide kept injecting his “theories” about what was going on. He was a volunteer. Not a historian. Stick to the facts.When we departed he was still talking to Mr. Too Many Questions. Now I don’t mind questions. It’s how you learn. But everything they were asking was covered in the museum and the movie. I could answer the questions. He reminded me of some of my students.

I’m glad we went. Angel was hurting after walking so I think she did not really enjoy it as much as she could have between the pain and Chatty Cathy.. But it was fun not being chained to a computer all day.

I only took pics of iron markings in the sidewalk for class. Angel took all the photos.

Miles/Steps:  2.8 miles
Weather:        mid-eighties, sunny
Extra:             I thought I lost my phone. I went back to the picnic are, and looked in the back seat with the cooler. It wasn’t there. Afterwards we found it in the cup holder. Right where I left it. So no photos from me.

nothing is going as planned

Wow, if I only looked this good. It went from spring to late summer overnight here in Pennsylvania. I think we are on day five of the heat wave. When Pat died I swore I wasn't going to swelter in the heat anymore. I was going to replace the "beast" with a modern, energy efficient air conditioner. That couldn't be further from reality. 

I went to Lowe's Monday with the information about the "Beast" in hand. I told the sales person that this is what I wanted: 13000 BTUs and115 volts. They read it, tapped some keys on the computer and came up with a model. I also knew the dimensions of the hole in my wall. I gave them that. We checked that everything fit. I ordered it and a new sleeve just in case the old one was rusty. I had it set for delivery and lined up someone to put it in. It didn't say on the receipt when it would come.  

I got home and the email had arrived. JULY 2. WTF? I arrange the installer for the 3rd.

Tuesday arrives, I take Sharon to PT and come home to work until my dentist appointment. That crown is costing me $1500. Cha-ching. Suddenly the ceiling fan goes clunk, clunk, clunk. I call my nieces husband, the semi-retired handy person and ask if he could check my fan. He came while I was at the dentist. The fan blade bracket broke. I needed a new one. Noooooooo. 

Now they were 30+ years old. How dare they wear out? In the meantime the AC arrived. What? I had to reschedule the installer. Then I look online and find a fan. It was tough. Six blades are hard to get...especially late in June. They need to get those Christmas trees out after the Fourth. I struggled with the color. My choices were black, white and grey. There was one in "wood" but it was super tacky and really country. I bought two, in white, because the room is open. They cannot be different.

Heat I can take. Humidity sucks. The humidity rolls in. What happened to the "cool" girl summer? 

Did I mention that I'm also covered on my right side in poison? And my left elbow. Last weekend my nephew and I cut back the forsythia bush hard with Angel's hedge trimmers. There was this vine I had to untangle from the bush. It didn't look like poison but must have been. It was dark green with a white stripe. Monday my hand was itch. It scratch. Monday night my chin was itchy. I scratched. Yep, I was spreading it. By Tuesday morning the welts appeared. The heat is not helping the situation.

Im Melting Wizard Of Oz GIFfrom Im Melting GIFs

This week was also the week I unplugged from cable. I had bought an indoor antenna weeks ago. Couldn't figure out how to make it scan the channels. For the first time in my entire 64.7 years I did not have television. I'm going to be hitting the library hard. It's too hot to do much more than read.

Friday I forgot to put out the recycling and heard the truck and went running. I had to pick up Bonnie so I went to the bathroom and there was blood on my shirt. WTF? Where did that come from? My poison on my arm. I must have caught the door and ripped it open. I ran it under water and wanted to scream. It spread some more. I cleaned it up the best I could then picked up Bonnie and we went and turned in my cable box. What I didn't plan for was my internet and cable were bundled. My internet remains slow (streaming ..... ha ha ha ha) and now it costs $20 more. Well that backfired.

At dinner time the installer came and half-ass installed the AC. Notice how far back it is in the sleeve, and its crooked. The left side is forward more than the right. Now notice that the cord is on the left. It's a short cord and the plug is on the right. I go to try and plug it in and ...

.. what kind of crazy ass plug is this? Apparently it's the type that comes on a dedicated 220 line AC. Yep, remember, I asked for 115.

I also couldn't stand the water dripping down my neck and took a scissor to the back of my hair. I'm sure it looks like crap, but I don't care. Wish I had a barber's razor. I' just zip off the bottom two inches. 

Saturday Alan comes to install the one fan. The other can wait till the heat breaks. The white is fab. It just blends in with the ceiling. He checks out the AC, goes in the basement and checks out the switch box and comes back with bad news. I do not have room in my panel for another outlet. Plus, I have zero 220 wiring. I would have to have a wire run and have a whole box dedicated to it. The AC needs to go back.

I contact my niece and asked if her husband and son would take it out, They did. Which, of course, left a hole. I thought I would put the cover back on the outside, and cover the inside with cardboard. Her husband thought winter window plastic. So that's what we used. It's good for a couple of days but is not a long range solution. Some small and skinny could break into my house. Hopefully I'd hear them. You need a ladder to reach this. Monday I'll go to Lehigh Appliance on Broad street and get another one. And they install. 

Her husband then volunteered to do my antenna. When I ordered it, they showed me a map. I put in my zip code and it included Philly, NYC, Wilmington, Scranton. I think I picked the 50 mile range instead of the 39 mile range just to be sure. Perfect. It also says that obstructions will vary your range. Of course there's a mountain next to me and houses all around me. The antenna sucks. Maybe it needs to be higher or at a different location. Right now I get the three local channels: 69 (local news and weather, reruns of old shows, and some syndicated stuff.), 39 (PBS), and my favorite the Jesus station that uses 69's tower.  39 is at the Steel but their tower might still be at the top of the mountain...less than a mile away. 69 is on East Rock Road near 4th Street in Allentown, less than five miles away. It might be more money wasted.

Yep, the library is looking better and better. And it's air conditioned.

purging and paperwork

 

My life right now is a circle of “Ubering", purging, recycling, and paperwork. 

Last week my nephew did the garage and I took a car full of stuff to the compost center and the metal to the scrap metal bin at the regular recycle center. We did it after Sharon’s PT. The trunk is filled with stuff for Goodwill. And Monday I’ll do some electronics recycling, then visit an old friend from my Globe Times days.

Last week we also cleaned the back porch. I should have taken a few pictures. There is a dramatic difference in this one area of the house. I should have taken a pic of what I put out for recycle. I had three full buckets PLUS the paper bucket. NEVER have I put that much out. I’m also putting out more than normal trash. Last week I put out two bags. This week there will be two again.

I had a good "buy nothing" week. Sunday I reposted everything. The “art” went, as did the ottoman and the slipcovered recliner. Pat’s CDs and Christmas DVDs also went. Sharon’s friend at the senior center has a son and baby who are moving back to Bethlehem. He was looking for bedroom furniture. I’m hoping they come to pick up mom’s furniture this weekend. Maybe I’ll talk him into the desk too. He was also looking for a kitchen set. Mine is way too big for one, but I have nothing to replace it with, so I guess I’ll keep that. The person did not pick up the lap blankets.

I also walked down to the little—remodeled—shopping center and had Pat’s IRA notarized. It’s nice having a notary in the hood. But I never see anybody there. I fear it won’t last long. There is also a zoning permit for a convenience store. Just what we need, another bodega. Freeman’s gas station is becoming a convenience store (aka vape/CBC store). This one is across the street. One block away there is another. A half block after that a third. And a half block after that a fourth. Five bodega’s in three blocks. No way all that can be successful. This is not NYC.

I had to turn down an opportunity to go to Rickett’s Glen Thursday. Sharon had two appointments and I had a tutoring client. I have made plans to go to Epharata in July. I need to get out walking much more. 

Hopefully in July Sharon's appointments will lessen and I have time to travel to walks. Maybe therapy once a week? That would be a dream come true.