Postcard Worthy Pictures of My Pennsylvania

I love October in PA. You can't find a prettier place on the planet when the leaves start to burst with color. I spent a wonderful afternoon in the country yesterday, so hard to believe that this was literally my backyard growing up! Because I could look out my window and see it everyday, I guess I just took it's serenity and beauty for granted.

It's always nice to take a trip down Memory Road. Travel with me, I'd enjoy the company! You can click on the individual pictures to enlarge them to get a more detailed view.

The trips starts here. This is the driveway, leading to my childhood home. It's roughly a quarter mile, I'd say, maybe a little more. You know the old adage "I used to walk to school, uphill both ways?" Well, mine was "I used to trudge through the snow both ways to catch the bus!" It's a little bit of a walk!

At the end of the woods is a clearing, with this grand view, minus the telephone pole, of course. Just 'cause we was country folk, didn't mean we couldn't have one of them thar telephones!

Scenes from the back yard-

I loved running through the corn when I was small, it was truly a wonderland in there!

We hopped in Dad's Rhino and over the river and through the woods we went to Grandpa's house...

It was always a great time at my Grandparents' home. This is were my brother and I learned to swim. We would ice skate in the winter, and after my Pap decided to stock it with a bunch of fish, we would catch blue gill or run around the banks of the pond feeding the fish bread and looking for frogs and turtles.

I'm not certain the age of this barn, but I believe it was constructed when my Pap was young, possibly before he was even born. He turned 91 in September, so you know it's been around awhile! He's never lived anywhere but on the very farm in which he was born!

The barn was a giant fun house- we had ropes we would swing on and fall into the giant piles of straw. The barn cats would often have their litters in the cozy nests of straw, so often the furry friends would make their way up the hill to our house!

Of course, Pap's tractor was totally off-limits. Grandma would often send us up the hill to throw the pigs some scraps...

This was THE best hill for sledding in the winter. We could start at the top, where the trees are and end up all the way down to the house. This picture was taken from the back porch.

There are two Walls-of-Fame at Pap's house. On the first wall he has a small collection of some of this prized hunting trophies, he simply just does not have enough room to display everything he's hunted through the years. The bear especially was a little scary to me when I was little, but I like to pet his soft fur!

On the other Wall-of-Fame hangs the family pictures, starting with my Aunt Nan at the top of the stairs and pictures of her seven children(camera shot couldn't get all of the pictures), and ends at the bottom of the stairs with my Uncle Jim, the youngest, and three of his kids. (He still has two daughters yet to graduate, the rest of us Grandchildren and all grown up and gone!) Yours truly hangs directly below my Dad, the cool cat in the top row, second from the left. Don't knock the hair- it was the 90's, what can I say? My brothers hang directly below me- instead of age, my Grandma hung my brothers and me in the order of which Grandkid she like the most... teehee. (All of my other cousins are hung under their parent in age order.)

Before leaving to head back home, I stopped by my old church. Church was in walking distance, often on warm days we would walk. I can't think of church without remembering the annual picnic every August, and Vacation Bible School. I made my acting debut at the age of four in the Christmas play here. Later on, around the age of 12 or so. I stole the show when I vomited on stage while singing "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in the choir.

Across the street from the church is the cemetery, to which is the final resting place for many of my ancestors and relatives, including my beloved Grandma "Niece", who passed away 10 years ago this past September. This will likely be my place for burial, too.

My Grandma was the best- the quintessential country Grandma, who loved nothing more than to bake a pie and have us kids over on Sundays. My brother Dave actually had a designated "pie shirt" for this weekly occasion. I miss my chubby little white-haired Grandma so much, she passed after I had been living in New Mexico for three years. I always felt particularly special and close to her, as I was named after her.

The day in the country and the drive back couldn't have been more peaceful. I just love a short road trip, and it was the most beautiful fall day, capped off with a vibrant harvest moon glowing overhead and leading me home.

By the way, the date in my camera was obviously off- I don't know how to programme the crazy thing!