Joanie On My Mind

I never gave Andy Warhol much thought. I can recognize his art like the next guy, but I really did not fully understand the complexity of his body of work. He died suddenly at 58 during a routine surgery, so we will never know what else he may have accomplished. He was a painter who developed his own new techniques, he created a space for other artists to create, he made movies, took extraordinary photos, and published a magaine, then he was a painter again. He was the son of immigrants and a native of Pittsburgh and one of four Carnagie museums in this fine city is dedicated to his art: 7 stories full of it. There is even a lower level create space where you can do art like Andy. I visited this museum today and came away with a new appreciation for Andy Warhol.

Jen and I went to the Clymer Days Festival tonight, which was once a reunion of military townspeople but is now a family event celebrated with funnel cakes, CBD booths and fireworks. We arrived hungry and soon found a church booth selling local favorite foods: pieroghi (potato filled dumplings) and haluski (cabbage and noodles.) Quite delicious, honestly. We saw one smokin’ hot dad, one guy who was probably Santa Claus checking out who’s naughty and nice at the carnival and a very tall man with a very tiny dog. Jen and I got hooked on one carnival game, the ping pong ball throw. Two bucks got you a bowl of colored ping pong balls and the goal was to get them into jars of colored water without bouncing off the edges. We were pretty much champs at this game and won some sweet swag as proof. There was a decent live band who introduced themselves as the hardest working band…in the area, with the best bass player…in the area. At the end of the night, we watched the fireworks display, only they didn’t turn off the spotlights on the softball field so we had those in our eyes as we looked up at the fireworks. The best part was this three year old boy who was rating each of the fireworks, “boring” “boring” “yaaaa that’s the one” “not boring, bravo!” That killed us. Sadly, the fudge booth was closed when we were ready to buy, but the funnel cake we shared was dee-lish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning, I biked a portion of the Hoodlebug trail, this awesome rails-to-trails line in Indiana County, PA running astride the highway. Trains always take you through the most beautiful places. This reclaimed piece of rail line made me feel like I had discovered hidden beauty.https://www.indianacountyparks.org/trails/hoodlebug_trail-history.aspx

My friend Joe was assertively driving me on a narrow rural Pennsylvania Road toward the little township called Creekside where he grew up. In addition to the endlessly entertaining tour of a town Joe knows like the back of his hand, we were waylaid during our journey by the sights and sounds of an active train crossing. While my companions said, “darn,” annoyed at the delay, I, having been a Leinbach for 26 years, simultaneously shouted “Yay!” And clapped with glee. I know good luck will befall me if a train crosses my path. All I could think was how beautiful Pennsylvania must be by train.

There is a town in Pennsylvania called Indiana (confusing? Yes.) Jimmy Stewart was born and raised there! The town loves him. In the winter time the town hosts an “It’s a Wonderful Life” festival, there is a statue of him in front of the courthouse, and the cross walks feature his voice (by an impersonator) welcoming you and guiding you across Philadelpia (Main) Street. We went to the Jimmy Stewart Museum and discovered he was really an extraordinary person. Did you know that at the height of his acting career, he volunteered for the army and eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General? And he graduated from Princeton? And he made movies in every decade from the 30s to the 90s? I could see why the town loves him.Main Street, Indiana (still confusing) circa 1930s and now:

I woke up early this morning to take a walk in the country. The highway in front of Jen’s house is pretty busy, so I got off it and onto a side road as quickly as I could. It was only coincidental that I followed a sign that said “baked goods” with an arrow pointing up a road to the right. I was soon well away from the main road and deep in the rolling hills of Rural Pennsylvania. And it was lovely in the low light of the morning sun. I saw wild turkeys and met a nice couple who were bird watching. They told me I might see hawks in addition to the turkeys. I told them I was from Grand Junction, named for the junction of the Colorado (Grand) River and Gunnison River. The man told me they didn’t know that and thanked me for teaching him something new about Colorado. It was kind of adorable.

The day after my arrival in Pennsylvania, I attended a Blacklick township meeting during which exciting news (see headline and article) about the Burrell County library was announced. My friend Jen is the director of this library which has faced many hardships on the road to becoming something truly wonderful for her community. A member of the press was there, and he snapped a photo of me at the temporary library location. I am super proud of Jen who has deftly managed to remain standing through all of this and is poised like Wonder Woman to see this project through to the end. Also, they spelled my name correctly in the paper, so success all around…