CAMP HILL AND WEST FAIRVIEW, PENNSYLVANIA

I should have known better. We're trying to choose some fixtures for our master bathroom, including a new vanity and sink. I am drawn to those sinks which are a bowl sitting on top of a counter. Of course, the counter must be as high up as possible. I am so tired of bending over the sink until my back hurts!

So, I headed to a bathroom and kitchen supply house near Camp Hill because they have a good selection. So good, in fact, that making a choice will be very difficult. Naturally, it's all high-end stuff, and being a good Scotsman (some of the time) I like to find something that does not make my wallet scream when I open it.

I guess I will head to Lowe's and see if they have something similar but made for the masses.

While I was over in Camp Hill, I realized I was only a block away from Rolling Green Cemetery, where all of the Robinsons are interred. Well, not all of us. Some of us are still living.

It was a beautiful fall day, and some of the trees have turned a beautiful red-orange color. Rolling Green was one of the earliest cemeteries to be created in the "memorial park" concept, so I enjoyed a ride through the park-like setting (all of the markers are bronze and lie flat on the ground) until I arrived at the famous Block F.

My Uncle Hale bought all of the lots on behalf of the family way back in 1929 when it opened. I remember seeing the original deed, which clearly stated that black people were not to be admitted. Thank heaven we have made some progress in that area.

They were primo spots then, right near the large fountain that sprayed water up in the air while it played pleasant music. Now it is silent and filled with soil and shrubs. No water. No music. Not so primo.

Still, it's a pretty place, in the center of the cemetery so that most of the outside world disappears when you are there. I had to leave the Box along the lane and walk down to visit the family and take some documentary pictures of the markers.

Do you remember the old saying that, if you have a sudden shiver, someone has stepped on your grave? It did not work today. I stepped all over mine, casting a wide shadow, and Susanne's, too, and nary a shiver. If we end up there, Susanne and I will have to be planted head to head. Hmmm, we have never seen eye to eye in life; how will we manage for eternity?

After enjoying more of the scenery, I headed home by way of routes 11/15 up the western side of the Susquehanna River. At West Fairview, I stopped at my favorite spot along the river.

It's a boat launching site, right where the Conodoguinet Creek empties into the river. The creek was flowing strongly today. Seagulls and egrets were floating around, and the city looked nice in the late afternoon sun.

I passed St. Mark's Lutheran Church in West Fairview. I have always been crazy for its Victorian wedding cake steeple. I'd love to find a spot where I could photograph the church with the river and city skyline behind it.

Continuing up 11/15, I passed the famous Enola train yards, where there was considerable activity with trains moving here and there, headed for I-81 and home.