LOWER PAXTON TOWNSHIP

Recently I stopped into the Scion/Toyota dealer just down the road from us to take a look at the new Scion iQ. It's Scion's answer to the Smartcar. The one I saw was blazing orange and quite fetching.

After a quick walk-around, I decided to inspect the interior.

"Go on, get in," said the salesman.

I opened the driver's side door and started lowering my posterior into the seat. About half way there, I banged my head into the roof, then doubled over enough to sit on the edge of the seat with my head and feet outside the car.

"There's plenty of headroom in there," the salesman said. I told him that there was no way I could get in there, thank you very much.

I wonder why car manufacturers can't make a hinged panel in the roof over the door that would fold up when the door opened (think modified DeLorean), allowing the driver to enter, and then fold back down when the door closes. That extra space would allow tall people to get in these zippy little cars!

HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA

Yesterday was sort of busy. At 9:00 a.m. I met with two other members of the collections committee of the Historical Society of Dauphin County at the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion in Harrisburg. We're planning an exhibit about an early Harrisburg family who were quite distinguished in civic life.

First, we checked the inventory of artifacts to see which ones had been donated by family descendants, and once we found out their location, we went on a treasure hunt to find them.

Here, Jesse and Erik are searching the database.

Next we went into the mansion to locate the artifacts that will help to tell the story of this family. The silhouette below, displayed in the hallway opposite a clock owned by John Harris, Jr., depicts one of the original family members and will no doubt end up in the exhibit. All in all, we spent about three hours in the house looking at possible items to use and places where the exhibit might take place.

The mansion is much larger than most people know because there are rooms and areas not on the public tour. One day, perhaps, all of the rooms will be accessible, and everyone will be able to tour the whole house.

Soon the other guys, who have wives and children at home who needed them, started looking at their watches, so we broke up around noon. I went home to await the arrival of some special visitors.

These special people were our son Matt and grandson Ian, who spent the late afternoon with us and then stayed overnight. Ian had been invited to the birthday party of his friend Luca at Luca's grandparents' house here in Harrisburg. His mom was hard at work on a monster project in her office in Baltimore, so Matt brought Ian. After the party, they came to see us. Matt went out to dinner with Luca's parents and other friends while Ian entertained us with his kiddie charm. His grandmother helped him practice writing his name, watched some television with him, and then read him a bedtime story.

 

Matt and Ian got up early this morning to return to Baltimore. I'm not sure if they had breakfast here or not, but I am pretty sure I heard Matt say, "I'll take you for a donut if you hold still while I put your shoe on." I was sorry that it was not my shoe he was trying to put on.

Soon the Box and I were headed to church at Market Square. Our adult choir sang three pieces from various historical eras, the culmination of a month or so of learning about how choral music was sung by choirs in the years between 1600 and the early 20th century. Here is one of the anthems, "Call to Remembrance."

Also "on the bill" was the Alleluia Choir, our children's choir, who sang a lovely Lenten piece accompanied by piano and hand bells.

By the time I arrived, my sister Rachel had already been at the church for a while to prepare for the service of Holy Communion. She bakes a Scottish short bread at home and fills the cups with grape juice at the church. This is all done in the kitchen. Then she and a helper lug it all upstairs into the nave of the church. Afterwards, it is all lugged back downstairs for cleaning and storage.

When I first saw her, she was standing in the kitchen putting cherry pie filling on the top of little tarts she had made for the coffee hour. Later she helped to prepare lunch for the youth group that was preparing for some sort of reading marathon to raise money for a mission trip. I wish churches were filled with people like Rachel -- no task would ever go undone!

After church, Rachel and I went out for lunch (after she dropped off the church childcare giver at her home opposite our old elementary school). Rachel showed me her new phone, and the photos below were made using the "cartoon" setting. They really a pretty amazing. I thought you might be amused by them. You have to click on one to see it full size and get the full effect.

Of course, we had to see the Box first.

 

Staring down the Box.

Then with me -- twice!

How weird is that? Your face might look awful, but it's not your fault. I can buy into that!

A TALE OF TWO CITIES...HARRISBURG AND BALTIMORE

My daughter-in-law Marylee, who lives in Baltimore, loves to read the "police blotter" in the Harrisburg newspaper when she comes to visit. In Baltimore, of course, one might read of a murder here and a murder there, enormous retail thefts, body parts found floating in the Inner Harbor, and so forth. Here she found much more benign sorts of crimes for the most part, such as someone reporting that during the night persons unknown had come up on their porch and spit on their chair.

Of course, I started to read the blotter, and recently came across an item that reminded me of something of which I might actually be accused (you all know how many pictures of donuts have appeared in this blog, second only to...say it with me...whoopie pies!). So, here for a laugh is an article that might be written about me some day.

Just click on the photo to enlarge it for easier reading.

So what do you think? Here was a guy who went a little crazy for some donuts. I hope they were worth it! Who leaves the getaway vehicle behind and runs away?!

HARRISBURG AND NEW BRIGHTON, PENNSYLVANIA

On Monday, February 6, my sister Rachel and I had a delightful time with the innkeepers at City House B&B. We had visited them earlier for an art exhibit and got to talking. I mentioned a pear pancake recipe from another B&B that I liked and later sent it to them. Rachel went a step further and sent them a box of luscious pears.

Before you knew it, we were invited to try their version of the pear pancake! We enjoyed that delicious confection, along with some pineapple, tea, and coffee -- but most of all, lively conversation. They're a great couple, and we're happy to know them.

CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE IT CONSIDERABLY AND SEE DETAILS.

The next day, Susanne and I headed west to New Brighton to visit with our daughter Sarah and her two kids and to babysit for them when Sarah had to work one evening. During our visit we took Cole and Chloe to Applebee's for dinner. The onion rings, pictured below, were seriously good.

We spent the rest of the evening helping the kids with homework and reading. Cole and Chloe played some games on the computer until bedtime. Obviously, Chloe was close to losing her mind.

While the kids were in school, Susanne and I drove over to Monaca to the mall. It had snowed lightly during the night, and the trees were dusted and looking lovely. At the mall we made a bee-line for Marshall's, Susanne's new favorite store. As she looked around, I prowled the "home décor" section and began to see a pattern. Many, many products are cast with a French accent.

For example, below, clockwise are Le Creuset cookware; jam from Provence in the south of France; a three-tiered cookie plate from Collette et Cie; wall art featuring the Eiffel Tower; and Le Nibble, a snack cracker.

I was surprised to find even more French-themed products, such as, clcokwise, a casserole dish from the Art de la Table series; Joie brand wine aerator; a pillow touting Bon Vin (Good Wine); an Eiffel Tower magnifying glass; a poster of Parisien tourist sites; and another pillow with French stamps and post marks.

Exhausted for Marshall's, Susanne wanted to return home for a nap. I, ever on the move, preferred to take a driving tour of New Brighton, looking for some interesting houses, of which there are many. 

Here are some composites of some of the more interesting.

The first set is up on a hill overlooking the town. There is even a scenic overlook that provides a nice view of the falls in the Beaver River. I thought the house in the middle might have real potential. It was situated in an interesting crook in the road and just needs some tender, loving care. Don't you agree?

There are several houses nearer to Sarah's house that always catch my eye. I would really like to get into the ramshackle brick mansion in the two top row photos. And I'd like to know its history. It must be the largest house in town, although in awful condition. Left to right in the bottom row are a Queen Anne mansion and a brick Colonial on Third Avenue; and a brick house-turned-office building not far away.

 

Also on Third Avenue is the childhood home of New Brighton industrialist Edward Merrick, who created an outstanding collection of art now on display not far away at the Merrick Art Gallery. The gallery contains a collection of French, German, English and American paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries collected by Merrick, a collection probably unequaled in western Pennsylvania.

In the next block is this impressive home, built in 1835 by a Quaker industrialist and abolitionist. If memory serves me correctly, it's a funeral home now.

Clockwise from upper left: A frame house with a large porch and fanciful window decoration; birdies camped out on a snow-covered bush; a fanciful tile roof; a large foursquare; a garage door that suggests this was not always a residence.

Clockwise from upper left are homes close to Sarah's. I wish the color were closer to the real color of the purple house on Penn Avenue; the gorgeous façade of a mansion Penn that is now a funeral home; a Dutch Colonial across the street from Sarah's house. In the center photo is Sarah's corner house with an old address stone lying in the garden. Have you noticed that there are virtually no row homes in New Brighton?

In the kitchen, I noticed the striking resemblance of Sarah's baking dish to the Shroud of Turin. The dish is on the left if you're confused.

On Thursday, Susanne ventured into the cold to help the kids board the school bus. Meanwhile, I stayed in the house and thanked the inventor of the telephoto lens.

After the kids left, we went downtown to have breakfast at Waffle INCaffeinated. Susanne had waffles with chicken salad, and I had French toast. It was a pleasant experience, although next time we will try the family restaurant on the other end of town. Read my TripAdvisor review here.

After breakfast we returned to Sarah's, packed our bags, and headed for home.

MECHANICSBURG AND CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA

Last week, Susanne and I headed to Mechanicsburg to meet with our financial advisors to find out just how rich we are. We were afraid that Mitt Romney was getting ahead of us. Well, guess again. He has quite a way to go to catch up with us. I wish!

Afterwards, we drove west on Route 11 toward Carlisle, the ultimate goal being an antiques mall in town. We passed through Hoagstown, noticing some fine old houses trapped between the two lanes of the highway, and through New Kingston, where a by-pass fixed that problem. Knowing that we could still afford lunch, we stopped near Middlesex at a restaurant frequented by truckers. Those places often have the best food. Sure enough, we enjoyed a tasty meal and were soon on our way.

Bedford Street Antiques is housed in an old building that was formerly a Lutheran church. It has two levels and an annex, chock full of "stuff," some of which is pictured below. Click on the link to see a photo of the place when it was a church.

On the way into the antiques mall, we passed by the Episcopal Church (center) and Presbyterian Church (lower right hand corner) just a block away on the Square.

Almost the first thing I saw was this watercolor of Historic Peace Church in Hampden Township, Pa. The church was built in 1798 and used by Lutheran and Reformed congregations. Today it is owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and operated by Friends of Peace Church. I played the 1806 organ there for many weddings and for inauguration day services for Governors Thornburgh and Ridge.

Almost next door to the picture of the church was this papier mâché barrel bank sporting the name James. I thought of James T., recently-born son of a young couple I know. Later I saw several more of these banks, but none had a name on it. This one even had the apostrophe in the right place.

Susanne considered these colorful little glasses to fill up a divided metal tote she bought at some other establishment. She is a sucker for tin and metal objects useful in the early part of the last century.

I thought about buying this thumb for my sister Rachel, who recently tried to chop off her own while cutting vegetables. It was in a glass case, so I was not able to look at it closely enough to determine its function.

Next was this Majolica teapot. We have a plate in this pattern. Can you see that it is a cauliflower poking its head out from among the leaves? I found two of these on the Internet, one for $995 and one for $495. I wish I had looked at the price on this one!

This gizmo was used in the 19th century to carry charcoal or coal to places like your carriage or church, where you could rest your feet on it, then wrap your feet and legs in a blanket to keep warm. Guess what they call it. A footwarmer. Go figure.

I am always attracted to miniature structures, and this one was no exception. It appears to be home-made and in good condition. Alas, I have no place to store or display all the houses, churches, barns, and sheds I see.

They should market this as "PERMA-HAM® -- THE ONLY EASTER HAM YOU WILL EVER HAVE TO BUY." Doesn't it look delicious?

Soon I found this pair staring out at me from a case. They may be French santons, "little saints," representing the common people of rural southern France.

I seriously considered this cupboard for our upstairs hall. I thought it would look good with smaller pieces of Lesterware in it. Fortunately, we measured it and when we got home discovered that it was too wide for the space we had in mind.

Upstairs, where the church's worship room was, I found this row of scales by the window. You know how I like rows or stacks of like things.

I love old religious art. It's so colorful and to the point and often sort of naïve. Here the Holy Family contemplates the Cross that is in their future.

Susanne heads back down the spiral staircase to the first floor of the former church building.

These salt shakers might be just the right thing for that metal tote we've heard about. Red or yellow caps?

This display proves that a table setting can be beautiful if there is one unifying thing in every piece -- here, it's the pink.

This chintz-patterned china caught my eye. It's colorful, and despite its name, anything but chintzy, price-wise. This is from the online etymology dictionary: "Disparaging sense (in form chintzy), from the commonness of the fabric, is first recorded 1851 in George Eliot"

This 19th century coverlet appears to be in good condition.

Okay, here's the last bit of "stuff" -- things your mom had for many Christmases when you were young, still appealing because of the memories they bring back. We had the plastic snowman, complete with a broken pipe.

On the way back to the car, we passed another Carlisle landmark, the 19th century brownstone Cumberland County prison, now used for other purposes.

In closing, here are gratuitous photos of a little dessert I made with crescent roll dough and cherry pie filling.

Thanks for shopping with us!