Faith, Folklore, and Friends

This is the last day to guess the miles we traveled.  Winner announced on Monday.

Just outside of Lancaster, Bird In Hand has a huge Farmer's Market.  I have never been in one so large and with so many various items for sale.  Items ranged from farm fresh meats, grains, baked items, spices, to all kinds of art and clothing. There was so many goodies there, it was hard to decide what to buy.  We were a long way from home with very little room left in the car. We settled on a huge peach fritter for $2.39 from a little Amish lady.  I'm sorry I didn't remember to take a photo of it. We devoured it in the car on the way to the Pennsylvania Turnpike and declared it was the best thing we had ever eaten.  It had pieces of fresh peaches throughout, and between bites, I studied it intensely, wondering how they were able to make something so awesome. I knew I had to try to make some when I got home.  So. . . . 

I have read about Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for years.  Authors from Beverly Lewis to James Mitchner have written about the Amish way of life there, making it sound so beautiful that we had to see it for ourselves.  Lancaster did not disappoint. I want to return here when I have more time to explore.  I loved everything about it! Anyone want to go with me?

We love to travel and we love the west.  We have made many trips west of the Mississippi, so we thought we should go somewhere different this year.  We set out with a plan to see the New England states. In 1993, I received a fellowship to do some research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.  So we had seen beautiful Boston and Cape Cod, but nothing else in the Northeast. One item on our bucket list is visiting all the states, and we wanted to mark some off with this trip. We went to Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia,   Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey , New York, Connecticut , Rhode Island , Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont , Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The ones in bold type are states we had not been to before. It was all beautiful. How many miles did we travel?  Good question.  Just for fun, post your guesses in the comment section below or on Facebook.  When I fi...

Today is the last day of 2015.  Every year at this time, we  reflect back on what has happened during the year.  Everyone says, "Where did the year go?" as time seemingly keeps accelerating. Here are a few of the things we experienced in 2015. We had some good times,  and some not so good. Some things have changed, and things have stayed the same. We have had some happy times  and times of great sorrow. We've done some traveling and a lot of staying home and working. All and all, it has been a glorious year, an ordinary year, a blessed year of living and laughing and loving on Planet Earth. We are truly thankful for this year, this breath.