Eleven Down, One to Go!

Here it is the 30th day of November, 2006 and folks are already in the Christmas Swing!

Welcome to Cherry Tree, PA where the town is all aflutter because of an ordinance proposed by a local borough council member that every home have a fire arm within reach. Most people in the area can't understand this because there are already more guns in Cherry Tree than flush toilets. I don't make this stuff up.

Prime beef

Reflection of a candle in a glass table top.

Furniture store indian! Back in the '50s, when I was a kid, this would have been called a cigar store indian and it would have been carved out of wood. However, this one is made out of plaster and stands in front of a furniture store in Northern Cambria.

Having fun at Grandma Dumm's house, the day after Thanksgiving.

Work continues on the new roof at St. Bernards' Church in Hastings. We really don't think the job will be done before the snow flies.

As part of the Lilly, PA light-up night, two teams of horses provided sleigh rides for town folks. Pictured here is a team of Clydesdales.

Can I take him home, Daddy? Please! Please! Please!

This team of Percheron was also on hand to provide sleigh rides during Lilly's light-up night.

Reproduction from a 1905 Lilly Signal (newspaper) ad for Hendler Department Store in Cassandra, PA.

Merry Christmas from Lilly, PA!

Fall Happenings

The original Miner's Hospital was built in Spangler, PA in 1906. $5,000 of seed money was raised by local businessmen and coal operators according to the Centennial History of Barnesboro Pennsylvania 1894-1994. The facility has been unused since a new hospital was built in Hastings in 1999. The cost of the new hospital was estimated at close to $13,000,000. As of this week, the old hospital building is finally in the process of being raised by Empire Dismantlement Corporation of Western New York.

Mascot of the Purchase Line Red Dragons.

Referees standing for the National Anthem prior to the start of the Purchase Line vs. Juniata Valley PIAA Divison V-VI playoff football game. Juniata Valley won the game 7-0 in overtime on a truly muddy field.

Hens and chicks show their fall colors in a terra cotta planter.

Spotted this guy standing on the sidewalk at a little mall in Altoona, PA.

Santa visited with children at the Patton Pharmacy, Patton, PA a week before Thanksgiving.

Front facade of Altoona Hospital, Altoona, PA.

This corn picker has been sitting in the field for over a year. Pretty soon it will have it's own mailbox.

Red-bellied Woodpecker through the fog.

With a little help from a local birder, we've identifed this as an inmature Cooper's Hawk -- Accipiter cooperii. Probably on it's migratory flight south, it spent 45 minutes killing and eating this Black-capped Chickadee. During the time it was here I was able to shoot over 150 photographs and 5 minutes of video. The pictures were shot with a 300 mm lens with a 2x extender at a distance of approximately 10 yards while standing in an open window.
Update: 21Feb2010 -- We have had several individuals correct our identification of this hawk. We are now saying it is a Sharp-Shinned Hawk -- Accipiter Striatus.

Profile of the Cooper's Hawk.
Updated: 21Feb2010 -- Profile of a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

Abandoned

This week's blog is just about abandonment. It's a shame but places that should be taken care of and/or restored, are just left to weather in the wind. All of these pictures were shot in Susquehanna Township and Northern Cambria.

Emeigh Crossroads.

Susquehanna Township.

Susquehanna Township.

Susquehanna Township.

Former hunting cabin.

Close-up of corner notches.

This house was once part of Miner's Hospital.

Old Miner's Hospital, Spangler, PA prior to demolition.

Dumm's Lumber Yard.

Old church bus sitting along Number 9 Road, Susquehanna Township.

This and the next two pictures were taken along Route 219 next door to the Dairy Queen in old Spangler, PA. Junked Jeep.

Abandoned Corvair.

See the USA in a rusty Chevrolet.

Caterpillar.

Hodge Podge

Northern Cambria High School came out the winner in it's first post-season playoff game against Ligonier Valley 7-0.

Northern Cambria High School Senior Cheerleaders.

Shakespeare and a companion take up their respective seats prior to Saint Francis University's STAR Productions' interpretation on a number of his sonnets.

One of the first pictures with my new Canon F2/8 lens. This is just a test shot.

Tailors' thread in a basket.

A box of tailors' chalk sitting on a shelf.

A Marine's weekend retreat on Old Miller Road.

Horse in a window looking out on the world.

Male Downy Woodpecker - Dendrocopos pubescens.

Female Downy Woodpecker - The pair visit our suet feeders every day.

Bluejay

Mr. Parker at four years.

??? Seems a little late.