#54

 Paul surprised me with reservations at ReFarm Cafe for dinner tonight.  We walked in to a private dining room but 6-7 tables were filled by the time we were finished.  It's definitely not fast food and it was definitely tasty. We started with a cucumber (cold) soup. My entree was s trout.

The farm has big solar panels now. At least they are to the side and don't ruin the view.

A saxophone was playing in the gazebo. We would have like to hear that music with dinner but opted to eat inside since it was a little breezy and flying, biting bugs have been prevalent after all our rain in June.  the birds aren't keeping the population under control.

50th

 It seems like yesterday...or a thousand years ago.

We celebrated 19,000 days at Grace at the Carnegie Inn in State College.  No professional florist or photographer this time, but fabulous food and, of course, company and memories.

42 years ago tonight

Dad Mac V. wore his plaid pants, Bob stopped all conversation when he appeared in his Navy whites and beard. Families met and found common themes: Dad and Paul love plaid; Pop Mac had a friend Henkels who wintered in Daytona Beach and knew Grandpa Demmert.
Back in those days the groomsmen took the groom out for a drink or 2 before his big day.  Dad went with them since all were out of towners.
The skies had cleared and the parking area had dried out. The big pine that fell over was moved.  The little bridge that allowed the buggy to cross a dip was in place.  The red, white and blue garden was in bloom.  Everything was ready.
Missy Zimmerman and all my sisters and sisters in law had their dresses.  (No hairdressers and makeup artists back then.)
Brothers, bro in law, Katnik and Grant were tuxed and ready.
Bring on the big day.

10 Years? Can't be!

Happy Anniversary, Jennifer and David.

 You are catching up to us!  Here's a toast to the next 10 and 20 and 30 and 40.

Happy Anniversary #6

Happy #6

Lady Ariel and Graf vonEnaml

Happy Anniversary

#9

Lady Terra and Graf vonTech

Where did the time go?

Happy 5th Anniversary Lady Ariel and Count vonEnaml

Happy 40th to the love of my life

July 3, 1971 

Elkins Park to Fort Washington

The most important weather prediction of 1971:  Rain started early in the week and didn't look like it was going to ever stop.  Dad wanted to know if he needed a tent for the outdoor reception on Saturday. Paul said no. Mom said if he was wrong she might have to respond to the minister when he asked if anyone opposed this marriage. About Thursday the ground was so soggy that a huge pine tree keeled over, blocking the proposed parking area. Paul and Dad spent the day with a chainsaw clearing passage. Saturday dawned clear blue and a million.  Temps were lower 80's; perfect weather for a carriage ride to an outdoor wedding reception.

The most important black sock of the year:  Paul slid into 3rd base foot first and badly sprained his left ankle 10 days before the wedding.  Since he was driving to Denver to leave his car at the airport, his cast was put on before the swelling had receded.  He had a deep purple bruise even weeks later and had to drive with his foot as elevated as he could get.  Dad took him to an orthopedist at Penn to be sure his treatment was appropriate.  I thought the doctor was going to sprain the other ankle as he re-enacted the original accident.  By the time of the ceremony, Paul was a pro at cast-walking. Most people didn't even notice, but there was a stage whisper as we walked by, "I didn't know Leslie was marrying a crip."  (Of course that was way before PC-talk.) Pop Lapp provided cover for Paul's cast. 
We honeymooned in Aspen.  People thought Paul had had a skiing accident.  We didn't correct. After a few days in Aspen, we drove down to Colorado Springs, so I could get a personal tour of USAFA. We stayed one night at the Broadmoor where the hotel staff turned down our sheets. (Don't get too used to that.) One more night there and off to my new home or a couple in a regular hotel, I opted for the less luxurious hotel. Paul drove me to some of his student-day haunts, some of which were 2 (mostly parallel) ruts in the road, overlooking a very steep and long drop with no turn around opportunities.  We placed them in our family history to be compared with other dirt lanes in other states and countries. None have exceeded the thrill.

On that Saturday in 1971 we certainly never thought about being our grandparents' age, but as we get closer we are thankful to have such wonderful men and women to emulate and hope that our grandchildren will say as much in 40 years.  (NOTE TO SELF: Isn't there a pict. of all 6 grandparents?)

Happy Anniversary #ACHT

Lady Terra and Count VonTech

Birthday wishes

The Admiral and Sweet Sister came for the afternoon.  We had the best time.  It's a long drive up 322 so I really appreciate their trouble.  Clem's is on winter hours so we had Fat Jack's instead.
To give a modicum of privacy and shield us from some valley nightlight, Paul bought 2 stained glass window hangings.  We can still see around them and plenty of daylight and moonlight still comes through.

It's Buddy's 1 year anniversary with us.  We call it his homecoming.  He's dropped some weight, gained some muscles and learned a lot in a year.  He can walk by the chickens without even looking but we are still afraid to let him off leash in the meadow. He's passed his AKC Canine Good Companion test and likes some agility work.

Happy 4th Anniversary Lady Ariel and Count vonEnaml

Happy 39th Anniversary

Will you still need me,will you still feed me..When I'm sixty-four?

Parker Dam Tornado (Moshannon Forest)

25 years later ... Survivors remember Parker Dam tornado
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
By Wendy B. Lynn Staff Writer 
"Your story is legend, it still gets talked about in the meteorology community today."
Those were the words of Henry Margusity, senior meteorologist for AccuWeather, to four of the five survivors of the May 31, 1985, tornado that ripped through central Pennsylvania and Parker Dam State Park.
On Saturday, Parker Dam held a commemoration of the 25-year anniversary of the tornado's destruction. Four of the survivors, the two fathers, Marty Young and Howard Hunt, and two of the three sons, Sam Young and Ken Hunt, were present at the amphitheater to talk to audience members and employees of AccuWeather about their experiences that day. The three boys had all been younger than 12 at that time.
Marty Young began by saying that it was like all the stories say, it sounded like a locomotive - "a lot of locomotives" - and they wondered what it was at first.
It had been raining that day, the four recalled, but then the rain had stopped and suddenly everything broke loose.
"We made it from the porch to the doorway and that's it," Howard Hunt said.
Margusity said during the program that the outbreak of storms that night spun off more large tornadoes than ever have been seen in Pennsylvania, five or six F4 tornadoes. The classification of F5 is the strongest a tornado can be. He said there were 42 tornadoes altogether that night, and the F4s were all in the northwest section of Pennsylvania. Since then, there have only been a few tornadoes in Pennsylvania with two F4s in the Pittsburgh area in 1998.
He said that prior to the storms that night, the forecast had actually said, "swarm of tornadoes" which was an unprecedented event in weather forecasting for the state. Some of the weather agencies had downgraded the threat, but most knew, as the day wore on, that something big was about to break.
The five in the cabin, all on a Boy Scout camping trip, didn't know what was about to hit. Ken Hunt recalled that, just prior to the tornado coming upon them, he had looked up on the ridge above the cabin and seen flashes of light and wondered what it was. He then went into the cabin and suddenly everyone else came in too, and the storm hit. What he had seen were the high-tension power lines shorting out from the tornado bearing down on them.
Howard Hunt said they hung on to doorframes and the kids hung on to them. It seemed longer than the two minutes it actually took for the tornado to pass. Part of the roof was torn away, but the eight-sided cabin remained standing and the group theorizes that the uniquely shaped cabin may have had something to do with their surviving the storm.
One member of the audience said, "The (Civilian Conservation Corps) boys built a pretty good cabin." The cabin has since been repaired.
Margusity said that the winds of that tornado reached 250 miles per hour. The record hurricane winds are 236 mph for a typhoon off of Australia. He remarked several times that it was unbelievable that they survived.
"God had other plans for them," said Patricia Young, mother of Sam Young and wife of Marty Young. "He wasn't finished with them yet."
Carey Huber, environmental education specialist for the park, noted that in the past the survivors had said they thought a plane was crashing, to which the four agreed. He added that a former park ranger had said there hadn't been much warning of the tornado, and Margusity said that the ridge hid the tornado until it was on top of them.
According to information provided by AccuWeather, the storm traveled 69 miles in 1½ hours, beginning near Penfield. In some places the swath of the tornado was two miles wide. Unlike the "Wizard of Oz" tornadoes that are tall and thin, this one was short and squat and wedge-shaped. Much of the destructiveness of the storm came from the swirling vortices inside the tornado itself, some of which cancel each other out, while others have been know to produce the strange effects of a tornado, such as picking someone up and dropping them in a different location, or allowing a potted plant to survive the destruction of a house.
"We're just thankful we're here," Marty Young said. After a clip of the newscast presented on WTAJ-TV on the 10th anniversary, he added, "Jokes all aside, it might be a good idea to have a moment of silence for the 94 that didn't make it," referring to others who did not survive the storms that night.
Margusity gave a presentation on the storm from the viewpoint of the people working at AccuWeather that day and evening.
He said it was always going to be the outbreak that stands out in his mind.
There were more large tornadoes than ever have been in Pennsylvania. According to the records at AccuWeather, only one F5 has crossed part of the state, and it was a tornado in 1985 that started in Ohio.
Jesse Farrell, also from AccuWeather, noted that these storms put an end to the myth that tornados avoid mountains, since these crossed 1,500- to 2,000-foot mountains, and there are records of tornados topping even higher peaks.
Even as late at 2005, Margusity said, you could see the swath of the tornadoes' destruction on Google Maps or Google Earth.
That day was sunny and warm, with dry air in the upper atmosphere holding the head in below, acting like a lid and making the warm air "bubble," which creates storms. By 2 p.m. there were reports of tornadoes in Canada, but in Pennsylvania there was nothing, making meteorologists nervous.
Margusity said they knew the longer it took, the worse it would be. At 4 p.m. the storms started to form, and at 7:30 p.m. the Moshannon tornado was under way.
"It looked like a storm straight out of the plains," Farrell said.
Some statistics Margusity gave the audience included:
• there were only 10 tornadoes in Centre County since 1950, and 1985 had the largest.
• only 650 tornadoes have been reported in Pennsylvania since 1950.
• strong tornadoes, bigger than an F2, in Pennsylvania are rare.
• the strongest storms are most likely in May, but there have been tornadoes in Pennsylvania in every month, with F3 tornadoes hitting from March to September.
• the primary time for severe weather in Pennsylvania is from April 27 to Sept. 5 with the peak time between July 1-8.
The five survivors of that night in Parker Dam will never forget that night.
However, they also said they hope to return to Parker Dam in five years to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Moshannon tornado.

Happy 7th Anniversary

Oma and Prince Cheeks went on a date around Maplewood so that Lady Terra and her consort could too.  The lollipop and toy stores were closed but the cookie store had beautiful duck cookies.  Prince Cheeks had one for dinner.  That's what Omas are for. 

Critters of all sizes

Happy 5th anniversary to Lady Terra and her consort. You have made lots of wonderful things happen in the last 5 years and we are very proud of you. (Always have been; always will be.)
We woke to the loud crash of the feeder falling 30 feet. Little birds were in a frenzy and the squirrels were vacuuming up spilled seed. The cord frayed inside the PVC pipes that we'd used to deter squirrels; we don't think the fraying was caused by squirrel teeth. So the Baron hauled up the extension ladder and rehung the feeder, this time without the pipes. At least this way we should be able to see any fraying. The cord is a cotton wrapped nylon; I wonder if it will stretch. It has a new larger pulley which makes raising 5 lbs of feeder and seed much nicer. We looped hand holds and wrapped it around the same tree. The feeder had only a slightly bent tray which I was able to step on and flatten.
Then we noticed the daffodils; they are out in color now, even the Conshohocken 'dills that were so tightly packed down south have drawn juice from the excellent composted planting. Crocuses have been in color of a week. Muscari are just budding. It's 60 degrees and sunny today on its way to 30s and snow tomorrow.
And, as I was burning trash and last week's gypsy moth eggs I noticed a palm sized bear print. I guess that's who demolished the 2 thistle seed bags and the bottle of goose-greased sunflower seeds.
We also poured insecticide around 2 hemlocks. It's a $40 treatment for the large tree east of the house. We only have a small infestations, but would hate to lose any of the 7 hemlocks that we have.
We overturned a log to look for amphibians and found one: a 3" dark brown salamander. He's not moving very fast in the cool weather so I picked him up and let hime slither around my hand.
Even though snow is predicted for tomorrow we decided it won't be plowable,(and even if it is, we won't plow) so we prepared the RTV for summer work. One of the rear hydrolic cable nipples is stuck and won't plug in. Isn't there always something?!?!
And for the final trick of the day we weeded and tubed with small tubes the locusts planted last summer. Most are still there and none are leafing out yet.

On to their second year...

Happy anniversary to Lady Ariel and her consort. It seems like that incredible event was just yesterday and we were all together in a flurry of hairspray and fun. New adventures await.