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Why Places Matter
I will always remember our Halloween this past Friday in Parnassus. Why? Two reasons: 1.) We got over 200 trick-or-treaters at our house, just like last year and the year before that. 2.) …
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They Saw the Bloody Handprint – and Orbs
My sister Katie and her husband Brendan visited two different places this summer that made me envious: 1.) The Ernest Hemingway House in Key West, Florida (and they saw the six-toed cats that…
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5 Spooky Places for New Ken Ghost Stories
I love ghost walks and ghost stories based on local history. The last time that I Googled “PA Ghost Walks,” I found several dozen cities in the results. Gettysburg. Pittsburgh. Philadephia. Erie. Harrisburg.…
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So Many Questions . . .
What ghost stories exist for Elliott’s, the Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End Village? I read about Elliott’s in two historical novels: “The King’s Orchard” and “The Day Must Dawn” by (Western PA…
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5 Ways That Mackinac Island Reminds Me of Home
Once a year we ride a ferry on Lake Huron for our day trip to Mackinac Island, Michigan. People come here to see: The Grand Hotel. Tourists everywhere on bicycles. Tourists everywhere in…
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Sault Ste. Marie Adventure, 2014
Yesterday I saw the largest boat that I might ever see, and then I dragged my in-laws into my fascination with old buildings and old neighborhoods. We made our annual trip to Sault…
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Elegy to My Old Front Porch, c1930 – 2014
I am getting a new front porch for my birthday this year. Jonthan and I planned and saved for this for years. We tweaked some of our career goals for this. We can’t wait…
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A Short Trip to some Local Parnassus History
Hello reader people. Jenny and I were sitting on our soon-to-be-rebuilt porch this evening as the light went golden. We were just reading away, enjoying the evening as the temperature started to cool…
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The Boat Goes Home for some Updates
Our little Flying Scot sailboat was in need of a few updates. After our work and test sail last year, I made a short list of things that I thought we should have…
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Remembering World War I
This month (June 28) is the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie. The aftermath led to World War I. My relatives suffered and sacrificed as a…