Connections

While I had mentioned that we had a vacation 'cabin' up here near Lake Wallenpaupack, I guess the real reason we ended up settling here was a connection to my father. My father was a 'coal jockey,' which meant that he would transport coal from the mines up here near Scranton, etc. to the supply yard in central NJ. He did this from the early 50's through the early 60's, which is when the coal industry started to fall out of favor due to issues like pollution, price, safety, etc. He would drive the three hours each way, sometimes two hauls per day, so a total of 12 hours daily on the road.

Amazingly, to me, he never tired of the beauty of the area and he would bring the family up here occasionally after he stopped 'jockeying coal' to show us the little areas that he found fascinating. I remember he stopped by the side of the road somewhere up here so we could taste the water coming out of a rock on the side of the mountain near the Delaware Water Gap. Being a little girl, I just did not see the attraction to water coming from a rock! But, my mom held me so I would not fall while I worked my way down to the side of the road to cup some water in my hands and drank this miracle. You know what - it tasted like water! Did not understand until years later that it was important that it was clean water, coming out of rock. Nowadays, that is probably bottled and people pay big bucks for 'natural, mineral' water.

So I guess that somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to understand what he found so fascinating up here. I know we did not have much money when I was growing up; in fact, our family was on 'public assistance' (welfare) while he was working for the coal industry, so I guess he was not paid very well. But gas was cheap and it did not cost anything to go and look at something, so we would take rides as a one-day getaway. Mom and Dad in the front, three kids in the back, three hour drive - oh, what fun! And Dad had a good reach, so we learned how to maneuver to avoid the inevitable swipe that came after the "shut-up." No seat belts, so sliding was an art on the wool bench seats.

Years later, it became a tradition for my husband and I to take a day trip up to the Gap for my birthday in October at the peak of autumn foliage. Moving up here just seemed right.

Holidays

Living with someone who works in the 'service industry' often means that you do not get to celebrate holidays with that person, as those are the days when employees are needed most at work. This means holidays like Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc. have to celebrated on alternate days. That is okay, as we are not big on the 'big day' celebrations and the togetherness can be celebrated on another day - besides, most of the stuff you need for commemorating a holiday go on sale the day after!

This year something different occurred. Somehow my husband had the 4th of July evening off - the planets must have misaligned or something. We did not know what to do, so we thought we could go out to dinner. You would think people who work in restaurants would figure out that you need a reservation! Okay, so we'll get some 'to - go' food and picnic out by Lake Wallenpaupack and watch the fireworks.

A note here - I have not gone to see fireworks since I was a kid at the Jersey Shore, so I forgot how crowded the area gets prior to the display. These crowds were professionals! They must have been camped out at the lake all day! And park - where? People were parking practically on the road, not next to the road. Then my husband and I remembered why we never go out on the holiday, besides having to work. The crowds and the yelling and the general mayhem is very stress inducing. We looked at each other and I said that there are the fireworks from DC and NYC and Boston being broadcast this evening and he said, lovingly, "get the heck out of here!"

On a positive note, in spite of the gas prices and the food prices and the economy, the fact that there were crowds at the lake was good to see. Maybe the advertising to the NYC market about the Poconos being close by has worked. At least some of the local businesses should be happy.

We enjoyed our meal at home, set off some sparklers, and watched fireworks on TV. Togetherness...