Looking Up Into the Eye of the Furnace

It was the first day of spring, and we decided to snag some hoagies at Couch's and take them along to Greenwood Furnace, where we would spend a sunny, lovely, breezy Saturday afternoon.

As my husband started up the car, I was sitting at the top of the stairs, grabbing my stuff to go. And I watched in horror, my mouth a big wide O, as the camera bag slid out of my hand and bounced, not unlike a Slinky, down the front steps, hitting each step and turning as it went.

When the camera bag hit the bottom step, startled into motion, I ran down and grabbed it and opened the bag. Turned the camera on. It still worked. Whew. Fortunately, I'd actually zippered the bag shut, and the stairs are carpeted, or we'd have a very sad story to tell here.

So, feeling like a chump, but a very relieved one, I got in the car and off we went. At the park, we walked around a while, split a hoagie, and then walked around some more. There were people fishing and picnicking, and even someone grilling next to us.

Greenwood Furnace's claim to fame is that it was home to an ironworks in the 1800s, led by steel baron Andrew Carnegie. The Greenwood Furnace operation closed down in December 1904. One complete furnace remains. The photo above is a view straight up through stack #2. 

The lake that is there now was created in 1842, so there would be water to power the gristmill. As we walked around the lake, of course, I was watching for some cool reflections, and you may see a reflections shot in the extras. Impression: first day of spring!

I posted the above photo on Facebook and invited friends to guess what it was. A friend from New Jersey actually identified the photo subject before anyone local could do so. So she wins the prize. Well done!

Two friends who commented mentioned art works that the above photo brought to mind: Klimt, said one; Starry Night (Van Gogh), said the other. I'll take them both as high compliments!

Instead of one soundtrack song, I'm going to give you two. One is for Klimt: David Bowie, with Golden Years. The other is for Van Gogh: Vincent/Starry Starry Night, originally written by Don McLean, covered here by Ed Sheeran.

More about Greenwood Furnace:
Greenwood Furnace state park info
Greenwood Furnace Wikipedia page
Greenwood Furnace park brochure (link is to a PDF)