Reflection Day at Greenwood Furnace

It was the auspicious occasion of my 58th birthday, and I called my parents in the morning to talk to them and to thank them for giving birth to me! My dad was in an expansive mood; he said, "We love EVERYbody!" So let me pass out some great big birthday love, shining right out atcha from central Pennsylvania. That everybody includes you, too! Step right up and get some love!

I had only made two requests of my husband for our celebration of my big day, and they included: 1) that we walk somewhere nice, maybe someplace we had not been in a while; and 2) that we eat something tasty.

So in the morning, we talked about several different options for my day, some of which included driving far and doing lots. In the end, we chose a low-key option. We had not been to Greenwood Furnace and Couch's in a while, not for months! And it had been some time since I'd had ribs at Doan's Bones.

So my birthday included just those things. We started with lunch at Couch's - hot roast beef sandwich and curly fries with gravy and a salad and corn for me, and a meatloaf meal for my husband - and then we went over to Greenwood Furnace and walked all around for the afternoon.

They have just put up wreaths celebrating an assortment of wild animals you might find at the park. Each wreath includes information about the animal in question, along with a photo of the animal and a diagram of what its tracks look like. T. Tiger found these immensely informative; however, he was shocked to find NO Tigers on any of the wreaths!

I think that last year, they drew the water down to do some work on the dam, or something, in early December. But this year, the water was fine and high and it wasn't too windy, so the surface was, overall, flat and amazing for reflections photos, which is one of my funnest hobbies.

Spending time outdoors hiking in a really neat place with my top guy is also a favorite thing, and a fine way indeed to spend a birthday. I was queen for a day, and if I am anybody's queen, I want to be HIS!!!

We walked around the lake, looked at the spillway, and then crossed the road and visited the little graveyard on the hill which features both Revolutionary War and Civil War graves. We also walked up to the campground and checked out the sites, including visiting a tiny, amazingly cute playground for children.

When we were done with our visit, we got back in the car and headed for home, stopping for a half a rack of ribs at Doan's Bones, not far from Whipple Dam. We took them along home and ate them, and added our own sides, and everything was just delightful.

To keep the story honest, there was only one thing I prayed for for my birthday that I did not get. Before I went to bed the night before, I asked to get the chance to see my big sister Barb again, in my dreams. Just to see her face again, and have her smile at me, and for it to be like it was, with us, together.

I figured it would be grand if we landed in one of our trips together again - maybe Atlantic City for the night, as the Boss might sing - or I'd even settle for one of the crappier trips, like the Maryland one that got all sogged out with torrential rains.

It was billed as a triple-lighthouse tour, but we didn't get to see a single lighthouse. We got soaked to the bone and came home like a pair of drowned rats. (They refunded most of our money for that one, but we still had a hoot.) But no. There were no dreams of Barb. That is my only birthday regret. But I'm still waiting.

My soundtrack song for this image of reflections on water that is still as glass is this one: Miley Cyrus, covering Blondie's Heart of Glass. I feel compelled to add this song too, for all those who wait on those they have loved and lost, and hope to meet up with again: Richard Marx, with Right Here Waiting.