Inside the Old Mud Church / Moose: No Longer Alone

My husband had a filling in one of his back teeth that began to fall apart a few weeks ago. His dentist in Philipsburg gave him an appointment at the end of the month. Then, earlier this week, they called with a Friday cancellation; could he come in? Well, yes, he could! And I went with him. These are the adventures I had.

First, you need to know that this is Arts Festival week around here. The Central PA Festival of the Arts takes place in State College. The People's Choice Festival has moved from Boalsburg to Centre Hall. Art in the Orchard is happening again at Way Fruit Farm. And it's Philipsburg Heritage Days.

This is how I accidentally stumbled into Philipsburg Heritage Days: via a rescheduled dental appointment. He dropped me off by the Post Office, which is my usual departure point, and I walked around town, visiting the booths and displays, having a ball.

Everything smelled good, by which, I mean, there was FOOD. All kinds of food. But we had packed a picnic lunch to eat at Black Moshannon State Park later, on the way home. So I skipped the food. But I had regrets.

And then, I walked my usual walk, through the main street of town, down to Cold Stream Dam, which was my pick-up point. I discovered to my delight that the Old Union or Old Mud Church was open, and so I finally got to go inside for about a half-hour, ALL BY MYSELF WITH NOBODY THERE GUMMING UP MY SHOTS! It was fabulous! It was fantastic!

The church was established around 1820, but the burial ground around the Founders Oak (one of the oldest and largest trees in Centre County) has been in use since 1802.  Above is a photo I selected of the Old Mud Church, to show you.

Do you see all of those amazingly simple, harmonious straight lines? The pews actually have little doors on them with latches, which looks bizarre and interesting. (Wouldn't want any sinners to escape now, would we?) For those who are interested, here is a little bit of the history of this church. You may also see a photo of its exterior and the Founders Oak (in the extras) and learn a little more Philipsburg history in this prior Blip.

And then I continued my walk over to the dam. My husband picked me up there and we headed on up to Black Moshannon, where I had my second swim within just a few days. There was some kind of summer day camp going on near the beach, but nobody was in the water but me. It was grand.

Now, I have a tiny secret I will tell you. At the Heritage Days event, I found a couple selling Beanie Babies, and one of them was a MOOSE. Yes, a MOOSE. Well, guess who I had in my daysack with me: my own Little Moose. So for $2, I bought a new moose, and I secretly tucked it away in my sack.

So yeah, I DID make the Beanie Baby lady laugh when I paid for the new moose (and also a little sheep, which is a gift for my sister Marilyn when I see her), and I pulled Little Moose out of my sack, and he went WILD.

I told her before I left, "You have no idea how happy you have made this moose!" and she asked me, Did I have all of the right supplies, water and what-not, for the new moose? "And Moose Kibble?" I said; "Yep, I've got it covered!"

When I got to the Book Bench at Black Moshannon, where Little Moose called and called out for other moose the other day, finally, the call of the wild was answered! In the extra photos, you may see Little Moose and his new friend sitting on the Book Bench, looking as happy as two clams! Now, my husband thinks the second moose might just be a girl moose. Wouldn't that be lovely?

I have two photos, though I wish I could share many, many more with you. For it was a fantastic photo op of a day, from start to finish, and I have not even looked at all of my photos yet myself! But here are two soundtrack songs that I think will fit the bill for my pictures.

First, for the beautiful simplicity of the interior of the Mud Church, which reminds me of a Friends meeting house, here are Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss, with Simple Gifts. For what an amazing gift of the day it was that I finally got to go inside this historic place, which is always locked! Access . . . GRANTED! Be still, my beating heart!

Second, for the two-moose extravaganza on the Book Bench at Black Moshannon State Park, where it turns out that Little Moose is NOT the Last of the Moose-hicans, no, not at all, here are Elvis Presley and Lisa Marie Presley, with Where No One Stands Alone.