Where I Live: Drive-By

Part of me worries that the "Where I Live" threads are painting a bad picture of where I actually live.  Mainly because I've posted a bunch of goofy, quirky things about this area.....and today's no different.  I must make a better attempt at "the cool" parts of here too.

Keep in mind before we start that I live in rural American.  Small town mind-set.

I call today's post Drive-By, but our drive-by's are a little different than a major metropolitan drive-by.  No guns are needed here.

Here's how the drive-by works.  You're driving around town and as you drive past a car going the other way or going in the same direction, you look in to see who's driving.....particularly if you see a car that resembles a car your friend might own. 

Now on the surface you might think that maybe Aaron is just a stalker or voyeur and has lost his gourd.  Here's how I know that that's not true......when I look to see who's driving in the other cars....they're looking at me too.  The hope is that you see someone you know and you wave.

On the way to church each Sunday I stop at Tim Horton's for coffee because I don't wake up in enough time to get ready and make my own.  As I drive through town I usually see a family or two going to a different church I know and I wave my donut at them, as they wave at me. 

I knew it was bad when i was driving in Pittsburgh a year or so ago and I was on 279 and I saw a green Subaru and thought "Hey David has a green Subaru, maybe that's him."  There was NO WAY that that was going to be David.....but I looked anyway.  It wasn't David.

I know.  You think I'm crazy.  You'd have to be here to understand.  And even then I don't think you really would.

December Blog: Where I Live

For the family who needs to go hunting together:

Where I Live: 4 by 4 Part 2

I've wondered this before: I want people to come visit us. No one ever does. Is that because I post this section? Possibly. OH well.

So I'd like to remind you of the original 4 by 4 post in the Where I Live section. It was a pick-up that had some great camouflage accents.

I can top that. Just have some of your vehicle so that animals and people can't see it, isn't good enough. We need the whole dang thing done.

Where I Live: Christmas Walk

I'm counting this still as Dec. 7 even though it's the 8th, but I just got back from hockey so I'm still awake as it's the 7th. So it still counts.

Talk about Americana. Every year our town has the Santa Parade and Christmas walk. Here it is in a nutshell. There's a super short parade (6 blocks tops). The band plays. Some community groups march. And at the end is Santa. Immediately following the parade, almost all the shops down town are open and most have window displays.

So last Friday was the day. It was cool, but not bitter and no snow this year. Some years have been bitter cold and TONS of snow. Here are some pictures.

Do you do something like this in your town? Is there something different? Tell me about it.

Where I Live: Fill Er' Up

I haven't done a "Where I Live" post in awhile. When I saw this I stopped because I knew it was perfect. This was in no way staged. This is where I live.

Where I Live: Pre-Parade nonsense

A couple years ago I posted (it was before my "Where I Live series started but would be in there today) about the Warren phenomenon of lawn chairs for the 4th of July. To recount....every year Warren has a 4th of July parade. It's one of the two largest events of the year. People literally come from all over for this parade. Now it's not the greatest parade you'll ever see. There are no giant Spiderman balloons or anything. But the town is PACKED with people.

The real craziness happens (in my opinion) before the parade begins. Lawn chairs. Tons of them. People put their lawn chairs out for the parade early. Not like an hour before the parade early.....like a week early. No joke. I was driving around this morning and took these with my cell phone. (note that I pulled over for both pictures...no one was in danger)

For those keeping score at home, today is one week from the parade. These chairs will sit here all week long. They will be joined by many many more.

So for all those in need of new lawn furniture, and don't mind breaking the 3rd Commandment....Warren is the place for you this week.

Where I Live: Secret Service Edition

On this installment of Where I Live...we welcome the Secret Service and FBI to our town. Why? Well it's not because Bill Clinton is coming back to speak (though that happened last spring).

It's because of a personal ad.

Our local paper printed an ad placed by some genius in our community. No biggie right? Well it sort of is if the ad threatens the life of the President of the United States.

Here's the full news story from ABC News.

The long and short of it is that the ad basically said that they wanted to see Obama go the same way as Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy.....all of whom were assassinated.

There are several problems with this.

-The most obvious being that you're making a direct threat or implication of threat on the President.
-Someone at the paper has no grasp of history. OK I'm willing to give you the fact that perhaps you didn't know that Garfield and McKinley were assassinated....but Lincoln and Kennedy? Come on. The only thing that I can think is that the ad person just didn't read the ad at all before they printed it. This wouldn't be very shocking really because there are so many things printed in our local paper that are misprints and just plain ridiculous.
-I'm totally fine with not liking the job the President is doing. I didn't for, nor do I agree with all of the policies of the current administration. HOWEVER....killing someone never really seems to be the answer.
-Someone in our community thinks that expressing this thought aloud will do some good?
-This is just my own thoughts here....but I would guess this is racially motivated. The President has created a few new policies. I don't really see any of them as "deal breakers" though. Like it's not like he's now decided to tax 60% of our income or add a new gasoline tax. So I'm struggling for another reason to be this angry about him other than race. Remember that Warren is 98.2% Caucasian. (I could be proven wrong about this in the long run...it's just my own theory.)
-This isn't exactly how I'd like us to "get on the map"

Where I Live: Winter Blah

It's late January. I haven't seen the sun in.......well I'm not sure. I obviously haven't posted anything for awhile. I'm in a funk.

I've grown up here. I knew what I was getting into when I moved back here. I don't complain about the weather. I hate when people who have lived here 30-40-50 years complain about snow. If it's a problem, move. Every year it snows. Every year it gets cold. Every year we don't see the sun for a LONG time. I don't complain about the weather.

The little chunk of PA that we live in sees the less sunlight than most of the US. Literally. So people deal with the winter blah's a little more than normal.

I don't mind snow. I like it actually. It's pretty. It's fun to play in. Great for sledding. It's useful for throwing at teenagers. I'm not a fan of extreme cold. I have poor circulation in my hands and feet, so the extreme cold kills me, but whatever.

Today was annoying though. Corban bugged me all day to go sled riding. We couldn't until Marjorie got home from work to watch Tobiah. So as she walked in the door, we walked out. I love sledding. I always have. The cold wind rushing past your face as you slide down the hill. Laughter usually ensues.

We currently have just shy of 2 feet of snow. It's big fluffy stuff. Not good for throwing snowballs or making snowmen. Not bad for sledding...........normally. Remember that Corban is only about 3 1/2 feet tall. So unless he's walking behind me, he really struggles to walk through it.

Now the way sledding works (for those living in fairer climates) is that your sled kind of skims the top of the snow. When Corban and I sat down on the sled we sank a foot down into the snow. Luckily there was a little bit of a rut from someone who had bee on the hill the day before....otherwise we would've gone nowhere. Coming back up the hill.....there was no option at all.....I HAD to pull him behind me on the sled. His little legs would've never made it.

I don't mind the snow. I know that we're not done with it by a long shot. It's kind of silly when you can't even use it for fun though.

Where I Live: 4 BY 4!

I know, I know where you live there are pick-up trucks too. Where you live there are people who are "outdoorsie".

I will remind you that I live on the end of the Allegheny National Forest. The first day of hunting season (this past Monday) is like a national holiday here. Kids get school off. There are some employers who shut down too....and others just understand that people won't be showing up to work...or calling in "sick".

So because of these things there is an abundance of 4 wheel drive vehicles, particularly pick-up trucks. They don't know how to drive them, but they have them. They often still drive slow in the snow...but they're everywhere. A local youth pastor thinks his wife is the "coolest wife ever" because she thought it would be a good idea to trade in their minivan for a huge extended cab pick-up.

So if you had a vehicle you loved, what would you do? Pimp it. Maybe jack it up.....possibly. Maybe pin-stripe it? YES! But not just any pinstriping. I mean you need to prove you're a true outdoorsman. You have to prove your truck could probably hunt even if you weren't going with the truck. That's right!.....you need camouflage pinstriping. The best part is that this isn't incredibly uncommon.

Where I Live???: Function over Fasion

I'm not sure if this falls into the category of "Where I Live" but it's close.

First you need to know that I live in a part of the world that gets a good deal of snow. We get hit with lake effect snow coming off of Lake Erie. In the past 24 hours we've had...(I'm guessing here)...a foot to a foot and a half of snow.

It should also be noted that I have never in my life been close to the height of fashion. One only needs to see me once to verify this. I've been wearing most of the same T-shirts for the past 15 years.

So this morning I was driving Corban to the doctor. I saw a woman downtown wearing high heeled winter boots. I was amazed at such creations. Not that I didn't know they existed. I just didn't realize they existed here.

In our area we are almost always WAY behind in the fashion department. There are ladies here that are still wearing the giant bangs from the 80's. (I kid you not.) I'm fine with that. That's part of where I live......but there are still lots of folks who are up with fashion and make themselves presentable.

However....what I've noticed is this. When winter hits, most people throw all that out the window and function reigns. We trade any sort of style for warm and waterproof. It's not uncommon to see people in the supermarket in giant winter boots (for that matter I did that last night.)

The idea that someone would be wearing high heeled boots on the first BIG snow of the year was unfathomable to me. Again, I'm probably WAY out of the loop on this....but we have LOTS of snow...what the heck are you gonna do with heel boots?

I have GIANT boots. They're big and clonky. I have bad circulation in my hands and feet so I bought super duper insulated boots that would keep me warm no matter what. I rarely lace them up....unless I"m seriously going hiking or out in the snow....otherwise my feet get TOO warm.

All this to say...things that might be normal or overlooked in NYC or Philadelphia or Pittsburgh are ridiculous here.

Where I Live: N. Warren Volunteer Fire Department

I grew up in North Warren (which oddly enough is a mile north of the city of Warren). When Mari and I moved here in 2000 we lived downtown (it's funny just to say that). ANYWAY....after two moves we found an awesome duplex in North Warren. We didn't intentionally move here, it just worked out that way. What you need to know about North Warren is that it's as quaint as you can get. The highway is on one side of NW and the Conewango Creek (crick or creek are both acceptable here) is on the other side. It's like an island. People walk the streets and say high to neighbors. They slow down when they see kids playing (mostly). It's cute.

So when I was growing up North Warren had it's own Elementary School. Actually the Elementary School was fully functional until a couple years ago when they built a giant centralized Elementary School. During Elementary School there was always a very special week called "Fire Prevention Week". Each class made posters and talked about how to be safe at home. The best part though was that the local Volunteer Fire Dept. would come down during school hours and give rides on the truck. It was the highlight. The winning poster from each class got to sit up front! (I either won one year or got second or something because I definitely remember sitting up front one year!)

So whatever night they gave rides that the Elementary School, that night they would also give rides to the community. You could go down the street to the VFD and line up and take a ride. Back in the day I remember lights and sirens, but they've cut that back...probably due to complaints.

With the Elementary School out, they clearly don't do Elementary School rides anymore. They do however go to the local Day Care and give them rides. Here's the best part.....they still give rides at night. So guess who went on a fire truck ride? ME AND CORBAN! We went late and were the only ones riding so we sat up front....which Corban thought was amazing.

The driver forgot to inform of some crucial information before we left. Corban was sitting on my lap. We get to the first turn and I put my foot out to brace us so we didn't slam into the door. Well SURPRISE!!! There are two switch/pedals on the passenger side. One for the siren and one for the blarring horn. I tramped squarely on the blaring horn. I didn't realize what was going on until the driver said "Hey...uh...your foot....uh...pick up your foot...." So much for making the neighbors happy.

Fun night for all.

Where I Live: Kinzua Dam

This will be a new recurring feature on my blog. I've been realizing that most everyone reading my blog hasn't been to the Warren area. This is both an amazingly beautiful and peculiar part of the world to live in. This section will feature both of those things. Enjoy.

To start this feature I thought it important to show the LARGEST and one of the prettiest areas of where we live. We live on the end of the Allegheny National Forest. In and of itself it's beautiful and allows lots of hikes and climbs etc. To add to that though, in 1965 the Army Corp of Engineers built the Kinzua Dam. This Dam creates a HUGE reservoir that goes the whole way up into NY state. Basically without this Dam every spring towns all along the Allegheny River would be flooded....and that includes Pittsburgh. It also releases water during dry summers to keep the Allegheny at reasonable levels for recreation and wildlife.

Because of glaciers that were here the surrounding hills are cut just so...and the reservoir is below it. This time of year as the leaves change colors it creates some amazing scenery. The Dam also creates electricity as well from the flow released from the Dam. There's a GIANT retaining pool high in a nearby hillside. At night water is pumped up there when energy is cheap and then released in the day as there is a greater need. (perhaps another "Where I Live" will be pictures of this retaining pool)

Also because of the glaciers there are some areas that have GIANT rocks. This particular afternoon (last weekend) we went to one of the Recreation Areas that have some of the rocks so we could climb around while we looked at the hillsides. (Again perhaps another feature will be my favorite one of these areas).

Come for a visit and we'll go explore!