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Prices at the gas pumps rising… inflation. does anybody have money really to travel for vacation?

So its time to adapt. And do a vacation of exploring our local communities. Their is plenty to do around lancaster, we plenty of parks. The Lancaster County Park is partly in the city limits. So today I visited the park and snapped some photos at “Garden of Five Senses”.

I grew up a dirt poor kid in Lancaster. So I have been visiting the parks and fished the Contestoga river.I do not worry when the money belt gets a little tight, pertaining to vacation. I been through it many times before.

Visiting the Park, and the Garden of five senses is free. Its great for couples are kids, and no need for big plans to visit.

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Hard to believe these Eastern Pines Grow in the city limits. I wish i could upload the Smells and odors of this garden. too bad i cannot find the right file format.

Plenty of signs that explain the natural history and life in The Garden of Five Senses. The one on the left is in braille for the vision impaired.

I love to hear the water move in the garden. this is a pond right in the middle.

With no money to travel, we mind as well see how nature flowers in flows at home!

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Call me Ishmael, but I have been obsessed on getting a decent picture of the Red- Tail Hawks that have been flying into the City of Lancaster. Despite being called a “chicken Hawk”, these common birds of prey feed on mostly rodents, and rabbits. They generally like open places to hunt, such as farms or open fields.

So i am surprised to see them in the city limits, where it is tough fly and hunt with their wide wing spans.

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Left: is the huge antenna at U.G.I, near Farnum field. You can see the skeleton of the new Convention Center in the backround.
Right: is  one of two Red tail Hawks who are in the “light stage” this means they are just past the juvenile stage.   You can see the white breast, which will become darker as the bird ages into its “dark stage”.
well i am sure I can get some closer pictures in the future,
All well, Happy Memorial day.

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As spring calls out to me to enjoy the great outdoors…my computer keeps trying to call me back with goodies:
* Wordpress released its wordpress 2.55 package and a new dashboard design for the free wordpress.com

* Openoffice.org the opensource equivalent Microsofts office just released Openoffice 2.4

* Avant Browser, a lite speed cruisin browser just released its new build.

* Modzilla is planning to release Firefox version 3.o on wedseday,outside of Beta.

So many new toys!… Its a conspiracy to keep me away from my fly fishing rod and hiking boots… oh my computer it is such a horrible enabler to my internet addiction.

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Julia was part of America’s “Greatest Generation”. She was a poor child of the depression. She was an aspiring musician who played on a couple radio programs in the 1930s.( today I have her saxophones)

She joined the U.S army during WW2 and she was one of the first women stationed abroad in the U.S military.

Julia was a single mother who worked full time to raise her child. She became the first Female council woman of Lancaster City government, while raising her family and working full time.
My fondest memory of Grandma Julia was, when she took me too my first Philadelphia Phillies Baseball game. I was eight years old. (the worst memory of her is when she told me she had become an Atlanta Braves fan.. he)
Julia (1922 - 2007).
We finally got her favorite type of tree (weeping willow) tree…
planted spot on the Conestoga river. tomorrow is her Birthday.
Happy Birthday Grandma.

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Today, i worked a half work day. It was a voluntary Saturday shift… too cold to really do anything outdoors … and i could always use the money. The opportunity of taking some pictures of my ride home was evident as well.

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After work, The feed mill is always the first image to greet me. Often the swirling clouds appear to be interacting with mill. I work out in the rural country, near Mt. Joy . This image of the mill represents a great deal of central Pennsylvania. Both the Blue Collar and Rural values are imminent.
I left behind my forklift and machine workday … took in the view (and odor) of the mill and country side…
And head for home in my beat-up pick up truck.

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heading for home i traveled across the railroad tracks. The Amtrak carrying passengers and the Conrail carrying freight both use these tracks. The farms of both the old-order Mennonites and Amish dot the country side…
(its a myth that these two groups don’t use tractors or any power at all .
Each Amish or “older order” Mennonite community has different views on what mechanical vehicles or appliances they will use.)

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Across the quiet trout streams like the Conewago Creek. When i snapped this picture, four bicycle riders swooshed by me. Bicycling is a popular hobby in Lancaster County…An obsession for some. We have many great bicycling paths here. They were moving to fast for me to take a picture.

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I detoured away from my usual drive home today. it was Saturday after all.

I love walking or even driving by creek in the country..
With Lancaster County’s Population passing the half million mark…and shopping centers popping up more and more frequently,
These quiet and unpolluted scenes are becoming more scarce. But when i am walking along these creeks I am not thinking of that.
I just taken the scene for what is.
If it wasnt so damn cold, i would have spent all day there.

But i did have a couple chores to do so I snap this shot of some old random mill… and continued on my path back to Lancaster City.

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As I headed into into the City of Lancaster, I was greeted by it”s heritage and history immediately. Traveling down Marietta ave. I pass by Wheatland.

Wheatland was the final home of ex President James Buchanan. He was the 15th president, one before Abe Lincoln.
He is best known today for his lack of action during his tenure. Southern states seceded from the U.S. … soon to create the Confederacy. He believed that he could not Constitutionally prevent this. The American Civil War would soon follow.

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Back in “civilization”, I stopped at Manor Shopping Center. The conveniences of Multiplex Movie theaters, grocery stores, and barber shops .. all in one place.

I sometimes wonder, with all of the nature i see on my drive home…
Why the hell Seagulls congregate at shopping center parking lots. perhaps they like the modern conveniences .
Me? I came to the shopping center to pick up kitty litter for this guy..

waiting for me at home…

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Home, finally home.

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my view of Lancaster Pa from my neighborhood.

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Some guys just Ham it up for the Cam.

and then others…like this Red tail Hawk:

are too busy hunting squirrels to wait for me to catch a close up.

(dont worry The Hawk here went empty handed…Lancaster squirrels are very quick…This birds prey made it to the safety of his tree.)

with the unseasonable warm weather in Pennsylvania…and the forcasted Nor’easter tomorrow,

it seem like a good day to get some pictures with my, very new digital camera.

So after jumping in my truck and getting some stuff at the dollar store:

I headed out…

I was way to lazy to do any real walking with my cam.
Today i went over to Millersville State University. Millersville is only a couple miles west of the City of Lancaster. It is an easy drive to to the Pond there.

M.S.U started as an academy for teaching. It is still highly ranked for preparing students to become elementary and high school educators. M S U has been ranked in the top 100 schools per dollar tuition every year for at least 15 years now.

I have family and friends who are Alumni of Millersville State University. It has stood as a  solid community resource for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for along time.

Strange how Animals will adapt to live around us.

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