Travelocity

I love the Eastern U.S., well parts of it. I often wonder if it is time for us to make a move. Watching Becca and Bruce head off to the Philippines this fall nearly made me sick with envy. I have to say that Eastern PA is a wonderful place. I could live there so easily--and this was a great trip because I actually spent most of the time visiting public schools and community gardens so I felt like a got a nice view of reality.

Although, the other part was at Longwood--with the largest lily pad collection in the Americas. These were as large as a dinner table. The flowers were as large as my head. 

And the orchid room. They have about 5000 species of orchids on the site. They only display about a third. This atrium was filled on all four sides. You really have to see it to believe it.

I have an incredible fascination with the Purple Martin. I want to put some of these houses in my yard, but they would only fill up with wasps. Curse you, desert climate.

The spice bush- you scrape the thin layer of bark off and it smells like Christmas. So cool. And look at these cool "woods"--I forget that you don't have to pray for trees to grow in other parts of the country.

Lancaster. This is just outside the Amish sector. Without a doubt my favorite type of home architecture. I love the windows with shutters, candles in the windows--l.o.v.e. I liked visiting the Amish Country. I thought that I was adventurous with food preservation, but I don't have anything on these folks. I brought home some raspberry butter. I can't even imagine how many raspberries you would need to make one pint of the stuff--but glory, it is heavenly.

One more reason I love the East. Toads. All the school gardens we visited had toad houses. The toads actually LIVE in them. I think it is so cool. Oh, and the ponds have these glorious bull frogs that make the most amazing sounds. They just hang out and you listen to them while watching the fireflies in the evenings. Seriously--I never get tired of it.

Hardwood trees. Reason #904.

#905...box turtles. I captured a wild box turtle and held it in my hands. This is a male because his eyes are red. It helps that I get to travel with a personal nature guide who could identify every bird or insect.

Lastly, a playhouse made entirely of twigs. Could you die? This would be a total fire hazard in CV--in the late summer you would have to have triple the insurance on the property just to make it legal. Still cool.