It felt so good to come home last night. I’ve been in Pennsylvania for the last 10 days with my mother. This has become an annual pilgrimage for her visiting friends and my dads relatives in Windber Pa (named for the Berwind Coal Co of about 75 years ago) which is near Johnstown ( Johnstown flood fame).

We made our way back in time as well…. 65 years ago my mother was an 18 year old war bride of 3 mo who moved to this small Pennsylvania coal town where her new husband’s family lived. He left her to go to war in faraway North Africa on Christmas Eve 1941. She would not see him again for 3 ½ yrs. In the mean time she was befriended by a large polish Catholic family, the Fluder’s. Mom and I stayed with John and Fern Fluder during our stay. Every day I listened to their stories of a time long past.

To help me pass the time, John was able to borrow a Schwinn cross bike for me. Unfortunately this bike had only two chain rings in front so I had to ride the many significant hills without granny gear! I rode the back roads mainly as I was pretty hesitant to venture out on any of the unfamiliar highways due to the very narrow shoulders, windy county roads and traffic that included huge coal trucks. The roads offered great rides along this beautiful country.

We where treated to great food of course, including our own personal Octoberfest which consisted of beer, kolbosi and a traditional polish dish “halushki” ( this polish dish is a combination of sautéed cabbage and onions mixed with buttered egg noodles and cottage cheese… sounded pretty weird to me, but it really was good). And John made sure our Oktoberfest was complete by treating us to a rousing mini concert on his keyboard, including “ There’s No Beer in Heaven Polka”…. (gasp!)

We also managed to see a great play “Late Night Catechism” (if you’ve never seen this play check out a write up at: http://www.tribune-democrat.com/features/local_story_271140537.html?keyword=secondarystory. If you happened to be in Catholic Schools during the 1950’s-60, you would love this play.)

I had the mornings to myself taking as long as I wanted to run along the quiet wooded roads, watching the leaves and country side change into fall. To say that the county was beautiful is an understatement. One evening, I’ll never forget the walk I took to a neighbor’s field. I sat there for over an hour watching the sun set over what looked like the entire county. I remember thinking, ( as my mother must have thought over 65 years ago) how could there possibly be a war going on in this beautiful world.

Most of our “vacations” are spent doing, traveling, shopping, and dealing with traffic and confusion of strange towns. This was a different vacation, a time to step back in time and appreciate this world, with nothing to do but watch the gold and crimson leaves fall gently to the ground.