This was our last day here in Pennsylvania. It's hard to believe we have been here for a week already. This is the second time this year we have spent time in Pennsylvania. Last July we went to Pittsburgh for a week for the Mennonite Church USA biennial gathering, then spent a week with our friends Leslie and Bill exploring the area of western Pennsylvania. This time we have spent our time in eastern Pennsylvania, but there is a whole bunch of this big state that we have not been anywhere near.
Of course, we did use part of our time here checking out Delaware and New Jersey as well. I continue to be surprised at how green the eastern portion of country is. I know it has been a wet spring, but from what I hear, the countryside is always green this time of year.
We have speculated wondering just how many people are actually employed mowing?! We first noticed it when we were in Louisiana and Mississippi working with Mennonite Disaster Service and have continued to observe it this entire trip. I get the impression that is there weren't people continually mowing along the highways, they would be quickly engulfed by the grass. I commented to Niece Daphne when we visited her in Virginia about all of the lawn they had to mow. She commented that it was actually mostly volunteer weeds! Unlike most housing in the west, there seem to be very few fences between properties -- and it's all mowed!
We've been a bit surprised by all of the agriculture we have been seeing. There are lots of fields of grain in various stages of ripeness as well as many fields planted to corn -- fields that range from a couple of inches tall to way over knee-high. We've seen a few fields of strawberries, some of blueberries and several fields full of cabbages.
Most of the communities seem to be fairly prosperous. There are not a lot of empty buildings or run-down properties. We've loved seeing all of the old tall brick and stone houses and churches. It is beautiful country.
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