2019 Retrospective, 2020 Plans

Hi everybody, and thanks for being so patient. When I wrote about Hawk Mountain a few weeks back, I mentioned having missed a post due to being extremely sick, and that I was still "not quite firing on all cylinders." As the blog's Facebook followers learned not long afterward, it turned out that I had a pretty serious case of pneumonia, which is not the way I had planned to spend Thanksgiving. I've been doing a lot of resting these last few weeks and I'm getting better, although the cough lingers. I was sorry to keep everyone waiting so long for a new post, but I'm grateful for how much attention the Hawk Mountain article received in the meantime.

Because I'm still recovering, it's been hard to conduct any real research since my doctor handed down the diagnosis. It's also the holiday season, which is busy enough on its own, and I have a job in retail so my time is at an even greater premium. So what I thought I'd do to wrap things up for 2019 is to take a look at where this blog has been, and talk about where I'm planning to take it in the new year. No pictures, just a bit of a chat with your intrepid blogger.

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Kempton, Berks County

Back in the saddle this week! I couldn't update on schedule last week, as my Facebook followers saw, because I was extremely sick. Still not quite firing on all cylinders, but doing better than I was and I appreciate everyone who reached out to wish me better.

My husband Kevin and I went out on a special trip last month to collect this marker. It's a place which is very near and dear to my heart, as I spent several years there as a volunteer, and I was so pleased to hear they were finally getting a marker. I only missed the ceremony because it was at the same time that the Richard Moore marker was being dedicated, and I had already promised to be in Quakertown that day. Because I love Hawk Mountain so much, this post will be maybe a touch longer than usual and with more photographs.

Lindley Murray, East Hanover Township, Lebanon County

Autumn has once again descended on Pennsylvania, with this week and the next expected to bring our peak colors. It's my favorite time of year and I'm hoping to get out this weekend and get some pictures - and not only of markers!

This week's quest is a relatively quiet one, since it's one of those for which I only have a picture of the marker itself. People who know me well may find it an amusing subject for me, though; among my friends and family members I'm known as being a stickler for grammar (that's putting it mildly), and so was today's subject. In fact, he wrote the book.

Packer Mansion, Jim Thorpe, Carbon County

Before we get into the meat of today's post, I wanted to share a link that was sent to me by Karen Galle, from the PHMC office. She enjoyed my description of the Richard Moore marker dedication and wanted to make sure I knew (and could tell all of you) that there's a calendar on the PHMC website, detailing upcoming dedication ceremonies. If you'd be interested in attending the unveiling of a new marker near you, be sure to take a look and mark your own calendar! Thanks, Karen!

I live very close to the point where the borders of Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon Counties all meet. Jim Thorpe is not too far from me, and I'm rather fond of the quaint little community. We used to drive through it periodically when I was a child, on the way to visit relatives in the nearby town of Nesquehoning, and the view of Jim Thorpe as we would enter it from its southern end has always been arresting to me. Of particular interest to my childhood fancies was the enormous green house with the red roofs, nestled into the distant hills. What was this fairy tale come to life? Who lived there?

Richard Moore, Quakertown, Bucks County

Before I sink my teeth into this week's post, let me draw your attention to the snazzy new header image, designed by my friend Rachel - I love it so much! Check out the quest links page if you'd like to contact her about her graphic designs. Thank you, Rach!

Last week, I told you about the fun I had watching this marker be unveiled and dedicated. This week, we'll actually talk about what's on the marker, and the history which led to it.

I recently had a conversation with my mother about history. Apparently, some public school students we know were never taught about the Underground Railroad in school, and neither of us can figure out why. Part of the reason it's so important for us to learn about our history is so that we can learn from our history, or else mankind is just doomed to keep making the same mistakes. I don't generally get political on this blog, for what I would imagine are fairly obvious reasons, but I also don't think it's exactly a major political statement when I say that slavery is wrong, and is one of the big mistakes that we need to learn not to repeat. 

Richard Moore marker dedication, Quakertown, Bucks County

So if you're paying attention to my usual update schedule, you might be thinking, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be posting next week instead of this week?" And you would be correct, because this is one of the in-between weeks in which I don't tell you about the history behind a marker.

Instead, I thought I'd do a sort of 'special edition' for the blog, and share my experiences from this past weekend when a marker was dedicated. I don't know how often I'll be able to attend a marker dedication ceremony, but I'm going to get to them when I can because I'm interested to see how the different communities handle the events. This was the first one I ever attended, and I had a wonderful time. The actual history behind the Richard Moore marker will be covered in next week's regularly scheduled blog post; but here's how it went seeing it unveiled.

The Unknown Soldier, Bethlehem, Northampton County

It's been a while since MarkerQuest went to Bethlehem, and I find myself missing it a little bit, so I thought that we'd welcome September (and celebrate my birthday) by heading back there. This is sort of a sequel to a previous post, which is always fun for me.

Last December, I talked about visiting the replica of the first house in Bethlehem, and how it was the place where the city received its name. In that post, I mentioned that the replica house includes a plaque related to soldiers buried on a nearby hillside, and how that's related to Bethlehem's very own Unknown Soldier, which is what I thought I would cover today.