Sunday at Delaware's Mt. Cuba

Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware is 600 acres of natural woodlands majesty, and is recognized as one of the region's finest woodland wildflower gardens.

Generally, the gardens is a place of quiet beauty, but on Sunday, a few thousand people descended on the center for the eighth annual Wildflower Celebration.

The narrow wooded paths were loaded with nature lovers, but the electric colors and the wide range of wildflowers still shined.

The center is exquisite in its neatness, its winding paths and towering trees. It's history is simple. In 1935, the president of the Du  Pont Company, Lammot du Pont Copeland, built a stately Colonial Revival manor house here and hired architects to build the gardens.

On all but a few special days of the year, the public can only see the gardens in a group of up to 15 people alongside a docent, who explains the history of the center and the different plants. Cost is $5, reservations are required.

• On Friday, May 11, the center is celebrating National Public Gardens Day, and admission is free. The public can stroll the gardens without a docent and without reservations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

For parties of  nine or less tours are available for Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 10 a.m.; Saturdays and Sundays at 1 p.m. For groups of 10 or more -- tours are available Tuesday through Sundays.

While the system might seem restrictive, the gardens are pristine, and are kept that way by controlling the crowds.

Take a day trip to Corning Glass

A glass sculpture, made entirely from glass fibers.

A Saturday trip to Corning, New York, to visit the Corning Museum of Glass was a colorful jaunt, first to visit the museum and next to make my own glass ornament. Sometimes it's good not to grow up.

Corning is about 188 miles from York, or a 3.5 hour drive. The drive is quick and pleasant, speeding up U.S. route 15 over the mountains through Selinsgrove, Williamsport, past Mansfield and finally to Corning.

Check the Corning web site for what to do while you're there, and don't assume it's the usual boring museum. Make an appointment to make your own sculpture, ornament or beads, (you can make appointments online) for an extra fee. Then wander the museum that explains the history of glass a lot clearer than you ever thought (excuse the pun).

 Among other things, you'll see bendable glass, fiber optics, art pieces and the invention of a particular kind of glass that came 30 years before there was even a use for it. That's a fascinating story-- hint: You're using it right now. 

There are plenty of glass sculptures that defy logic and how they were crafted. Stories of huge globes and the history of telescopes, lenses and microscopes. If it's about glass, you'll see it here.

If you want to make a longer trip of it, visit Clyde Peeling's Reptiland in Allenwood (between Williamsport and Lewisburg). Now, this is a must-see for anyone who enjoys the beauty of reptiles, or is just mystified by them. For those who can pass them up, there is 6,500 square feet in which to hide from them.

In Williamsport, check out the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum with your little sluggers or the King of Grocery stores, Wegman's. If you haven't shopped at a Wegman's, you're missing a real treat-- in a lot of different ways.

Eaglets in Codorus Creek nest

Just north of route 30--  Before the foliage hides the bald eagle's nest entirely, you might want to get a peak at the two eaglets in the nest on east side of the Codorus Creek near The Hop. Be sure to take along binoculars or even better, a spotting scope. Check nearby trees and structures, because one of the adults is out searching for food and may take a rest, even on light poles and fences.  The best chance to get a good photo might be now, since the nest is so far away. A 500mm lens will do just fine as they rest, but to shoot the nest, the eagles will show up as a 'wildlife dot' even with a 500mm lens.


I only saw two eaglets-- maybe there are more-- and this is the only photo with both in the picture without foliage blocking the view. To see the nest, park in San Carlo's and The Hop parking lot and walk north on the dike, behind the water treatment plant. You'll see the nest on the opposite side of the creek in a sycamore tree. The Hop is a good place for dinner, once your birding is completed.

To see more nests in York County, check Codorus State Park, McFalls Ferry Road in Lower Chanceford Township and Lake Williams in Kain County Park. There are more, but are built on private land and not accessible without permission. Lancaster County has the second highest number of eagle nests in Pennsylvania-- many are in the Susquehanna River, bordering York County.

To see dozens of eagles, much closer than these and easier to photograph, drive to Maryland's Conowingo Dam. 

Good friends and a special baby

Almost certainly, the fact that I'm not a big fan of babies has something to do with me never being a father. And it's probably why there are few baby pictures in my albums. I can remember only two other times in the past 20 years that babies have graced my monitor.

That being said, I can't imagine NOT wanting to take pictures of Troy and Tara's new baby girl. But it's altogether different than shooting for a newspaper.  In newspapers, we capture what happens, period. Posing, creative lighting, backgrounds are all foreign concepts. Babies don't take directions well, sudden bursts of light bother them and posing takes the patience of, well, a mother and father. And if the baby spits up, there's a good chance I'll loose my lunch too.  At the risk of sounding apologetic, I must admit she is a cute little girl. I'm a sucker for that pretty little pink bow. One reason I never became a father-- I was afraid I'd have a little boy.

All photos were done with no flash, just the available light. We used just a white sheet for the background, and Mom and Dad both wore white shirts.

I'm a big fan of Australian Anne Geddes, a photographer whose baby photos are truly works of art. While checking her website, look over her blog.

Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge

Common terns

Glossy ibis

 Osprey

        Always liked the name of a particular bird-- the
 Hudsonian Godwit. It just sounds a little strange, maybe cerebral, almost regal.  Maybe I've seen one already and just didn't realize it. It's a chubby shorebird with a long bill like we've all seen by the thousands, and to me, they all look alike. Kind of like warblers. There are a million of  'em. So I'm still looking.

Instead of spending the day losing money in Atlantic City, take a left a few miles north of  AC, and discover some of the 47,000 acres of Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge., a division of Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.  Eighty percent of the refuge is tidal salt marsh and meadows, giving feathered creatures room to wander.


A large section of Brigantine is enclosed by dikes, and many water birds, especially in spring and fall, find the refuge a perfect stop-off during migration.

Dikes control water levels, but also provide an eight-mile

car or bike trail.

For us two-legged visitors, an eight-mile bike or car trail on the dikes winds through the refuge, giving us great opportunities to see the wildlife.

Now, I like to photograph birds because of their color, free spirit, and the challenge. But I'm not a wildlife photographer. Because I have all the patience of a cocker spaniel puppy,  I'm gone within minutes if the picture doesn't present itself. These photos were all taken on a quick drive-through of the area. Imagine what you can capture taking your time.

And, I know the names of a few birds, but am not a birder. I know the difference between an osprey and a bald eagle (we saw both). Through pictures and books, I know we saw herons, egrets, warblers, terns, seagulls (?), and hundreds of miscellaneous water birds (plovers, ducks, etc.), all unnamed. Maybe a Hudsonian Godwit. I just don't know.

Longwood Gardens isn't 'just' flowers

Longwood Gardens is about 90 minutes from York in Kennett, Pa.,  and it's a place you'll find hard NOT to like, even if you're not a nature lover. Many years ago, I remember a friend's daughter saying our trip to Alaska was boring. "It's just trees," she said, without a note of sarcasm. With that in mind, Longwood is 'just' flowers. And trees, and fountains, architecture, waterfalls.  Here are some reviews from the website--

"It's hard to write about Longwood Gardens without taking all the superlatives you can think of and stringing them into one long sentence.  This place is incredible, amazing, stunning, fabulous, mesmerizing, and unforgettable.  All these things are true even if you are not a gardener.  This place delights just about everybody, even children."

"Amazing lily ponds.
Gigantic greenhouses.
Stunning architecture and buildings.
Friendly, helpful staff.
Gorgeous flowers, trees, greenery, landscaping.
Fountains, waterfalls, ponds, all over the place."

 Friday, April 18 is Earth Day, and visitors can go behind the scenes to see the production greenhouses that supply the gardens and its color.

On April 27 and 28, visit the gardens for the Arbor Day celebration. The first 400 visitors receive a free tree seedling.

Check the photos hanging throughout the entrance building. They make these photos look like snapshots.

"The house was tired, and it went away"

Edwin Miller looks over the ground at the back of his old home. The door frame was left standing when someone drove past and asked excavator Grant Deller to leave it for him. The next day, only the frame remained.

The old house stood along side Lititz Pike for 200 years and now Edwin Miller looks over a pile of red bricks and a door frame. He remembers growing up here.

But the two-story brick home, built around 1810, was showing its age, and was torn down last week after decades of unuse and misuse. J. Joseph Deller and Sons Inc., of Red Lion tore down the home before it could collapse. Just north of  Neffsville,  it's a bare square of dirt where the house once stood.


Now 84, Miller and his wife of 62 years, Phyllis, wandered over what was once a 40-acre farm in Manheim Township, Lancaster County. His father bought the land in 1917, with the house, the pig barn and a beautiful Victorian style barn on it.  WILMAC of York owns the property now, part of Lancashire Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

 Movie actress Daryl Hannah (Splash, Blade Runner, Kill Bill) had apparently made an offer to dismantle the gingerbread-covered barn and have it rebuilt elsewhere, but those plans fell through, says Miller. This barn shows a building date of 1861, but an earlier barn built on the site may have burned down, although Miller says he never found evidence of that.


Miller's father lost some of his 40 acre farm to the Manheim Township school district through eminent domain. A developer offered to buy the remainder of the property, and then build a nursing home, which couldn't be 'eminent domained', Miller says.


The house was rented for a few years, but renters didn't take care of it, and then it stood vacant. Vandals stripped the house of everything, including  wire and pipe. Some of the 200-year old bricks were crumbling and turning to chalk.

A few good bricks will be taken to New Jersey, where Miller's son lives. Maybe, too, a few of the old bottles they found.  Behind the summer kitchen, Phyllis spots half of a mill stone, something she thinks should be taken to Jersey too. With help from Deller's backhoe, the stone is dropped into a pickup truck and now sits in the Miller's Rohrstown backyard. Edwin thinks it will probably stay there.


Edwin recalls memories of New Year's Eve parties, shelling peas on the front porch and their wedding rehearsal dinner at the house; farm chores with the pigs, cattle, chickens, turkeys, quails, dogs and cats. Since Ed was an only child, his Dad, Sandy,  hired extra farm hands and 22 people crowded around the dinner table. The house had two cold water spigots, one for the cistern and the other for the well. When the work was done, Ed's mother would play her peddle organ.

Ed's father was one of six children, and bath day was quite an ordeal, as Ed was told. The family took baths in the attic, he says, and the children would haul water upstairs. Once full, the kids would take baths in descending order of 'dirtiness', Edwin says. The boys, he admitted, would always go last.


"The house served several families well, but it was tired, and went away," says Edwin. "It wasn't a good feeling, seeing the house you grew up in being demolished. But we had 20 years to get used to it happening. We were happy it was still there for Dad."


Edwin went off to graduate from Lafayette College and returned to work for 36 years at Lancaster's RCA -- the first mass produced color TV tube was built there. He retired in 1986, and now he's a guide for  historic downtown Lancaster. He'll tell you stories about two of the town's most famous residents, president James Buchanan and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens.  The pair owned offices a couple blocks apart before and after the Civil War, and their verbal and political battles are famous. And that is just one story he'll tell. He's living history.

"They've already planted grass where the old house was," Edwin said Wednesday. "It's not growing yet, but it will."

Easter basket empty, the Bunny heads home

 Ever thought that Santa Claus hitches a ride in a sleigh to make all his deliveries, but the Easter Bunny walks or hops all of his/hers?  Me neither.

This is Ray, a volunteer at the Yorktown Senior Center, who played the Easter Bunny for family photos Monday. He agreed to this set up shot along Roosevelt Avenue, and while we were shooting, people were honking their horns, and two people stopped to have their pictures taken with Ray/Bunny.

Shenk's Ferry is a wildflower explosion

Shenks Ferry Wildflower Preserve in Lancaster County is in peak color now, with trilliums, Virginia bluebells, phlox and 70 other species decorating the hillside. Located just north of Pequea along the Susquehanna River in southern Lancaster County, the 50-acre glen surrounds Grubb Run off of Green Hill Road and is part of PPL. For more information, check http://www.pplweb.com/holtwood/things+to+do/shenks+ferry+wildflower+preserve.htm

Councilman Helfrich at drug-use hearing

 ERIN JAMES The York Dispatch

Testifying under oath this morning, Michael Helfrich recalled the events of Jan. 22, 1991.
He got a call from a friend, who invited him to hang out and use drugs. Twenty years old at the time, Helfrich met up with the friend and another man he met for the first time that day. They used LSD.
By the next morning, the man - who'd provided the drugs - wanted to leave, Helfrich said. He'd expected a ride to the airport from Helfrich's friend, who'd been acting "oddly," setting money on fire and making wild predictions.
"He was claiming that his girlfriend was carrying the second coming of Jesus Christ," Helfrich testified.
The friend, recognizing he couldn't drive, offered to give his car to the man. That's when Helfrich said he

Michael Helfrich leaves the York County Judicial Center on Wednesday with former York City Council president Genevieve Ray. (Bil Bowden photo)

stepped in, offering to drive the man to the airport instead "so that I would protect my friend's interest in his vehicle." But when he walked outside, Helfrich said, he and the man were greeted by York City Police. Helfrich was arrested and charged with two felony drug charges and a misdemeanor charge for possession of marijuana.
Weeks later, Helfrich pleaded guilty.
The events of that day are at the center of a civil court hearing that started this morning and continues this afternoon. Helfrich is now a York City Councilman, having mounted a write-in campaign last year that ultimately garnered more than 1,000 votes and won him a seat on the council.
Helfrich, 42, is fighting to keep that seat.
Mayor Kim Bracey filed a petition in December asking the court to declare Helfrich ineligible for public office. The city's argument is based on a prohibitive phrase in the Pennsylvania constitution and the many years of case law that have interpreted it.
The Pennsylvania constitution bans from elected positions anyone convicted of "embezzlement of public moneys, bribery, perjury or other infamous crime." The state Supreme Court has ruled that felonies are "infamous."
Helfrich and his attorneys are seeking to expose the gray in an issue that some see as black and white.
Called to the stand this morning as an expert witness, a Widener University School of Law professor testified about the evolution of the "infamous crime" phrase.
Wesley Oliver said the phrase first appeared in Pennsylvania's constitution in 1790. The framers would have considered infamous crimes to be those "which you just sort of know are bad," like rape, robbery and murder, he said. At the time, Oliver said, these were "common-law" crimes.
Applying the original meaning of "infamous crime," Helfrich's crime does not qualify, Oliver said.

Three Dog Night still singing

 
Listening to the band Three Dog Night last night at Lancaster's American Music Theater was exhilarating, just remembering the love and life of the times. And depressing.  Music sent all of us gray-hairs (or no-hairs) back a few years to the days of  late 1960s.
   Young people then were vigorously protesting the Vietnam War, fighting racism and sexism, watching the Space Race and the Cold War and preaching love-- sometimes simultaneously.  All the time wearing tie-dye, bell bottoms and long, long hair that we all wish we could regrow.  
   It would be satisfying to think we made a difference, but I'm not so sure we did. Today, we're spread throughout the world fighting more questionable wars, women still don't have the Equal Rights Amendment, the Cold War has become mighty warm and racism?  Well, what happened to Trayvon Martin in Florida should convince you that things aren't where they should be.

   Was thinking about all this while TDN sang away for an hour or so. They 'finished' the show, waited for the obligatory standing ovation and returned to the stage to sing the band's biggest song that we all knew was coming. But first, they sang acappella Prayers of the Children. Listen from YouTube here, or read the lyrics here. The words are reminiscent of the type of song that went big in the 1960s and early 70s, all about love and life. It was beautifully done, with tender words that should bring at least one tear.

    They finished with the upbeat "Joy to the World". We all sang along as one, huge chorus. We remembered the days of  love, grass and rock 'n roll.

"If I were the king of the world
Tell you what I'd do
I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war
 Make sweet love to you

Joy to the world
All the boys and girls now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me" 

   There was at least one person in the crowd below voting age, and probably dragged to the event by his grandmother. He knew the words too.