Next week I will have Internet access at home again, so this is likely to be the last dispatch from the library for awhile. That being the case, I thought I'd close out this chapter of my blogging life with a few more of the photos I took in April and May.The photo to the right (I hope what I'm seeing as I type this is what we'll all see when I publish this post) is the marquee of one of the first cinema houses in Pennsylvania west of Philadelphia. It has fallen into serious disrepair, like a number of buildings here in town. When the business community started spreading away from the downtown area, one of the first things the developers did was put in a multi-screen theater complex. (I think they are referred to as "multi-plex" cinemas.) That meant that the old State Theater drew fewer and fewer patrons, eventually closing its doors as a movie house shortly after we moved to town. It then served time as an antiques mall (there is sarcasm in those words), then something else equally unimpressive (a cat lived in the ticket window, which is now boarded up in the image here) before a group of civic-minded investors tried to get a grant to restore the theater to its former glory. The grant was denied and the theater has sat forlorn ever since. I was struck by the poignant message on the marquee the morning I first walked up to the library. It could easily apply to this town as well as the building.
I love to window shop, which is what I do every time I walk up here. I named these shoes "Spring Peepers." These are in the store with the pencil-like art deco facade in an earlier post.
One of my favorite shops in town is the local bead shop. It appeals to the crow in me, all those sparklies in one spot!
Below is a wide-angle shot of the northwest corner of the town square. I love how the early spring sunlight makes the building glow. This was taken on my first walk up to the library, in April.
Finally, this green-sided house is where I work.
7 comments:
One of our beautiful old theaters is now the showroom for Oriental Carpets. All beyond our price, but such a display.
Olio. Much prettier word. A favorite of crossword compilers.
Hodgepodge? What makes for a better blog post than a simple stream of delightful consciousness? Those beads enthralled me.
I enjoyed seeing some of the sights from where you live, Martha. That's kind of sad about the movie theater. It would have been great if it could have been restored. I would stop and take notice of the shiny, sparkly beads too. :D
I'm glad to know you'll soon be able to write your posts from the comfort of home again. The pictures and stories from the library have been very nice but being able to look out your own window or get up for a cup of tea can make a big difference.
So things haven't reached the absolute pits in Crowsville: you've still got room for swanky foreign shoes. Clarks HQ is still in Street, Somerset, though manufacturing was shifted overseas twenty years ago. Mrs LdP (with her size 3½ feet) used to be a fan of Clarks shoes until she found Ecco.
Clapboard houses, like the one you work in, still continue to give Smalltown, US, its character and surely that fence to the right might have been the one Tom Sawyer was required to paint.
Sorry about the cinema. But do you still have a Five-and-Ten? The last place in the US I worked in - Carnegie, a few miles west of Pittsburgh - bore some resemblance to Crowsville and that did have a Five-and-Ten. But that was in the Dark Ages. The place was like a tomb during the working day.
Glad to hear you'll soon be re-wired.
A fine glimpse into corners of your town, and perfectly easy to follow.
Congratulations on getting your internet back, end/beginning of a chapter, but your library sessions have yielded interesting results!
Z: I like that word, olio. New to me, so I looked it up. Thank you for adding to my vocabulary.
Jim: Could you be part crow, too? Are you, in general, attracted to shiny things? If so, you must be crow.
Daisy: Aha! Another crow! I think the developers haven't given up hope on the theater, Daisy. They're looking for private investors now.
Susan: Another benefit of blogging from home is that I can wear my pajamas and nobody's the wiser.
Lorenzo: I didn't know Clark was a British company! They bought out Hanover Shoes a few years ago, but I thought they were from Boston. Live and learn.
There was a five-and-dime here in town when we first moved here, McCrory's, but it died with the influx of dollar stores and WalMarts.
Lucy: I will miss the slice of life at the library, that's for sure.
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