I’ve spoken about the dialect of northeast Pennsylvania before, but now I’ve got examples! I heard about this YouTube video when I was driving to Philadelphia last weekend and listening to the radio station David and I always tuned into, besides NPR. The DJ mentioned that his friend made this video poking fun of the local dialect, and I just now remembered it and went digging for it on YouTube.

You probably won’t find it amusing unless you’ve heard it from the natives, but I can tell you it is SO SO SO true. (Helma, back me up here! You say “dooper”!) David slipped into this dialect now and again, but never for very long since he actually liked words… and not mashed up word combos. He was pretty good with accents: Yiddish (his grandmother spoke Yiddish), Boston, New York City, even Long Island (his cousins lived there), but he never failed to crack me up with the Heynabonics.

One of David’s best days during his illness was September 10, 2005, when he had enough strength to attend a model airplane fly-in and airshow in Waymart, a visit to nearby St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, and tuck into the barbecue at Kundla’s Open Pit BBQ.

Dave’s Logbook: OK, back to the fun!

He wrote about St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Monastery, founded in 1905, but I wanted to share a video I shot of the bellringers and the ethereal sounds that surrounded us while we were on the grounds. The volume of the bells took us by surprise, but once we realised where they were, we were struck by the quality of the ringing, the echoes that reverberated through the countryside air. I filmed in a circle, to try and capture some of it.

At the end of the clip is the familiar sight of David with his bright orange 207 CAP hat. Even when it was worn and faded, he still loved to wear it.

I was fascinated by the monks and wanted to photograph the movement of the robes as they walked, but I was too shy to ask if I could take their picture. I tried following one at a distance, but he was too quick for my lens. Maybe I can find a local monastery and do a shoot there.

Technorati tags: Pennsylvania, St. Tikhon’s Monastery, monastery, videoclip, bells, bellringing

I was looking for that photo I mentioned in the previous post, the first one I took of David, and I found this.

It’s a shot I took back in October 2004, the weekend we met. We were on our way to Cherry Ridge to take out the Tri-Pacer, and Lake Ariel is one of the towns we pass through to get there. I don’t remember exactly when the sign was taken down, but I’m certain it isn’t there anymore. In fact, I think the shop does other business now.

This photo is part of my set of signs — bizarre, funny, misspelled, provocative, or just plain eye-catching signs I’ve happened upon.

Taken yesterday in Wilkes-Barre, while David was at work.

I like the whimsy of the photo, that in all the crumbling brick and boarded-up windows, someone had the sense of humour to paint these two figures having a cuppa. (Upon closer investigation, it looks like they’re drinking martinis, not tea, but I like the original concept.)

This is the kind of scene that really excites me about taking photos. It’s a metaphor for living.

To come from a tourism-mad modern city to settle in a former industrial boomtown locked in the early part of the last century means a changing of photographic gears. I have to go looking for the touristy bits to show visitors, and the most touristy place for miles around is the Steamtown National Historic Site.

It’s unusual because it was funded by the Feds as a national historic site, which is a designation normally reserved for nature parks, not museums. David says it was called a “pork barrel project” by other senators.

When I first met David, he’d planned on taking me to Steamtown, but in the end we didn’t go inside the museum because we’d run out of time, so we contented ourselves with taking a few exterior photos. I think it’s quite obvious the lower three photos were the ones taken last year, because… they’re crap! (Lighting, contrast, colour all need correcting.) I took the top three and the photo at left last Sunday, and except for the hydrant pic those four were shot with the Pentax K-1000.

Anyway, as is typical with most locals and tourist sites, neither David nor I have gotten around to visit Steamtown yet. It’s one of things we must do soon, especially since David is a history buff and I’m sure we’d could easily while away an afternoon or two in there.

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I wasn’t kidding when I said the neighbours took decorating to a whole new level.

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I think this year we’ll decorate the porch. I need to get some pumpkins and get carving, though, the neighbours have put us to shame. (These aren’t our neighbours, they’re across town. But look at those lights!)

There are some people at the bottom of the hill that take holiday decorating to such extremes that the local authorities put up arrows directing people through the alley because of the traffic. They only finished last night, so I don’t have any shots yet. Apparently, David says they have motorised mummies and all get out!

nature’s mirror

More from Friday’s little foray around Nay Aug Park. (Can’t help but want to say Egg Nog Park instead.)

I now take three cameras with me everywhere:

Asahi Pentax K-1000 (film)
Canon A80 (digital)
LG C2000 (VGA camera on phone)

Each give dramatically different results, so now it takes me three times as long in every place we go… to move on to the next place. David’s still getting around quite slowly these days, so it works out just fine, pace-wise.

This tree shot was taken with the digicam, the two below with the film camera.

Pure Americana. A follow-up of this post.