AMERICAN PICKERS

Have you ever seen this show on the History Channel?

The owners, Mike and Frank, go around the country looking for "ANTIQUE ARCHAEOLOGY", otherwise known to you and I as junk.

But as the saying goes "One man's junk is another man's treasure."

In the little town of Le Claire, Iowa, along the Mississippi River, is the headquarters of this popular TV show.

The store seen on the show, is located in a small alley behind a convience store, gas station, cafe, laundromat. Yes, all of the shops mentioned are in one building. I did say it was a small town. However, the residents of Le Claire are friendly, and helpful.

Back to the American Pickers. The shop is small, the van pictured above sits outside and more than likely not used very much, since Mike and Frank scour the countryside with a newer vehicle. Also outside, embedded in a flower bed, is a an antique Nash car. It has seen better days, but is used as ambiance for an antique shop.

This TV show runs a close tie with The Pawn Stars, another History Channel show, as a favorite for our husbands, ergo why we had to stop to see it on our Midwest vacation.

We wives were in total agreement, the real reason our loving husbands had to stop to see this place was, they were hoping against hope to meet Danielle.

Danielle works for Mike and Frank. She actually keeps everything together, like most women do. She finds places for the guys to search, and then finds buyers for their junk, excuse me, antiques. In other words she is the cog that keeps the wheel turning.

Alas, the shop wasn't open when we stopped by. The men will have to resort to watching Danielle on the TV screen. It's just as well, she's much to young for these "older gentlemen" to make fools of themselves. But, she sure does love to flirt with the male gender of all ages.

So look in the TV listings for the AMERICAN PICKERS, on the History Channel and get a look at Danielle. You will see the store we were at. And girls, Mike and Frank are also pretty easy on the eyes.

WHERE WERE YOU?

I'm sure you remember where you were on 9-11-2001.

I remember it as a day off from work. I came downstairs, made coffee, turned the TV on to Good Morning America, just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower.

It was surreal, appearing like it was a movie.

There were many questions. Who did this? Who hated the US so much to kill so many?

As the days passed we learned who, and America changed forever.

Those who are old enough, remember another event that changed America. That fateful day in December 1941.

I was born 2 months after that attack.

I often thought about how my parents felt on that day. Here they were expecting their first child, employment was dicey at the time and then Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, taking the US into World War II.

Just like 9-11, people's lives were turned upside down. Many of those killed never got to see the child they were expecting.

That event of 9-11 also took us into a war, where many more have given the ultimate sacrifice and continue to do so.

Just this past week residents living along the Susquehanna River, from Binghamton, NY to the Chesapeake Bay, have had their lives disrupted and perhaps changed forever.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee dumped copious amounts of rain on the many miles of the Susquehanna.

The residents in many towns and cities were evacuated from their homes, including Wilkes Barre and Kingston, PA. My two sons were among the thousands.

Wilkes Barre and Kingston are protected by a levee system. Those dikes were raised to 41' after Hurricane Agnes in 1972; she decimated both cities. This time the river rose to 42.66' but did not breech the levees because of the couple feet of leeway, but did come to within inches of the top.

There were a few tense moments when there was some leaks in Forty Fort and the flood gates in Wilkes Barre. However, heroes came to the rescue and plugged the holes.

The residents of Falls, Harding West Pittston, Plains, Shickshinny, Plymouth, and many other areas were hit hard. There are no levees to protect them, and the river was much higher than in previous floods, including Agnes, and so many more neighborhoods were affected.

Now comes the time for the cleanup. One woman was quoted as saying, "It's only material goods, we are alive and that's what is important."

That is so true, but the emotional toll of re-building the material part will overwhelm most people in the days ahead.

With the anniversary of 9-11, Hurricane Irene's wrath just two weeks ago, and now the flood this past week, it is all a bit much to take.

For all those affected by either of those three events we need to pray for them, for they will need comfort and care for many weeks and months to come.

We must also thank God, for protecting so many more from the river's wrath and that this time, unlike Agnes, there was only one death, and that was from some type of gas that entered her home. We offer our condolences to her family and friends at this most difficult time.

God Bless America. We pray He will keep our country safe from those who wish to destroy it from within and without.

WOW!

What a summer it's been.

I'm taking a break from my travelogue to the Midwest to comment on the past week's phenomena.

Several times this summer we in Northeast PA have experienced torrential downpours.

Last week we had an earthquake. Yes, Pennsylvania and points north, south, east and west. Weird.

A few days later Hurricane Irene blew into town, literally.

She left us with 4.5 inches of rain. That was only part of the story. Her winds were relentless.

Two of our 25' Blue Spruce trees were uprooted, a window blown out in the barn, and the most inconvenient, a power outage for 36 hours.

Yet our inconvenience was little by comparison. Many others had to endure days with no power and some are still without it.
Others had a lot of damage to homes and vehicles, and one man lost his life when a tree fell on his camper.

North of us in Wyoming County, they had severe flooding and many were stranded unable to leave their homes.

New York and Vermont and New Jersey, had severe flooding as well.

The last I read there were 40 deaths from Hurricane Irene; a very sad statistic.

Back to our power outage. Like so many in our area we have a well powered by electricity. Yep, no power, no water. . . no water, no flushing.

My husband was able to get some water from our water pond for a day or so. We could at least flush and thanks to a gas stove could heat water to wash. Then he had to get more from our son. Much thanks to him. I had some bottled water on hand for drinking.

At night we were back to the pioneer days of candlelight. A modern invention, the Kindle with its book cover and built in light came in real handy. 

We had to throw out everything in our refrigerator. It needed a good cleaning anyway.

What a pleasure it is to throw a switch and voila', lights or turn on a faucet and voila', water.

The Lord awakened us to the pleasures we enjoy and take for granted.

Thank goodness it wasn't winter and no heat.

Perhaps it's time to invest in a generator.

Now tropical storm Lee is heading north with copious amounts of rain to deposit and out in the Atlantic is Hurricane Katia . . . who knows where she is headed.

WOW, and it's only the beginning of September.