Abandoned Places- The Old Snuff Mill

One could drive through Yorklyn and not even know that you've passed through-- other than a few houses, and an old-fashioned non-descript post office, the most noticeable thing about Yorklyn is the abandoned NVF plant and the broken down red brick buildings of what once was Garrett Snuff Mills.

What is a snuff mill? According to online resources, snuff is a pulverized tobacco product that is inhaled through one of the nostrils so as to get a swift kick of nicotine. Use of snuff dates back to Europe where in the 1500's it came into use and was hailed as having medicinal properties. The word snuff comes from the Dutch word "snuif" (oh how proud I am of my landsmen!). Snuff was widely used in Europe by the aristocracy and came to America by way of John Rolfe (husband of Pocahontas). Snuff mills were a lucrative business back in the day.. but now, they represent a time gone by and are mostly abandoned places...

Clearing the Brain

I am doing a lot of dissertation work today, but after a week of meetings and pouring over thousand of pages of text, I needed to clear my brain and took advantage of this beautiful day to take a brisk walk. Here's what provided a feast for my eyes...

Bowers Beach

Bowers Beach is one of those very small, unassuming little fishing villages that remind one of a different time.

As many times as I've traveled up and down the state, I had never stopped there, but only knew of Bowers Beach as a spot on the map and a headline in the newspaper.

 Last week, coming back from a downstate meeting, I decided to pull off the road just to see Bowers Beach. It's only 3 or so miles from Route 1, tucked away along the shores of the Delaware Bay.

I pulled over next to this channel to look around, and a man with a dog started talking and telling me about the gale force winds they'd had earlier in the day-- it was hard to imagine since it was so very calm when I stopped... 

 ...that very same man told me to check out this one-hundred year-old schooner rusting away at the dock. I'm sure I must have been trespassing on somebody's property to look at it, but oh well, nobody there to ask!

 Don't think this rusting schooner is a tourist attraction...

The dock site was in disarray, likely the effect of somebody not knowing what to do with this relic or lacking the money to do anything...

Bowers Beach is tucked along the Delaware River, and these beach front homes do have a nice view of the water... although this day it all looked very quiet and not very exciting...

 But I could imagine this to be quite nice in the summer. 

And that was my short visit to Bowers Beach! Another one checked off the list!

All Souls Weekend: Remembering A Dear Friend

Last Friday was November 1, and in the Catholic Church, this is All Souls Day. During mass we reflect on those who have gone before us, especially in the last year. Just a few weeks ago I learned that a dear friend from long ago passed away. Maureen Garabis was someone I met when we moved to Upper Arlington, Ohio in the 1970s. I had just moved to Ohio because of my husband's job. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and knew no one. I started attending local La Leche League meetings to prepare for my first childbirth experience, and was inspired by the dedication of those women to embrace motherhood. Maureen, and other LLL friends were there for me when I was struggling with breastfeeding a new-born, and through La Leche League, we became friends and co-leaders. I connected with Maureen because we had something in common, we were both immigrants to this country. Maureen was an English major in college, and I had an English minor. We both married men from different backgrounds and were constantly adjusting to cultural differences. We both believed in motherhood as an important vocation in life!

Maureen was someone we all looked up to because eventually she had nine children (I knew her when she had babies 3 through 6), and we all marveled at her stamina with every pregnancy! She was one of those women who used to have terrible morning sickness in the first trimester, and most women probably would have stopped having more babies if they had to endure what she did. Maureen introduced me to the League of Saint Gerard, and this sustained me in those years when I was having problems. Maureen was an exceptional person, and I was fortunate to have known her. 

Rest in peace, dear Maureen!

Delaware's Highpoint

My outdoorsy daughter is interested in state highpoints-- and apparently, some hikers or climbers put forth a lot of effort to visit a state's highpint. Well, we decided to visit  Delaware's highpoint last summer...

 You can see from the sign that Delaware's highpoint is a whopping 447 feet above sea level!!!

 Sophia and Fawn at Delaware's highpoint! What an accomplishment!!! :)

Solomon's Island

September was a busy month-- it's when we start the Fall semester and usually is signals a kind of new year as well! Sometimes students decide to register at the very last minute, so it's a crazy busy time. I did take a few days to attend the Women in Nuclear (WIN) Region 1 workshop hosted by Calvert Cliffs. The meeting itself was held on Solomons Island, a historic fishing town on the Maryland side of the  lower Chesapeake Bay. 

 View of the Patuxent River...

 Solomons Island has become a haven for boaters...

There's a sleepiness about this area-- people who come here walk and bicycle along the river... there's no hustle and bustle...

 We stayed at the Holiday Inn and this is a view of the outdoor area in the back where we enjoyed a fun mixer one evening...

 I couldn't help but think how much my father would have loved this. 

Isn't it interesting how these boats all align in the same direction with the wind?

Yep- I really was there!

 Solomons Island is simple-- there aren't any of the touristy-type things you see in most commercial tourist places near water. 

 Ahhh, and of course, any Catholic Curch near the water has to have the name Star of the Sea, right? 

This was near the end of september, and I was surprised to see so many boats still in the water...

 Also toured a cute little marine museum...

It now is home to one of the remaining screw-pile lighthouses, Drum Point lighthouse which was one of 45 lighthouses guarding the Chesapeake bay in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

 How do I look as a pirate?

Love these street signs!!!