Today, I had to make a journey to the VA hospital in Wilkes-Barre for my initial interview in PA. Although I will be going to the Allentown outpatient clinic, about 20 miles away, my first visit couldn't be scheduled before August 24th, so they "rerouted" me to the main VA hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where they could get me an earlier appointment. This trip is about 45 miles distant, and totally out of my comfort zone, so I ask Jen to accompany me on this trip and be my navigator. The appointment is for 8:45 AM, so we have to leave around 7:30. And we have to travel by way of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We are calling this another "adventure" - it makes the drive fun instead of a chore. I've never been to Wilkes-Barre, so...
Probably 10 miles out of Palmerton, I look up ahead and all I can see are mou8ntain ranges, like ripples in the landscape. Jen says that the farthest is probably in New York state, you can see that far. But then the weather starts closing in. Pilots would call it 'scud' - really low clouds hugging the scenery ahead. I realize that we are at a really high elevation, and we're driving through those clouds. It's kind of neat, actually. The sun was out when we left home, but now it's totally overcast and dark, we have the wipers on, and we seem to be climbing higher and higher. Our little Escort is used to flat Florida, not mountainous PA, and it keeps shifting gears, trying to find a sweet spot. I usually like to drive about 5 over, but here on the turnpike, in the mountains, I am very happy with our 55 mph.
It almost seems like a preview of winter to me. I try to imagine what this drive will look like in about 3 months, with the trees in their autumn format - yellows and oranges and browns. And I start to smile a little, thinking that all of this new stuff is going to be nice. Maybe by my second winter, it'll wear off, but for now, I'm thinking of autumn and cold and snow, and I'm ready for it. Remember, I've been in Florida for 66 years...I'm ready for a change. As we cruise along, it gets darker and chillier. But we're almost there.
And then there's this BIG hospital up on a hill, and we've arrived. I'm actually 10 minutes early, and we walk into the lobby and ask where I have to go. And I make the mistake of telling the information girl that I am new to the area, having moved up from Florida. Mistake? Yep! Because I get the response that I am starting to hate: "Why on earth did you come up here from FLORIDA?" It seems that everyone in these parts thinks that anyone who would intentionally leave all that warmth and sunshine to plant themselves in Pennsylvania is just plain nuts! I feel sorry for them for having to live up here winter after winter, never having known Daytona Beach, Miami or Disney World.
But there is a little something that makes their query sad. You see, I moved up here because it was time to become Grandpa to my 7 grand-kids, and to give Jen what she has wanted ever since I took her away from these parts 15 years ago - family! Winter? Okay, so it gets a little colder, and it snows, and the trees are bare and the sun doesn't shine so much. But there's the warmth of hearing, "Hey, Grandpa, watch me dive into the pool!" Or, "Grandpa, I hit a home run in the game today!" And there's the dinners and the picnics and the other outings where our daughters, their hubbies and the grand-kids will all be around, having fun and sharing experiences. So, again, what makes Florida so special? Sun and the beach? That ain't so special, now, is it? Home is where the heart, and the family, is!
And my intake interview is over with, and I have this melanoma on my left shoulder that was discovered in Orlando that will now need to be excised, so there will be more tests and more visits, hopefully to the Allentown outpatient clinic instead of Wilkes-Barre. But the doctor was very nice, and all my records are now here in PA instead of Florida. As we leave the hospital, I see another thing I have never seen in person before - wind turbines! They are on top of the mountains just west of Wilkes-Barre, and they are huge! Seeing pictures of them and viewing videos does not do them justice, until you see them yourself. And although I wasn't even close, they were still HUGE! So I discover that PA uses wind to generate some power in these parts. I didn't know that, so I researched it further: Bear Creek Wind Farm. Very interesting. I'm having a great time exploring and discovering Pennsylvania. How long will it last? I don't know, but I suspect it'll probably take me another 66 years to find out.
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