Jim Thorpe, PA--- How I love you!

       Saturday morning---- my daughter's home from college---need I say I'm in heaven?
    Early morning,I made her pancakes with caramelized apples, a raspberry sauce , and maple syrup to start the day, and a glass of cold milk (we just love this combination). We decided to drive and see what's happening in Jim Thorpe, PA, one of our favorite little towns ever! For those of you unfamiliar with this place, I must say, that this little town in Carbon County, PA has been selected by the National Geographic Adventure Magazine as one of the top 50 places to visit and explore in the U.S. Spend a Halloween or Christmas here, and it will be purely magical!!
     Nestled amid the pitoresque hills of the Pocono mountains, on the banks of the Lehigh River, I have heard many who regard this place to be a Little Switzerland of America. I highly recommend that you discover the historic legacy of Mauch Chunk, a.k.a Jim Thorpe, PA. Go! You can bring your children for fun train rides on a historic train from the 1880's, explore the whimsical boutiques and stores, hiking, white-water rafting, biking, and visit the historical mansion of Asa Packer, as well as the historic and haunted jailhouse, infamous for the Molly Maguire hangings...*shiver* very scaaaary! Be it Autumn, Winter, Spring or Summer, you are bound to enjoy yourselves in Jim Thorpe!

Arriving in Jim Thorpe, PA. Muffy is looking at view. See below.

Jim Thorpe, PA.,october misty air brings the magic in...

Here is the main street.

I just thought this store's window was so pretty!

This is the Inn. One of the many accomodations here.

Pumpkin Ice Cream. Yum!

Carriage Horses. They are breathtaking! So handsome!

Read Pumpkin Soup, more on Mauch Chunk a.k.a. Jim Thorpe... and did I mentioned his tomb is up the hill.

http://margicasnotebook.blogspot.com/2011/10/pumpkin-soup.html

Pumpkin Soup

Do you like pumpkin soup?
  Yes, no, may be so. As a child I did travelled a lot with my father, weekends and school breaks were happy and full of adventure, beautiful memories. He taught me how to understand  the dynamics of our development as human beings by looking at a specific natural environment.  If you want to learn about a certain culture, he told me,look and listen to the folkloric traditions.
 After my husband's premature death from cancer, I decided to raise my daughter (she was 14 months old when her dad moved to the rainbow) as my Dad raised me, free,curious about our universe, to be an independent thinker , and most important to love and respect all life. Now, in order to do that ,I had exchanged the pencil skirt with a pair of jeans and my heels with a pair of snickers, and  almost every weekend we are leaving New York City behind and,we travel to learn what we cannot learn from books alone.
   One late october weekend ,while in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania  my old Chrysler New Yorker refused to start and we had to spend the night there. My daughter was about three years old at the time and Jim Thorpe was decorated to her delight, as a true Halloween Town. Since then it did became a tradition for us to be at this time of year in Jim Thorpe.The magic is overwhelming , pumpkin is king, from ice-cream to soup and beyond.
  That particular night, a lady dressed as a witch (what else?)served us the most delicious pumpkin soup,in a small pitoresque cafe.The pumpkin soup as she told me, was an old family recipe that originated from the Lenape ancestors that inhabited the upper Delaware region.  The Lenape clans were a matriarchal society, and had three designations "turtle","wolf" and"turkey". Her maternal great great mother was a"wolf" descendant. She credited her for the pumpkin soup goodness.Two years ago, we found out that the gentle witch moved with her Lenape ancestors. She was the last of her kind, and the velvety pumpkin soup recipe never written down. May be this year, we'll meet somebody who might know the secret, miracles happen all the time, after all it's Halloween time in Jim Thorpe.    
    

The Reading Dilemma

  A friend of mine invited me for a cup of coffee a few days ago. While in the kitchen, she suddenly asked me, "What do you think, how can I make my son read a book? He is already in the third grade, he doesn't read anything, what should I do?"
    I took a sip from my coffee and asked her if she watched HGTV from time to time-- she has such a beautiful house. She looked at me in dismay and asked me why I was changing the subject. No, I actually did not.
  "Look around you", I said, "you have such a wonderfully spacious and well organized house....five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and so on.  A far cry from my place, which is a cramped L shaped studio apartment. You have a beautiful house, but this home is missing something. I do not see any bookshelves. Where do you keep your books?" Nervous she grabbed my hand and pulled me upstairs to her son's room.
  "You see he has plenty of books. Everything on the school's list, he has them all." she tells me.
"Yes my darling, however, I asked you where do you keep YOUR books? In this big house I've seen only two albums on your coffee table."
 "Oh yes, I found them in a garage sale, they are good conversation pieces and great for decoration. They match the color of my carpet don't you think?" she exclaims.
    "Ok. That's exactly why I asked you if you watch HGTV. These young designers arrange beautiful houses, but none of them look like a real home. Books are non-existant, except for decorative purposes. No one seems to read a book. Today every one listen to their ipods, watches TV, see my point? How in the world do you expect your child to read a book and love it, when YOU never read one?"
    In my studio, one wall is entirely dedicated to a library, where books are overflowing everywhere. My daughter grew up among books that I READ. I never asked her to read, and I never tried to MAKE her read anything. It came naturally to her. A child does exactly what his/her parents are doing. Parents today expect their children to excel in school solely on the education given by the teachers. What they must understand, is that their child's education and healthy habits begin at home. The school is just a continuation of their own example and efforts.