A to Z Challenge: G is for Garden

Graphic from Polyvore.com

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A to Z Challenge: F is for Ferns

Here in Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania we have several kinds of ferns. 

Sensitive Fern

The large leafed fern above is called a sensitive fern, or Onoclea sensibilis. Some variations have finer fronds. The name comes from early American settlers who noticed that frost quickly killed them. It is also sometimes referred to as the bead fern.

New York Fern

Around my garden Buddha are fine examples of the New York Fern or Thelypteris novoboracensis. The orange flower to the right of the statue is called Spotted Touch Me Not, or Impatiens capensis, also called orange jewelweed. Below is a large roadside expanse of New York Ferns.

Pocono Pines features shady lanes and roadways, thanks to the tall pines and lush deciduous forests up here. Ferns love and thrive in shade and in damp and swampy soil, so our woods and roadsides that are crisscrossed by streams and runoffs are filled with them.

Inspired by my WordPress friend Ruth, I decided to take the A to Z Challenge around my little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. In the 2010 Census, the population was 1,409 persons. We have one gas station, an art gallery/gift store with wonderful artisan wares, a magisterial court office, an ice cream stand, a pizza place, a family restaurant, one bank, several real estate offices, a US post office, a produce stand, an elementary school, a public library, several residential developments, and a number of other businesses. We are located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, about 35 miles from New Jersey and two hours from New York City. We have two lakes and are 1,805 feet above sea level

A to Z Challenge: E is for Elementary

Letter E from Lettering vs Calligraphy

E is for Elementary. Here in our part of the US, public grade schools or primary schools, are called elementary schools and serve kindergarten through 6th grade, as a rule. Some of the private or charter schools are called academies or day schools or even country day schools. It took me a while to find a good E for this challenge. Everything I thought was an elm tree turned out to be a poplar or something else. Then I remembered our local elementary school!

 

Here in our little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania we have an elementary school, Tobyhanna Elementary Center. From their website, we learn what a comprehensive educational center it is for a town of less than 1,500 residents. Opened in 1981, this rural public school draws students from our township and two others.

Tobyhanna Elementary Center, commonly referred to as TEC, is one of the elementary schools located within the Pocono Mountain School District. TEC serves students in the townships of Tobyhanna, Tunkhannock and a portion of Coolbaugh. Tobyhanna Elementary Center consists of close to 700 students and more than 70 professional employees and support staff.
TEC opened in 1981 and now houses 30 classrooms, a cafeteria/multipurpose room, a gymnasium, and a library. Students and faculty also use two computer labs and classroom computers.
The student body consists of children in grades kindergarten through six. In addition to education in the core curriculum areas, students attend library, music, art, physical education, and health (grades 5 & 6). Students enjoy many extracurricular activities in addition to their school day, such as band and chorus. Students have the option to participate in intramural activities (STEM Club, Odyssey of the Mind, Green Team, SGA).

I’m impressed! And I am grateful that our town offers our children and those from nearby towns the S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) exposure so crucial to our collective future in an evolving world.

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Inspired by my WordPress friend Ruth, I decided to take the A to Z Challenge around my little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. In the 2010 Census, the population was 1,409 persons. We have one gas station, an art gallery/gift store with wonderful artisan wares, a magisterial court office, an ice cream stand, a pizza place, a family restaurant, one bank, several real estate offices, a US post office, a produce stand, an elementary school, a public library, several residential developments, and a number of other businesses. We are located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, about 35 miles from New Jersey and two hours from New York City. We have two lakes and are 1,805 feet above sea level.

A to Z Challenge: C is for Clymer Library

 

C is for Clymer Library, the public library located in the small northeastern Pennsylvania town of Pocono Pines. The Clymer Library has a long and very interesting history:

In 1901-1902, Rev. Rufus W. Miller founded, with supporters and investors, the Naomi Pines Assembly and Summer School. Based upon the “Chautauqua Movement,” it was designed to provide adult education in the arts, humanities, sciences and non-denominational Christian education and worship. For the 1903 summer season, it opened with the Pocono Pines Inn, Blakeslee Hall and an auditorium, overlooking Naomi Lake. Over the next few years it added several buildings for activities, support and summer living quarters.

— from Historical Association of Tobyhanna Township

Originally founded to support the literary needs and edification of the lakeside community of Lake Naomi and then Lutherland, the former Lutheran-church-sponsored coeducational summer camp in what is now Pinecrest, the library was eventually relocated into the upper floor of the firehouse of the Tobyhanna Township Fire Department. The firehouse was eventually moved to its current location on State Road and in 1980 the library took over the entire building, which has since expanded considerably.

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I decided to take the A to Z Photo Challenge around my little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. We’ve had a home here for over 10 years, and taking this challenge is offering me the opportunity to get to know it even better than I have. I hope you will enjoy this photo journey as much as I do!

A to Z Challenge: B is for Bluets

 

B is for bluets. These bluets are tiny, pale, four-lobed flowers that come up in the spring. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin tells us that these flowers grow in part shade in small patches, as these are. They are perennials, of the madder family, Rubiaceae. The Latin name is Houstonia caerulea, and they are also known as azure bluets and as Quaker ladies (it is thought because of their pale, purplish blue, reminiscent of the color of the hats Quaker ladies were often seen to wear).

Bluets bloom in spring and early summer in the US from Georgia to Maine and in eastern Canada. They can be sown by seed and cultivated, and are often featured in rock gardens. I found these tiny bluets in the grassy verge by the road to our lake in a patch of dappled sun. Their fragile beauty is a reminder of the nature of impermanence to which we are all subject. Savoring moments of joy in our day helps us stay in the now and have gratitude for the life force within us.

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I decided to take the A to Z Photo Challenge around my little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. We’ve had a home here for over 10 years, and taking this challenge is offering me the opportunity to get to know it even better than I have. I hope you will enjoy this photo journey as much as I do!

A – Z Challenge: A is for Asphalt

A is for Asphalt. Our roads here are a light colored asphalt, sometimes with a webbing of tar over cracks. This lane is all asphalt with no visible tar, and is located within a private development. It is privately maintained and is much nicer than some nearby public roads which feature patched potholes, some cut out and refilled with neat rectangles and long strips, some just holes stuffed with hot asphalt and flattened into ragged patches.

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Inspired by my WordPress friend Ruth, I decided to take the A to Z Challenge around my little town of Pocono Pines, Pennsylvania. In the 2010 Census, the population was 1,409 persons. We have one gas station, an art gallery/gift store with wonderful artisan wares, a magisterial court office, a Roman Catholic Church, a Synagogue, an ice cream stand, a pizza place, a family restaurant, one bank, several real estate offices, a US post office, a produce stand, an elementary school, a public library, several residential developments, and a number of other businesses. We are located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, about 35 miles from New Jersey and two hours from New York City. We have two lakes and are 1,805 feet above sea level.