I think I might have said two or three hundred times that this week was hard.
But there was some goodness between all the hard.
Our CEO got my department a mentor. Someone we all love and trust, though I am the only person in the group who doesn’t have a pre-existing relationship with this man.
My coworkers are all so super nice. My former office mate makes the Folgers in the kitchen palatable and I normally hate Folgers. He makes the coffee so strong it tastes like chocolate.
My new development partner and I are getting along great and I love her energy.
My other colleague invited me out for a drink after work. She was meeting some friends and wanted someone to keep her company so I had a lovely oatmeal stout at Pearly Baker’s.
At home, I watched the episode of Kitchen Nightmares that was filmed in Forks Township, “Bella Luna,” and saw some nice shots of Easton:
And tomorrow our favorite little dog, Sobaka, is coming to visit so for the next week we will have…
I normally don’t enjoy street fairs and community celebrations unless they have a theme that interests me. Carnivals and municipal anniversaries don’t do it for me.
I love the history of Easton’s Heritage Day, especially since I am a history nerd.
When the “founding fathers” signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, it took several days for the messenger to arrive in Easton. He got to town on a Sunday and read the Declaration of Independence on the town circle. Now, for 200 plus years, the town officials plan a community fair downtown and re-enactors read the Declaration of Independence on the circle on the first Sunday after July 4.
My daughter works downtown for Book and Puppet Company, a fun bookstore and let’s just say she helps with “character visits.”
Like when Paddington Bear visited today:
Naughty Paddington
I had also heard that the Grave Cellar at Saint John’s Lutheran Church would be open, so that was enough to entice me out of my anti-Street fair attitude.
Parking at meters would be free for the day or $5 (cash only) at the garage. I found a spot very close to the book store.
And my daughter mocked me for asking the police officer if there was a geographic boundary on the free parking. My use of geographic apparently highlights my nerdness.
The Grave Cellar and Parsons-Taylor House
When St. John’s Church expanded quite some years ago, they moved the graveyard to another local cemetery but some of the graves still exist under the church. Not as creepy as the Paris Catacombs but pretty unusual.
From there we went to the tiny Parsons-Taylor house. George Taylor, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, lived and died there.
My daughter looked in great detail at the craftsmanship of the house and furniture.
And the grazing begins…
We started exploring nearby shops, and we felt a little hungry but didn’t want to eat until we’d seen all the offerings so we shared a slice of buffalo chicken pizza from a new restaurant in town. Then we shared a lavender lemonade from Green Marketplace.
Lavender lemonade
Then we looked at classic cars and city construction equipment and I got a hard hat.
We also saw how the wind twine into sisal braided rope.
Then we meandered down another street and watched some of the kiddie activities and I found the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. I was very excited.
Donating Blood
And then I saw a sign that a local church was hosting a blood drive. So I registered. The last time I tried to donate blood was 25 years ago, and can you believe they had my address on file from that time period? I didn’t give then because my blood pressure was too high.
I haven’t given since then because tattoos, piercings, anemia and travels to exotic third world countries.
But I’m O-negative when it comes to blood type so I should give. And I did. For the first time.
Then we went to my daughter’s “office” and Paddington Bear came to visit.
Shopping and more food
After work, an artist drew her and she bought a vintage Monarch train case at Salvage Goods.
We also explored the dollar store on the circle. That might have been the only disappointment of the day.
And the teen had some bacon nachos from Porter’s Pub and I had one chicken and one steak taco from the restaurant at 645 Northampton Street that has really good food.
Our last stop was Easton Public Market again for a watermelon lime slush from Modern Crumb.
I have special stories attached to all of my articles, but I think this one makes me proud because it could be considered a “scoop.” If I remember correctly, I heard something at a West Easton council meeting referencing a bigger project in the county seat, Easton. The news for West Easton was that this developer, Ashley Development, a known name in the Lehigh Valley, would not be moving forward as scheduled with a West Easton project because of the economy.
For some reason, perhaps because of my charm and politeness, but more likely it was because of the news entity I represented, the head of Ashley Development (Lou Pektor) returned my phone call. I confirmed information about the West Easton project but I also got information about the project in Easton and another big redevelopment, “the Dixie cup,” in Wilson borough.
Angel Ackerman 