It Rains

Albert Hammond, who's not as well known as he should be, once famously sang of a certain far away place:

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

Conversely, it always seems to rain in Western Pennsylvania. At least it does when I’m down here visiting Daddy.

This trip is different from past ones. Jen couldn’t make it but, happily, my buddy Joe volunteered. He doesn’t sign BUT we’re working around that by holding up our tiny phones with the voice recog feature up and rolling. NOT perfect but def entertaining.

The other difference – this trip is slightly longer than the usual wham, bam, thank you ma’am. We stayed last night here in Pop’s little town and met Michal, who lives in nearby Idaho, Pennsylvania, for dinner at a new Japanese joint. WOW! When I lived here, 30,000 lifetimes ago, the only available ethnic food was Italian. Yeah...spaghetti was "ethnic." //snort//

My scarily hued pear "martini"

Times change wildly!

An aside, what the hell is it with Pennsylvania’s towns which are named for states? There’s Indiana, California, Idaho, Nebraska – are there more?

Of course, Pennsylvania also has towns named:
Asylum (As in, Insane?)
Bath Addition (Settled by future Home Depot-ists?)
Big Run (when ya gotta go…)
Blue Ball (Just one. Not plural. Interesting.)
Bumpville (Now there’s a name to inspire mondo wanderlust!)
Chinchilla (Founded by a family of small, lushly furred rodents. Clearly!)
Crackersport (Emmm, I believe I’ll pass this one by)
Egypt (Do they have pyramids there?)
Free Love Valley (It was founded in the 1840s by time travelers from the 1970s…OBVIOUSLY!)
Gravity (NOT just a universal law, it’s a town!)
Hazard (Is this where the Dukes come from?)
Homer City (Named for the poet not the cartoon character)

Gratuitous Coco Pic

Intercourse (Wonder what the high school football team’s cheerleaders chant. GIVE ME AN F!)
Lover (Located near Intercourse? Dunno.)
Mars (It was named for the god of war. Are the residents infused with Mars-like aggression? Possibly I don't want to find out.)
Moon (As in mooning someone or as in the rock that keeps circling us?)
Moscow (Homesick Russians named this place…mebbe.)
Noodle Doosie (!!!!LOVE THIS!!!)
Panic (With an emo name like that, I think I’ll pass)
Prosperity (Do those repulsive preachers come from here?)
Rome (Settled by homesick Italians?)
Slippery Rock (I love this name. Puts Breton and other DaDa-ists in mind.)
St. Petersburg (More homesick Russians?)
Two Lick Valley and Virginville are located at opposite ends of this big state – of course.
Versailles (Homesick French?)
(You can find more funny Pennsylvania town names here.)

Now I’m thinking I’d like to do a road trip of all these wackily named hamlets. Ya know, that’d be fun. Maybe Coco could join me too – I bet she’d enjoy checking out Noodle Doosie!

OK, that was a long aside.

*Ahem*

Later this morning, Joe and I will head back over to Pop’s. We’ll visit, schmooze, have Chinese food for lunch and then head back to Pittsburgh and the airport.

Damn, I wish Daddy lived closer.