Culture

December 20, 2024

Forest Fridays: Yule logs and Yule cakes

‘Tis the season for many diverse holidays and celebrations. One that I look forward to is the winter solstice with cultural, religious, and astronomical significance. It is the celebration of light and increasing hours of daylight. Yule, celebrated during the winter solstice, originated as an ancient pagan celebration of rebirth, and welcoming back the light. It is a time for introspection, reflection, and anticipation of the new year. A common part of the Yule celebration (and now Christmas) is the Yule log, a tree or a piece of wood ceremoniously burned. Some choose to feature a cake that is decorated to look like a log. 

December 17, 2024

Susquehanna bridges, then and now

The Susquehanna River is a piece of living history, connecting communities to the natural landscape throughout Pennsylvania. Bridges make up one building block in this network of connections, and many of them used to be covered. Of the 14,000 covered bridges constructed across the United States, 1,500 were built in the State of Pennsylvania between 1820 and 1900. To celebrate the engineering and history of these architectural treasures, let’s explore a few of our favorites along the Susquehanna River’s West Branch.

December 6, 2024

Indigenous names of the Susquehanna Greenway

The Susquehanna River has drawn people to its banks for thousands of years. Many of our Susquehanna Greenway River Towns were built where former Native American villages once maintained extensive agricultural fields, towns, and roads along the easily navigable shores of the Susquehanna River. Acknowledging the importance of Indigenous people in Pennsylvania’s past, present, and future is key to understanding and respecting the Susquehanna Greenway that we explore today.

November 29, 2024

Forest Fridays: I brought the green bean casserole

The first Thanksgiving was held near Plymouth, Massachusetts, and not the Pennsylvania Wilds. However, many of the things eaten during that first Thanksgiving meal would have also likely been found in our rural section of Pennsylvania... and would seem very different from what Thanksgiving looks like nowadays.

November 18, 2024

Things we’re thankful for in the PA Wilds

The Thanksgiving season reminds us of the things for which we are grateful: family, friends, health, prosperity, creative endeavors and the awe-inspiring landscape that surrounds us. Our Pennsylvania Wilds region gives us plenty to give thanks for, especially with its rich history and endless variety of natural beauty. Let’s take a moment and remember the things we are much thankful for in the PA Wilds!

November 11, 2024

A hidden cost of our wild places – A few true stories in honor of Veteran’s Day

Writer Jim Hyland shares stories of the price just a few of our fellow Pennsylvanians paid for the lifestyle we enjoy. But there are many others. Some stories are still unfolding today overseas, and many are gone without ever having been told. Hyland's Uncle Elwood didn’t tell his until his last years. We’ve all heard the cliché “freedom isn’t free”, but all Americans must continue to understand these simple words. The next time you’re out in our forests, remember that the solitude, beauty, serenity, and peace you feel was, and is presently paid for with the strength, sweat, bravery, and blood of those of our society who defend our great country with their lives.

November 7, 2024

Jimmy Carter in the PA Wilds

On October 1st, 2024, Jimmy Carter turned one hundred years old. Carter, former president and humanitarian, is respected for plenty of reasons. Many people believe he was a good president, and his work since with Habitat For Humanity has been notable. He served in the Navy, and was governor of Georgia. And in the Pennsylvania Wilds, he is respected for having once stayed in the I-80 Frontier. In fact, he stayed in Clinton County for a short time, and has since said that Lock Haven is one of his favorite places in the world.

October 31, 2024

Ghosts of the PA Wilds: A Haunted Publication in the Dark Skies

If you’re looking for interesting haunted stories in the Dark Skies landscape of the Pennsylvania Wilds, you should look at the books of Robert Lyman. In the early 1970s, he wrote two books about legends mostly in Potter County: Forbidden Land and Amazing Indeed. Both of them contain multiple chapters with ghosts, UFOs, ancient curses, and other interesting legends. And, evidently, one of the books seems to have been haunted during publication.

October 28, 2024

The joy of exploring your hometown on foot

Although I work from home most days and appreciate the stability that comes with working from my house (hey, you can’t beat the commute!), there are just some days that feel more productive elsewhere. On those days, I find myself at the Shaw Public Library in Clearfield. I’m lucky enough to live within about a 15-minute walk to the library, or really to any place in Downtown Clearfield in the southern part of the 13-county Pennsylvania Wilds region, in a landscape known as the I-80 Frontier. When it comes to encouraging people to use their feet instead of always hopping into a car, I try to literally “walk the walk.”

October 24, 2024

Ghosts of the PA Wilds: The Governor and the Ghost in Pine Creek Valley

The Pennsylvania Wilds is home to its share of governors. Many of the governors of Pennsylvania were from the area, largely the I-80 Frontier landscape of the PA Wilds. But there was one from the Pine Creek Valley and the PA Grand Canyon landscape: William Alexis Stone. Stone grew up in Wellsboro, Tioga County. And he was a fan of ghost stories.