Time to tally up the gratitudes, this being Thanksgiving week. In the order in which they popped into my head:
Think of all the natural disasters we’re not likely to get clobbered by here in Happy Valley: earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, sandstorms, volcanoes, avalanches, wildfires. Which means we probably won’t host the friendly folks from FEMA — also a good thing.
If the 10 Plagues were going to be visited upon us – blood, frogs, gnats, boils, etc., they probably would have been dispatched in Fall 2011. Or was that what the satellite TV trucks were all about?
True, we could get a blizzard like the ones they’ve just gotten in western New York. We’re bound to get an ice storm. Maybe a Polar Vortex Redux (not to bring back bad memories, but we had a low of -9 last January and a high of 6). And come thunderstorm season, some of our basements will be under water.
But it is exquisitely beautiful here in May and October and there are far muggier and buggier places in July and August.
Rush hours hereabouts are more like rush half-hours. In Atlanta, I hear, “rush hour” can last from 6:30 to 11 a.m. and from 3:30 to 7 p.m. On the other hand, there are those long lines at the Creamery.
People complain about how cloudy this place is – many’s the time I’ve left New York on a clear day and enjoyed a sunlit drive through such Garden State garden spots as Netcong and Allamuchy and on into the Poconos, only to descend into the gray zone that is Central Pennsylvania – but clouds doth lovely sunsets make. We get stunners here.
They’ve shed their leaves, alas, but magnificent trees abound, especially on the Penn State campus. I’ve even learned to admire their bones in winter. And I think the people who designed the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens deserve more recognition than they’ve gotten. Their handiwork is sublime.
It is now possible to get decent bread, Thai food and locally-brewed beer here. This was not the case back in the 20th century.
The last few times I’ve gone out of town and told someone I teach at Penn State, they’ve responded with sympathy rather than scorn. I guess that’s progress. Of course, these are people I’m introduced to at parties and other polite gatherings. I hear it’s a different story when you’re out and about in a Penn State hoodie.
When was the last time you went out to a movie or a meal and didn’t run into someone you know? Some people find this aspect of small-town life claustrophobic. I like it, even if it sometimes leads to a 45-minute chat around the potato bins in Wegmans. As Gertrude Stein said, “I am I because my little dog knows me.”
The steady stream of students makes this place about as recession-proof as a place can be. That’s why, they say, this place was called Happy Valley. I suppose if tuition keeps rising, American families may one day rise up and decide they’re not getting their money’s worth from these universities and get their kids ready for the workforce in some other fashion. Then, too, it’s possible higher-ed will go all-online in the not-too-distant future and these stately campuses with their beautiful trees and lawns will become retirement communities. That would be convenient for geezers-in-waiting like me.
Speakers, readings, concerts, films – nightly, practically. Just in the past couple of weeks, I went to an international poetry night at Webster’s, two documentary screenings at the State Theatre, a touring production of “Much Ado About Nothing” on campus, and a talk/photo presentation on fracking at the Palmer Museum. We bring in an amazing number of smart, talented people, but more than ever, I’m also appreciating that there are an amazing number of smart, talented people who live here.
It is often said that we live in the middle of nowhere and are equally inaccessible from everywhere, but in the last couple of weeks we have had visitors who were driving from Pittsburgh to New York and from Chicago to New York. We’re a veritable crossroads!
There. That’s 10. I could probably think of more, but, well, fond as I am of State College, I’m spending the holiday in California (where it’s going to be in the mid-60s for the next few days), so hey, gotta fly.
Savor that meal, friends, and more than that, savor the people you share it with.
