Northeast PA - past Scranton

I just love the Endless Mountains, the summer flowers, the pristine creeks.

But to get there you need to go through strip mall America, with the fast food joints beckoning you on. Actually, Clarkes Summit had a dynamite natural foods store where I found an ice tea, drink, Tazo, without HFCS (high fructose corn syrup).

Another fine PA Green Party friend, Jay, joined me for a few miles on Monday.

He and Ellen extended me their hospitality on their beautiful homestead, where Jay has a big vegetable garden and Ellen raises delightful miniature donkeys. We watched the sunset over the rolling mountains while the half moon shone down on us from a cloudless sky.

But not all is well in NEPA (northeast PA) - if you haven't heard yet you should pay attention: the big gas interests are ripping into this beautiful area on a huge scale, clearing away acres of trees, drilling under the Marcellus Shale, threatening the aquifer, the landscape, the habitat. A few good people are raising their voices, fighting for some sanity. We talk about lessening our carbon footprint, decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels, and here this craziness is going on and the majority of the population thinks it's a good deal, and money-maker.