The most vital thing Pennsylvanians have taught me about their state is that their winters are somehow not accompanied by a 24/7 blanket of gray sky. To a Michigan girl like myself, the notion of actually seeing sun during the colder months is about as close to heaven as it can get, so it didn’t take much to keep my mind open about getting to know the area better. Myself and my two fellow travelers, a little gang of three, marveled at the PA highways on our drive from Brooklyn to Lancaster. How the hell are the roadsides so green? What’s with all this…nature?
As our drive further west gave way to wide open fields and farms, it was hard not to gape. Too much time in the city starts to make the most commonplace of natural scenery seem like a museum exhibit, so being faced with miles upon miles of rolling hills and cornstalks felt like we’d stepped into another universe. Even the view from the gas station – a lush field framed by distant trees and foothills – was breathtaking. When we turned a corner and found ourselves sharing the road with a horse and buggy, we knew we weren’t in Brooklyn anymore. Are we in a fever dream?
