The Morgantowner: Columbia County, Pennsylvania

"When the going gets tough, the tough... leave town." That's what I always say, or something like that. The next few weeks in February are booked. This week I only had two meetings I didn't want to go to, both at the same time Thursday, so I would have missed one anyway. All my paperwork to run for City Council again was done. At least I thought so, but the City Clerk told me at Tuesday's Council meeting that I was short thirteen signatures of the seventy-five required from my ward by Monday. I went down there on my way out of town Wednesday morning. There were some errors and I came away owing them seven signatures, not thirteen. This whole process has been hard for me, and for Joe, with past supporters being ill, or moving away, or disappearing January to March to warmer climes, and progressives either tired of me or burnt out after 2016 and the local elections last year, I haven't been helped as much as I was two years ago.

It was my intent always to visit Columbia County, Pennsylvania in February and here I am. I was three counties west of here, in Clinton County, last month during a warm spell, and now I'm back in this part of the world again a month later, during another warm spell. Is there a pattern here? The average temperature for February 7 (today) in Bloomsburg, the county seat and largest town in the county, is a low of 15 F. and a high of 34. Today, the low was 37 and the high was 52. On my journey here, there was precipitation the whole way, but not snow, as one might expect on February 6, but rain. I know it was below zero here and in Morgantown just last week, but in general the weather has been way too warm. It makes it easier for me to travel and explore, yes, but I would hate to see my former town of Miami under water, and my ex-hometown of Los Angeles more burnt than it already is.

I got a suite at The Usual Chain near Bloomsburg, but not in it, in a Town Center-like development with a Lowe's and a Wal-Mart. I have lots of things I plan to do on these trips, but eating in "the best restaurant in town" is not one of them. I had dinner yesterday at the Chinese buffet in this development, and I foolishly thought I could walk to the Panera across the road tonight for a fast supper. Like the Town Center (Towne Centre, usually) in Morgantown, this one is not set up for walking, and I risked my life walking from the motel to the restaurant. I thought I would have lunch in the mall at the food court. The mall here, just across I-80 from the motel, is not well, like most malls in these small towns. Despite the loss of three anchor stores, Morgantown Mall is doing better. There was a branch of that ubiquitous sub place, and I ate there for lunch. Most of the people in the mall seemed to be seniors, getting in their walking.

I started today at a park at the south end of the county, passing through Catawissa, a borough of 1552 people, large for Columbia County, and with some life and architecture. I headed out to Weiser State Forest along Roaring Creek, still somewhat ice-clogged despite warming temperatures. There is an artificial lake created along the creek.

I drove to the far south end of the county to see the borough of Centralia, population 10 as of 2010. I saw many streets with no houses, a municipal building, and a church uphill from what should have been the center of the town. I found out later, from Wikipedia, that Centralia had been a coal-mining town, still functional into the 1990s, but that there was an underground fire, spread from a landfill to an abandoned mine, and the whole borough has been condemned as a result. A few people were allowed to live out their lives there in the five remaining houses.

There are twenty-three covered bridges in the county, six in rural Cleveland township. I thought I could track down the Cleveland bridges, but only found one, and it was blocked off so one could not even walk to it. On the way back to Bloomsburg (and the mall for lunch) I found a park with a covered bridge and two railroad bridges, one abandoned and one in use.

After lunch, I drove to Berwick, east of Bloomsburg, and the second largest place in the county with a population of more than 10,000. I found the Jackson House, now set in a park, from the 1880s, and a former armory, now apparently a gym. This was an iron ore area, and a company manufactured tanks during World War II. Main Street seemed busy, and there is a functioning movie theater and several restaurants along U.S. 11, the main street of both Bloomsburg and Berwick.

By three, I was ready to tackle Bloomsburg, and started with Beth Israel, the small Reform-affiliated synagogue near the center of Bloomsburg. Their website advertises holidays and monthly Shabbat Friday nights. Bloomsburg University anchors the east end of town, and there is a student ghetto of rundown rental houses similar, but on a smaller scale, than what one sees in Morgantown. Bloomsburg is a state school.

I walked down Main Street and stopped into a bookstore/ gift shop. I chatted with the owner, who said her store was in the former Woolworth, the property being previously owned by her grandmother. She tried to interest me in some books, but I didn't see anything I wanted to read. I told her I was going back to the motel to nap, and would probably eat at Panera, near the hotel. She told me I should treat myself to dinner at The Blind Pig downtown.

My last place to see was the city park in Bloomsburg along the mighty Susquehanna River. The weather was cooling off, into the forties, and it seemed awfully dark, but I saw the park and the mighty river, ice chunks bobbing along the surface. I brightened most of the pics in Bloomsburg. It's a pretty town, and an interesting place to visit.

I looked up The Blind Pig after my nap from 5-6, and Yelp agrees that it is the best restaurant in town. I checked out the menu, all unintelligible names of things containing pork and shellfish, what Joe and I call "food porn." I did consider going elsewhere downtown, maybe an Italian place, of which there were many. The reviews bragged of "giant portions" of breaded and fried things with garlic rolls. Even after a nap, I was tired, and having lost maybe eight pounds in 2019 (seven of them from throwing up, but still) I really didn't want to eat a lot, and didn't want to have to drive anywhere.

So Panera it was. I came back to my room and read about the bigots in our West Virginia State Legislature, and the great Delegates from Morgantown and a few other places, who called them out.

It should remain warmish tomorrow for my drive home, although it may rain again. For the weekend, I have to get more signatures to turn in Monday for my campaign.