Morning Observations from the Mountains

It's another summer day here in the Poconos. As usual I got up early to go for a walk before it got too hot. Thankfully the temperature here at 5:00 in the morning was only around 66 degrees.  Today is supposed to be a little cooler (but not that much) than it has been over the past several days where temperatures came close to hitting the triple digits. Not at all what you want in the mountains in the summer! (It’s SUPPOSED to be cooler here!) As a matter of fact, it was so hot and humid that are pest control company rescheduled our maintenance appointment due to the heat. However the heat didn't stop the company that asphalted the driveway at our next door neighbors. Are they crazy? Hot asphalt on the nearly 100° day? Glad that's not what I do! (And I really am glad that my son is working in retail. Yes there may be annoying customers, but at least he's inside and an air conditioned building.) Anyway, here are some of the things that I saw, smelt, and heard at this early hour.

·         It's not unusual to hear masses of birds when I open my front door. I've come to expect it. I actually don't mind waking up at 4:35 and hearing them. I'd rather sleep, but the noise of the birds is much better than the noise at the big pickup trucks and other traffic that I hear in New Jersey. Having been here for nearly two years, I'm also quite used to the sounds of roosters. (By the way they don't just crow at dawn, they crow all the time.) What still surprises me is the sound of peacocks. Yes you read that right, peacocks. Someone in my neighborhood owns at least one pair. I suspect someone else either within the township or just out the township limits also owns peacocks. I haven't seen them (yet), but I do hear them in the morning when I go out for my walks. This morning they were really loud and rather close by. I did a loop around the block to see if I could come across one (I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not) but didn't see anything. But I did hear. Oh boy did I hear! Which leads me to the question, are peacocks good pets? Is this a new thing? What do you do with them? I know that people who raise chickens and roosters do it for the eggs (and maybe for the poultry too), Are peacock eggs a thing? Do you eat peacock like you eat chicken? On a final peacock note, as I was out walking I came across a man in a vehicle slightly bigger than a golf cart but smaller than a Jeep or average car. He was just driving up and down the side street. I don't know what he was doing, but I have to wonder if he was looking for loose peacocks. I know they've gotten out more than once. (This is how I know what they look like because I've seen pictures of them on social media.)

·         Second observation of the day; our local Airbnb house is back in business this morning. Although there weren't a dozen cars in front of the house,

there were quite a lot. I have no idea why people would want to cram into a little house. I love my family. I love my friends. I like to spend time with them. But I don't want to live with them in tiny spaces. I've seen the movie, The Four Seasons. . (In my book it's much better than the new Netflix series that out there which I have also watched. No offense to Tina Fey but it's just not as good as the movie.). Maybe it was different back in the 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s but we are in the 21 century, I don't want to live on top of my friend. I don't want to share a bathroom with 10 other people. Why do people do this? How do they do it and survive? 

·         Third observation of the morning; although it was time for the sun to come up it was still very dark out. Perhaps I should have rethought my T-shirt which was dark gray so that I could be viewed if a truck or car came along. The overcast sky has nothing to do with inclement weather, and everything to do with the wildfires in Canada. Though the skies are not quite as bad as they were in 2023, it is still quite hazy out. We kept the house shut up last night even though it was cooling down, which I really hate to do. I'm in the mountains; I want to take in mountain air. However, you can smell the smoke and there is an air quality warning in effect here.  From the office windows in Newark, I could see things getting hazier and hazier. As I headed back to Pennsylvania I encountered a storm with lots of wind and crazy rain. But as I got through it the sky never cleared. The sky was not quite an orange color but not quite gray either. As I got closer to the Poconos, I could kind of see the sun, but it wasn't what you would expect. I could see orange glow through the yellow/gray, slightly orange haze in the sky. It's all rather bizarre. And I realized it's all not healthy either. So today's walk was a little shorter even though the temperatures are quite comfortable. The smell and the color of the sky is not comforting at all.

·         Lastly, what does it mean when you start dreaming about your favorite local coffee house?

The Biscuit Coffee House, which officially opened last Thursday, invaded my dreams just before I woke up this morning. I have been lucky enough to go there three times already (not the 3 days in a row when they were open last week). The first was a special soft opening in May (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/05/fridays-special-surprise.html). Then there was a semi-official soft opening in June where it felt like the entire town came out. The line was practically to the road with so many people waiting to get in and get their coffee and food. Then last week they officially opened (on Thursday).My husband and I went on Friday (we had a busy day last Thursday otherwise we would have been there for the official opening: https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-importance-of-july-9.html).He had a coffee and a breakfast sandwich (which is actually made fresh there from predominantly local organic ingredients) and I had a medium latte with a pump of vanilla and raspberry. I have never had a better one. (Eat your heart out Dunkin!) The only thing is I need remind myself that I can only handle a small! Anything larger is just too much for me. I know I have been raving about this coffee house for a long time and I am so glad that it is finally open. However now it is invading my dreams. I don't remember everything about it, but I do know I was there and I had a mocha latte. (Even in my dream it was delicious) Then I wandered around (as you often do in dreams), but ended back up at the coffee house with other people and had another latte while talking to the owners (who have become friends). What does this mean? Have I become too obsessed with our local coffee house? If so I know I'm not the only one! Is it my brain telling me I need more coffee? Is my brain telling me I've had too much coffee and I need to slow down? Or is my brain just telling me hey wake up and smell the coffee and not the smoke from the Canadian wild fires. I definitely am a huge fan because as I walked by this morning (before they were open) and it made my heart happy to see the lights on and to see the owners working/preparing to open their doors... Keep up the good work guys, we need you your coffee and your delicious food. 

But now it’s time for the real day. The walk is through. It’s time to settle in front of the work computer and get to it. Here's hoping for clear or cooler skies tomorrow. Here's hoping that the peacocks are returned to their home. And here's to the success of coffee houses all over!

Have a great day!