There Must Be Magic

By GirlWithACamera

Walking Tour of Philipsburg: Cold Stream Dam

My husband had a dentist appointment in Philipsburg, and he dropped me off so I could do my little walking tour of the town. It started at the post office, included visits to the Simler House, the Rowland Theatre, the Memorial Park, the Old Mud Church, and finally ended at the Cold Stream Dam.

The walk itself took less than an hour, and I experienced all kinds of weather. It poured down rain. It might have sleeted. Or snowed. Or graupeled. Or something. The sun came out. And then it poured again. I saw everything except a rainbow.

At one point, I was hunkered up against the Simler House, as the rain and wind battered me and my pink umbrella, and I began to wonder if I'd made the right choices in life. But then the sun came out again. And I walked some more.

I have two pictures for you of the terminus of my little walk, at the Cold Stream Dam, a favorite spot, and a place where my husband and I used to hang out in the 1980s, when my husband (a confirmed bachelor at the time; oh, but how time changes things! ha ha!) rented a garage apartment in Philipsburg and I lived in State College.

Above is a photo looking out from the dam breast. The trees were so pretty in their spring colors. In the extras is a shot of some kind of flowering cherry tree, with the dam's spillway in the background; I just liked how it turned out.

The rain began in earnest again once I got to Cold Stream, and I took shelter in both the restroom and then one of those tiny little wooden pavilion things you see in the photo. It was just the right size (as Goldilocks might say) to keep the rain off. Two fishermen and I took turns dodging the rain. These two shots are from sunnier moments, of which there were few!

I've got two photos so I've got two songs. For the Cold Stream Dam photo above, I've got Gordon Lightfoot (who passed this week, may his music live forever!), with Cold on the Shoulder. And for my flowering cherry tree, we've got Joan Baez, with I Gave My Love a Cherry. Oh, and here's an extra one, just for me, the girl who took shelter everywhere she could on this winter/spring sorta day: Bob Dylan, with Shelter from the Storm.


Two pieces of advice: One, walk history, and so learn your place in time.
Two: Keep on walking, no matter the weather!

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