I had a 6-hour drive back from Ellicottville today, with a stop halfway through to visit with Hannah over lunch in State College. The drive took me through the bowels of Pennsylvania, particularly the first half with its path through Bradford, Johnsonburg, Ridgway, Phillipsburg, and several other rather dilipidated old-line Pennsylvania towns.
One after another, the old towns rolled by. I was struck by the way each town looks just like the one before it -- tired old homes, abandoned storefronts, crumbling concrete sidewalks, and dusty old cars. In each town, there were several homes that still had their Christmas decorations on display. As I passed them, I wondered if the decorations ever come down or if they just stay up all year long. Quite frankly, I wondered if the people inside those homes were still alive and, if not, how long it would take for a neighbor to notice.
I had lots of questions about those towns as I passed through them. Who lives in those old houses? How do they make a living? Does anyone ever move in or do people only move out? How many of those towns has a meth lab?
The good news is that a couple of those old towns seem to have a bit of a pulse. Johnsonburg, in particular, stands out. There's a huge Domtar plant there that seems to take up almost three-quarters of the town. Even early on a Sunday morning, steam was pouring out of the smokestacks as paper production continued. "This must be where all these people in the northern tier of the state work," I thought. "Good for them. But, how do they deal with that awful smell?" It was a cold February morning so my car windows were tightly shut. But, the awful smell of paper production still made its way through and into my car.
As I breathed in that smell, I wondered again about the homes that still had their Christmas decorations out on display. If you die in your house in Johnsonburg, that Domtar plant may keep you undiscovered for quite some time. Just saying.