Pennsylvanian

I am learning to speak Pennsylvanian!  A few examples:

The city of Lancaster (where the Amish live) is not pronounced Lan-cas-ter with the emphasis on the middle syllable.  It's pronounced Lan-ku-ster, with the emphasis on the first syllable. And Bethlehem, PA is actually pronounced, "Beth-lum," without the last syllable at all (unlike the city in Israel).   

Most importantly for Monopoly players, when you take a ride on the Reading Railroad,  it's actually pronounced "Redding", named after Reading, Pennsylvania.  What an education!

Yesterday, I followed the Susquehanna River through downtown Harrisburg and further north. The river runs through the middle of downtown and is about a mile wide at that point.  It is beautiful, with many many islands covered with trees, and in downtown Harrisburg, there are 5 long narrow islands parallel to each other.  The minor league baseball team's stadium is on an island in the middle of the river.  Here are pictures of the Susquehanna.  The first is taken north of downtown, facing south.  The second is taken from City Island, where the baseball stadium is located.

I would love to have Alexandra's camera to take these pictures!