I left Maryland and stopped to see my cousin Michelle one more time before heading North. Allentown was my next stop after a Harvest Host river-side stay at a restaurant and bar with a live band. I wandered the sleepy downtown on this Sunday morning looking for, you guessed it, murals, spoke to a Seed the Vote organizer who tried her best to get me involved (and was successful in getting me to sign up for the newsletter), and visited the Allentown Art Museum, a worthwhile stop.

Next up was Historic Moravian Bethlehem, home of Moravian settlers in 1741 and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2024. Moravians were basically socialists and pacifists who sought a self-sustaining community that was insular. As one person at the historical museum put it, they were kind to outsiders but did not welcome them in. My interest in the community was piqued when I read that they were pacifists and found themselves in a tricky situation during the revolutionary war. Although they wouldn’t fight, they supported the revolutionaries by making supplies, including weapons. It really got me thinking about the circumstances that can weaken our commitment to our principles or that warrant flexibility. I have a hard time seeing how making weapons is congruent with pacifism.

I felt pretty lucky that I happened upon the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area on my map of national parks. I planned on biking and hiking at a few spots along the way and enjoyed it a lot, in part because of the staff and volunteers at the visitor center. They were really helpful and all-around good folks; I spent more time there than I expected. I rode the McDade trail out and back for 16 miles and the great news is that my hand didn’t hurt at all in days following. After all my rides since breaking my wrist the plate seemed to get agitated for days afterward. After the ride I drove north stopping at a couple more places for short hikes to see the waterfalls.

Once through the recreation area I made a stop in Milford, PA to check out the Grey Towers National Historic Site. I’ve been aware of the Gifford Pinchot forest in Washington but never stopped to think about who he was. Then I saw a G.P. forest in Pennsylvania…still didn’t know who he was. Well, the Grey Towers was his family home growing up and the home he lived in as an adult. His dad was a wealthy businessman who had some heartburn around the destruction of forests. As a result, Gifford chose Forestry as his career. He started college at Yale, but they didn’t have a program so off he went to France. He became our first “Chief Forester” when the department was established by Theodore Roosevelt, then ousted by William Taft when he spoke out against Taft rolling back conservationist policies. He bounced back, as wealthy white men often do, and became governor of Pennsylvania.

The house is spectacular and is surrounded by natural beauty. The covered fountain is a circular oudoor dining table. It seems like a cool idea but also like it might be problematic, like a haven for mosquitoes. The house and grounds made me think back to principles. Is it congruent for an environmentalist to have enormous digs? I won’t judge, but I will ponder.