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DISPOSAL OF THE LOOM was looming.  A working destination for it would have to be worked out, because The Yard Man and I were in agreement--there would be NO dragging it from the car, only to stow it in some dark corner, only to have it gather more dust, only to have it loom larger and larger  until such a time as Second Daughter might wish to try her hand at putting it to use.

So this morning I inquired of The Yard Man, "You asked your cousin's wife about taking the loom to use for a while.  Will she take it? How soon?  Could we take it to her today?"  And that is precisely, Reader Dear, how it came about that we set out for State College, PA, on this pleasant, sunny afternoon, the loom and several boxes of books and a rolled-up carpet riding along (We had not touched a thing since we lugged all this loot  from Virginia!)

Now, State College is a little more than two hours distant from our house, and I pulled out a map as we drove north,  checking the location.  "It's smack dab in the middle of the state!" I exclaimed to The Yard Man. "What will be our route?  Will we go through Belleville?"

"We won't be going directly through Belleville," said The Yard Man.  He was peering at his GPS.  "But we'll be near it."

And then he detoured off the direct route and we not only drove through the Beautiful Valley,  but we also meandered through another Amish area, this one heavily populated by Amish folks who drive yellow-topped buggies!  (What pizzazz!)












Aha!  We played tourists!  We stopped at a winery, and we stopped at a bake shop, and we also stopped at a small grocery store (The Yard Man was eagerly looking for moon pies! [Well, in all truthfulness, at the winery we were only looking for wine and a restroom.])

And then we drove over another  mountain and were looking right down on yet another lovely valley.
There was State College, spread out before us.
"Wow," I said.  "A round indentation in the very middle of the state--it's like the belly button of  Pennsylvania!"  
(The Yard Man harrumphed).

It wasn't  long before we reached the bottom of the mountain and were searching out the address The Yard Man's cousin had given him.  And soon after that....we were divesting ourselves of the loom! 

I have to tell you, once we got that dusty contraption through the doorway of The Yard Man's cousin's house, I let out a sigh of relief.  And Cousin's Wife didn't show one sign of exasperation when we couldn't piece together that jumble of parts; Reader Dear, that was also reassuring!  She showed us her many creative projects and served us a tasty supper.  Meanwhile we had an enjoyable conversation with these kinfolk!

Altogether, I'd say, the events of our day while disposing of that loom wove a very nice pattern!

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