Friday, September 25, 2015

Hay Creek Festival

So here I am, laying on the couch with my head pounding. I know, writing is probably not recommended, abut I despise doing nothing. Being hyperactive (or hyper-aware, as I prefer to call it), even when my head feels like Uncle Fester got to it, my mind still runs a mile a minute.


Sometimes, when the brain won't stop churning, I remember things I've done and places I've been, the beautiful things I've seen and other bits of trivia. While browsing through my pictures, I found some of the Hay Creek Festival from a couple weeks back. My lovely wife and I decided to finish my week off on a high note and went to Hay creek for the day.  



For starters, the setting is Beautiful. Add to that the sound of the clacking and clicking and brapping and fizzing and popping of hit-or-miss engines, and it's a lot of fun for those of us with a more mechanical bent who just like old stuff.


Many of the engines on display were working scale models.


Others were the real thing and were running anything from water pumps to corn grinders. My friend and pastor, Kevin, always attends the festival and takes his own engines along. One of the engines at his tent was interesting. I has a bronze lion's head on the flapper for the water pump. 


It's a bit hard to see in the photo but te nose of the lion can just be seen poking out of the water behind the red hose. The craftsmanship that went into making a lot of these things just doesn't seem to happen these days. No one wants to pay for the amount of time and work that goes into making thngs by hand and doing it well. That so much of this old stuff still runs is a testament to the dedication and pride of those who made it.


 There were also plenty of old cars, including this lovely T-bird with a "tomato soup" paint job. The car selection seemed thinner this year than previously. 

The festival also includes food of course, which we were too busy eating to take photos of. Just the same, the apple cobbler was a little slice of heaven. 

Up the hill a ways there are artisans selling anything from honey to flintlock rifles to hand-made sauerkraut. There are also vendors selling crafts and jewelry. 

If you're ever near Morgantown PA on the second weekend of September, Hay Creek is a great place to spend a day. . 

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