Pennsylvania notes

American border officials are being extra cautious these days. When we entered the US at the Peace Bridge last week, all of our documents were thoroughly scrutinized and we were asked numerous questions. We speculated that this might have something to do with a terrorist threat over the upcoming holiday weekend. Now we learn that the US Department of Homeland Security is preparing for an attack sometime before November's presidential election.

While driving through New York and Pennsylvania we noticed that most of the flags were flying at half-staff. We thought perhaps it had something to do with war-related casualties, but my father-in-law told us that they were lowered to honour the memory of President Reagan.

Speaking of flags, while we were having lunch at a little mom-and-pop diner near Meadville, Pennsylvania, about a dozen soldiers walked in wearing camouflage fatigues with US flags on their shoulders. When our Theresa saw them, she exclaimed, "Look at all the American people!" Later on, while standing in one of the cemeteries we visited, she picked up a maple leaf from the ground and then, remembering its presence on Canada's flag, wondered aloud where our flag was.

William Calvert was married to Elizabeth Deihl, or Diehl (1779-1848), whose gravestone is immediately next to his at the St. Peter's Church cemetery. As we were driving back into town after visting this site, we stopped into a small variety store owned by a Deihl. Despite Nancy's likely blood relationship to the proprietors, we did not receive special treatment.

Altoona appears to be a stronghold of Methodism. One of Nancy's cousins-in-law grew up in the Evangelical United Brethren, which merged with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1968 to form the United Methodist Church. He said that, despite the existence of some 22 Methodist churches in Altoona, their members could fit comfortably into only two congregations. This sounds like the so-called mainline protestant churches here in Hamilton.