( hitchhiking, fracking, poems, and people )

by jennifer hetrick

last summer, berks county’s fourth poet laureate, craig czury, traveled to his home region in northeastern pennsylvania to take up his old love of hitchhiking. but this time, it took on a much larger end goal. czury has been hitching many a ride in pushing forward with his marcellus shale poetry project, reaching out to the hearts of locals and gas workers along route 29 in susquehanna county every time he’s busy thumbing it.

    

czury takes to the introspective angles of how natural gas drilling (also known as fracking) affects the lives of those who see it happening around them on a daily basis. having grown up in the back mountain region of wilkes-barre in luzerne county, his latest efforts are about a half-hour drive from where he spent his childhood, surrounded by the dead coal industry.

     

a year ago, czury received a grant for common ground: a community conversation about natural gas and northeastern pennsylvania. the grant in the amount of $3,000.00 came together through a partnership between keystone college, countryside conservancy, north branch land trust, cabot oil and gas, summerhouse grill, and springville schoolhouse art studios.

     

the art studios are where czury has been taking a comfy shelter since beginning the project, when he’s not commuting back to berks county to teach creative writing courses.

      

earlier this year, czury won the f. lammot belin arts scholarship through the waverly community house situated in waverly, lackawanna county. totaling $15,000.00, the scholarship is aimed at helping czury to continue with his thumb notes, or his poetic reflections of the voices of all the people he’s met while hitchhiking.

     

the collection will eventually transition into a book known as his thumb notes almanac, accompanied by photographs courtesy of kim glemboski. the project’s results will also be a part of a magazine publication once the passenger’s side and backseat interviews are all finished.

      

“i get rides from gas workers, farmers, locals, redneck locals who want to knee-cap the gas workers with baseball bats, and yes, even women still pick me up,” czury admits.

      

tucked into his pocket is his marcellus journal, which he doesn’t pull out to ink up well with pen and story after story till he’s given his thanks for the ride to wherever he may be going, once wheels are stirring onward from the gravel dust at the side of the road.

      

his hitchhiking spans mostly between the towns of tunkhannock and montrose, which are about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from reading, berks county.

     

“what’s most interesting to me is the reasons why people stop to pick me up. one man told me he stopped because his son used to hitchhike this road to work and back,” czury says. “a woman told me her father used to hitchhike. a young couple told me a story about rescuing a family with a baby in a snowstorm. one gas worker told me his father had to hitchhike from montana to oklahoma when he lost his job in the oil fields, and they took away his company truck.”

     

while many may cringe at the concept of hitchhiking, czury’s ties to this form of connecting with strangers very quickly shine through every ride, as he’s welcomed into the vehicle and after the door slams following his quick words of gratitude for the lift.

     

“at each split second when each of these drivers decided to stop to give me a lift, they were transferring a loved one or someone they felt for onto me—looking at me and seeing them,” czury says. “there’s something very magical in this.”

     

dale motions for czury to walk up route 29 from the blinking light in springville to get into his maroon sedan. he soon gives his introduction and says he can tell when people have good hearts, and he means even those who travel by foot and gladly scoop up charity car rides.

     

having served for many years as a taxi driver, dale quickly tells czury that he understands why the fracking has to be done, but he doesn’t agree with how the gas companies go about it all.

an environmentalist who is often the man behind organizing powwows in the area, dale found himself in discussions before where he was told by gas company reps that the drinking water was safe. but when he pushed a glass over to the man making such claims, he told dale he wasn’t thirsty. dale responded in saying, “then the water’s not safe to drink.”

     

dale has heard explosions at compressor stations while mowing his grass, only to see his house and its windows rattle fiercely as the earth reacted hard to the penetration.

      

after a few miles of driving, dale kindly drops czury off at pj’s restaurant & bar in south montrose for breakfast while several area softball teams compete across the street, having played late into the dark of the night the evening before.

     

once czury has filled up his stomach for the morning, he puts a tenacious thumb out by the road again. in a few minutes, dan obliges, whipping his oldsmobile around potholes as he hits the brake to let czury hop on in.

    

an excerpt from craig czury’s thumb notes—

at night

from the kitchen window

from the back field near the pond

from your truck swerving potholes

your story augers deep

through a tangle of roots

home or far from home

lit by a tower of stars

written in earth and water

with flammable ink

at the age of 54, dan has 20 grandkids and four great-grandkids. one of his daughter’s works at a shop along the road, so he goes for saturday drives, with the windows down, to visit her and to grab a coffee.

     

when czury asks if he’s ever seen a bobcat in these parts, dan nods. when czury asks if he’s seen a cougar, dan says that he has but points out that the game commission isn’t willing to admit the same despite the evidence.

dan says he doesn’t own land, but some of his adult children do.

     

“these guys who own land out here are making it rich,” dan says as creedence clearwater revival’s portrayal of  “midnight special” belts out through the beaten radio speakers.

     

czury has heard stories of families broken apart by gas leases signed and by refusals to sign, often involving farmers who have suffered through the dairy crisis.

      

some of those he’s talked to have mentioned farm families barely living on making $30,000 a year, scraping by, then signing a gas lease with a pair of wells drilled on their land so that their income is suddenly around $100,000 a month.

     

but czury has learned that for those families who do sign gas leases, many are known for contributing large sums of their new wealth to local service organizations.

      

a treatment station tucked beyond the hills away from the main rural highway separates the gas from water, recycling it back into the ground, with the only road there covered in grit instead of macadam.

      

the region has recently been the sight of more pipeline preparation along route 29 for transporting the gas once it’s drilled into waking.

      

czury is known to drive to sites late at night when workers are extracting the natural gas.

      

even in the latest and most quiet hours of the night, czury has seen the sky light up into a white fury from rig flares burning off excess gas and fracking fluid, following fracking.

      

glimpsing so much of the scenery and northeastern pennsylvania landscape lit up when the town’s people are trying to sleep has a strong influence on czury’s insides as he continues with the poetry project.

an excerpt from craig czury’s thumb notes—

again i’m standing out here with my thumb

but i am standing out here with my thumb

and a pocket notebook

i’m writing this as i stand out here

springville   joes’s garage – quality used cars since 1950.

at the CIT O station well hands pile

out of a white company truck

with their work gear and get into their cars

and drive off into who knows where

never mind the trucks.

a woman walks to her car carrying

large cups of coffee in both hands

sets them on the roof of her powder blue hybrid 
looks over at me and smiles

when czury first began his poetry project, gas drilling at a single site lasted about 29 days. now, it only takes about 14 days, from start to fracking-finish.

since film is one of the most common ways others are documenting what’s going on in marcellus shale regions in how it affects local life, czury likes that he is approaching it instead through what he cherishes so much—poetry.

“this is my home region, as well as all those ‘shit-ass coal towns,’ as my mother would say, which i documented through poetry 30 years ago,” czury reflects, grateful to be able to bring poem-fragments to the vulnerable humanity and weighted honesty weaved into the stories he has absorbed during the project’s long-stretching minutes. 

czury’s laureateship in berks county ends next month. to learn more about all of his poetic endeavors, visit www.craigczury.com.

( where honeybees make a heartful home )

by jennifer hetrick

to trey flemming, having raw honey to sell, use to make a living and keep on-hand in his home is all in rich gratitude of his relationship with the winged ones known as bees.

co-owning two gander farm with his wife, deirdre, the two live in rockland township sharing land with the bees. a few miles away is their organic vegetable farm, where some of their bees buzz around the low-set crops.

on top of the two gander farm part of their efforts, urban apiaries is also under their supervision; the hives are scattered on rooftops around philadelphia, with the bees responding well in pollen-grabbing labors thanks to all the ornamental trees in some sections of the city.

traces of beeswax cappings, propolis and even the natural residual of bee parts are sometimes found in flemming’s raw honey. but a lot of people are dedicated clientele who excitedly reach for his honey when they are looking for a more natural, less processed form.

the variety of honey types and flavor-sets is something flemming appreciates very well in his beekeeping life-minutes. tastes and hues per jar depend on when the bees gathered the pollen-parts and what plants and trees were in bloom when they were buzzing around on the clock.

regional spring wildflower, summer amber, fall wildflower and buckwheat honey are his staples.

 

his buckwheat honey, known by those who’ve tried it as a love it or hate it flavor, carries a dark color to it, as a result of the considerable mineral amounts in it. this also makes it more nutritionally valuable.

     

such locally whipped together honey, left in a more natural state, is known to be a health benefit for those dealing with allergy problems or even for those looking to adapt better to the allergens in the region by consuming the honey to be proactive in keeping irritations to a minimum. 

“we have predominantly italian honeybees, but most queens are locally mated with mixed genetics,” flemming explains. “a strong hive may have 30,000 to 50,000 bees, at its peak.”

queens can lay 2,500 eggs on a given day, he says. they live one-to-two years, typically; they can live up to five years, but that’s rare.

     

“worker bees themselves have very short life spans of six-to-eight weeks,” flemming says about the females other than queen, laboring away in the hives and out in flight.

    

no drones, or males, are in hives in winter, as they’re not raised until mid-spring and only account for up to 10 percent of the population in a hive, but even that is a high estimate, flemming says.

      

good, healthy queens are a key component to successfully raising bees and honey efficiently and effectively.

she’ll determine the overall strength of her hive,” flemming elaborates about a queen.

the worker bees generally keep within a two-mile radius of their home but follow the queen wherever she goes.

      

this means if she decides to relocate, they will most likely go where she goes, creating a new hive in a place she sees as appropriate, which might be in a hollow tree or even on the underside of a camper.

      

as the hives succeed and thrive, flemming finds himself grateful for time spent alone with the bees.

     

the solitude of being in the apiaries is what he enjoys most about his chosen labors.

      

“people don’t want to come in and catch you off guard,” flemming says, so he is rarely interrupted as he works beside the bees.

      

“i’m now comfortable with the bees to the point that i don’t wear protective gear,” he says. “bees are very therapeutic.”

     

the humming of their moving wings brings a sense of calming relaxation to flemming.

     

“honeybees are very industrious and not inclined to sting,” he admits.

      

since stinging is fatal to them, flemming says they give ample warning before they might plan to use their lone barbed stinger.

     

reflecting on how integral honeybees are to life itself, he pointed out that one out of every three bites of food is generally pollinated by a bee.

     

“it used to be that almost all small family farms had hives,” he says, glad to be keeping bees himself, today.

     

on average, a hive can produce about 60 pounds annually. an especially tenacious and capable hive of worker bees can offer close to 100 to 200 pounds, impressively.

      

when the full combs are carried to the honey house, the wax cappings are removed with a cold serrated knife.

 

next, the comb goes into a radial extractor, which is a centrifuge, like the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

     

“you turn that on and spin it for about 15 minutes, and all of the honey is extracted with centrifugal force,” flemming says. “at that point, the honey will flow from the bottom of the extractor into a five-gallon bucket, along with the wax cappings and any remaining pollen and propolis.”

     

this is what two gander farm calls its raw honey, poured from the bucket right into a bottle, with no further processing.

      

“with our seasonal honeys, we take that raw honey and pour it through a double sieve—stainless steel screens of two different sizes,” he details. “a coarse screen takes out the beeswax, and a finer screen takes out some of the more fine particles in the honey.”

     

then the honey makes its way into a bottler through a nylon mesh strainer cloth, much like fine cheesecloth.

      

“that takes the finest particles out of the honey but not the pollen, so even our strained honey still has the pollen grains in it,” flemming says. “then we’ll put the honey in a water-jacketed stainless steel bottler, controlling the temperature very precisely, gently warming it to 115 degrees fahrenheit.”

     

this is what allows the seasonal honeys to become clear, liquid and pourable for a long time.

     

to learn a good pinch more, visit www.twoganderfarm.com or search for the farm on facebook.

( ukulele, anyone ? )

by gillian slater

the ukulele—it’s the next big thing these days, so strongly in fact, that it’s already here. and it’s so here that the tri-county area’s largest selection and supply is tucked into the former cherry’s flowers storefront in boyertown which is now the cozy musical home of funky frets.

     

at the center of it all with a curious and well-honed expertise on the subject (at least in this nugget of southeastern pennsylvania) is curt sheller who owns the fret-happy shop with his wife, bernadette, and his daughter, kelly thompson.

      

aside from bringing the widest selection and variety of ukuleles to the region, funky frets is gearing up to offer not only instruments for purchase and private lessons on all sorts of musical gems, but how-to workshops are also on the lineup, with some of them free. during the free ones, workshop-goers are welcome to borrow instruments hanging from the walls in the time when they test out their skills through curt’s instruction.

the family trio, from the pottstown area, chose boyertown for the home of funky frets because of its great location in proximity to so many nearby towns and based on one day renting some of their instruments out to boyertown students. right now, area students must travel to reading in order to sample-play and purchase instruments for school.

      

curt began playing the ukulele roughly twenty years ago, during a time when there was virtually no material on the instrument. he more or less had to teach himself. by 2003 though, he began to play it more seriously during a family trip to north dakota.

     

as a result of his years of research and experimentation, curt has published several dozen books about guitar, bass, and ukulele using his own publishing company, curt sheller publications, with many of the ukulele ones unique in that they’re at higher levels of playing, while most books available on playing the instrument are just introductory.

 ( the ukulele is an adaptation of an instrument brought 

to hawaii by the portugeuese in the late 1800s )

     

a lot of the growing interest in ukuleles in the past year or so seems to stem from how happy, upbeat, and just plain charming the music from them sounds.

      

it’s interesting to observe though how the ukulele is an especially socially-oriented instrument, drawing people in and perking moods with each quick pluck. and even more peculiar yet smirk-worthy is how the blues can only sound happy when strummed on a ukulele.

     

“none of the stores are carrying the intermediate to higher-end brand ukuleles. they sort of treat them as a novelty. most of the people that work there, their knowledge is just passing knowledge, sort of jumping on the bandwagon.  it starts out very easy, and you can take your guitar knowledge and play the ukulele, but then it quickly becomes an instrument of its own,” curt says.

     

the hardest thing about teaching someone how to play the ukulele or any instrument is that your mind and ears are the first to learn, while the fingers are lagging behind. people may think it looks easy, but it takes time to develop motor skills that haven’t been tested out before. it’s worth it, though, many agree, compelled by the love of making sound.

     

to read about funky frets’ ukuleles and to find out more, visit www.funkyfrets.com.

( feel the need to thrive with a positive vibe ? )

by gillian slater

[thrive] is the perfect name for the opportunity kevin berger brings to others. he turns the usual verb into a compellingly fitting adjective through [thrive] acupuncture center in boyertown along north reading avenue. as the owner and osteopathic acupuncturist, he combines western medicine and eastern medicine to treat his patients.

     

eastern medicine pushes beyond just keeping you healthy. it helps to heal your social, mental, and physical health, which is part of the reason why berger chose it as his area of study.

      

“i was always interested in different travel, philosophies, and culture,” berger says. “i was constantly reading about that when i was younger.”

      

after graduating from kutztown university, studying psychiatry and english, berger attended the pacific college of oriental medicine in san diego, california for four years.

      

as it turns out, traditional chinese medicine enables you to do both psychology and healing. 

his time spent outside of berks county also included study at beijing national acupuncture training center, guang anmen hospital, dong feng hospital, beijing children’s hospital, beijing tuina hospital, wang jing hospital, and the beijing military hospital in china.

      

acupuncture itself is so much more than just coming in for help. there is an entire process to ensure that you get the best-customized care imaginable. from start to finish: a questionnaire that covers all angles of your health, followed by diagnostics that include a tongue analysis. be sure to brush your teeth ! then depending on the specific treatment required, you rest face up or face down and await treatment while berger identifies bodily acupuncture points where the needles will begin their labors.

      

“for every one issue people come in for, there may be six treatments,” berger explains.

     

and as an example to show how every case varies so much with the individual, he posed that if three people came to an acupuncturist for insomnia, they might receive three completely different treatment regiments. the needles would go in different places, and there may be different dietary recommendations. why ? while the ailment is the same, the causes may be different.

     

and being comfortable is the key word. berger’s patients come out of sessions often saying that it felt like the most peaceful experience they’ve ever had. 

many people go in thinking they’ll see one hundred needles nestled into their skin, in a painful set of moments. and yet in reality, a majority of them drift off to sleep during treatment.

patients come in for maintenance once a month to once every couple of months. however, everyday maintenance is reserved for more severe conditions like a stroke or a herniated disk; different needles are used for different treatments.

      

japanese needles are smaller and fine. chinese needles are larger and courser, to create a stronger sensation. auricular needles are even smaller and finer. they are used primarily on the ears and sometimes the face.

      

the needles go in mostly unnoticed with the exception of a possible dull throb via the chinese ones. this is because the needles don’t go in very far. they are only required to go in about a quarter of an inch before hitting the intended point. the needles stimulate the body’s healing processes by creating  microtraumas within, activating it to begin repairing and rejuvenating.

      

“every day, my receptionist says that it’s as though one person will go in, and another person will walk out,” berger beams in expressing how transformative even a single acupuncture session can be for those physically suffering in any number of ways in their lives or just looking to take preventative measures to keep their health and wellbeing going in a better direction.

 ( while most never say they love needles, these kinds end up becoming a variety many people enjoy )

sessions are usually an hour because the longer you leave the needles in, the more sedate the condition becomes. as a result of treatment, most patients notice a change either immediately or within the first 72 hours. it’s not only their ailments that begin to simmer, though. their mood takes influence and improves as well, berger observes regularly. people go in feeling down and come out uplifted. berger has even had spouses call him up and thank him for the impeccable change in a beloved’s demeanor.

the majority of berger’s patients come in for pain management, but relief from menopausal symptoms, stress, anxiety, depression, and mood/psychological disorders is also common. cancer patients seek relief for the side effects of chemotherapy and pain resulting from therapy or surgery. such practices grew so popular that some hospitals offer acupuncture alongside more traditional cancer treatments. another trend popped up and brought with it an increase in clients. fertility. many in vitro clinics actually require acupuncture, which can help boost fertility by sixty percent.

smoking cessation is another reason people visit berger, and in fact, the office has had a swarm of calls in recent weeks from those interested in learning to quit smoking through acupunctural assistance. since bodies are already warm, and cigarettes are, too, those factors combined with the heat of summer months aggravate a person’s insides enough to provoke the curiosity of quitting the habit. this is certainly carrying a seasonal pattern to it.

      

berger says that staying in california where his line of work is already so widely accepted would’ve been far too simple. he enjoys a good challenge, and the greatest one he faces is educating skeptics. in fact, some of his southeastern pennsylvania patients were former skeptics, ones who came to him only as a last resort with their excruciating pain and discomfort. they are surprised to learn that not only is acupuncture effective, but it’s a complete form of medicine, designed to help treat almost all conditions.

     

berger also offers herbal remedies, cupping, and moxibustion.

      

cupping is like a massage, although instead of pushing down on skin, it is pulled up with glass cups which have comfortably rounded edges. suction is created after berger lights a bit of alcohol inside the glass to take the oxygen out. cupping provides relief from certain colds, the flu, and other illnesses. and it can serve to alleviate a knotted up back or even to help a patient lose weight or reduce cellulite.

      

moxibustion is the burning of an herb, artemisia herba, either directly or indirectly on skin. direct contact comes from placing a smoldering piece of the herb on the skin after applying preventative burn cream. indirect contact entails placing a small amount of the herb on the end of an acupuncture needle. the warmth comes from an inferred burn, which penetrates the skin without scorching it. 

( packed artemisia herba is stocked for treatments of moxibustion )

“every day is completely different, and i have the opportunity to help people feel better,” berger reflects on what he loves about being the acupuncturist on the block.

      

and for patients who don’t have the funds to seek treatment, there is an alternative. berger started a community outreach program where people are welcome to come in for minor pain at discounted rates—this offering is done a few times per year. those with severe pain are welcome, but they will require at least one normal session so berger can personalize their treatments.

     

berger’s work has also opened a couple of doors for him. the boyertown area community wellness council invited him to present two sly-brained flicks through its living healthy film documentary series. he recently presented an environmental documentary called thrive. the upcoming film is called 9,000 needles, which is about a body builder who suffered from a devastating stroke and went through western treatments to no avail before going to china for acupuncture and eastern therapies. the fellow entered the program in a wheelchair but walked out, by the end. berger is presenting 9,000 needles at frecon’s hard bean café in boyertown on tuesday, 11 september @ 6.30 p.m.

      

to learn more and see what else berger offers, visit thriveacupuncturecenter.com.