EDITOR’S DESK

Good Writers are Rare

The ability to write well is a gift. Sure, those of us who do it for a living are just putting words on paper — how hard can that be? The truth is, it’s not as easy as it looks.

There’s a beautiful rhythm and flow that happens when you successfully link words and sentences and paragraphs together. In fact, writers are much like musicians, crafting experiences for their audiences through the nuanced use of language and sound. Both are storytellers, too, using lyrics and prose to touch hearts and minds.

And, as an editor, when you find someone who has this uncommon ability, you know you’ve hit the jackpot because good writers are rare.

Over the years, Penn Lines has been blessed with quite a few.

Recently, one of them, Steve Piatt, who pens our “Outdoor Adventures” column, brought home honors from the New York State Outdoor Writers Association for two Penn Lines pieces: “A Winter’s Walk” from January 2023 and “Time Together in a Tree” from November 2023.

Steve and his wife, Paula, live in Bradford County and met through news writing. Steve joined us in late 2022 — along with columnist Abi Zieger, another talented writer — when we launched the magazine’s redesign. Since then, we’ve adopted Paula, too, who’s now part of a freelance crew that includes Kathy Hackleman, my predecessor at Penn Lines, and Jeff Fetzer, who before retirement handled the writing duties for Claverack and Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperatives.

We’re also lucky to have a handful of other seasoned columnists: John Kasun, Anne Kirchner, Yvonne Butts-Mitchell and George Weigel.

Someone once said, “There’s no right way of writing. There’s only your way.” And I want to thank our writers for bringing their unique voices to Penn Lines. You make the magazine sing.

JILL M. ERCOLINO
MANAGING EDITOR

January 2023 Penn Lines

November 2023 Penn Lines

THEY'RE COMING

Jumping Joro spiders making the leap to Pennsylvania

People who equate the size of a spider to its fearsomeness can breathe easy. According to Penn State University researchers, female Joro spiders may be up to 1 inch long and have a leg span of up to 4 inches, but they’re not keen on biting people and if they do, the venom is weak.

Still, the spider’s large, brightly colored appearance and ability to leap can be frightening — and they’re inching closer and closer to Pennsylvania.

Native to Asia, the spider has already been found in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. And researchers say they’ve been spreading from their original location, Georgia, about 10 miles per year. If that rate continues, they likely will reach southeastern Pennsylvania in 35 years and northwestern Pennsylvania in 60 years.

Spiderlings, however, are capable of moving hundreds of miles via ballooning (movement by the wind) so a storm at the right time of year could move large clumps of them farther and faster. Accidental human transport is always a possibility, too.

Adult females have golden or silvery hairs on their head and throat while their abdomen is cylindrical with bright yellow and gray-blue bands. Their legs are black with yellow bands. In addition to being smaller, adult males are duller in color, with dark brown stripes on light brown. The adult female can spin a web up to 10 feet wide.

The spider’s fangs are small, though, and have difficulty piercing human skin. If a bite does occur, researchers say, it’s typically less painful than a bee sting, producing localized pain and redness that usually goes away without medical intervention.

JUMPING JOROS: Joro spiders, which are native to Asia, look much worse than they are. Still, the jumping spiders, which can have a leg span of up to 4 inches, have been found on the East Coast and are making their way to Pennsylvania.

COST OF LIVING

Study: Pennsylvania is the most affordable state in the Northeast

Pennsylvania’s cost of living in 2023 was 2.1% over the national average, but it had the third lowest cost of living among the bordering states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania (Center) reports.

The Commonwealth also had the lowest cost of living in the Northeast.

Within the state, Forest County had the lowest cost of living (6.2% below the national average), while Philadelphia County had the highest (28.5% above the national average), the Center says. On average, it costs 6.3% more to live in an urban county compared to a rural county, the report found.

In the six years since the last update of the Center’s study, prices in Pennsylvania have increased by 23.2% on average; however, other areas of the U.S. have had larger increases (26.7% in the western regions and 25.3% in the southern regions).

The full fact sheet, along with the 2000 and 2018 studies, is available on the Center’s website, rural.pa.gov.

SPELLING STRUGGLES

Tip: Don't ask a Pennsylvania how to spell 'mountains'

Pennsylvania is blessed with beautiful scenery, so it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that when it comes to spelling, “mountain” was the most-searched word for Pennsylvanians, a recent Google study found.

The study also revealed the length of troublesome words varies from state to state. “Strawberries,” the most-searched word in Idaho, was the longest on the list. Meanwhile, Wisconsin and Virginia had trending searches for words with just four letters. Wisconsinites, for instance, asked Google how to spell “ally,” and Virginians checked in to see how the word “said” is spelled.

There’s also some confusion over how to spell the names of fellow states. Namely, Maryland got caught up on how to spell its neighbor to the north, “Pennsylvania.” Nebraska was unsure about “California,” and Utah struggled with “Mississippi.”

In general, Google says, Americans also had a few questions about which spelling of a word is correct: as in “color” versus “colour.” (For the record, “color” is more popular in the U.S., while “colour” is the standard spelling in countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada.)

Another highly searched-for comparison was “capital” (city or town where the seat of government is located) versus “capitol” (the building where the government meets).

TIMELINES

July is National Ice Cream Month, and a decade ago, Penn Lines was celebrating the farmers and businesspeople who keep our cones and cups full with the delicious treat. In Pennsylvania, quite a few ice cream operations are based in cooperative territory. Many, in fact, have been operated by the same family for generations and serve up local specialties — everything from peanut butter soft serve to fresh peach sundaes — to die-hard fans every summer.

July 2014 cover