PA Memories: Pennsylvania Dutch Country by Patti Smith

In the mid-eighties, I was on a six month temporary assignment 

with the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.  Being from Seattle, this part of the country was foreign to me as it was with a fellow assignee from Denver.  We decided to take advantage of our free weekends by taking road trips.

One of places we toured was the Pennsylvania Dutch Country and I was awestruck by the beauty of lush green fields, quaint farmhouses and covered bridges.  Proprietors of businesses were warm, friendly and patient; contrary to their pushy counterparts in metropolitan areas and it was at one of the shops I began my love affair with hand-made quilts.  The quilting displayed remarkable intricacy; evidence of many hours of painstaking labor.  That type of workmanship is something absent from quilts manufactured in factory assembly lines and shipped to department stores.

The simplicity of the region had a calming effect, coming from the hectic atmosphere of Washington, D.C. and I hope someday to have the opportunity to return.

Patti J. Smith was born in Wimpole Park, England. She lived in England and Morocco as well as several state-side Air Force Bases and considers her father's last assignment, Moses Lake, Washington, her hometown. She audited for the Dept. of Labor and Veteran's Administration Offices of Inspector General, served in the U.S. Army Reserve (Transit Control Unit and Criminal Investigation Division) and recently retired as a background investigator.

Patti lives in Vista, CA with her husband and has three granddaughters. She serves as a Regional Coordinator for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, Co-leads Rachel's Hope After-Abortion Healing Retreats and sings in her parish choir.

Her writing includes devotionals, light romance and suspense, and her strong faith is reflected in each genre. She is a prolific blogger and reader, and proudly admits to being a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan and Fantasy Football fanatic. Her travel adventures include Spain, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Fiji, South Korea and almost all states - including Hawaii and Alaska.

Follow her blog: http://www.gridirongrannyfootballfanatic.blogspot.com/

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