More Eagle Rock

I think all of my brothers and sisters would agree that Eagle Rock held a special place in our hearts. The sound of Eagle Rock goes down as a favorite memory for me. It was located in the hills of the Allegheny river valley and sounds seemed to be amplified by the mountains. As I mentioned Grandpa had collie dogs and when they barked there voices would literally ring off the hills and seemed to carry forever. I can still hear that excited bark every time someone would pull in on the road up above.

Of course it was a different time and a different world then we live in now. There were very few cars and any time you heard an old Model "T" or a Model"A" echoing through the hills we would run out to see who was going by. There were only 3 or 4 cars go past on a normal day. On the hill above Grandpa's house there was a natural spring that ran continuous and still runs to this day. Many folks would come just to get that ice cold, delicious spring water from the pipe that came out of the ground. There was nothing like it on a hot summer day.

I mentioned grandpa's collies. The first one that I remembered was Laddie. Laddie was getting pretty old by the time I was old enough to remember him but he sure was smart. He could do all the routine tricks like sitting, rolling over, playing dead and such. He could speak when asked and he could also whisper. Grandpa would ask him if he wanted something and he would whisper, "uh huh" very plainly. He could also put his paws on the door knob and let himself out or in to the house. Grandpa had cows and he could turn them out in the meadow with no fence, Laddie would lay on the front porch and if a cow began to stray a little Laddie would go over and bring them back with out being told. At milking time Laddie would go bring the cows to the barn on time with out being directed. A very sad day for all of us came as a result of Laddies age. He became nearly blind and deaf and one day ran in front of a car and was killed. This was an early lesson for us about life and death. We sure missed a wonderful friend. Laddie was replaced with Lassie who in short order was doing all the amazing things that Laddie did.

We have not gone back to Eagle Rock much since Grandma and Grandpa left there. We did go back several years ago and it was a disappointment because Grandma and Grandpa's house was vacant and falling down. The entire area has really fallen apart and nearly deserted. The old spring by the road is still there and running but is now marked condemned. The wonderful hills that we roamed in have been logged and are covered with the new oil wells and its just not the same and I guess it never is. But we do have the wonderful gift of memory and Wow, our lives are filled to overflowing with them. We are thankful for the opportunity to have lived in such an enchanted place as that.

We moved from Eagle Rock to a little community called Plumer, just a few miles away and that's where my real vivid memories begin. With now 2 brothers and 2 sisters there was nothing we couldn't think of and usually if we thought it we did it. Next blog we will begin to explore Plumer, Pennsylvania, the first community to be truly blessed by "those Orr boys."