3 hrs, 11 kms

Before diving into Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, I'm going to go ahead and go south and hit a couple more suburbs along the Susquehanna . There is an immediate change to an urban feel on this side. On one busy intersection, A fellow gets off his bicycle at a busy intersection, and just stands there with hands raised to the sky.

"God bless you!" he greets as I pass.

I watch this unique little ceremony for a bit. He appears to be mentally stable... this seems to be a gesture of worship--an invitation to folks passing, caught up in the rat race of life, to think about the spiritual for a moment, perhaps? He's not asking for money, nor is he shouting out an unsolicited sermon at passerbys... he's just standing there with his hands reaching to the sky.

A truck driver honks at him, and he cheerfully waves back. It seems that this is a regular ritual he does.

Some people wander around playing music on park benches... Some people stand on street corners with their hands in the air ...

I continue on down the road to Steelton, past the aging mansions high up the steep slopes... wander up to the higher neighborhoods and back down the grand stairway built for the workers who lived up above and worked down at the massive steelworks plant.

I was planning on doing another rant about "industrial slash and burn"--how in America we abandon our decaying industrial zones rather than reuse them and then turn precious farmland into new industrial zones. But today I notices that parts of this steelworks plant are still in use, even though the whole complex is looking in dire need of repair--in fact, I actually do see some work being done on it...

So maybe there is hope that that "slash and burn" approach to urban/industrial expansion might come to an end... And there's some work being done to restore Steelton's Main Street. So things have actually improved here since my last visit seven years ago.

I want to stop to say hi to my friend from Niger who runs an international food store (and practice my French a bit!) but the store is closed. I also pause at the little Veteran's Park where I had one of my last conversations with my father back in 2008 when he visited me... I never imagined that that the next time I'd see him after that would be on his deathbed...

It's time to continue on down the road.