Mining in Western Pennsylvania

Today we visited a coal mine, about an hour away from Grammy and Grampy's house. It was fascinating! It was a working coal mine until 1970, now it is open to the public for tours. We all got hard hats, crawled into a real coal car (it was very small), and traveled 1/2 mile underground into the mine. It was a noisy and dark ride! It was cold in the mine, so we all wore sweaters and sweatshirts borrowed from Grammy and Grampy. We learned all about mining coal; canaries used to warn the miners when the air was unsafe, a worker went into the mine early in the morning to check for methanol, the lunch boxes the miners used had a place to hold their homemade wine, and the different ways mining has changed in the last hundred years. It was very interesting!

Bud, Rosie and Coleman all got to use a pick and shovel on a wheelbarrow full of coal, it was a miracle Coleman didn't hurt someone with the heavy pick! Grampy could barely stand up straight and in some places he had to hunch over. The machinery was very loud in such a small space, I don't know how the workers survived their 12 hour shifts. Children as young as 7 years old worked in the mines. We discussed how sad life would be as a miner, and that night kind-hearted Rosie couldn't sleep this evening because she kept thinking about working down in the mine. The property also had a museum filled with artifacts that miners' used and replicas of houses in the late 1800's.

When we came out of the mine Coleman's arms and legs were covered with hives. This has happened many times this summer, Dr. F. says it is an allergic reaction to the sun. I guess it can also be an allergic reaction to mining!

Before we went to the mine, we went a huge park by Grammy and Grampy's house that had buffalo, peacocks and a pond with turtles. It was beautiful. It is amazing how green and lush Pennsylvania, it makes us realize that we really do live in a desert.

Later that evening, we ate pizza for dinner and played a game of steal the flag in the backyard. It was boys against the girls and the girls won. (I should add that the boys team only had Bud and Coleman!)

This is what poor Grampy looked like all day!