Summers Run, the series (what is a "run"?)

Those who know rural Pennsylvania, explain “runs” as those streams coursing down the ravines and winding across the waiting meadows before they empty into lakes or rivers.

This is the story of one, Summers Run, a neighborhood where two families are linked by history, marriage, war, and contemporary life. Narrated by Claude Kinkade, at age twelve and from his perspective of twenty years later, Return to Summers Run continues his journey begun in Summers Run: An American Boyhood. The fortunes of Shadeland, his departed father’s ancestral home, loom large as the Kinkades face the economic realities of living on the land. 

As a newly-minted farm boy, Claude senses the shadow of his father following his. Then, leaving crops and cows behind, he samples life in Las Vegas where his mother deals with a new marriage and its expectations. Little League Baseball there proves disappointing but offers important lessons Claude exploits once he returns to “P. A.”, Summers Run, and the Pickett Township Panthers. 

As the Panthers climb the pinnacle of their second season, Claude and his teammates experience the magic of baseball plus the mysteries of life and loss surrounding them.

The fishing and covered bridge scene above graces the cover of Summers Run: An American Boyhood, book one in the series.  "Friends", the woodland scene, will appear on the cover of Return to Summers Run, to be published in the spring of 2012.

Still in service

Seldom seen in today's farming, this hay loader from an Amish farm is horse-drawn and functioning as expected for decades. It pre-dates most balers and serves its roll in putting up loose hay for those preferring such. From Crawford County, northwestern P. A., near Springboro.

Trees and Leaves . . .

have provided many an eighth grader with his or her science project. Pennsylvania is home to nearly 20 different species of conifers and close to 100 deciduous hardwoods. Almost all are natives.

Getting Together in "P. A."

Rural demographers tell us P. A. ––in spite of its major metropolitan areas––remains one of our nation's most rural states. Maps list hundreds of little crossroad communities sprouting the names of  "corners," "hill," "valley," "creek," "run," "falls," "springs," and so forth. Neighbors often meet in churches or meeting houses such as this one for elections, political airings, benefits, local talent shows, dances, benefits or suppers where ham loaf or swiss steak dinners are often served. Near New Richmond, Crawford County in northwestern P. A.

The Quintessential "P.A." Farmstead?

Some visitors might think so once they've traveled the rural corners of Pennsylvania––"P. A." to the natives. Red barns and outbuildings are often common and many of these family dwellings date from the early to mid-1800s.

Yes, most were modernized with central heat and indoor plumbing and are continually updated over the decades, a rural version of "The Money Pit." But many homeowners bear the expense of remodeling and maintenance to retain a sense of history deeply embedded in the timbers of these treasured farmhouses.