Spring in the Alleghenies melts into summer, like an ice cream cone in the hands of a young boy. The air- inundated with the scent of fresh cut grass and dying dandelions, as they release their perfume as a parting gift. Pollen of every sort drifts aimlessly in the valley winds, settling on driveways, stagnate cars, and window sills. The streams and lakes are stocked once again with trout, and farmers till their fields, readying for the fall corn harvest. The Allegany river, settles back down as the spring meltwater meanders it’s way down to the great Ohio river and then to the Mississippi, finally out into the vast salty gulf of Mexico. In small towns and old industrial cities dotted throughout it’s valleys, boys of every age pick up their bat and glove. The mosquitos invade every inch of the hot, sticky dusk air. Deer feed on the grass of unused pastures. Young men go to work for their fathers, laying brick and landscaping. The girls find employment at the local public swimming pools or ice cream shops. The Alleghenies are in full bloom.