Had to stop at the bank by Park City on the way back from the dentist today, decided to go out the Manheim Pike way (anything is better than Harrisburg Pike), and was stunned to see the old Jack Treier Moving and Storage site completely cleared, nothing but bare dirt and a view of Route 283.

You’re used to the old view for more than 30 years. The difference is just striking.

CarMax is building a superstore complex on the site. And it got me to thinking that while the national economy is going in the tank, there still seems to be so much going on here in Lancaster County. The new Stauffers of Kissel Hill continues to rise along Good Drive/Rohrerstown Road, along with a new office building next door; the eastern side of Stone Mill Plaza has long since been knocked down and work on the expanded Giant is still underway. Everything that’s happening downtown; the work on the old Armstrong site. And a lot more.

Last week my brother used the term “Land of the Lost” to describe Lancaster County. Which is to say that the county is a throwback to an earlier, simpler, time in a lot of ways. But more than that; this community has often seemed unaffected, or less affected, by the national trends that buffet the nation. It’s as if Lancaster Co. is its own little separate deal. Apart. Different.

I don’t know if anybody else perceives it and I suspect you’re more likely to if you’ve actually lived somewhere else besides here. It can be a not-so-great thing at times (Gay marriage anyone?) But at times it can be a very good thing, no matter where on the spectrum you come from.