don't want to come in last this year

Last year this event didn't have as many people as I thought. More than half were emergency personnel. If you remember, I was dead last but finished.

I better start training. The 15-year-old will still clean my clock (with gear!), and if the 13-year-old comes, she will too.

Those stairs at the high school stadium are horrible. The risers are uneven. Some are high. Some low. I need to find stairs like that. On Mondays and Wednesdays I need to go to nine, and then back down to six. And do lots and lot of steep hills.

Elevators. You have been sidelined.

female cross walks?

For my design class I always show a video we call the "designing the stop sign". The job involves "female" and "Male" intersections and designing for the female demographic, with the male demographic being a subset. (Or vice versa. I've stopped listening to it years ago.) It's hysterical. Watch it.

Anywho, my brother Dave sent me this article about testing new female icon crosswalks. (The image is from the article.)  I actually kind of like it. In the back of my mind I always wondered why the icons were male, but it didn't disturb me. I referred to him as the "guy scratching his butt." Notice, she isn't scratching hers. Not lady-like I guess.

Will something like this ever make it to America? It will be quite a while. Maybe in 2020 we can start to talk about it.

trash walking

In mid-May I am doing a hands-on type workshop at the UCDA conference at Kutztown. We'll be building letters from trash. It will be fun. The goal is a complete alphabet of 26 letters. Each participant gets to keep their letter after the workshop. But not until my former student/photographer takes a professional photo of it. I'm going to build an alphabet poster out of it for the faculty art show.

Since I  found out in January that my proposal was accepted, I've had friends and family collecting small trash. The only rules were it had to be non-biodegradable, and small enough to fit in a coffee can or mason jar.

While I'm out walking I often think I should take a trash bag. The litter in the neighborhood is ridiculous.  But I stop myself. Since I generate so little trash I have a per bag rate. I don't want to pay to have someone else's trash removed. One day I will do it. I will fill one bag.

What I've started doing on my daily walks around the hood, is picking up small, pocket sized items for the type workshop.  Creating 26 letters will take a lot of trash. When I bring it home, I wash it and bleach much of it.

My jacket pockets are gross. I need to take small bags and put them in my pockets. And maybe a wet paper towel, too. Today I stopped at the Wawa for some napkins. The one bus ticket was so dirty I wouldn't put it in my pocket. I picked it out of piles of rotting leaves.

Yeah, I think that the phone is probably too big. But maybe the computer chip or lens can be used. Ducky can be cut in pieces (Sorry ducky).  But the doll arm is pretty great. And the little angels from those bottles of colored water which some moms let their kids drink. The nozzle might be able to be taken apart. Who knows. I have a whole container of street finds.

Dear Readers, it is not too late to save your trash. About 5 weeks remains before I need to bring it all together. Bread clips/ties, twist ties, caps ... gather up all those broken doll bits from the kids, or legos without homes ... there is nothing too wild or weird. I'm still waiting for the first condom wrapper to show up.

It would be a great time to thank those who have added to my trash pile. The Ackerman-Parry household is sending huge amounts of little unique trash. Partially because she works in food service. My brother Dave and his wife Barb are also sending yogurt containers full of cool stuff like wine corks. (I've spent quality time on YouTube learning how to safely cut wine corks.) Bonnie has sent some great trash like plastic birthday picks. And is going to clean out the miscellaneous stuff from her craft supplies.

One day I'm going to have to stop at one of the numerous bars and ask for bottle tops. I have lots of corks, lots of plastic lids, but no traditional bottle caps.

get out lehigh valley: marlton walk

Yesterday was another Get Out Lehigh Valley adventure. This time at the Marlton Wildlife Center is Williams Township.

There was a lot of people. I'd say 80. They kept arriving even after the group pic was taken. People were parked on the grass. There was no room in the lot. I was with 3 other people in a school bus space.

The hike was strenuous. Just walking around the hood for the past couple weeks was not a benefit. I even had to stop once going up the steepest incline.

I've never been here when it's bare. It's very different. We hiked up about 500 feet (the preserve is almost 800 feet up on 200 acres) to get to this overlook. I try to stay in the front so I am with the environmentalist. I like stories about scat and bird calls.

I'm glad I took my walking stick. Some of the hike was difficult. But you can see I made it to the top. By the end, I was down to a long sleeve tee shirt.

What I learned was that this forest is a three climax forest. The first climax was the grasslands and sassafras trees. They were cut down to keep them low. And that wild sassafras root has a carcinogenic in it. It was been genetically engineered out of commercial sassafras root.  Of course, you'd have to drink 20 gallons of wild sassafrass tea a day for decades to sick from the wild root.  If I'm going to die, I'd prefer mine in Sassparilla.

The second climax was where the tulip and poplar trees were. The third climax was where the oaks and sugar maples were. And of course, there was a lot of mixing going on because once the mature trees die, somethings got to take its place.

We walked and stopped a lot. It was about 1.5 hours.

Miles/Steps:  3+, strenuous.
Bathrooms:   indoor. Didn't go in 
Wildlife:        Fox scat. Lots of birds singing but didn't actually see anything.
Weather:      upper 60s, overcast, damp. Rain on its way.
Extras:         I should have taken 2 bottles of water. I guzzled a second in the parking lot when I got back.

--------------------
Update: The retina doctor appointment was anti-climatic. He did all the same things the ophthalmologist did. Thought his equipment might have been newer. Basically, these shooting stars are another happy age-thing. They originate in the jelly behind the eye. They usually last 6-eight weeks. They start strong and then fade. They can be a sign of trouble. But normally not. My takeaway: Instead of getting scared and calling the doctor, I should have just left it run its course. It would have gone away on its own. I should have know better. My track record for problems and doctors is 1/10 gazillion. I know the next time. Not sure how much my Obamacare will cover of this adventure. None of the bills have come yet. I'm guessing half.

health update

First off the bat, this is information only. I am not whining or looking for sympathy. There are many people in my family who are in way worse shape than I am and seriously ill. I know this. Don't remind me that my problems are small potatoes. I know. I got it.

But today I said something about stitches and the person said, "what stitches?" Explanations are in order.

In this old picture you can see that giant mole under my glasses. Click on it. Make it bigger. It's there. Mama had one just like it. It turned black and then she had it removed in 1972 and it was skin cancer. When mine appeared I though about it a lot. For 2-3 years now I've been wanting to go to a dermatologist to get it (an others) removed since I now have Obamacare. I always forgot to ask the doctor for a referral. I was determined to do it at this years appointment. Obamacare is being repealed, and the employer who provides it was just purchased. Who knows what happens next.

I finally asked the doctor for a dermatologist referral, he asked why. To keep it simple I said to get rid of the moles on my face. (There's 5, plus my rock.) He sent me to a plastic surgeon. "I wouldn't trust my face to a dermatologist."

So I went about a week ago. She only took off the bubble one under my glasses. All the moles on my face are normally not cancerous, but I *insisted* they remove the bubble one. Daddy picking me up at Freedom from a summer art class in 1972 is burned in my brain. That's when he told me the mole on mom'sface was cancer. (Now of course my siblings accuse me constantly of false memories, so this one is probably a figment of my imagination also. But I'm sticking with it.)  I really didn't care if the insurance said it was "cosmetic". It's ugly and it itched, and frankly got in the way of my glasses.

We decided to only take off the one. The others were very, very low risk. This one only had a slight risk. So they cut it out and sent it for biopsy as standard protocol. Most likely nothing to worry about.

Monday coming home from LC the phone rang. It was the doctors office. I was at the fourth flight of stairs and kept walking. I must have been breathing really hard because she asked me if I was okay. I was.

It turns out that the mole was a basal cell skin cancer. I'm going to have a second procedure at LVH 19th street to remove more skin. It's preventive. They don't want it to go into "deep" tissue. 99.5% curable. No biggie. Scar will be bigger. I tried taking a selfie but it was scary.

Second update. I was driving home from work about two, three weeks ago at about 9 pm at night. These buzzes of light were skirting around my right eye. Every time I reached a light I tried to find the source. But it was in the garage. And the house.  And then it stopped. I decided that the fairies from Angel's novels had attached themselves to me. Not a bad thought.

It the morning I googled it and they are called flashes and you're supposed to see an ophthalmologist. The roomie was going in a week so I decided to make my appt while I was there. But then that appt. was cancelled and rescheduled for Tuesday, but the blizzard came. So this morning I called. They had me in by 10:30.

My eyes still hurt from being dilated so much. I was there for two hours. Bottom line. It might be nothing or something. He doesn't know. I have to go to the retina doctor. He has a machine that will look in the back of the eye. He says it's uncomfortable. Oh goodie. Then we'll know for sure.

Oh, and I have cataracts on both eyes. Like mother, grandmother, sister ... like daughter

fat girl, shoveling

Monday night the anticipated blizzard arrived. Well, sort-of.  We didn't get two feet of snow. We got about a foot, another inch or three of sleet, and then freezing rain because what is a storm without it. Right?

I shoveled for about three hours and barely walked a mile. I was exhausted when I came in. And pissed at the roomie. She declared she was "tired" (from knitting all day), "cold" (from sitting all day), and when was I starting dinner?

Some days I just want to... well you know.

I decided to take a selfie while shoveling. The scarf eventually came off. It was a PIA.

 This was taken about 8 am. It had been sleeting since about 5. The freezing rain had just begun.

This was at about 2 pm. Clearly the snow came back and we got a lot more snow.  It's about knee height.

One thing I know for sure. Wellies are not warm. Even with boot socks on.

I decided I'm getting to old for this crap. I'm thinking about buying a snow blower for these big snows. Then I can blow the alley and get my car out. The city finally came in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Maybe by Saturday the streets will be walkable again. Right now, pedestrians are still in the streets. Maybe I'll go on the D&L snow shoeing.

another walk in the alley

When I work in Easton I walk in the alleys. It's probably not safe, but oh well. It sure is a lot more interesting. Really, gas pumps like this do not exist on main streets.

After careful evaluation, I finally found the location of the one ghost sign I can see from the office window. I was pretty sure of the location so I used google maps 3D rotation, and walla, there it was. But I can't see it from the street. I'm going to check if the pizza place has "outdoor" seating in the spring and summer. It is the only business there that would have access to the "yard". In this picture, it is the red brick building with the black cloud of smoke behind it. I thought it was the old Express-Times building. But in actuality, it was the new construction next door.

The 3rd Floor of this building has a reflection. But there is no building to reflect. It appears to be large format output like one might use in a store window.

This ghost sign is almost gone. I never noticed it until today. C. LAWALL'S SON & CO.  DRUGGIST's ... Can't read the rest. I looked it up online and this company did exist and they were druggist's, so I think I'm right.

 There were two of these flanking a doorway. This must have been a store. Not sure what kind.

 This is the same building. The class work is beautiful typography. The door is a fantastic monster mural. It's a tattoo shop now.

This is in the alley next to the Quadrant. With all the time I spend in Easton alley's you'd think I'd look at names. But no, I don't.

This is the sign on the garage where I found the gas pump. There was a lot of water coming in, I could hear it running. Yet it was full of cars. The price must be right.

Miles/Steps:  2-ish
Bathrooms:   none 
Wildlife:        none
Weather:      low 30s, sunny. Blizzard on its way.
Extras:         The alleys were icy. Standing water, add water from the fire hoses, and it was a tricky walk. I managed to avoid all the ice with some fancy footwork.

allentown parks

It was cold again today. Maybe not so windy. But I went out for a walk anyway. I need to get my fat butt moving regularly again.

I decided I'd go to Cedar Creek Park in Allentown. That was I could use my clicker. It's the little things that make me happy.

I parked near the Pavilions, clicked in, and headed out on the loop. Normally that park is packed, but not today. Though I wasn't alone. The park is beautiful in the winter, and it was shocking how pretyy the rose garden was even without flowers.

The path was about 90% clear. Not sure if it was plowed or it just melted.  But there were a few places that blew shut with all the wind yesterday. They were ice and I walked in the snow. As did many other people.

 Even this sculpture looked nice in the snow.

Then I went to Trexler park. I almost turned around and went back. The entrance sidewalk blew shut and was ice. But I followed the trail of others and walked in the snow. Thankfully, the path was open. This park was also slow. Not a typical Sunday. The cold (and maybe the threat of a blizzard) were keeping people away.

New at the park were these nesting boxes -- but I don't know who lives in them. Plus there was a  warning sign of an invasive butterfly-like insect that are poor flyers. Apparently they are lazy and hitchhike. Spreading their ranks and pushing out native species.

The springhouse looked beautiful in the snow.

Miles/Steps:  4-ish
Bathrooms:   I didn't use them. 
Wildlife:        5 mallards, 3 male, 2 female, and a goose at Trexler
Weather:      low 30s, sunny, windy. Clearly, March is still in its "lion" stage. 
Extras:         A cute dog got off it's leash and didn't want to be caught. She loved playing in the snow. She'd rub her face in it.

get out lehigh valley: irt

The walk today falls under the "learn something new every day"  category. I might need to take the history walk.

This morning was the Get Out Lehigh Valley walk at the Ironton Rail Trail. As you can see in the photos, it had snowed. This morning it was about 24 degrees when I left the house. With a lot of wind. I have no idea what te wind chill was, but it was low. I'm guessing it was about 12.

Before walking, I had to take my niece to a Girl Scout cookie booth at Walmart. The child had a million layers on and she was destined to be cold. (And she was.) I then hopped on 22 and went to the IRT. It was 9:30 when I arrived. A full half-hour early. The sign-in people were there so I signed in and headed towards the Whitehall Parkway.

 This is about 1/2 mile in, at the bottom of the hill. I took the Parkway spur towards McArthur Rd. When I reached McArthur, I turned around and came back. It was about 9:55 and they were still checking in people. We didn't start until at least 10:15. Plus we still had the group pic to take. What amazed me was that 40+ people showed up to walk in the cold.

We went to the red caboose for the picture were a member of the IRT commission gave us a talk on the trail and Portland cement in Coplay. And, of course, it's importance to the development of the Lehigh Valley. This person runs history tours of the trail--there are 50 historic artifacts on the trail. We learned about the cabooses restoration and the restoration in progress of the Pullman car on the parkway spur of the trail. They are also building a trailhead at the North Whitehall section of the trail. The section near Mauch Chunk road.

Do you know why the Lehigh Valley was so important to the development of Portland Cement? Now I do. It wasn't only the Bethlehem Steel that built America ...

I need to take one of those history tours.  I learned a lot from the red caboose to the kilns. That's only a half mile, or so. there is one at the end of March, and another in October.

First, the railroad ran under the street, and one of the ruins is a bridge support. And that odd little building on the trail was the wash house. And that the phone booth 96.6 indicated how far they were from Reading terminal in NYC (now the World Trade Center). Also that when Conrail took over, they destroyed all the phone booths so they didn't have to pay taxes on them. This one was found in Slatington, in the woods. It was restored and brought to the trail. The phone inside is fake. The real one is at the Atlas Cement Museum in Northampton. Who knew? I've seen the signs for Atlas Museum in Northampton and thought it was a building full of maps! The Museum is open to the public on the 2nd and 4th Sunday from 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. between May and September. Okay, that might be a hard trip to plan, but I'm going.

We finally reached the kilns in Saylor park. (Founder of Coplay cement.). The front one on the left cost $350K to restore. There are eight more. (These are only 60 feet tall. They were taller at one point to stick out of the buildings, like smokestacks. They were removed when the building was demolished.) They (not clear who) are trying to raise the money from cement companies across the country because they are historically significant. These kilns are where the "recipe" for Portland cement was perfected. The official name for them is Schoefer kilns. They only operated about 10 years, in the 1890s, before the rolling mills were developed. The ones in this area are the only ones left. The ones in Germany were destroyed during WWII and the bricks used to rebuild the cities.

I told you I learned a lot.

I went a little further and turned around and went back. The slow pace was interesting but cold. And I needed to collect my sister and the child. History tours are best on a warmer day.

Miles/Steps:  4-ish
Bathrooms:   Port-o-potty. But I didn't use it. 
Wildlife:        A couple of birds of prey circling the kilns
Weather:      mid-20s, sunny, poop-load of wind. Clearly, March is still in its "lion" stage. 
Extras:         A blizzard is coming. A blizzard is coming. I'm so excited. Maybe I can use my snowshoes after all.

tail on the trail reboot

The Tail On The Trail program pushed off it's winter challenge to March because they were redoing their website. It is mobile ready, which I guess was the goal. It also collects a lot of information, which makes logging a PIA. Based on that information it gives you annoying little happy graphics, which I think is supposed to motivate you. I hate little happy motivators.

The most annoying part right now is that you have to register like a new person, even if you've been doing it since day one. All that data was lost.

I'm not sure how I feel about the changes. Right now, I'm not so thrilled. But then, I'm crappy with change.

Speaking of change, I finished the Idita-Walk. I'm on the completed list. I guess that means I went over a 100 miles this month. The Idita-Walk isn't the same. It says there is only 15 participants so I think a lot of people agree with me.

We're 21 hours into the real race. Ally Zirkle is in 24th place. She's usually in the front of the pack, but hasn't won, yet. This might not be her year. But it's early. There's at least a week left of this race. And -24 temperature awaits the mushers in Nome.

downtown easton

Every time I look out the window, I see the striped mural. And it bugs me. So yesterday, after work, I roamed the alleys of Easton looking for it. And I found it. I knew it had to be in a lley. I had tried all the streets around it. Nothing.

 In the process, I found this ghost sign.

And some poetry. It was only about 15 minutes of walking. But it felt good.

Miles/Steps:  1-ish, but 6 flights of stairs to the office, and 3 to the parking deck
Bathrooms:   None 
Wildlife:        Surprisingly, none. No squirrels, pigeons, nothing
Weather:      High 30s, sunny. 
Extras:         I was shocked at what could be found in an alley.

sunday walk

I just wandered the neighborhood on Sunday, ending up at Lydia's house. Actually, I needed her camera. Her neighbor had cat boxes in front of the house for the local strays. In some ways I think it's a terrific idea. And in others, doesn't it just encourage more strays?

 Amd they are putting in new playground equipment at Madison School playground.

 I'm hoping this will be swings!

 I'm stumped. What is this going to be?

I returned the camera and the dog was going ape-shit. So I took him home with me. Lydia came to. And then we walked up to see the dead people.

Miles/Steps:   2-ish, with hills
Bathrooms:    None. The repairman clogged Lydia's
Wildlife:         Do teenagers playing basketball count?
Weather:       High 30s, sunny. 
Extras:          I am astounded by how dirty the streets are. Liter is everywhere. I wish I had unlimited garbage. I'd go out every day and pick it up. Alas, my 1-bag limit prevents that.