deputy duties on new year's eve

With the exception of dog walks, I really didn't walk much this week. There is no excuse.

Several days I had intended to but didn't get out. Why? Life gets in the way. And I am my extended families personal Uber. For example, Wednesday I planned to walk after lunch. I wasn't sure when, but I wanted to wait for it to warm up a little. I was finishing up lunch and decided to check the temp on my phone. There was a text from my international student—"could you come over for a Christmas gift right away’’. She was leaving for New York City  in an hour.

I replied I'd be there -- it narrowed my choices for walking and gave me a destination. I'd go to NCC, then walk at Hornfleck park and then finish at Walmart to get a new Fitbit. Wrong. I arrived at school and it was nearly a half hour before she came down. Then I offered to take them to the bus stop so they didn't have to walk in the cold. We stopped at the gas station for tickets, and found out that they had missed the bus, and the next one wasn't till six. They had to go to the Easton terminal. See how things spiral out of control?

This morning I was reading the paper and saw a road warrior article on the effectiveness of cross walk buttons. His dad, like mine, called them "idiot" buttons. It got my attention immediately and gave me an idea. I had already canceled my plans to do the AT hike because I had to Uber my sister from St. Luke's to the north side. (She walks very slow and 13° weather is not great for her joints. Long story short, it took an hour and a half for what should have been a 20 minute round trip.) I would be a road warrior deputy and do the research of crosswalk signals. South Bethlehem, I decided, would be represented.

Did I mention it was 13° with windchill bringing it to -1°?

I came in from Ubering my sister and told my roomies I was headed out for a walk. I put on more clothes—I looked like the Michelin man. I grabbed a pencil, paper and my phone and headed out.

The first stop was the 5-points. As I'm walking down Broadway I see the hand is red. I think, great, this will go quickly. Wrong. I was crossing Wyandotte from the bank to the garage. I waited three full cycles of the light and the hand never changed. Even when I knew it should change. Once I click the button, it came on in 1.13 minutes. I found this very odd. I never noticed it when I'm out walking. But then, I always hit the idiot button. Why? So if anyone hits me, all the security cameras will tell the police that I had the right of way.

Then I tried to cross Broadway from the garage to the Old Ale House. I never noticed that there was no button! I crossed anyway, and did the timing process. Again, about 1.15 minutes.

At this point I am an ice cube. Especially my fingers. They kept coming out of the gloves. This is a project for March, not December! I had to get moving. So I did.

I did a total of five corners. The most interesting one was at the corner of Third and the Hill to Hill Bridge. Crossing Third, heading toward the bridge the light timer was 50 seconds. Not bad. However, crossing Wyandotte to Nativity Church was 2.07 minutes. I was so impatient I kept hitting the button. I didn't think it would ever turn.

I was really cold when I got home. I was looking forward to taking off my shoes and layers of outer wear, and just getting warmed up. But it was not meant to be. I walked in the house and was told it was time to go pick up sauerkraut at Bonnie's for New Year's dinner. Sigh. I turned around and left again.

An Uber driver's work is never done.

Tomorrow I'm doing a Wildland's First Day hike in Emmaus.

Miles/Steps:   Clueless. i'd like to guess 2 miles 
Weather:        13°, overcast, with a wind chill of -1°
Extras:            I have been looking for several days for a new Fitbit. I've signed up for a challenge in Volkssport walking and it starts tomorrow. There are none left in the stores. Heck, I can't even buy them online. Fitbit has them on back order for 2 weeks. I guess I should have shopped BEFORE the holidays.

the 2nd day of christmas i froze my butt off

The sun is bright, I don't hear any wind, I'm going for a walk.

Bad move.

It was about 22 degrees out. I had no idea. I dropped my neice off at work and headed for the D&L. The ice should have given me a hint. But some days I'm dense. I received my first clue when there was ice on the trail. The second clue was the canal was frozen. The third clue was there was nobody else out there.

I forge onward toward Allentown. And then the wind blew. I was walking into it. The cold became even colder. Don't let that sunshine fool you, it was C-O-L-D. And I wasn't dressed right. I had yoga pants, a winter coat, scarf, gloves and a hat. Anything above my waist was warm. Anything below was a popcicle.

I trudged away. I don't know how far I went before I gave up and turned around. From the time I left my house to the time I arrived home it was 75 minutes.

Miles/Steps:   Clueless. i'd like to guess 2 miles, but with the ice I bet it was less.
Weather:        23°, windy, sunny, and bitter freakin cold
Wildlife:         none

Extras:           I saw this shack that I never saw before. Almost looks like an outhouse, but I'm sure it's not. I guess it's usually hidden by the trees.

christmas day walk

Though I've been a lazy fart the past few weeks I am trying to get back into good habits. That means getting up this morning and going for a walk. I recruited Lydia and Adonis to go with me.

We went to Monocacy Park. There was a dusting on snow on the trail at the Nature Center. We headed toward the creek. The path at creekside has always been challenging, but the erosion has really effected it. There was one place that was about 3 inches wide. Getting the dog to stay on the trail was interesting. He wanted Lyd to walk next to him.

At two other places we had to climb over fallen trees. We didn't think he'd go over the one, but he did. Without a treat bribe. We had none with us.

Coming back on the railroad side the trail was a soggy mess. There was standing water at several places. We tried to avoid most of it, not always successfully. I was glad we brought a towel for the dog to lay on in the car.

We crossed the lot and street and headed into the park. I went to take a pic of the swans and got caught up in 'fishing line". I was a little pissed that someone was that irresponsible. But it wasn't fishing line. The creek banks are lined with very thin wire. We looked at one of the anchor sections and it said "Goose D-Fence".  There are red strings on it, but I didn't put 2+2 together soon enough.

The bridge over the creek was icy. I think it has more locks on it than before. We came back the other side, by the pavilions. It's a good thing we did. There was a dalmatian coming toward us, but on the other side.

Miles/Steps:   Probably less than 2 miles. Without a tracker, I'm clueless. 
Bathrooms:     Not open.  
Weather:        low 30's. Mostly sunny. Windy.
Wildlife:         2 swans and about 12 mallards. 2 of the mallards were black with bright green heads. Clearly they were mixed species ... duck mutts.

christmas eve on the d&l

Yesterday my international students and I took a walk on the D&L. I wanted to do something with them during the holiday weekend since I can't very well invite them to my house for a traditional American Christmas. Haven't really had one of those for a decade.

The girls had been in DC for the weekend, and didn't want to go till 1. It gets dark at 4:30. We had to stay local.

I arrived at school at 1, and they finally came out about 1:30. Punctuality is not their strong suite. I decided to do the D&L, and use the new trail head off Farmersville Rd. It was close and I really want to see the improvements. Wow is it nice. Big parking lot, trailhead sign, and even markers telling you how far things are.

We parked and I announced that I brought silly hats. Did anyone want to wear one. It was, after all, Christmas Eve. I brought the antlers because I thought they'd work perfect on Isha's hijab. They did! She tried a couple times to wear the Santa hat, but it wouldn't stay put. Surbhi and I wore the Santa hats.

The girls love to take photos. Lots and lots and lots of photos. Especially selfies and videos. We were at the trailhead sign at least five minutes before we even started. The trail post said it was 2.2 miles to the Rt 33 trail head, so that's the way we went. It took an hour to get there. We stopped a couple times for photos.  Yes there is even a video of the trail as we walked. They need one of those go-pro cameras.

We arrived at the boat launch and spent a good 30 minutes there. It was probably longer. They made dancing videos and took a poop-load of photos. They even got me to sit on the ground!

It was only 3:15 and the sun was already starting to go down. I told them we needed to head back. The College does not provide food services during winter break. Their scholarship gives them an extra stipend to allow them to buy food. On the way back Isha says, "tomorrow could you take me to the grocery store?"

"It's Christmas, they'll be closed."

"Can we go tonight?"

"It's Christmas Eve, everything closes early. Sometimes as early as 4, no later than 6."

As we all know, supermarkets are hell the day before Christmas. But she wanted to go to Elias (the Arab store) because they have halal meats, and are fairly cheap.  I told her she had to be quick because I needed to pick Lydia up at work. "Okay. I will be quick" as she runs into the store still wearing her reindeer ears.

Elias was busy. Actually, it was packed. We were probably there close to a half hour. Surbhi and I sat in the car. At one point my phone rang and I was told to bring milk home. I ran in and came back out.

Ultimately it all worked out. I got them back to the dorms and picked up Lydia a half hour late.

Later in the evening it started to snow. Maybe we'll have a white Christmas.

Miles/Steps:   4.4 miles according to the sign 
Bathrooms:     they didn't add a port-o-potty to the trail head. Nothing is perfect, I guess. 
Weather:        low 40's. Overcast
Wildlife:         some tracks, that's it. 
Extras:           there was hardly anyone on the trail. We saw only 2 bikes.

tail on the trail swag

I've been so lax with this blog that I never even posted about the arrival of my 2017 Tail on the Trail swag. This year it was a insulated backback. It's very nice and well constructed. I might have used the first year one once.

The second year we received a lunch bag tote style. I might have used that once too. I sense a theme. But usually there are enough of us walking that we just take a cooler or the cooler style grocery bag.

Not sure what to do. I will keep this one over the original one because it is larger and better constructed. And I am keeping the lunch bag style one. What to do with the other two, I have no idea. If anyone needs a backpack cooler, I'll hook you up!

no, i haven't dropped dead

No I haven't dropped dead, but I've ignored this blog horribly. Why? because I have nothing to say. I haven't been walking ... except the dog, of course. And the store.  I have become a big, lazy, lard butt. I think it's not having a tracker. It's easy to make excuses, I'm not accountable. I'll have to figure that out in the new year.

Today I had to go to west Allentown/Whitehall. I decided I was going to Trexler Park. And I took Lydia with me. She did the lower loop. I did the upper loop. It was pretty busy. I was surprised. And there was a lot of dogs.

Anyway, I promise to do better. My goal is to have a real walk and a post every day for the rest of the year. We'll see how that goes.

UPDATE:
My cat problem is now solved. The trapper came and scooped up 16. They were taken to be snipped, and only the adults returned to the neighborhood. They should stop multiplying. Not sure what happens if they are pregnant. I don't want to know.

Miles/Steps:   Less than 3 miles. But without a tracker, I'm cluless.
Bathrooms:     I-3.5. The stall doors didn't close.  
Weather:        low 40's. Overcast
Wildlife:         2 pair of Mallards in the creek. A blue jay at the Springhouse. And on the lawn, next to the lake about 16 American-Canadian geese. In the lake another 8-10 pairs of mallards.
Extras:           I used my Allentown Million CLickr for the first time in at least 8 weeks.

my consistent walking buddy

My niece temporarily moved in about three weeks ago. She has a dog. Right now she is working retail so guess who walks the dog? Yep. Me.

On the plus side, he loves to walk. He'd go for hours if I'd let him. I wish I could take him on trails, or on long urban walks. But I cannot. He doesn't like other animals -- dogs, cats, squirrels, bunnies, flying leaves or Doritos bags. Therefore we take the same half-mile route each time and I have to be radar focused on my surroundings. Who knows what is lurking in the cemetery.

Depending on my work schedule we walk twice every day. Occasionally three times. Generally around lunch time, and again near dusk. Otherwise he's relegated to the yard.

This week has been quite the dog walking adventure. There were dogs everywhere. Dogs nearly breaking down the door of their house, dogs jumping out of cars, dogs hitting a T-intersection at the same time I do. I've somehow managed to avoid them all. But I don't know how. I guess it's the laser focus. I even managed to avoid the Asian girls to whom I yelled "please don't come in the cemetery. My dog hates other dogs." They did.

On the up-side let's just say the stray cat problem in my yard is reduced. They have learned that a d-o-g lives here now. (But just in my yard. As expected, they are multiplying like crazy. My cute kittens from July are now of kitten-bearing age. I saw Polka Dot yesterday. She is either preggers or very fat. I'm guessing preggers. Phillipe next door says there are 14. Like me, he tried rescue places to no avail.)

i took my hiking stick for a walk

Today was the Get Out Lehigh Valley hike at Dodson Park in Fountain Hill. Calling it a park is a stretch. Pretty much it's additional baseball fields.  It began at 10, so I left my house at 9:30 and started to walk up to the park. I stayed on Broadway and then Dotson, to keep the walk easy. I didn't know how strenuous the hike would be, and I still had to walk home.

It was snowing. Beautiful, little, tiny snowflakes that only stick to grass.

I have been on a lot of hikes with this group. I have walked thru a golf course that was reclaimed by nature when it was 95 degrees and 85% humidity with minimal shade. I have hiked with them at a park in Salisbury Township in a torrential downpour, in an inch of standing water.  I had no reason to think that it might be cancelled. Had they ever cancelled before? I don't think so.

I arrived at the park and there was nobody there. I looked on FB to see if there was a cancellation notice. I didn't see anything. I was more than a little disappointed.

I really wanted to do this hike. It was described as "walk on trails laid out and maintained by Valley Mountain Bikers. We’ll travel across the top of Ostrum Ridge and down one of the area’s oldest roads, which is barely visible now, to the foundation of a stone barn whose walls were still standing in the 1970s. We’ll meander near old quarries where rock was quarried for some Lehigh University buildings. There’s a lookout spot above the Lehigh River that also affords good views of Bethlehem and east Allentown. There are remnants of a park that was active in the 19th century. After looking at vernal pools, we’ll finish our hike with a steep walk back up to the parking lot."

I need new places in the "hood to walk. And maybe, just maybe this would take us close to the reservoir. Remember how we picniced there as kids. We carried all that stuff -- food and toys and chairs -- from the house to the reservoir and then back home again? Of course it was only six blocks from the house on Seneca Street to the entrance of the park and a zillion kids to carry things. Do you remember when I broke my collarbone on one of those picnics? Right before they closed it off to the public because it wasn't safe. And then sealed by homeland security after 9-11. The fed's have to protect the water supply.

I think that's the remains of the park they were talking about in the description. 

I wanted to do this hike. I wanted to know how to enter the woods and find the trails. Do you have to cut thru the cemeteries? Maybe you enter at the barn? Or do you enter by the rservoir, and go past the "no trespassing under penalty of federal law" signs? I'll never know.

I waited about 20 minutes and went home. I took my hiking stick for a walk. 

Miles/Steps:   Less than 3 miles. It should have been around 7.
Bathrooms:     Locked, baseball season is over. No port-o-potty.  
Weather:        28 or so. Light, but steady snow
Wildlife:         None.
Extras:           I dug out all my warm weather gear and was reminded that my ankles are always cold. I need to buy longer socks, but never do.