new hope

I have been wanting to drive down toward New Hope for about two weeks. I wanted to check out the D&L in that section of the river. Look for trail heads and whatnot. Friday I received an email from Betty saying there was a informal Volksssport walk there on Sunday. I decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Of course after I confirmed that I'd be there, and ordered my stamps printed, I received a text from Debbie asking if I was available as an aid. I said "No. I have other plans." That clunk you just heard is Bonnie passing out. She says I never turn down work.

The walk began at a shopping center next to the high school. It's a long hill down to the main street, and then over the bridge into Lamberton, New Jersey.

It was here that we picked up the Delaware and Raritan Trail (D&R). Do you know what this means? There is a canal, and canal trail, on BOTH sides of the Delaware River. It blows my mind. This trail is narrower, at least in Lamberton, than the D&L. We walked to Mile Post 14 and turned around and came partway back. Then we wove our way thru town, finally returning to the trail passing MP15. 

In both Lamberton and New Hope, "Gay Pride" month was being celebrated. Nearly everyone had their rainbow flags out. (Designer geek trivia time. The first rainbow flag was square and had 8 stripes. It was designed by Gilbert Baker. The stripes all have meanings: red-life, orange-healing, yellow-sun, green-nature, blue-peace, purple-spirit. The removed stripes were pink (sexuality) and turquoise (art).  Also there was evidence of Black Lives Matters rallies and demonstrations.

We walked back to Bridge street and back over the bridge. Then the group wove thru town, and walked on part of the D&L.

For a Sunday in June, New Hope was dead. Usually people are elbow to elbow and the shops, restaurants and sidewalks are packed. But with all the C19 restrictions still in place under "yellow" I can see why. There were signs everywhere including the trails, the bridge, and downtown. The trails were busy but for the most part, everyone was trying to space out, and about half were wearing masks.

Not all of the charm of New Hope was lost. There were a few buskers out. Unless restrictions aren't lifted it will be along dry summer for them.

Yesterday I didn't walk. John came over and I did yard work. We pulled out a new invasive weed that grows over all my plants, like an umbrella. It even took over the kitsch on the fence. According tot he almighty Google, the god of information,  it's called Cleavers (Goosegrass, Stickyweed, Robin-Run-The-Hedge, Sticky-Willy) or Galium aparine and grows to be 4 feet tall. Leaves and stem are covered with tiny hairs, making the plant appear to be "sticky" and causing it to cling to everything. It clambers along the ground and also climbs over other plants using its hairs for grip. Flowers are tiny and green colored. Fruits (1/8 in / 3mm ) become burrs covered with tiny hairs, which aids distribution. I don't know where the hell it came from but it gave me a rash that itches. This is in the flowerbed that I share with Phillipe. 

About two years ago I gave up on the other flower bed on the side I share with "Nanny's" house. The more I tried to irradiate the Bishop's weed, the worse it got. I even dug out the flower beds and removed what I thought were all the trailing roots. Clearly I just chopped them into pieces and made more. There might be one hostage left. That's it. Otherwise it all gets weed wacked.

Miles/Steps:    just shy of 10K

Bathrooms:      I-5 at CVS.
Wildlife:           three multi-generational groups of turtles like the one above. These were on the bridge piers. One in the canal. Many gaggles of geese. Again, multi-generational, including a couple mixed breed ones that looked like geese but had mallard heads, and a couple almost all black. I'm now using the term guck instead of mutt.
Weather:          Low 80s, no humidity to speak of, sunny.
PPE Found:      NONE!