A new adventure is on the horizon

Skinny me. I was 17 and having a graduation party. Yes, I look 12.

 If I was Catholic and went to the confessional I’d be saying something like “Forgive me father for I have sinned. It’s been 92 days since my last blog post.” I knew it was long but I’ve never gone three months.

What have I been up to? Nothing. Just work. And being a fat lazy loaf. I didn’t walk a lick this summer, and the weather was mostly beautiful. I went to chair yoga maybe twice. I do not look forward to going to the doctor October 10. I will get read the riot act. She’ll probably complain about all my numbers even  though I’m basically eating 80% vegetarian.

Ce la vie.

I’ve been searching for ways to get myself motivated since I was sick. I needed a goal. So I picked a really expensive one. ICELAND.

Clearly I cannot walk to Iceland. If I had a couple months I could walk to Mexico. But the heat, yikes.

I’ve been wanting to do something BIG. I’m alone way too much and my handful of friends have their own lives. So basically I work. All the time. And lately when I travel it’s for work. I cannot escape it.

One night at the theatre I was telling my sister-in-law about it and she asked what I was considering and I told her a few things. One was a cruise. However, if you’re a solo traveler everything is nearly twice the price. She has cruised before. The Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska. Actually, like my friend Angel, she is well traveled. She said what were you looking at. I’m not much into beaches and heat. My reply is I was thinking north, like Greenland. Or Iceland. She was interested and started searching much better than I ever could.

It kind of went away for awhile and then she got some marketing stuff in the mail from the cruise lines. 28 Days to Iceland, Greenland, and Northern Canada. We talked about it. 28 days is a long time. But the payoff s big. Three countries, white nights, maybe a glacier … So we took her coupons and went to AAA, talked about it, and decided that we were doing it. I hope we don’t kill each other by the end of 28 days together. 

One of the downsides is 4 days ocean travel with no stops. You can see that most of the stops are on the way back. I better load up my Kindle with books. There are 6 stops in Iceland, two in Greenland, and 7 in coastal Canada. 

I hear wi-fi is expensive, so I won’t be spending time on the net. Just how do you pack for 28 days? Sure you can wear clothes multiple days, but 28? Be reasonable. I don’t have that much underwear.

I don’t know what our excursions will be just yet. I’m going for nature, scenery, and maybe art. Bring on the whales and puffins! I also plan to be up at midnight to watch the sunset and rise. The 24 hours of light is on the solstice, so we’ll just miss it. But it will be close.

So now I have something to train for. Walking, hiking, and all round improving my stamina for the trip to Iceland. The blog posts should be more frequent. With my jobs it will be hard to post daily, I’m hoping a weekend wrap up. We’ll see how that goes.

Then, while on my epic adventure, I’ll chronological my trip just like I do every time. But this time I’ll be typing off line, and just cutting/pasting when I have internet service.

volkssport on the d&l

 

Today I hosted the Volkssport walk on the D&L trail. It began in downtown Easton at the Forks of the Delaware trailhead. Traffic wasn't bad so I arrived at about 9:20. I didn't expect anyone at all, but if someone did show it would be about 9:45. So I walked around the park taking pictures. It looked like it was going to pour

I was headed back to my car when I heard my name. It was Dave. Apparently he text me but I didn't hear it. He and Mike ate on South Fourth Street and just arrived. We waited till 10. Nobody else came. 

 This is the biggest turtle we saw. The littles jumped in the water. Mama taught them well. Stay away from humans.

Although I need group walking to get my lazy ass moving I hate walking with other people because I am very slow and I stop a lot. Frankly, I feel like a burden. Yeah, I know my head is getting in my way to wellness. Anybody who has read more than three entries on this blog knows that. The guys wanted to go to Hugh Moore Park they were going to the Canal Museum.  I knew I couldn't do a 10K. It's about 5 to the museum and then 5 back.

I stayed with them till we met up with the canal at the edge of Hugh Moore Park. We took the group picture and them I headed back. I'm sure they finished the museum tour before I even got to my car!

I took some pictures of locks, gears, ruins and some interesting railroad bridges on my way back. It was hard to avoid the poison ivy. 

By this point the sun was coming out and there was great reflections in the water. Five minutes after I reached the car the heavens opened up. And just as quickly stopped.

Positives:

• I went and I walked. I could have easily gone home 
• My socks didn't fall into my shoes because of the miracle socks Bonnie told me about. They are expensive but they stayed put.

Now I'm going to try and watch George Clooney in Good Night and Good Luck on Broadway via CNN. Wish me luck. 

Miles/Steps:    6,800 steps according to my phone.
Weather:          sunny, mid 70s. Overcast at start. Sunnier at finish

Wildlife:           Bullfrog. Big and little turtle family. Again, heard so many birds.

jacobsburg with pam

This morning I met Pam at the Rt. 33 Park and Ride and we went to Jacobsburg to walk. It was fairly empty for a Friday morning, but I think school isn't out yet for most. Mostly we saw people walking dogs.

Immediately we saw that they were doing reno along the creek banks along the Henry's Woods trail. It was all fenced off in orange snow fence. 

There were periodic breaks where they build gravel entrances into the creek. Some, like the one above, were flat and you could walk or roll right in. The water was fairly shallow. Other's had wide shallow "stairs" that you had to go down. 

We stayed on that path until the far parking lot. Then we crossed the bridge and started coming back the other side. I didn't have my walking stick and we came to the sign that said "Hazardous Trail" -- rocks, roots, steep inclines, the whole 9 yards. Of course we continued. Eventually we got the the problem area. There were steps. I thought we might go down them and pick up a creek trail. No such luck. We went back up the stairs and back the way we came in.

Miles/Steps:    7,091 steps according to my phone.
Weather:          sunny, mid 80s. Shady at start. Sunny at finish

Wildlife:           a lot: 2 chipmunks. Bullfrog. little frog. at least 3 swallowtails. Mouse. Heard so many birds.

Bathrooms:      I-4.5  The bathrooms are now co-ed. There is a sign that says restroom with a boy and a girl. There were urinals in both. I toyed with giving mine a 5 but the locks were less than stellar. The handle lock didn't push in, and the turn nob didn't go all the way. I had a great fear someone was going to walk in.

 

reset outdoors

 

Last night I did a “community” walk with Reset Outdoors. These are the same people that held that one-day event at NCC, and the 7-week event at NCC.  We had a total of eight people. Three were from Reset.

We met at the pool at 5:30, and walked the big hill down to the Monocacy Way Trail. Then headed to Paint Mill Road. They turned around and head back, but this time off-trailing a lot with little side paths. We had to cross the railroad tracks to enter the Illicks Mill Nature Trail. We stuck close to the creek. When we reached the park, we headed down the main trail back to Monococay Way and back up the steep hill to the parking lot. I was the last one up. We finished around 7.

Miles/Steps:    2-2.5 mile round trip. I’m guessing. I no longer have a fit-bit and my phone tells me nothing useful.
Weather:         overcast, low 60s, breezy

Wildlife:           two bunnies, one doe, then two does, three male mallards came in for a landing on the Monocacy, and two very fat ground hogs.

memorial day stroll

Monday I had just finished writing about yard work Sunday when I got a craving for lasagna.  It would not go away. Weirder was it was about 70 degrees out. Lasagna is winter food.

I head into the kitchen and found noodles. No meet. No cheese. Just noodles and veggies. And sour milk. I cannot make lasagna with that. I did not want to take the car out. That left me with one option. I had to walk to the grocery store. Would it be open?

So I did. I didn’t take my cart because I was going for cheese and ricotta. That’s it. I’m only eating meat out. This would be a veggie lasagna. I’ve got to eat more veggies. I stopped once going down. Multiple times coming back.

The store was not only open, but busy. I walked home and then proceeded to make a 9x13 pan of lasagna. Yes, enough to feed at least 8 people. One layer was broccoli, one cauliflower, and one peppers. The peppers were a mistake. And not cooking the tomatoes was a mistake too. The saw tasted raw. But it was delicious and I ate two slices. The rest was cut up for the freezer, and one portion for Sharon. But I might eat that as leftovers.

Miles/Steps:    1.5 mile round trip
Weather:          sunny, nearly 70

a few calories burned

BEFORE: You can’t see the biggest change because I shot from the edge of the patio. 

I had planned to participate in no-mow May, but about two weeks ago I caved. I was just waiting for the citation from the city. It then promptly rained for two solid weeks. I can’t image what it would like like had I not mowed.

So my nieces husband is my lawn dude this summer.  And I’m planning on working him hard. There’s some projects that need doing, that I’ve put off. Partly because I’m lazy. Partly because I don’t like doing ANYTHING alone. Blame it on being the youngest child. I always had playmates. They keep me motivated.

Let me give you the lay of the land: On the left of the deck is some hostas and a pink peony. It’s flowers are tight because it’s protected by a dying tree azalea. The right of the deck some bushes. Not native. At this point the deck is empty. 

I’m standing at the edge of the deck. To the right of me is a tree azalea I gave my mom for Mother's Day in the mid-80s. I few blooms happened this year, but it’s on life support.  To the left of me are 3-nearly 50 year old azaleas. They are white. They were amazing in their heyday, but not recently. They’ve taken a beating with the snow, and I have a hard time weeding them. One was 100% dead. The second at least 75%. And the third only slightly better. They bloomed this year; barely.

On the red fence side is some irises (that are now done), another still budding pink peony, a huge rose of Sharon, and a forsythia. (My nephew cut that at least in half last year. I think it grew three times bigger.) The wash post sits in the middle of the yard. On the right side — in the yard — is a red peony. It was opening the last time I cut the grass. It was pretty for about 5 seconds and then the rain beat it down on the ground. I always say I’m going to buy forms and I never do. 

On the natural fence side is mostly weeds now. There is a couple hostas, and one sedum has survived. But the invasive weeds have overtaken everything. And the more I pull the more they multiply.  Frankly, I’ve given up.

So I picked up J. The first thing we did was prune the front of the Rose of Sharon. Clearly my plants ate their Wheaties over the winter.  Then he set to work weed whacking and mowing. I got to work pulling vines. There were at least four different kinds. Some with shiny leaves, some with grape leaves, and the prickly ones that almost looked like flowers. 

I have long stopped taking yard waste to the compost center. I’ve been putting the brush in front of the garage. I think the neighborhood stray cats love it.  Outside my gate is the compost bin, a gorgeous clematis, and two areas of weeds. I have tried over the years to plant things, but they don’t stick. After J was done weed whacking back there I decided that was going to be the new green compost pile. As long as it doesn’t have food in it, it should be fine. Maybe it will keep down the weeds. Though I’d really like a week of sun to dry them out before rain. I don’t want anything to root.

OMG. It’s starting to look like a yard and we are only an hour in.

Then J get’s to the deck. I was weeding here. How much of this is weeds? Everything but that tree. He puts his hand out and say’s “this dead tree” as a two inch branch breaks off in his hand. It’s was kindling. I told him to prune out the dead. There was one branch left. I had a decision to make. Keep a dead Sussical tree or cut it down. I told him to cut it. I hauled everything to the “compost” pile.

One decision made. Then he say’s are you finishing that dead bush by hand. And I said no. It’s’ve taken off the rose colored glasses, I cannot save it. Pull it before I change my mind.

He did. 

Then he brought up the patio furniture. If I have money left from my kitchen I’m putting in a new deck. The person who put in this one sucked. The one my brother made lasted 30+ years. This one is less than 10.

So now it’s time to buy plants. It’s hard because it’s all sun, all day. They will all die. And it’s hard to know going into something that you’re just wasting money.

Positives:

1) The yard is no longer the worse in the neighborhood

2) I spent a hour out there this morning doing puzzles. I actually left the house, albeit I didn’t go far.

3) The birds had a field day last night with the worms and bugs. All-you-can-eat buffet time at my house.

4) I spent 2.5 hours outside.

 

memorial walk

Every year the walking group has what they call a memorial walk. It's usually well attended, and there is a little ceremony where they read the names of everyone from that has died over the last 40 years. Thankfully, it's maybe 30. There were some significant deaths this year. 

They have a little memorial in a park. But that park is being renovated. A member rescued our plaque before the renovations began and will put it back when it's over. The event was relocated this year to the Palmer Park in Skippack. I went. I decided to go because I was fresh off the trip to New England and I thought I'd strike while the iron was hot. But I'm still sick. So I did more of a tapping while the iron was hot.

This is the same park they used for the 40th Anniversary picnic so the route was the same. You remember the park? The one with the toilets 12 inches off the floor? I went walked with the 5K-ers and did a loop thru a development then bailed. I was a block behind everyone else. I hung out at the pavilion. When I saw them coming, I joined again and walked the last section. I might have walked two miles total.

After the walk there was the ceremony and lunch — baby hoagies from Wawa and pretzels from the Italian Market. (Peg and Marion live in Philly.) And a smaller group went out for another 5K. After than an additional member went for a bike ride.

Positives:

1) I went. Damn I tried to talk myself out of it.

2) I walked. I dropped out, but I did renter. That's a win.

3) I didn't get lost on the way home. I tried to trick the GPS by going down Allentown Rd. It really wanted me to go to 309. On a Saturday afternoon. Joke was on me. For a while it was quiet. Then suddenly she telling me to turn right. I'm thinking it didn't get the memo. What it was telling me was that Allentown Rd. was closed ahead. Oops.

4) I didn't get stuck on the extremely short toilet.

walking in the drizzle

 Today was the volkssport walk in south Bethlehem. I feel shitty, didn’t sleep well, and I’m battle the UPS giant. I’m just getting too old for this shit. And my shit tolerance is getting lower and lower. Honestly I was hoping nobody showed up. After all it was drizzling.

But they did. Two old members who are in town from Colorado for their son’s wedding reception, (They got married in Iceland!) and two current members. 

We checked in at the Comfort Suites which was packed today. Apparently there was some sort of real estate conference. I had to park on the street. And then we headed up Brodhead. I stopped at least a dozen times. I was a good 1/2 block behind everyone else. Dave walked back to meet me and told me to take my time. The Coloradians were being filled in on a recent tragedy and they didn’t mind waiting. 

 Like always, we headed thru Lehigh’s campus. The last time I was on campus the UC was black, and covered in scafolding. It looked like they were pointing the bricks. Well they did, but they also power washed it. OMG the black was 100 years worth of steel dirt. And yes, I look silly in the pic.

We powered thru Lehigh—I kept the pace, and doubled back Packer at Zoellner. And at about Webster, I hit my limit. I said I’m not going any further. I hit a wall at the 1 mile walk.  (What Bonnie and I did in New England was more of a tourist saunter, than a walk for exercise.) We split at the Martindale Library. I think because we were on the other side of the street — construction — they noticed this sculpture for the first time.  I was a half block behind when they waved goodbye as they turned onto Morton.

I could choose to look at this as a failure, but I look at it as a success.

1) I showed up and I tried. Knowing full well that I have trouble with that hill even when I’m in shape.

2) I kept the pace of the in-shape walkers, for a while

3) I blogged about it the same day

4) Minutes after I got home it started to rain harder. It wasn’t a downpour, but it wasn’t light rain. I stayed dry. I wonder how wet they got? 

I am concerned a tiny bit that I could not walk in a straight line. If they were doing DUI tests I would have failed. Right now I’m blaming it on the cold. 

Miles/Steps:  Well it was a mile at Webster, and another 6 blocks back to the car, so I’d say a 1.5 miles
Weather:        54, drizzle, overcast 

Money found: 1 cent

 

walking in new england

 

It doesn't get more New England than this photo, does it?

(The internet, or at least wi-fi, at the hotels stunk. So I couldn't post daily. Heck, I could barely check email!)

It's been a full month since I posted. I'm still lazy and out of shape. God I wish I could find some motivation. I did do a poetry walk about two weeks ago, but there was very little walking. 

This weekend was the Tri-State Lighthouse Walking Festival. I wanted to go since last year when I heard about it, but like everything I talked myself out of it. It's pretty easy to do... driving to Maine for a weekend? Absurd. You spend more time in the car. (We met someone who came up from Florida. they left Mother’s Day.) However, early in April Bonnie asked if I still wanted to go. She wanted to run away from home for a weekend. Their planned trip to Kentucky for her neices graduation was cancelled. I made reservations on the last day and we went.

Volkssporting has a “special program" where you can walk all the states. I'll never finish that book. But I'm doing okay east of the Mississippi. We did the walking weekend in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, plus we walked in Rhode Island. The only state we are missing in the northeastern corner now is Vermont. No way to get Vermont into the weekend.

I picked up Bonnie at 9:15 after work on Thursday and we were off. I planned to go up 33, and then 209, picking up I-84, then picking up CT-9, and finally merging into I-95. I wanted to avoid the George Washington Bridge, and I wasn't a fan of going over the Tappen Zee either. I just wanted to avoid I-95 for as long as possible. Google Maps said this was about 6 hours. Maybe 30 minutes longer than I-95. That's fine with me.

We get to Milford, and pull over. I wanted to turn on the GPS. It didn't talk in my car. So Bonnie and I sat there and figured out how to do Apple Car Play. (Down side—you have to turn the spying bitch Siri on to use it. She's off again.) However, in the process it didn't sync the map on my phone. Instead, it took us all the way back down to the Tappan Zee bridge. Duck. We're doing I-95.  But first it put us on this lovely parkway called the The Merritt Parkway. A controlled-access parkway.  It was designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, and is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. (Wikipedia) My god was it beautiful. Every overpass was a different art deco bridge. There was a part of me that wanted to pull over.

However we soon came to an almost halt. I thought their might be an accident ahead. It wasn't. Forty-five minutes later we saw the problem. 25 feet of grass being mowed!

Someday I’d like to do the Newport mansions walk, or the cliff walk. But frankly that’s too much for a weekend trip. We finally got to Wickford, Rhode Island and parked on the waterfront. It’s south of Providence. I downloaded the walk route before I left. Thankfully there was a port-o-potty. (P-2.5) Hopefully it was cleaned before the weekend. It was full.

We headed out on the route. Wickford Village is one of the oldest preserved colonial seaside towns in the country. The 5K follows 13 interpretive signs highlighting the area’s past – shipbuilding, Narragansett settlers, steamships, grand architecture and more. We didn't go to the Nature Reserve, that was a 3C. Neither of us are in shape for hills, roots and rocks. We got lost more than once. There are few street signs and the directions say intersection not marked. 

One of the most unique elements was a stone pathway that lead to the above church. Each of the stones had name -- mostly of children under 5 -- that had died. 

There were plenty of beautiful second-period houses. Bonnie and I joked that we should have counted how many people had boot scrappers. Or maybe it would be easier to count those who didn't! We ate an early dinner—or a very late lunch—at a seafood restaurant downtown. Then got back in the car to drive toward Boston. We wanted to be about an hour from Glouster. Our walk for Friday morning.

Bonnie and I are horrible at hotel apps. I needed Angel. She is the queen of the discount app. We found a hotel and it had breakfast. It was right outside Boston so it wasn't cheap. But it was what it was. And they had giant cookies. And like everywhere else the internet sucked. It was about an hour away from the start point.

Where the ships go under the draw bridge

We arrived in Glouster with fog. If we couldn't see it for ourselves the GPS kept reminding us. You could not see the three lighthouses in the harbor. Heck, you could barely see the harbor. We signed in and headed out. Since we couldn't see the lighthouses, the other cool part of this walk was the draw bridge. And it was open! I love an open drawbridge. But I was too far away to see what was going under.

Bonnie picking up sea glass.

This was pretty much an out and back for the 5K. You went out the main street with the waterfront on the left,  and came back thru the park with the waterfront now on your left. They were maybe a block apart.  (P-4.5 in parking lot.) There was several openings in the fencing to go down to the beach. This is not a Jersey beach. These are pebbles, not sand. Most beaches in this area I would say are boulders. 

The 10K went into town, and near to one of the lighthouses that were out into the ocean. We took the car to see our the Eastern Point Lighthouse. By that time the fog had lifted. Although operational it looks really abandoned and unloved. It apparently still works. But everything was fenced off. What was really interesting is you had to go down several streets marked "private" or "members only" to reach it. But when you did there were all sorts of signs that indicated that this was a wildlife reserve, and a important site. In facet, as you traveled down the “private” road there was Lighthouse with an arrow signs like any tourist would follow. 

Our next stop was Maine. We stayed at the Lighthouse Inn that had no view of the lighthouse, but it was close to the beach. Since we had eaten a large meal mid-afternoon in Glouster we decided on ice cream for dinner. After signing in at the Inn, we headed to the lighthouse.

The Nubble Point light

By this time is was a gorgeous mid-May day. The area just before the park had an ice cream stand and a lobster shack. We went with ice cream. Like all food in New England it was expensive, but delicious. And then we went to the beach. Paid parking started that day. Bummer. Apparently the season opens this weekend so there were plenty of places to park. This beach actually had sand. 

Saturday was the walks in Cape Elizabeth, just south of Portland. It began at the Portland Head Light. The fog was so dense you almost needed to be standing right in front of it to see it. And it didn’t lift all day. There was a constant drizzle. We actually had to ask someone which way to the light because you couldn't see it! We spent the day in "Brigadoon". A lot of the walk was in the park. We did not do the town portion. We went lighthouse hoping instead.  The museum did not open till next week or we would have went in. You know I’m a sucker for a lighthouse.

I promise you, there is an ocean there.

From the Portland Head Lamp we were supposed to be able to see the Ram Island Ledge light, but it was too foggy.

We hopped in the car and our next stop was Southern Maine Community College. Yep, they have a lighthouse. This was the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse, and you needed to walk out on a jetty to get up close. I tried the stairs and almost fell. That’s why there was a hazard warning sign. I should have packed my walking stick. Clearly we didn’t go. The steps were the worse of it. They just need a rail. As we were leaving we saw the guy from Portland that gave us directions. Here we discover he runs lighthouse tours. He said I guess we'll see you at the "bug light”?

When we got in the car we put in "bug light" and the directions for the Portland Breakwater  Light. This also had a jetty, but it had railings and no steps to get on the jetty. This one we walked out to. I was terrified I'd drop my keys. 

In the parking lot was this odd sculpture. It looked like a boat. We went over. It was the Liberty Ship Memorial. Men AND women built 200 ships in two years during WWII. They even worked in the snow.

As we were getting ready to leave, there was that guy again. He was done with his tour and heading back to home base. Then we stopped at the little museum right outside the park. It was dedicated to the Light and the Liberty Ships. After talking a bit, the docent asked if  we began our adventure at the Two Lights and we said no. He told us where to find them. We headed out for yet another lighthouse(s). But we never saw them. (One works, one is a private home.) Everyone is standing in the parking lot looking to see them, and there is a white wall. They are totally fogged in. We could almost see a house. And the driveway was closed. My guess is that the Coast Guard didn't want anyone falling into the ocean trying to see the light.

Then we headed back to York. Our initial plan was to do a whale watch or some other water tour but they were way out of our league. The last time I did a whale watch it was like thirty bucks. It was one hundred. And frankly, with the fog we wouldn’t have seen anything. 

Our first stop was the host hotel to get our books stamped and Bonnie loaded up on snacks. Then we did the tacky tourist thing and walked around their little "town". We even bought salt water taffy. They were making it in the window. And for a design geek, they don't make signs like this anymore.

or packages like this. My guess is this logo was hand-rendered back in 1900.

I don't know how far we walked this weekend. We walked a lot whether it was on course or not. My upper thighs were screaming. Still are. If nothing else this trip proved to me how out of shape I am.

We did get to see lots of wildlife including a group of five turkeys, and at least one was male. Heard lots of woodpeckers. And at least six varieties of gulls. Plus some “mutt” ducks.

i inspired myself?

 It was a beautiful day yesterday. Close to 80 and sunny. Not too much wind. 

In the morning I was on Sharon Uber duty taking her to Target to get a new phone, again. I swear that girl is a toddler the way she breaks things. We also went to Wegmans and got a fruit tart for Easter Dinner (bring dessert) and we bought flowers for the cemetery and delivered them. Hopefully mama likes her gladiolas.

Every time I'm out I have a working list in my head of what I need to buy if I'm at a place that sells it. Everyday I drive past the Auto Zone at the Five Points and say, they'll have it. But who the hell wants to navigate the Five Points to go to Auto Zone? It's an accident waiting to happen.

Yesterday after I finished my blog post I decided I would take my own hippie dippy advice and bite the bull by the horns. I don't need to navigate the Five Points in a car, I CAN WALK TO AUTO ZONE. So I did. As I was walking down there I thought to myself, my god, I'm going to start documenting little trips, like I did when I first started this 15 years ago.  Heaven help the poor readers. But school will be out in two weeks and I'll have no excuses for the entire summer.

There were enormous bees at Itaska and Alaska. They looked way too big to be carpenter bees, but they were zooming a wood fence, so maybe. I'm not sure what the residents are feeding them to make them grow so large.

@clever_devil_studios

As I walked down Broadway I saw this semi-goth couple coming towards me. I thought, I know these people. Not one single time have I met a person I knew walking down Broadway. It was a former student and his wife. They were headed back to Fountain Hill after walking to the Seven Sirens brewery. (I have still to go there. Angel, we need to do a southside craft brew pub crawl.) We talked for two minutes and parted company. 

I tend to buy my students publication to support them. This coloring book was actually done by his wife. It is a bit more naughty than I expected. When promoting my former student said the cover is the only thing they could show on social media. They were right.  

I waited for forever to cross the Five Points, and entered Auto Zone. I wanted two things. A decorative license plate for the front of my car because I removed the advertising one from the dealer, and the space for a front plate is ugly. And I also wanted a decal to put on my steering wheel to cover the KIA logo. It is hideous. The plate I can live without. I don't see it. That hideous logo stares at me the whole time I'm driving. It is a smack in the face to good design. If I knew someone with a Cricut I could do it myself.

Anyway, I walked in and it's dark. Sure you could see stuff but it looks like they were conserving energy. This is the third new store that's opened in the south side that doesn't light their store. I first noticed it at the Dollar General. I rarely go in there, and I can't go in the one in Fountain Hill. I cannot see. Then when they remodeled the old Ahart's, it became dark. At night, the lights are fantastic. And Auto Zone. I wonder if it has something to do with the demographics of the neighborhood. Is it a marketing choice?

Auto Zone didn't have what I wanted. No license plates, just really gaudy holders. And the decals were just as bad. Not my WASPy cup of tea.  So I left and walked home.

I fear I might have to go to Amazon. Ick. Or maybe Etsy.

Miles/Steps:  It's .6 miles one way, so I'm guessing a mile and a quarter?
Weather:        High seventies, sunny, warm. 

i got sunburn!

 If I got sunburn yesterday it can only mean one thing ... I was outside for more than five minutes. Woot. Woot.

Okay, it's really nothing to cheer about. But it was a positive step.

Other positive steps. I went to the cardiologist and she didn't yell at me about my weight or blood pressure. SCORE! Plus she did not increase my medications. SCORE!

I've gone consistently to the Reset Outdoors thing at the college. I think there is three left. We only went outside once. Oh well. But I got to bitch about my ungrateful sibling (subject: biggest stressor) so it was a SCORE! Although I don't believe in any of this touchy feely bullshit, talking about a PIA sister is really good for you. Did it change the situation. 100% no. Does my head still fell like it's going to pop off my neck. No. So lets call that a win.

Yesterday I went to a Reset Outdoors event at the college called "Narrative Medicine". It was part of NCC's Annual Humanities theme for 2024-2025 called Stories That Shape Us: Turn the Page, Connect, Engage!, explores cultural narratives that shape our understanding of the world. The keynote speaker was Dr. Yusef Salaam of the “The Exonerated Five”. There are events every month of which this was one. 

The Narrative Medicine event was billed as an interdisciplinary approach that integrates the humanities, arts, and social sciences into healthcare and well-being. And we'd get the nuts and bolts of well-being, why it matters, and how to nurture it in our lives. Then explore narrative medicine practices as a way to focus on our own self-care, and personal and collective resilience. It was four hours with Danish and a bagged lunch. Part of the Humanities series this year. It was held outside at the East40 Garden. The sun was bright, the clouds were few and the wind was a bit of a PIA.  

I get easily distracted. I went exploring the pottery area. These are piles of wood for wood firing.

It started at 10. People were still arriving at 10:30. I'm sorry, but that's rude. The first thing  we did was tell the story of our names. I hate these things because they always ask questions I don't have answers to. (BTW "I don't give a damn" is not an appropriate answer for the pronoun question. Honestly, call me anything, just not late for dinner.) I was excited because I actually knew!

The very large man in camo was 12.5 pounds at birth. Mom was 5'2".

Then we headed into the woods. We started with 5 minutes of silence. Then the walk leader Kelly, gave us information on the East 40 and some of the flora and fauna.  For instance, when this area was still a far, the farmer raised trees in this area for lumber. They are Norway spruce and straight as a board. They were 60 feet tall. If they were still used for lumber they would not have grown so large.

There are also bits and pieces of other native clay poetry on the trees. At one time they were the lyrics of a song. But time and wind has ripped many of them to the grown and shattered them. Including coming to and from the parking lot I went about 5000 steps. We might have been out an hour.

Cool twisted tree

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a native wildflower found growing in open woods and along roadsides in partial shade. Many parts, especially the rhizome, bleed a red-orange sap when cut.

We were told to put technology away. When I saw other people taking pictures of plants I took my camera out. Really, walk and NOT take pictures? And I only took five in a whole hour.

At the end everyone was talking about how much of a transformative experience it was. I clearly didn't drink the Kool-Aid. But it gave me something to write about today. 

Angel and I also signed up for one in May called East40 Poetry Rocks Forest Immersion. It's going to be another touchy, feely, hippie, dippy, granola event. Lead by artist in residence Anne Sipos and Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Guide Charles Thomas.  It's supposed to blend nature, poetry, and mindfulness. We have to bring an open mind (that's gonna be tough), a note book and writing utensils and something to sit on.  If I didn't buy what they were selling yesterday, it's gonna be a really tough sell for this. But it's only 2 hours. I made it thru 4. 

I just think if I keep throwing rocks at wellness maybe something will stick. But I doubt it.

I came home and had diner with Angel, then we went to see "The Bookstore" at Lehigh. When I finally looked at myself in a mirror my face was read. What the heck? Then I remembered ...sunburn. It was still red this morning.

UPDATE: Bonnie and I are going to the Tri-State walking festival. It's New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts. I made hotel reservations in York, Maine today. We'll be a 19 minute walk from a lighthouse. Be still my heart. There were hotels with lighthouse views but they were like twice the price. Sigh. I can't justify that.

Miles/Steps:  almost 5K steps
Weather:        I forgot to look. I'm out of practice. It was sunny, warm—I'd say mid-60s—, and windy
Bathrooms:    L-4.5. It was composting. And they even had a moon on the door.
Wildlife:         Well I really did see many. A raptor above. But I heard at least 6 different bird songs, and a woodpecker.

i did go out again

 

I did go out looking for parking meters Sunday. On the south side, at least in my neighborhood we are orange and three hours. At a quarter for ten minutes. On the northside there are burgundy ones, and black ones. I think the burgundy is two hours and the black one hour. It literally changes from block to block.

When I got back I called my sister and she told me to stop being a sissy and drive the damn rental so I did take it out.  I had a death grip on the wheel. Monday I drove to school at at 7:15 I didn't have to worry about parking. I also didn't have to worry about driving in the dark because it's still almost light at 6:30 when I leave.

It's taken the whole week to get used to the rental. The death grip is gone, and I am trying to park closer to other cars. I however am still jumpy about people pulling into traffic and making left turns. Time heals all, I guess.

Thursday I went to the Restore Outdoors thing and it was more touchy feely nonsense. But as promised we went outside. I was chosen to lead the way so I took them on the walking path at the College that goes around the athletic fields. But we had to walk in silence. That near killed me. I can walk in silence alone. It was only 15 minutes, but still.

It is beautiful today. Already 65. I will be car shopping. The price of cars is ridiculous. I will be buying used. The Enterprise clerk suggested going to their car lot. All the cars are low milage, impeccably maintained and most are newer than 2021. They are only in service for a year.  I checked prices at a couple of dealers, Car Max, and Enterprise and she was right. I got 5K for my 2014. Blue book value was 8K. Car Max was selling a 2011 with nearly a 100K miles for 10K. On enterprise I found a 2022 with about 40K for 12 or 13. Hybrids are probably out of my price range. I think about a SUV, they are higher.  We'll see. Lydia's husband is a motor-head. They are coming along. No one should pull the wool over my eyes. And they can't talk me into spending more. I'm paying cash. Go over my budget and I don't get the car.

Hopefully the chaos is over and I have more walking news next week. But I did do two posts in one week. So it's a start. 

the march devil strikes again

Spring sprang this week but these are not my daffys. There’s a dead opossum in my yard so there will be not gathering flowers for me. He’s been frozen all winter. Now he has thawed and nature is taking it’s course. Nature really smells bad. The forsythia from Angel are also starting to open. 

I feel like I’m at a Catholic confessional. Forgive me readers because it’s been 72 days since my last post. One single post so far in 2025! Horrible. Probably the longest time ever away from this blog. I looked at the archives and my numbers are staggeringly … awful. 2024, followed closely by 2023 was my worst month since 2009. Though the downward slide began in 2021 and 2022.

I know why last year’s was so bad. Heart surgery, a knee that wouldn’t work, and cleaning out a house full of crap all contributed. But I no longer have any of those excuses so now I need to find new ones.

March seems to raise havoc in my family. Three siblings died within 18 days of each other in March. My mom died in March. As a family we collectively hate March. And March knows.

Let’s begin with the positive news of this week. Today I walked to CVS. Yes, that same CVS I’ve mentioned a zillion times in these pages. And it felt good to be out there. I now have to do it again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that. That, my readers is the hard part. I should have taken pictures of the new parking signs and the kiosks. But I was already halfway across the street when I thought of it. Parking went from hell on earth to the whole universe in the city. And you need to score card to keep track of the rates.  Okay. That’s tomorrow’s assignment. Take pictures of parking on the southside. Won’t do the northside because that would involve driving. More on that in a bit

Thursday I went to something called “Reset Outdoors” at the College. It’s 6 weeks. It’s touch-feely-psycho babble with an outdoor component. The outdoors part is the reason I signed up. It will force me to walk one day a week for a half-hour. Maybe some of the BS might rub off too. I doubt it. As Angel says, this stuff only works if you believe in it. And I believe in nothing. 

More good news. I am back to parking far away from my classroom and running around like a crazy person. That feels good. I have no idea how many steps because my FitBit is dead, and I never carry my phone around campus. Half the time I have to search for it to log in to something. So Apple’s tracker does me no good.

I did walk with the Volkssporters March 1st but didn’t write about it. I did make the whole 5K but I really held everyone up.

My porch roof still isn’t fixed. I still get the stream of water coming down the middle. It was too “cold”. They claim they will come next week. I’ll believe it when I see it.

The gas company came in January and said they would be putting a new meter in on Wednesday. Put new signs up and everything. Five weeks later they returned. Again, they blamed the delay on “weather”. I sat there a whole day and waited for them. Now this hideous thing sits in front of my house, and they put stones in the trench. The leak from the roof hits the stones and washes them away. So after every storm I have to fix the stones. On a happy note, they also replaced the gas line from my house to the street. So my house is … theoretically … safer.

Yesterday I took my SIL’s mom to physical therapy, and returned her safely home. Barb was there when I got back. My plan for the day was to go home and deal with the two dozen emails about book projects. Suddenly the printer doesn’t like any of our files. We’ve been sending them the same way since 2001. The one that got me was the “download the template and save as xxx.” It was on the template.

Anywho, I left. Causually gathering my thoughts about what comes next. I went the two blocks to the traffic light and waited. Hanover Ave was unusually quiet. No cars coming either direction. (No turn on red.) The light changes I turn the corner and there is suddenly someone coming towards me.  I thought nothing of it until they didn’t slow down and started to turn left into the shopping center. I slammed on my brakes but it was too late. I might have been going 10 mph. She was coming fast.

I hit the front passenger side of her car.  They kept driving and turned like they were going to park. I’m sitting there dialing 911. A young teen on an electric bike or scooter-like thing stops and tells me that I have fluids draining out of my car, and I better move or I’d be trapped in the in ramp of the shopping center till the tow truck comes. Meanwhile I’m talking to 911. Initially I told them the person had left. Then I see someone trying to knock on my window. They did indeed park. I pulled into a handicapped space. It was the only one available.

The cops came. I sent out a group text, called the insurance company, and the rest of my day was shot to hell. My SIL came down to take me home. I got in the house and the phone starts ringing. It’s Enterprise. The insurance contacted them, did I want a rental. Yes. How else will I get to work? (Well I guess I could have done online.) What did I want? Something the same size as my Ford Focus. They will pick me up in an hour. In the meantime another dozen emails arrive. A this point I am overwhelmed and just want to tell the whole world to duck off. 

The Enterprise driver got lost, but he finally found me. He was driving a 2024 electric blue Nissan Sentra. That ended up being my car. It has push button ignition. And a ducking computer for a dashboard. Like someone mounted a huge iPad. I think it does everything but launch into outer space. It took me 5 minutes to find out how to turn the radio on. Looks like I’ll be listening to 99.9 the Hawk for the duration. It also has a backup camera, and mirrors the size of a Mack truck. Okay.  I exaggerate, but they are huge. I did not park in the garage. I parked on the street, in the first spot by the corner. I didn’t have to back up. I’m as protected as I can be but I’m positive they will tell me there are scrapes and dings. They ALWAYS do. After I rented the car I remembered after the last fiasco I would never do that again. It will stay parked till Monday then I’ll have to drive it to school. I am terrified of driving that car.

But picking up the car allowed me to pick up this month’s cheese from my cheese CSA. I probably made the best mac and cheese ever from the remains of last month's share.