dog tales

I live in a small city, on what some might call the wrong side of town. I love it, most of the time. What I don't love is the dogs.

I'm not much of a dog person. I had a really bad experiences in my teens and then my 20s with dogs. And with the exception of Logan, Izzy and Harry I could live without them.

Living in an urban environment, everyone has dogs. Not cute furry dogs, but big dogs like retrievers, mean guard dogs or those yappy little Taco Bell dogs. Each spring I re-learn where the rottweilers, pitbulls, and dobermans live. And then avoid them.

There's one house I cannot avoid. I have to pass it to go home. They have some sort of small furry matted brown dust mop things that bark from the minute they see you coming to well after you've left. But they don't just bark. They spin in circles and jump much higher than the rickety fence. They snarl. They nash. They terrify me. And the owners make no attempt to shut them up or discipline them. I am certain one day I will come home with one attached to me as it flies to attack me. They are insane.

Today Sharon and I walked. They were already in full psycho mode when we got there. A man was across the street walking his very well-behaved dog.  So I said to Sharon, "lets cross the street, those dogs scare the heck out of me". A voice replies "Me too. That's why we're on this side of the street."

He was 6'4" and walking a pitbull.

garden sitting

bonnie snapped this with her telephone on wahneta street

My brother Dave went to Houston for the weekend so he left me in charge of watering the garden.

So today we walked in East Allentown where he lives. A two-fer.

We parked and dropped Sharon at Planet Fitness, and head out Hanover Avenue, then walked the long hill to the state hospital, and back down again. We were six blocks from my brothers house and had already put in a mile.

Then we worked thru the neighborhoods toward Market Street and on into Bethlehem.  When we got to 6th Avenue, we went up and came back Union Blvd to Highland, down to Eaton, and back out to Union. After crossing some bizarre intersections near the shopping centers we headed down to Cedar and then past the old Wesleyan College, down Maxwell and back to my brothers. Seven miles on the dot.

We watered the garden, ate some trail mix with dried raspberries, white chocolate, two kinds of raisins, peanuts, pecans, sunflower seeds and who knows what else and came home.

We finished the 7 miles in 2.5 hours. Bonnie was upset that we weren't on pace, but when doing urban walking you need to deal with broken sidewalks, curbs, and crossing streets. It just takes longer. A miles in 21.42 minutes isn't horrible.

Tomorrow we're doing the Ironton Rail Trail loop. The pace will go out the window. There are 19th century cement kilns calling my name. I shall stop and "shoot" them.

blood curddling scream

Yesterday spring sprang. It hit 50 F. I don't care if spring is two weeks way. I was itching to hit the streets.

My friend Angel emailed me that some work was ready to be picked up. I replied, and as an afterthought said I was going walking.

She replied back that Wilson had a new trail, and did I want her and her daughter (on bike) to come along. Sure! This would be fun.

I got to her house and everyone was ready to go. The little one was confused because we were walking to the trail head. Daddy usually drives them. We told her all about the new one six blocks from her house. Coolest part is is connects to the old one.

So we were off. Since it was the first ride for her of the season, she was wobbly and her steering off. Angel reviewed the safety rules many times. We arrived at the trail, go about two blocks in and it was covered with snow. It go worse the deeper we went. At five her daughter couldn't ride in it, so we turned around and went back toward the old trail.

Because this is an urban trail for a couple of miles there are streets to cross. Busy streets. We patiently waited for the "little white man to scratch his butt" before crossing. Once I tried to cross early and the wee one said "The red hand means stop!". Scolded by a five-year old.

We had fun, we walked for nearly two hours. Part of what we discussed was names for the walking club.

Coming back we decided to get off the trail and walk on the sidewalks. It was a quicker route home and the child was running out of steam. I think I even heard a suggestion of let's call daddy for a ride. We should have.

As I said earlier, her steering was off from the long winter break. With all the riding, she had gotten better, but was still going kind of curvy. We had crossed 25th street (a super busy intersection) safely and started out Butler toward the school. The sidewalk was uneven and had curb cuts for driveways. She was no more than twenty feet in front of us. (I of course was looking down most of the time. Like I always do.)

As I looked up I heared the childs name as part of a blood curdling scream.

She was stopped on her bike, out on Butler street, looking very puzzled. Then as the cars zoomed by with both her mother and I screaming, she was scared and crying.

Angel saw the whole thing, but the words were stuck in her throat. Apparently she steered crooked, and got caught on a steep curb cut and flew out in the street. She threw on her brakes. Thank goodness traffic was light and she didn't get into traffic. Although the green mini van slammed on his brakes anyway.

After Angel calmed her down we continued. She didn't want to ride her bike until we got to the school where there was no corner cuts and a smooth side walk.

As we approached Angels street, Angel fell. (hey that's my M.O.!) The child kept going. I had to scream for her to stop.

Boy was I glad when we reached her house.

a lawsuit waiting to happen

Somewhere in a city planning meeting, some engineer came up with an idea. Let change all the curb cuts for the handicapped. We'll make the ramps longer and have a smoother transition. Everybody I'm sure cheered his (Yes, it had to be a man. A woman wouldn't design this. That whole protection/nurturing thing.) brillent idea. They found funding somewhere, and began.

All summer long they worked on it on the southside of town. They are still working on it.

It is a lawsuit waiting to happen. And it's gonna be big. Look at the height of the curbs at the southside library.

As you can see only one person at a time can cross the street. You are blocked in by these weird, generally high, curbs. I should measure them.

You should see the old people trying to navigate them with their walkers. If someone comes with them, they cannot stay next to them. Kind of takes the aid out of aide. In my neighborhood, moms pull the children along. The poor child I saw today must have been in pain hitting all those curbs. I can't even imagine coming out of the bars drunk and trying to navigate my way back to the university. Or crossing in a group.

I walk a lot on the southside. It's gonna be tough crossing the street safely. And that's without worrying about the traffic.