i resisted the allure of donuts

 Did you see the news yesterday? Our local turkey farmers turned mega-developers have bought the land that will connect the D&L in Allentown with the D&L in Hanover Township. Be still my heart. Finally, you'll be able to get from point a to point b without a car. Of course it will be years before that rail-to-trail is done.

Today walk I knew would be a challenge. It snowed. It rain. It froze. It melted. It froze again. Sidewalks are not all bad, but corners are horrible.

I'm in Easton today, so I thought campus would be fairly good, and it was. But the streets around it were a mess. I decided that breaking my leg was not on the agenda today.

The post office is in the basement of Farinon.  I went down, mailed my packages, and went up to the second floor. I looped around and came back down. Out the front door towards Acopian. I skipped Hogg Hall because the porch is tile. Tile in winter is not good. In summer it's beautiful.

I reached Acopian and the sign in the window said "donuts and lutron". They were set up in the lobby. Handsome, thin, professional, young men offered me donuts. They weren't busy and had a lot left. But it wasn't noon yet. I went right past them and to the back staircase and up to the top (ground level is 3), around to the other end, and back down the 6 flights. Then it was back around and back up to the third. Walking past the donuts again! (photo credit)

I finished the loop around the quad and head out past the Arts Center toward Cattell Street. things turned ugly quick. I carefully made my way back to the "birds nest".

day 7 of 18, cookie baking, not walking

Yesterday was an epic fail walking wise. As the first day of winter, there were just not enough hours of light. As much as I love my ’hood, I'm not walking alone in it at night.

I was up by 6:30 and had the wash started by 7. Then I headed out to pick up Lydia and spent the day at Bonnie's making Christmas cookies. Sadly, I took no photos. I had to steal a collagé off of Lydia's FB page.

We baked a double batch of kifles, ginger, kiss, toll house, oatmeal raisin and flourless peanut butter. All but the kifles are gluten free. Bonnie found some great AP gluten free flour that works in most situations.

When we arrived back at my place at 3:30, I walked Adonis, served dinner and took Lydia, Adonis, and Sharon home--with a stop at Eryn's house. When I pulled into the garage it was pitch black out.

I was tired and didn't even make 5K steps. And still had a full night of grading to do. Break can't come fast enough.

 

This is the Christmas cactus on my desk at work. And there is still some blooms on it.  Temperature and light must be perfect in the 19th century mansion. 

 And these are the office deco's. Usually there are artsy postcards on that wash line. Wanted to get a poinsettia to cover the stove pipe cover, but kept forgetting. Too late now.

Why am I showing you? Because I want to share how pretty it is. I live with the mean version of Scrooge. There is no Christmas joy at my house. Gotta take it where I can get it.

Today's plan. Walk downtown and take a pix of the peace candle. Yeah, it's more impressive at night, but, again, not walking in downtown Easton at night alone. I might be crazy but I am not a fool.

it was a beautiful day yesterday

Yesterday was gorgeous. The perfect fall, or maybe spring, day. Warm but not hot. Clear blue sky and not a cloud in sight. Mama Nature doesn't make them much better.

Yesterday was an Easton work day. My friend Angel emailed me to ask if I was on campus and did I want to go for a walk. She works retail and is headed into a 5-day period of no sleep and dealing with rude people. I said sure.

She met me at her husbands office at 11:30. He had his lunch break at 12. We headed across campus, and then down the stairs by the monument. Then it was out third till we we off campus, crossed and came back up College Hill. When we arrived he was waiting by the car.

It felt really good. We might do it again Wednesday.

After I returned to work there was an email from the office manager that the President was coming over at 1. Be there. Any distraction is a good one. She's been there a year and a half and I've never even seen her. The reason for the visit? Last weekend was the 150th football game between rival schools and the capital Campaign kickoff in NYC. Our office has been working on these events for about a year. Two-thirds of the staff was in NYC over the weekend.

She arrived at one on the dot with two other people carrying champagne and plastic cups. On the table of the conference room was an edible arrangement. The cork was popped, the speech made, the champagne drunk and she said "where did the fruit come from"? Further investigation revealed it came from a Trustee. So we had champagne and fruit and chocolate at 1 pm.

I was in a terrific mood all afternoon. We should do that more often.

half the hills in easton.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/old-photos-pennsylvania/33064-hacketts-park-easton.html

Today we were supposed to walk at Columcille in Bangor, but just as the weather people predicted it was pouring this morning. There were quite a few people who wanted to do the walk.

We were supposed to start at 10. When I turned on the computer this morning there was a message from Angel. "Let me know when you leave for Columcille if you're online. I'm on the fence with the weather". I assured her the weather would clear up by nine. It didn't. In fact when I was prepping to leave it started to pour. After Angel's email, then Lyd called. Pretty much the same conversation. She opted for plan B. "Even if it stops raining it will be really muddy". Then I called Bonnie. They were out also. A text to Dawn confirmed she was bagging it.

Angels child is at camp for the weekend. There are not many opportunities for many childless activities with a 10-year-old in the house. Another email comes...

"Is there someplace Indoors we can go?" And another ...

"We could Mall walk. *cringe*". 

The rain had stopped and it looked like it might clear up. Since I had to go to the farm for eggs I suggested the Palmer rail trail. It's paved. Then Angel sweetened the pot with "You want to come over, get cauliflower and walk from here to Hackett park? Or I can make lunch..."

So that's what we did, Angel, her husband and I walked from her house to Hackett Park on the Wilson section of the rail trail. Like the old cliché it was up hill in "both directions". When we entered the park I had 30 stairs on my FitBit. And it was park-like with swings and pavilions and things. Not a field like when I entered from the rail trail. And there's a cemetery in the middle of the park. With a cannon. And obsolete plaques. Who knew? Wish I would have had my camera.

When we came back we left the trail and hiked up the hill to Northampton Street. I have always wanted to walk up that damn hill. Why? It's steep. But only earned us another seven flights.Then we worked our way back to Angel's house including a set of stairs. Who knew there were stairs on Northampton street? Total stair count—46!

We made lunch—huge salads with peanut-sesame dressing — and then I ate and ran.

First stop, the farm. I had to get a pot roast, a steak and eggs. I eat a lot of eggs. I also got some cherry tomatoes and some peppers. This is pretty much the end of the veggies. They also had pumpkins and squashes of all varieties. While I was shopping others came, and then the hay truck. Nobody yelled HAAAAAAAY! Shocking. But we were stock for a few minutes. Let me assure you that they hay truck driver had some driving skills.

Second stop ArtsQuest. We have a race tomorrow and today was packet pick up. I should have told them "event" instead of "packet pickup". I had to park in the casino overflow employee shuttle lot and hoof it in.

I ended up with 6.5 miles and I still have a deficit in my goal for this week. I'm only at 75%. No way I'll get to 100% this week. Oh well. But damn certain I will make 50 stairs. I will walk up and down the hill until I do.

When I arrived home there was another email from Angel. "Are you blogging about today? Because if you do:
- we walked about 4.2 miles
- we had crazy fitbit issues (hers got stuck and somehow turned on iTunes which played do-wop)
- we ate good food
- we had a great time
- and my fit bit gave me 92 active minutes!!! (mine gave me 1.25 hours active, 31 very active. That's good. I rarely get double digits for very active minutes, yet alone out of the teens.)
- next time let's do six miles!"

You are on Angel. Now what to do about the child ....

fitness friday

When I get up I grab my Fitbit and my glasses—they have an illicit relationship and sleep together.  Usually I clip the fitbit to my jammies and run around doing morning things. Then switch it to my clothes for the day. I didn't do that yesterday. It was a bout 12:20 when I realized it. It registered less than 500 steps.

Thankfully I discovered it before my walk with Betsy. We did our normal 3 miles in her neighborhood. I did a few errands than headed home.

At 5 I met up with Bonnie and Megan and we headed to Coca Cola Park for the Bacon Challenge. It's a 5K where half way thru you consume a 1/2 pound of bacon. We all opted out. Nothing makes me want to vomit more than the thought of chugging a half pound of cold bacon and then racing.

When we arrived, Megan sent a text to Lyd.  Lyd and Dawn were already there, and Dawns friend Cindy met us a bit later, We had a big group. Dawn wanted to know where the baby was. "He's part of the team now." Luckily he was home with daddy.

Cindy was nervous. Her first 5k. We did our best to assure her everything was okay. She'd finish and she wouldn't die. I took a before shot, and promised a finish shot. But of course that stupid camera died. Again. So I had Megs take it with her phone. Dawn and Lydia stayed with her and they finished in 61 minutes. And they were not last!

The course never left the ballpark. We started in front of the main gate, and went down the hill to the American Parkway and back up again. The head east and circled those lots, and entered the ball park and looped around the concourse.  We left the stadium by the lower gate then headed toward the west parking lots behind the Western Electric building. (I have no idea what the current name is. It changes yearly.) This is where people stopped to eat bacon. We heard little good about it. I'm guessing about 10% of the people went in the pass-by lane.  You could not leave the bacon lane till you finished. I did not see a vomit bucket.

After circling the west parking lots we headed down that hill to American Parkway, back up and followed the road at the rear of the stadium. I thought we'd enter then by the pork racer door, but no, they had us pork racer the lot first. Then we entered the field and looped of the dirt path.

I had managed to catch up to Bonnie several times, but when we entered the door, she went into finish line mode and kicked it into high gear. Bonnie is now a half block ahead and I hear running behind me. It's Megan. I yelled "Megan is running." Bonnie looked back and started running too. NOBODY, not even her baby, will beat Bonnie. She crossed 1.9 seconds before Megan. I finished in my typical spot 20 seconds behind.

Bonnie 49:02
Megan 49:03.9
Gayle 49:22.8
Dawn 61:35.5
Cindy 61.36.6
Lydia 61.37.5

My fitbit was at about 18K when I returned home. I would have made 20, or maybe even 25 had I remembered to put it on in the morning.

veg fest —not quite a washout

I woke up at 4:30 and it was raining. It stopped at maybe 7:30. Hurray we can still walk. So I talk to everyone and by the time 9 am rolls around it's drizzling.

Bonnie and Megan arrived with the baby at 9:15 and come in so Pat can see the baby. It starts to pour. No VegFest walk for us. It poured for an hour and a half. The baby played with the dog and on the floor. He was happy. Pat seemed happy.

The rain slowed and they went home. Lydia and I took Adonis for a longer walk in the drizzle. And then we waited. In the mean time I started a batch of moms barbeque. It's more like "manwhich" than BBQ, but that's what she called it. It is yummy. And without additives. We haven't made it since before Henry died and it was delicious. I even got the white spongy hamburger rolls instead of real bread. When in Rome.

VegFest started out as a way to celebrate being vegetarian right at the end of the harvest. Now it's moved into August and has a decidedly "vegan" theme. Though it's a great place for people with allergies to eat. Everyone has signs up that says gluten, nut, whatever free. There is a marketplace for craft vendors, an animal spot for "save the {fill in the blank}" — all creatures great and small are represented. My favorite are the pigs. Hense the picture. They all have donation cans out. I gave a dollar to the pigs. I didn't want to ask, but why is there a need for a "basset hound rescue".

Another aisle is activism. That the green energy, no GMOs, laundry soap, whatever. Also three performance stages, and a place for lectures and demos. Oh, and a cooking stage too.

Then there is the aforementioned food court. The Cinnamon Snail came down from NYC and they started lining up before the festival opened, in the rain. When we walked past the line was a block long. I can think of nothing that would be worth a block long line. And it's all veggies!

 I don't even want to think about what the hot dog cart was selling.

We did get a "gluten-nut-dairy-soy-free only 45-83 calorie—with no added sugar" ice pop. Mompops had a cart. OMG delicious. Lydia had chocolate with sea salt. It tasted like a fudgesicle. It was made with coconut milk. I had the strawberry lemonade. It was pureed strawberries thinned with lemon juice. It was tart. Both were delicious. They are out of West Chester so if you are in the Philly area, look for them at coffee shops, healthy stores, and farm markets.

Lydia kept a look out for fried veggies but none were to be found.

Sadly, I guess because of the rain, there were a lot of no shows.

The clouds were getting blacker so we high-tailed it home. Then, because it was still clear, we took the dog for another walk. He was a happy boy today.

sugar smart book party

Last night was the sugar smart book party. It's been a long time since I was at a fancy party. There was real photogs there, twittering photos. I manage to avoid them, except for this one.  They also took a group pix, but I don't see that posted.

The food was delicious, the author Anne Alexander was fun, and one of the editors at Prevention was a hoot.

We all received copies of the book. My page is above. I think that one should look slimmer in the after pix than the before pix. I look eight months pregnant. But Bonnies shoes look great.

I still follow parts of the program. They made sense to me. But not everything.  I received an email about a week ago that they are retaking the pixs. I have no idea why. But it's Sunday. I'm taking the book along. I need evidence to show the stylist that tucking in shirts is evil.

Sunday is going to be busy. I have the shelter breakfast at 6, the photo shoot at 8, and the volkssport Christmas party at 2 outside of Philly. Oh yeah, my online class too.

if i had a hammer

Today we did something a little different. All in all we only walked about two miles. But we climbed a lot of rocks.

Bonnie and Lydia met me and then we went to NCC to pick up my international student. We headed out 78 for Rt. 611. Got off the Easton and decided to go straight, and take the back road. But the back road was on the OTHER side of the fireworks store. We ended up getting back on the highway!

So our trip down 611 took a side trip to Jersey. (Gas is only $3.05 there!)

After getting back on-course we headed down 611, then 32 to Ringing Rocks Park. I probably haven't been there in 30 years. Lydia has been asking to go for at least two years. I thought it would be fun for W. It was. I'm sure when she Skypes her parents tonight, she'll tell them about the crazy Americans hitting rocks.

Bonnie stayed on the edge taking pictures.

After finding many musical rocks, we continued on the trail to the waterfall. After climbing over some more rocks, we headed into the woods, across a field and ended up on a road. Bonnie decided the road would take us back to the park, no need to climb again, so out the road we went. Thankfully, she was correct.

When we got back to the car a boy scout troop was using the picnic table. I thought we just move to the Delaware Canal Park a few miles down the road. Lot's of place to park, a clean port-o-potty, but no picnic table. We ended up tailgating out of Bonnie's car. W tried ring bologna (I checked that it was all beef.) and apple cider for the first time. She liked both. Maybe next time we'll feed her Lebanon bologna. I have to make sure it's all beef first.

When we returned to Bethlehem, we went for frozen yogurt near the school.

When we returned home, we took a very anxious Adonis for a walk. Initially he was so bad I told him if I scolded him one more time we were going home. Clearly my tone was right, he behaved the rest of the time. He even did well with all the fire engines heading to Bergen street.

I need to toss out a HUGE THANK YOU to Lydia. She swapped out the broken tv for the newer tv. Lifting both those huge models alone. These are 27 inch analog with tubes. Clearly she took her Wonder Woman vitamins this morning. Then, with my help, we carried the air conditioner upstairs for the winter. All that crap is out of my living room for Thanksgiving. Of course the kitchen still looks like a war zone, but there's nothing i can do about that.

haunted gettysburg

Yesterday we treked to Gettysburg for the "Haunted Gettysburg" volkssport walk. There were walks all weekend. We just did one day. We chose the ghost walk. The ghost stories—except one—were pretty lame. You'd think they could do better with so much death in one place. There has to be a few thousand spirits hanging out. Maybe they don't like tourists?

We checked in at the Day's Inn and drove to the battlefield. After parking near the ampitheater, we headed out toward the Peach Orchard. It was cold and windy.

After the orchard we took the loop to Devils Den. Other than that I can't tell you where we walked.

We saw little roundtop, and round top, and a lot of monuments to Irish regiments. I climbed up the monument to get this guys face. Isn't it great?

The ghost stories in the narrative were okay. Lot's dealing with picture taking. Yawn. Old stories. These people were having film developed. One was very good, we read it at Devils Den. It had to do with a dulcimer, a car and a song. Yeah, if it was dark it could have been creepy.

At the end of the walk, Bonnie and I climbed a tower with 125 steps, one-way. Great view of the battlefields, but it was twice as cold as on the ground. And the wind was piercing. It felt good to go down.

We returned to the car and drove around looking at more monuments and places. Stopping occasionally, walking more, and taking pixs.

Then we headed back downtown in the car for lunch. We ate at The Pub, like usual. Bonnie and Lydia both had Rubens. Bonnie's w/o bread, of course. I had a veggie wrap. It was good. Since we were parked at a meter we popped into a couple stores. One had all the inventory made in the USA. COol, but really expensive. The one next door was about 50/50. Prices not quite so high. And to everyones amazement I actually shopped!

We headed back to the Days Inn to check in, then hit the road home. Just in time for rush hour. It took two hours to get there, and a little more than three to come home.

collegeville, boyscouts, and a lost fitbit.

Today was the Collegeville group walk with the Liberty Bell Wanderers. Right off the bat we went the wrong way. They car turned onto the turnpike. I wanted to take 663. But Bonnie's map reading skills came in handy once again and we got there almost on time.

But we couldn't find anyone.

 The instructions said at "Rednor's, between Sears Hardware and Wendy's". Couldn't find anyone outside. Didn't see anyone inside. Bonnie finally recognized someone. They were indeed inside, but oddly hidden at the end of the checkouts near the potties.

We didn't have our books, and needed to get insert cards. Our books have been on a wild adventure. I'm starting to think that I will need to start over.

Two, maybe three,  weeks ago we did the two walks in central Pennsylvania.  The checkpoint was closed. I arranged with the Susquehanna Rovers to mail the books, they'd stamp them and return them. Problem is the books haven't arrived. Bonnie and I decided to do the prepaid envelope— "Priority mail".

I mailed it Sunday after our walk at the LV post office. I figured it would be there Tuesday, Maybe Wednesday, and be back Friday, maybe today. Instead it's been bouncing all over eastern Pennsylvania. Clearly there is something wrong with the address. Why don't they just return it? It left the LV went to Harrisburg, back to LV, then to Philly and has been sitting in Harrisburg since 4:43 am on Friday. That little "i" button says it's being delivered. It arrived at 4 am. It should have been delivered yesterday. Nothing. Today. Still nothing. What the hell is it doing?

Up to this point I was a big cheerleader for the post office. Now they are on my shit list. I'm angry. Just return my damn letter and I'll drive it to Harrisburg. Clearly, I should have done that initially.

I digress. Rant over. Back to the walk.

We left the store and headed to the Perkiomen Trail. We walked thru town, and then headed to Ursinus College. It's a really nice campus.

Phil and Murial Berman have a art museum there, and the campus is littered with sculpture. I took some time to check out what this girl was reading, and kept those boy's away from her.

We left campus, and walked a good distance up Main street and into the modern 'burbs, then the 70s 'burbs, then into the old money neighborhoods, and back to town.  At the community park Bonnie and I waited for the others and swung on the swings.

It was dreary when we started, but by the time we finished it was bright and sunny.

We stopped at the car for water and purses, and I discovered my FitBit was gone. I hoped that it was at home. (It wasn't. It's gone. Devastated.)

We decided to head to Wendy's for salads, and noticed almost everyone going in the pizza place. We ended up eating with the other Volkssporters.

Then we headed to Redner's and the cub scouts were selling popcorn. We picked what we wanted, tormented children by making them do the math instead of using the calculator ("You must be a teacher.") and then realized we didn't have enough money. So the boys put the items aside, we shopped, got money and picked the stuff up. The roomie was very happy when we got home.

Tomorrow we'll do the Palmer Rail Trail.

navigationally challenged.

We should have taken Bonnie's car Ivy, with the GPS named Starr,  to the Volkssport event today. Our google directions failed us. Our old fashion map-reading skills saved us.

We were headed to Peace Valley Park outside of Doylestown. I knew we could get there on 313 but the traffic can be horrible. So I googled it. There was one going down 313, one down 309 and one thru Sellersville. It was a straight line, how could we go wrong?

We took the Sellersville exit off 309 right outside of Richlandtown. We're cruising down the Bethlehem Pike looking for a route number to turn. We get into, and out of, town and still no route. The next sign we see is for another route, west of where we were supposed to be. Clearly, we not only missed the rout, but also started going west. We went way to far west, and had to comeback east and then continue south. I said, just get us to Doylestown, and I can get to the park! Thankfully, Bonnie is almost as good of a map reader as her mother. 

We arrived about 20 minutes late. Most everyone had started walking. The 10K was around the lake. Surprisingly there was a few hills. The battery in my camera dies on the second half, so no picture of us, the 8% grade hill, or the purple elm bore catching boxes. We even made a pit stop at the Nature Center to find out what the purple boxes were.

On the home stretch, we followed the sign for the Volkssport and continued walking. Soon we were on the park road. Say what? What happened to the trail? Ultimately we arrived at the pavilion again, but clearly we were not on the path anymore. At least we were not alone. The road was filled with runner, walkers and bikers.

After the walk there was a picnic. A pot luck, with the club providing the meat—bratwurst, dogs, and burgers. (The chefs were serious grillers. They brought charcoal chimneys to a county park.) I chose a brat,  and was trying to decide what to put on the brat. On the table with the salads was the condiments and rolls. There was a cast iron pot with the lid closed. I peaked inside. I thought it was baked beans. Even better—sauerkraut! My brat was happy.

One of the nice thing about picnics people don't care about calories—the salad table reminded me of the 60s—everything dripping in mayo. No bulgar, brown rice, or quinoa in site. Everything looked artery clogging delish, but I passed. I also passed on the roll.

I think the fullest table was deserts. I picked a brownie, but it was dry and ultimately threw it away. After the picnic was over, people were making doggie bags of ... dessert, of course. I think I brought about half of my bean salad home.

Overall, a nice day with nice people.

new art walk?

My brother sent me this link from the paper the other day. There's a possibility of an art walk surrounding the Greenway. Looks like it will be concentrating on the cross streets.

I hope it actually has art. The one in Easton is supposed to be an art trail, but doesn't have art—yet.

Exciting developments. Now if they could spruce up third and fourth streets.

Also in the paper I saw that they want to give licenses to food carts along the Greenway. Overall, I don't like that idea, much. Third and Fourth streets have tons of great (and not so great) eating places, a few with entrances on the Greenway.  Really, one should be able to walk two or three miles without snacking.

Now it's different at the skatepark. By the time you reach that section it's residential. Having a snack truck there might be a good idea.

must. stop. eating. frozen. treats.

It has been beautiful the past two or three days in the Lehigh Valley. Perfect weather for walking. No excuses allowed.

Today at lunch my colleague and I walked down to center square, and back. I wish I would have taken my camera. The new Crayola Experience exterior is visually terrific. (I borrowed this pix Lydia took a couple weeks ago from her FB page!). Actually that whole block is starting to come back to life. I love when a city revitalizes.

The alley side of the building is a huge Crayola mural. Next time we walk down I'll take the camera.

While I was walking I planned an Easton walk for the Volkssporters. I bet it's a 10K, or darn close. We'll see.

We headed down Bank Street to go to the Purple Cow Creamery. Bank Street Creamery. Same place. New name. Long story. They weren't open yet. Whoo Hoo. Calories saved! we turned the corner and discovered Frozenlandia. It looked like a chain, but it's locally owned and operated. Just one store. Could have fooled me. Frozen yogurt has to be slightly more healthy than ice cream. Less fat at least. They have these huge cups and they sell by the ounce. It's self serve. 49 cents an ounce. You could easily have a $10 cup if you are not careful. Especially when adding toppings. Mine was a hair over 4 ounce. I mixed pomegranate raspberry with wild, wild berry. It tasted like pomegranate and strawberry. Quite lovely. but I must stop eating frozen treats. It's becoming a habit. All walks lead to a frozen treat.

After dessert—I still hadn't eaten lunch—we had to walk back up College Hill. Hopefully that burned two or three of the calories I just ate.

Tuesday and Wednesday we also walked around College Hill. Last night I went to Zumba. The people are always the same. I really only know one persons name beside the instructor. Last night a woman came up to me with a pretty accent. She also walks, and apparently often follows me, but can't catch up. She asked where "I lived" and I said "Bishopthorpe". "So do I" she replied.  "One way or two way side"? "One way" and she gave me the number. We live about a half block from each other. We'll be walking home together from now on. But not the next two weeks. No Zumba. Gladys is on vacation.

No walk with Betsy and Bonnie tomorrow. I've borrowed a child and am going to Muhlenberg Summer Theatre's Suessical. Can't wait.

secret trap door

At 9:30 I picked up Bonnie for therapy, and while she exercised, I went to Betsy's to go walking. The two places are less than 10 minutes apart. When Bonnie finished therapy, we had planned to walk at Trexler Park, but the phone rang and changed everything. The roofer was on his way. We went straight to my place.

Thankfully, eight to ten shingles were not missing from my roof. Instead, I had a secret trap door. Exciting, huh? The roofer said they used to put them in for easy access to the roof. I saw the trap door in the attic. I thought it went to a crawl space. I like bats, but I don't want to have a close encounter with them. (Slate roofs are perfect bat habitats. They eat my bugs. Everybody is happy.) Apparently you went in one trap door, thru the crawl space and out the other. No need for giant ladders.

The whole roof was checked and only 4 slates added. The flashing around the trap was reattached, the door covered with aluminum, and the shingles re-nailed. I now have a white square on my roof!

After he left, we decided maybe to walk in Bonnie's hood. We stopped for gas and decided to try Polish Water Ice. Interesting. Creamy like ice cream, but no dairy. (140 calories, 5 ounces.) Tasted like water ice. Mostly. I had root beer. It tasted like a root beer float. Remember those?

By the time we got gas and returned to Bonnie's house, neither of us really wanted to walk. So we played hookey.

Tomorrow, 6 miles on the D&L—Bethlehem to Freemansburg. We should encounter the Sand Island Passport to Fitness marker. Maybe we'll finish our books Sunday. That leave Monocacy Park and the Game Preserve to do.