The starting point of the ride

 "Is that train just my size?  I could go AmTrack, you know."

I like to ride a few Rail-Trails that are not part of the

larger Ohio to Erie 320 miles.  These trails only go from

one village to another, maybe 20 to 40 miles with no

connection to others.  I only ride the ones in Ohio that

are within 1 hour car drive. Can't waste ride time with

drive time, you know.

This one starts in a college town and goes 13 miles north to

a farming town. Or it used to be farming. Now is it is turning

into overflow for Columbus, Ohio, 40 miles south west.

But the rail trail is scenic and seldom used by any others than

the locals.  I like this as traffic is light to non-existent.  I see lots 

of wild life and trees in a deeply shadowed area. Some farm land

and Christmas tree farm along the way.

"Let me know when you are coming home.  I'll get in a good nap

and be ready for my snack and early dinner.  I think I'll pass

on the train ride after all." 

I did this ride a few weeks ago.  Currently it is extremely hot

and humid and I've been doing early morning rides and getting

home by 9:30 am, bushed and over heated. Going to be like

this another week at least.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Bits and Pieces, Bits and Pieces

 "Eee gads, Lynn, stop caterwalling. You can't carry a tune

and you don't know all the words."

I just wanted to share a few things about life around here,

Precious. Nothing earth shattering like my singing.

About our very own Eastern Blue bird family. Boy, did they

have a hard summer.  Mom ended up with 4 clutches of eggs.

In total, she laid 17 eggs in the 2 bird houses we have up.

And she unfortunately only raised one clutch of 4.

Marauding immature blue bird interfered with one,

European House Sparrow destroyed a nest, and last

a four legged animal managed to breech the hard plastic

tree covering we had in place to stop climbing critters.

Here's Precious doing what she enjoys, butterfly watching.

Yellow Swallowtail on my deer resistant zinnias. And I do

believe it has been a great butterfly year.  I've had lots of kinds

here, with an army of Monarch caterpillars consuming my milkweed.

I did not get a lot of blacks to hand raise, which I missed, but 

plenty flying about.

Now on to the Gold Miner Camp.

Above is one of the gold miners 40 foot long  class A motorhome.

They dig in the river for wet "dust".  They 

haven't had a lot of dry weather this year 

so the river has been to high to pan for gold. 

And the above is new installment of art work at mile post zero

on our wonderful Rail Trail.  We are so proud the Kokosing

Gap Trail was paved 25 years ago for the first 14 miles. It was

a leading instrument for the rest of the state to begin building

on the 320 mile long Ohio to Erie trail.  We only have about 

20 miles in the state that is off  trail and on the road.

And there is some progress every year for more paved trail.

"I'm sorry that Lynn has been so long winded. 

If I had let her keep singing, she wouldn't have 

had time to bore you all. "

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.  It is much appreciated. 

learning curve

"Sorry about this post, but Lynn is trying to learn how to put pictures of me in a bloggy using her phone. I'm not sure what all that means because I'm a cat with no thumbs and she's a human with thumbs and no brain."

" I think she figured out how to put a picture of me off of her Google group. Once again who knows what that means, except I'm waiting to be fed. I know what that means. "

Actually Precious,  sometimes I'd rather go back to the days of when my parents had a four party telephone line with the phone tethered to the wall.

 Thanks for stopping by for a visit and a comment. It is much appreciated.

I'm in a Fog

 "Lynn, I can't see you. What happened? Like old timey

TV when the snow came on?"

I like to ride my bike about 7:30 am.  I try to do at least

20 miles.  At this time of day, I have the Rail-Trail

to myself for the most part.  Just me and the wildlife.

And please, try not to ride over the untold number of crazy

chipmunks!

I do see a few regulars on the path. More dog walkers and

runners than bikers.  I enjoy seeing the same folks out there,

but we do not do any talking. Just smile and wave. Nice.

But I am often in fog that early on humid mornings. These

2 photos show how I can be in and out at any time.  I do get

wet and then my glasses are so fogged over, I can be out

of the fog and not even know it, as I can't see.

"If you had cat eyes, this would not be a problem. You don't

see me wearing glasses."

Precious, don't make fun of tv snow. I grew up with black and

white tv that my father had to keep going with tubes for the set

from Sears and Roebuck. And at 11 pm, the announcement was

"It is 11 pm, do YOU know where your children are?". And on that

note, tv went off the air and lots of snow!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

 

Driverless carriage

 "How do those horseys know what to do?"

I rode 32 miles on this section of the Ohio to Erie 

Rail-Trail, but I had to drive 24 miles to get onto it.

It is just a continuation of the 45 miles of trail that I

have easy access to, however there is an eight mile break

in the Rail-Trail that is very hilly and curvey highway.  I am

not about to ride on it, so I had to drive to get on to 

this part.  

It is the longest section of shared horse and buggy trail.

The Amish do not ever want their pictures taken, and

I respect their wishes. So I took the photo after it went

past me.  However, I should have taken it from the front.

The Amish have a long ride from one end of the trail

to get to the town with a Walmart. So they start out

early and then take a nap. Yes, the driver was sound

asleep at the reins. 

I'm not sure how it works out, if the person wakes up 

when the horse stops or if the horse stops only if the person

wakes up.  No matter which, there are road intersections

that must be crossed.

This is a train depot in the town with the Walmart. It is probably a little city

the size of mine. And under the new roof and siding, this is the original

depot built in 1853..

I still find it remarkable that I ride on the same rail that my father-in-law

road as a brakeman and conductor from late 1940's until 1980.

"Ya know, Lynn, your stories put me to sleep

faster'n a buggy ride."

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is much appreciated.

Now you see me, now you don't

 "I'm looking out at you Lynn. But I'll soon disappear."

She's looking out thru the patio door as I am watering

the patio flowers and filling the bird baths. 

Precious is a good supervisor. As all supervisors,

she gives the orders and over sees the work but does 

not lift a paw to help. So why do supervisors get paid more?

By the time I get away from the door, it can be difficult

for me to even see if she is still there.  If it were not for

her eyes on this particular day, she'd be literally "out of sight".

From Precious' viewing point, this Red Shoulder Hawk is taking a bath

in the small herd animal water trough. These hawks live here year

round and are our 2nd largest.  The Red Tail Hawk is the largest.

I keep this larger watering spot out for the hawk and the deer.

However, the plastic dishes I use for song birds are hit hard during

hot weather by the deer.  I find them licked dry and used for frisbees

when they get frustrated.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment.

It is appreciated.

Handy work

 "So, is this angel baby as sweet as me, Lynn? After all

aren't I your sweetie-pie honey-bunch snookems?"

That you definitely are, Precious.

However this angel baby was just one of the projects

I brought home this Spring from the volunteer sewing store.

I took a close up picture of the price tag of what I paid, $1.50.

But I wanted to show that when this complete kit was put on the

shelf somewhere, around 1992 according to the fine print on

the package, it was priced at $6.00.

 I can honestly say in 1992, I would never have spent $6 on this

fun but simple kit.  Back then my hourly wage might have been

as much as $6 an hour before tax.  And basically I am a 

penny pincher in every aspect.

I had her finished before the "great visit" took place. 

Now to go through my stash and decide the next project.

"How about just time for me only, Lynn. You know I want 

my hair brushed."

You're next, Precious, after I show off one of our 

freshly hatched Black Swallowtail butterflies.  So called

for the tails on the lower wings.  We have 1/2 dozen different

species in Ohio, and most are predominantly black, but

one is more yellow, and one is more white.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit and a comment. 

It is appreciated.