A Walk with Wally

The plan was to take advantage of our first warm, dry day in a while and work in the yard. That was the plan, but then Wally called and suggested that he could come over, and we could go to lunch. I'm not gonna lie - spending time with my kids almost always wins out over most things, especially chores. So we went to Wally and Ward's new favorite Mexican restaurant for lunch. 

Afterward, Wally suggested that we go for a walk. So we went to a park with a trail into the old part of town. 

The trail was along the Old Main Line of the B & O Railroad. It was hot in the sun, but most of the trail was shaded. (Ward and Wally in the distance.)

Lining the trail were colorful wildflowers.

Near the end of the trail, we discovered a world of miniatures with little figurines
 placed in many of the nooks and crannies of an outcropping of rock. It was a fun surprise.

The trail ended at the old train depot, which now houses a museum.
We enjoyed the little museum, and while we were there,
 the staff told us about another part
of the rail trail that had recently been completed.

We walked through town to get to the other trail. Along the path,
we saw this tree carving that a local artist was doing with a chainsaw. 

The day was getting hotter, so we retraced our steps back to our car and went home. Wally left soon thereafter, and Ward and I settled in for some reading. And you know what? The world didn't fall apart because we didn't do our yard work that afternoon. Or, in the words of Miss Scarlet, "Tomorrow is another day." 

Until next time...

Blog Files, Part 2

Here are more ideas from a folder I used to keep of things I might blog about. I last looked at it a few years ago, but it resurfaced as we were cleaning out our files. I found it curious to see what I might write about. You may or may not be interested, but here is Part 2 of things I saved in case you are. :)

Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian National Zoo

--Notes about our trip to the zoo to see behind the scenes in the primate area. I wrote about it here.

--A list of historic road sign photos and back roads Miss Landers and I took during a trip to West Virginia. I wonder if I could still find those photos and do a post about them.

--Notes about the new neighborhood we moved to during our last move. One was comparing porch sitting in the suburbs and rural West Virginia. This could still be an interesting post.

--A note on the education my parents received. Not sure where I was going to go with that.

--Several paragraphs on my personal life, including my birth, transition to high school, my wedding day, and meeting Ward. I have mentioned many of these in one post or another. Also, were my preferences for color, food, books, and TV shows when I was 7 and then at 50 years old.

Age 7: Any color but red, milkshakes, Box Car Children, Gilligan's Island

Age 50: Green, cottage cheese and fresh tomatoes, Glass Castle, Andy Griffith reruns

This rock ad says something about Brown's Pills.

--Pictures of an old advertisement carved into a rock on the family farm. Unfortunately, I've never found enough information to write a post. However, I am still very curious about it.

-Information about washing clothes during my grandparents' time. This is interesting, and I will write a post about it sometime.

--A chart summarizing my results from measuring vampire electricity around my house. I posted it about it here. That was 10 years ago, so it might be time to repeat the experiment.

This poodle is in the race every year.

--Flyers from the Kinetic Sculpture Race. I have written about it in 2019 and 2016.

--Research on tattoos became this post.

Now I can cross "sort blog folder" off my To Do list. Thanks for sorting with me. :)

Until next time...

Out and About

The other day, I was feeling a sense of uneasiness and restlessness. That's what happens when you contemplate the meaning of life and your place in it. Nothing bad is happening here. In fact, life is good, but a wandering, anxious mind can forget that sometimes. We didn't have anything on the schedule except chores, so I told Ward I needed a change of pace and that we should go exploring. After a bit of a discussion about weather and traffic, we chose to go to a nearby town we had never been to, just to see what it was about. 

We set out on a cloudy day and drove back roads through the rolling countryside of farms and trees. The roadsides were filled with white dogwoods and pink redbuds in bloom. And beneath them, we saw patches of bright yellow bittercress. The variety and brightness of the landscape brightened my mood, even though the sun stayed stubbornly behind the clouds.

The street corners in the first town were flanked with these heavy iron bells. 

We stopped in the first town we came to, even though it was not our destination. We drove around a bit and then parked and took a walk through town. The town was small, and many houses looked to be of the Civil War era or older. Several showed decades of neglect, but we found them interesting. The wind kicked up, and I was cold, so we returned to the car. Ward noticed a town park on the map, so that was our next destination.

The park consisted of ballfields, a tennis court, and a path winding around a spent cornfield. After amusingly watching a school group playing on the ballfield, we set out on another walk, hoping the wind had died down. Our path was mowed through grass and weeds around the cornfield. The other side of the path had a small swath of trees next to a road. And when I say weeds, what I really meant this day was wildflowers. Once again, bright yellow and white blooms distracted me from my busy thoughts.

Following the walk, we drove on to our destination of the day. This town had many of the same elements as the last one we left but seemed a little larger and better off. My stomach was rumbling, so every diner we passed on Main Street seemed like a good place to stop for lunch. We chose the one we could park right in front of and wandered in. After listening to the locals' conversations while eating, we headed out to take a walk around town. However, the clouds had another idea. Large raindrops were falling and coming faster and faster. It seemed like a good time to head home.

We arrived home, happy with our outing, and began some of the morning's neglected chores.

I have been reflecting on our little jaunt. It didn't look great on paper. We didn't go far. We didn't see fancy architecture, houses, or museums. We didn't hike beautiful paths through the woods. But it was an enjoyable excursion all the same, and it reminded me that everywhere has something to offer if you just take the time to look for it.

Here are more pictures from our outing.

Honeysuckle

Garlic mustard

Bittercress

Dandelions

Buttercups

Fleabane daisy

Vertebrae

Deer hoof print

Until next time...

And They Just Keep Coming

Spring is such a beautiful time of year. The grass is lush green, and new flowers are blooming every day. Soon enough, the weather will be hot, the ground scorched, and all but the heartiest flowers will be long gone. But for now, it's spring, and the yard is happy. So here are more pictures of the flowers that just keep coming. 

Dogwood. Dogwood is one of the last spring trees to bloom and my favorite.

Tulips. There are yellow ones in this bed, too,
but they always bloom later than the red ones.

The azaleas in the front are starting to bloom.

Another one of our large apple trees. It has lost several major limbs,
but last year, we finally got a decent amount of apples from it.

Lilac. Even though there are not as many blooms on the lilac bushes this spring
 because of pruning, I can smell them when I step out onto my back porch. 

Our little apple tree is also in full bloom now.

More blooms on the wallflower.

Bluebells

We have two crabapples in bloom, but both have been limbed up for easy mowing under them. This lone bloom on a lower limb was the only picture I could easily get.

Viburnum

And here's another picture of the phlox. Well, because...just look at it!

That's the flower parade for now. I'm sure I'll be back soon with more.

Until next time...

Blog files, Part 1

 I used to keep a folder of ideas that I might blog about. I last looked at it a few years ago, but it resurfaced as we were cleaning out our files. I found it interesting to see what I thought I might write about. You may or may not be interested, but here are some of the things I saved in case you are. :)

--Notes about differences in hot dog preferences in West Virginia. This came after visiting Hillybilly Hot Dogs in Lesage, WV. I learned a line running through West Virginia separates those who prefer slaw on their dogs and those who like chili. The details are more complex than that, and maybe I'll write about them someday.

--An article on George Orwells Six rules for choosing the right word. This was something from my mother, a writer in her later years. I have all but given up on proper writing because so many rules seem to be changing. As you have noticed, I have chosen a more conversational style than a more formal one. 

--Notes for the A-Z Challenge, 2018. In case you're not familiar with it, the A-Z Challenge is an annual challenge during April to post daily (no Sundays) for a different letter of the alphabet. I chose not to do it this year, but I always have mixed feelings. Coming up with a different post daily can be arduous, and I tire quickly of it. However, I have written some of my most interesting posts during these Aprils. Something about necessity is the mother of invention...

--Also, from 2018, an article about doing a podcast when I was toying with the idea of doing one. I'm still interested, but it would be hard to compete with the copious amounts of them available these days. In addition, I have no equipment to work with for any kind of decent sound quality. However, who knows? When I retire, maybe I'll look into it.

--An article from Mental Floss about why bird poop is white. I included some of this information in this post in 2018; B is for Bird.

--A letter to my mother telling her she had won a spot on a local TV game show. I think she won a TV, among other things. I was always fascinated with this story, but she didn't talk about it much. I still may do something on this.

--A copy of two utility bills from the 1940s that we found in my family's home just hours after one of the residents at my mother's nursing home told me that her uncle used to live in our house. The bills were in her uncle's name. It was one of several connections I made at the nursing home while visiting my mother. I wrote about it here.

--Playbills for Sweeney Todd, Fickle, Godspell, and The Magic Play. I never got around to writing about any outings to see these shows, but I did write about seeing Dial M for Murder. 

Tune in next time to see what else I pull out of the folder.

April Showers

 April Showers Bring May Flowers, 

or April Showers Bring April Flowers

Here are some photos of April flowers around the yard this week.

Grape hyacinth

The sunshine and warm temperatures brought out the bees.

While some daffodils have faded, others are in full bloom.

This is a first time bloom for these. I planted the bulbs from a friend several years ago and they have only shown anemic growth of the leaves. What a special treat to find these blooms.

Wallflower

Violets

The peas have finally come up. Time to put the garden fence up before the rabbits find them.

Our little apple tree is blooming.

As well as one the bigger apple trees.
However, we have never gotten more than an apple or two from it.

The cherry tree is blooming, but the wind is causing its blossoms to rain down.

Another daffodil.

The phlox is in full bloom.

Are April showers bringing April showers where you are?

Until next time...