Tales from the riverbank

Been walking downtown a bit more. The Scioto Mile with its walking and biking paths is finished and it's a beautiful way to explore the riverfront area. A lot of people are taking advantage of this. You would not have seen kayakers enjoying the river a couple of years ago.



We looked down while crossing the Broad Street Bridge and saw a great blue heron catch a fish. No way this type of nature flourishes now without the dam being taken down.



A few seconds after I took this picture a swallow dive bombed the heron, and it flinched - truly an awesome sight. After that the perturbed heron flew over to the other bank of the river.

Last week my Son and I took a walk down there. As far as I know it was his first time walking around the Scioto Mile.



He seemed to like looking up at the tall buildings. We're going to take advantage of this while we can and hope development and developers do not restrict access to this part of town.

Weekend getaway

We got out of town for the day yesterday. I had a poetry reading in Portsmouth and we stayed overnight because driving up route 23 late at night is not my idea of a good time anymore. As it was we drove down in sun snow and heavy flurries, which was not pleasant. I think my car knows a replacement is coming, it got over 35 MPG this trip.

The reading went well. It was good to help Zach Hannah and Hastings House try and establish a poetry night in an area that is lacking in a lot of things. Driving through there was sobering. A lot of empty storefronts in downtown, some of them were even gutted out.

We stayed about 15 miles from town in a state park lodge in the middle of nowhere. Shawnee Lodge is a fine place to get away from it all, and there is not much to get to that is in the area around it. My Wife was my nature spotter the whole time, shouting out "Cow", "Pig", or "Turkeys" as necessary.



If we had more time and if the weather was warmer we definitely would have taken a walk. Very scenic area. The Lodge itself was decent. Clean if not a little run down. The whole place could use a bit of a refresh, especially in food amenities. There was a bar/lounge that did not seem to be open our entire stay. Maybe it's only open seasonally? Wifi was spotty, which is not good if you're calling the place a conference center. The walls were paper thin. I do not want to hear anyone else's business, and I'm sure no one wants to hear mine. The staff were very friendly. It was our first time in a state park lodge and probably not out last.

March 29th 7:15pm

Nature does not give a crap about anything but nature. You cannot stop nature.

We are born
We suffer
We age
We die
Nature wins
Every time

Getting out of our shells Saturday

We're blessed with a number of great metro parks in Columbus. First beautiful Saturday of the year and the crowds turned out. We were part of them.



You can see turtles on the log at Heron Pond. We did not see any herons, but my wife kept looking.



We did see people fishing on Heron Pond.



A short time later my wife spots not a heron, but another turtle.



Then I annoy her by taking too many pictures of her from behind.



Oh, we were at Three Creeks Metro Park.



We also went to Turtle Pond, which did not disappoint.



This dude seemed to be the head Turtle of Turtle Pond.



A group of turtles is called a Bale. Now you know.

They're Growing Up

A few weeks back I wrote about a couple of mourning doves who were hanging out in our backyard.

They're still here. Living in a pile of leaves and things.





I've seen them outside our bathroom window, on the roof of the backroom. They're rarely apart for long. I did not think their Mother was still feeding them, but my wife said she saw her doing so very recently.





I want to name them, but I'm sure once that attachment happens they'll be eaten by a cat, or disappear. My wife already calls them Harold and Maude, because one of them dies. So I'm calling them Sonny and Cher, because, you know.

91 degrees at 2:42

Even with the ceiling fan on, it is too damn hot to sit in the back room today. I used to have a lot of tolerance for heat. Age, and living for too long where I did not have air conditioning has weakened my resolve so I turn into a lazy, cranky git when the temperature goes over ninety degrees.

It does not help that my son has forgotten to sleep past 4AM. We even set up a mattress for him in our room since it has a/c. I do not want him sleeping in a hot bedroom. His repayment to us is to wake up singing before the birds.

This morning the power went out. It got really quiet, except for my son. I noticed the ceiling fan was off, looked at the clock and the screen was dark. Grabbed my iPod. It was 3:21AM. A couple of minutes later, the power came back on.

Last week's appointment with the behavioral psychologist went well. His OT is off the team, we've lost confidence in her. The behaviorist can't teach him how to chew, we know this, but she has some techniques to get him to tolerate a variety of food. We'll see.

The immature mourning doves are still hanging out by the recycling bin. Yesterday morning they greeted me.

It's been neat having them around. I'd name them, but the moment that happens they'll get eaten by a cat or fly off to their grown up mourning dove lives or whatever they do when mom stops puking in their mouths. I have not seen them today. See? Just by thinking about it, they disappear.

Busy week ahead, and The Arts Festival is next weekend. The weather is supposed to be good, the temperatures lower, at least.

My wife and I celebrate our third wedding anniversary on Wednesday, we'll be at WB. We'll have a nice dinner out on Thursday.

My son's last day of third grade is on Thursday, day camp starts on June 11th. Where the hell did May go?

Nature, yeah

My wife noticed them on our recycling bin this morning. A bit later in the day the baby Mourning Doves were nestling in our compost heap.

A couple of minutes later they fluttered back to the recycling bin.

Then Mom showed up and I switched over to video.

Nature's Way

Bolton's midfielder Fabrice Muamba remains in critical condition after having a heart attack on Saturday. The soccer world is coming together in support, it's good to see.

In another soccer tragedy over the weekend, after upsetting Celtic in the Scottish League Cup for its first Cup in team history, the Kilmarnock team was celebrating until realizing the father of midfielder Liam Kelly was being treated near the players bench at Hampden. Jack Kelly died of a heart attack, aged 59. Can't imagine what the Kelly family is going though. A massive high then low, and on the UK's Mothers Day.

I missed the match because I wanted to get out of town. Took my wife on an adventure to Hocking Hills State Park. It had been years since I'd been down there.





A lot of fun to slip and slide on the rocks. My wife did not like the tunnels. Very peaceful, and not as crowded as I thought it would be.

We took a nap when we got home. When we woke up, I thought I heard tornado sirens. Turned on the TV and all Hell was breaking loose. It was calm where were were, but up north it was looking a little ominous.



Funnel clouds were spotted, but I do not think there was any serious damage anywhere. A lot of rain, a bit of wind. Looked spooky though.

Hosed by Timing

It's impossible to be seething with anger at things you can't control. At the moment though, I'm shaking my fist at nature.

We're supposed to be flying into LaGuardia on Thursday morning.

Think the runways will be plowed? What about the LIE?

Right.

We're supposed to be getting 2-4" of the white death today. Will schools be closed tomorrow, or will we be buried in less of the white, cold, wet, powder than predicted?

It's in the Trees, They're Coming!

A busy weekend of cleaning, throwing crap out, and eating. My wife stained some furniture while I goofed off and tossed crap out of the dusty basement. We got a lot accomplished. Minor things upstairs were shifted around, media was consolidated.



We went up to Highbanks park for a lovely walk among the trees and animals. I'd never been to the observation deck that overlooks the Olentangy River. It's pretty spectacular. There are nesting bald eagles that people come specifically to view. One of the spotters generously showed us some pictures he had taken. His camera lenses came to about a foot in length. He got some cool close ups. About ten minutes after we arrived, three bald eagles flew about fifty feet over our heads. It was quite the surprise. They're huge and magnificent. You do not realize how big they are by seeing them perched in a zoo.



Hit up a taco truck for dinner last night. It was her first time at one. We had a bit of a language problem. No carne also means no chicken. Then the person taking my order thought I said no beans when I said no meat. We got it right. The odd thing was when I went to pay and was charged a nearly insulting amount of money for the food (and it was excellent) we had just eaten. I was also given one of the dinners that she did not eat, along with two extra pieces of chicken. I left a massive tip and have no problems going back there. Maybe this weekend.