fear factor

have you seen this ad?

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i have been on the fence about our presidential candidates. the truth is my candidate of choice was not nominated. i have concerns and questions about obama, there’s a lot of unknowns. such as his association with jeramiah wright. how do you follow his doctrine for over twenty years and then suddenly say, you have nothing to do with him?

electing mccain is the same as giving bush another four years. i can not afford another four or, god help us, eight more years of republican party politics. i really feel mccain is out of touch with the middle class. sarah palin is just outright frightening.  she proves time and time again she is not qualified and when asked by a group of third grade students what does the v.p. do? she didn’t know.

“That’s a great question, Brandon, and a vice president has a really great job, because not only are they there to support the president’s agenda, they’re like the team member, the team mate to that president,” Palin said.

“But also, they’re in charge of the United States Senate, so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it’s a great job and I look forward to having that job,” she said.

quoted from washington times article

if anything happens to mccain, do you really want vice president barbie in the oval office? note to palin, in case, again god help us, you get into office. you might want to brush up on what the v.p. actually does do.

The vice president’s main duty is to replace the president if the president dies, resigns, is removed from office or can no longer carry out his or her duties for other reasons. The Constitution names the vice president as the president of the Senate but allows the vice president to cast a vote only to break a tie.

The vice president, as a member of the executive branch of the government, has no official role in developing legislation or determining how it is presented to or debated by the Senate, which is part of the legislative branch. In all meaningful ways, the leader of the majority party runs the Senate.

quoted from washington times article.

after seeing this ad, my mind was made up. mccain took some creative liberties with editing a speech by biden and turned into domestic terrorism. mccain has resorted to capitalizing on public fear to get elected. is this who you want in the white house? someone who runs our country through fear and propaganda?

the truth is the past few months mccains ad’s have been completely negative, while obama continues to run positive ads spreading the word about our economic  crisis. phil gramm, one of mccains own people publicly stated that america is a “nation of whiners” whose economic complaints are mostly “mental.” gas was almost four dollars a gallon at the time, but i guess i was just imaging that. the cost of gas to heat your house and the cost of putting food on the table went up too, i guess i just imagined that as well.

in his current ads obama ask never mind if you were better off four years ago, will you be better off four years from now? i don’t know if i will be under obama, i just know i sure as heck won’t be with another four years of bush~esqe politics.

what’s on my bookshelf now

i recently attempted to read an older david sedaris book, barrel fever. i couldn’t do it. i didn’t find it funny, rather i found it to be disconjointed.  now i realize i am talking about a book and i am using a word that’s not really, let’s face it, so much a word. but it’s my word and i like it, and it’s my blog so i’m using it. oh and if rachel ray can get evoo added to the dictionary and the yarnharlot stephanie mcphee can get kinneared added to the dictionary then why can’t i add words of my own?  that being said. barrel fever was disconjointed.

i am currently reading david sedaris’ most recent offering, when you are engulfed in flames, and i can sum it up in one word, redemption. (see i used an actual word here) it’s smart, witty, funny and when he’s on his game out right hilarious. it’s been a very quick read due to the fact that it is so entertaining.

i am also a fan of janet evanovich, i like her numbers novels and just recently finished  fearless fourteen. now i am a huge fan of these books and i usually laugh out loud of them, but number fourteen was a let down. it wasn’t funny, just laborious. not entertaining, in fact i keep figuring out just how many pages left to go. the characters fell flat, the sexual tension between stephanie, morelli, and ranger almost non existent. usually there is some kind of rivalry between morelli and ranger, not so in this book. but one dud out of fourteen is not bad. here’s hoping fifteen bounces back.

this brings us to saving fish from drowning by amy tan. i love amy tan. i love reading about old world china and she is so much more engaging than pearl s. buck. i had read a synopsis of this book and they said it was a completely different way of writing for her. unfortunately i’m not so overly fond of this way of writing. i started this book a few months ago and set it aside to get caught up on knitting. i recently found it again sitting under a pile of papers on my desk and thought, man! i forgot about this book. i actually read 116 pages and totally and completely forgot about this book. i am not quite ready to give on this book, after all it sat on my dresser for years waiting to be read. i bought it almost 3 years ago and then got caught up in life and never got around to it. it wasn’t until this past summer that i decided to clear the books of the top of the dresser i started reading them. mind you i still have three jane austen novels i have yet to get to. once i have finished the new david sedaris, due back at the library very soon, i’ll give it another try.

i am usually a monogamous reader. i never really understood how people could have more than one book going at a time, but throughout fearless fourteen and now when you are engulfed in flames i have also been reading the latest from the yarnharlot. free range knitter by stephanie mcphee. a collection of short stories similar to the book also title the yarnharlot. just not as funny. not even close. i am disappointed to say some of these stories have been a struggle to get through. there have been moments mind you, like when she dropped a skein of yarn in an elevator and mistakenly thinking it was in the lobby watched helplessly as the elevator doors closed and her skein of yarn traveled to the seventh floor without her. it’s just not her usually witty fair. again, only half way through the book so there’s still some time for redemption.

do over! pine lane trail head, valley bridle trail & towpath trail

i hiked this hike, the last and longest of the hiking challenge this past summer, i got off track and ended up adding nearly 4 extra miles onto the hike. i have been intending to do this one over, and do it right this time. with the impending weather, today was the the day. i started out at the pine lane trail head and made my way on the valley bridle trail. there was a race of some sort going on, i kept getting inundated with joggers, after about an hour our paths parted ways and i was finally on my own. i made my way through the valley and connected with the wetmore bridle trail. i really enjoyed this portion of the hike because the last time i came through this area i was totally dead legging it, and too tired to notice much around me. as i made my way along the trail and up to the trail head, the sun found it’s way through the trees.

at the top of the trail head there was a picturesque farm.

i crossed the road and continued to make my way along the bridle trail, with the rain the day before, and the morning frost finally beginning to thaw, it was quite muddy through this area.

at the top of the hill the wind kicked up and the leaves began to fall all around me, doing a little dance  in the sky.

as i approached the end of the valley trail, i noticed these giant leaves on the ground. i have no idea what kind of tree they came from, but they were quite cool.

finally i reached hunt farm. a restored 19th century farm. i left the bridle trail and moved on to the towpath trail. by this time my jeans were splattered with mud knee deep.

i made my way north towards lock 29. the park runs an old steam train you can take excursions on, in the fall they do a run so you can see the leaves. the train came past as i was walking along the trail.

i made yet another friend. they are everywhere this time of year.

by this time i was feeling it, my knees were aching, my shoulders and back. when i reached the railroad bridge, i knew i was almost to lock 29.

i stopped to enjoy the many colors in the leaves.

and the view of the river.

finally i had reached lock 29, time to step off of the towpath trail and continue along the buckeye trail back to pine lane.

the buckeye trail takes you along the outskirts of main street in peninsula, a historic canal town. the leaves in the background are just starting to show color.

this is the train station for the cuyahoga valley railroad.

after a short trek through town, i came to an old brick road that lead you back to the trail head. i love brick roads, after a short stint the road entered the park, now abandoned the forest had reclaimed much of it until it was a small path that would require you to walk single file. it was a bit sad to see it in this condition. i returned to the car and had made the entire 12 mile journey in about 4 hours. tired and weary i headed home to a nap.

tour de metro parks

when i did the hiking challenge this past summer i made a mental note of a few places i wanted o go back and visit in the fall. we are in for some bad weather this coming week, they are calling for snow and sleet at the start of the week. i decided to hit a few of those spots today. i was afraid that after a week of bad weather the leaves are all going to hit the ground all at once. there is still a lot of green out there, and if the leaves manage to hang on a bit longer no doubt some of these pictures will be pretty spectacular.

as i started driving into park territory, i felt myself start to relax. it was almost instantaneous. if only i could find someone willing to pay me to be a professional hiking knitter i would have it made. my drive in looked a little like this.

i started out on the ledges trail, i remember hiking it this past summer and being delighted at how extensive the rock formations in this area really are. i had never hiked completely around the base of the rock before, so this was a new hike for me this summer.  it rained last night and the temps were a bit nippy but still mild. i started out on the trail, everything was sparkling in the sun.

i soon passed this tree and it amazed me at how resilient nature is.

it seems nature will always find a way.

i continued on the trail until i reached the lookout. you can look miles and miles out into the horizon without signs of civilization. no doubt in another week or two there would be more color, if the leaves can weather the coming storms. i stopped here for lunch and enjoyed he view.

it’s a long way down.

i continued to hike the trail down and around to the base of the rocks.

after finishing this hike i decided to hike another trail. i headed out for the cross country trail, it was early afternoon, the sun was out and it was starting to warm up a bit more. i hiked to the top of the hills and found this magnificent tree. this is the one thing that impressed me about this trail last summer, how huge this tree was. it’s leaves had not fully turned, but they were starting to turn a pale yellow.

i stood under the tree and looked up at all the colors in the trees. as the leaves slowly drifted down i could feel the stress of the past week slowly drifting away with them.

what struck me again, as it did last summer, is just how big this tree really is. i wish i had an idea of how old it is. it’s so wide at the base two people standing on either side would not be able to touch fingers.

after hiking through a short section of forest, you pass through a great field. i loved the colors along the tree line in the back.

as i wound up this hike and headed back to the parking lot, i made another friend.

this is the orange wooly bear caterpillar. they come out in the fall and spin their cocoons, hibernating over the winter. in the spring they turn into tiger moths. ( i secretly want to give one to amy cause moths freak her out tee~hee) there is an annual wooly bear festival in ohio. i’ve never been to it, maybe i should try to attend next year.

my next stop was the tiny town of everett and the everett road covered bridge. i took amy and lori here last year. the bridge crosses the mighty cuyahoga river.

there are 148 planks in the bridge. a couple was counting them as they went across. i couldn’t resist the fun and joined them.

i walked down along the river bank, i have never seen the river this high in this area or moving so quickly, perhaps because of last night’s rain.

usually the river is shallow enough that i can walk out a bit on the rocks, sit down and take a few pictures, not this time though. i would have to be satisfied with what i could get from the bank.

i think amy has a picture of me sitting out on these rocks, taking a picture of the bridge.

at one time ohio had over 2000 covered bridges, this is the last covered bridge in summit county.

finally it was time to head home, on the drive home i laughed as i pulled up behind this car at a red light. it made me think of my friend jen.

love you bffb!

yeah they’re dead. they’re all messed up.

last night i watched night of the living dead all the way through. i had seen bits and pieces of this film but i had never seen it in it’s entirety. it’s a horror cult classic, and when i was watching this film last night i wondered if it was an independent film. this morning i researched it a bit and found it was in fact a low budget independent film made in 1968. it was actually quite controversial at the time and considered to be a very graphic movie. i thought about that last night too, since they kept showing the naked butt of a zombie roaming around the farm yard.

by today’s standards it’s almost comical. the zombies are chewing on a ham-shank and fighting over a string of hot dogs. the other thing that cracked me up was this takes place in pennsylvania in the middle of the night, yet when they interview the politicians in washington and the police posse in pennsylvania at 3 in the morning it’s bright daylight. apparently only a small portion of pennsylvania gets dark at night. the other thing that was fun about this movie is that it’s filmed in the pittsburgh area, not too far from home, and near where my parents grew up. during the scene with the news man they flash the names of towns at the bottom of the screen and where you should go for safe shelter. cannonsburg pa came up on the screen, the town my parents and grandparents are from. they also listed near by youngstown oh.

sitting at home last night watching night of the living dead, i couldn’t help but think of lori. a year ago about this time she and i were at the lotus petal cinema in nashville indiana. (brown county, indiana) the theater is only 35 seats, very cozy and it makes the experience that much more fun. loaded with popcorn and drinks we sat down to watch the 1932 boris karloff, the mummy. in the beginning of the movie there is a scene where two archaeologist are reading the inscription on the sarcophagus. the man inside, imhotep, was condemned.  one man turns to the other and says, perhaps he was a bit too gay with the virgins. i laughed so hard i almost pee’d myself! lori sat next to me trying to shush me and admonishing me for my bad behaviour. i would’ve had a blast watching night of the living dead with lori. miss you lori. hope you are having a great time on vacation, we’ll have to spend another halloween together, it was fun.

baby it’s cold inside

i got up for work this morning and it was so cold in the house. i have about a pound of blankets on the bed. seriously i sleep under about one pound of blankets. i am always warm and toasty when i sleep. the problem is when it’s time to get up and get going. i am so warm and snug, i don’t want to get up. this morning it was particularly chilly. i get up and drag myself into the bathroom to get ready for work, carrying my clothes along with me, the door handle to the bathroom was cold in my hand. the toilet seat woke me up in a hurry. i started to dress and my clothes were actually cold.

i grabbed a few of my things and stepped outside, there was frost on the windows of the car, so i warmed up the car. the cat was out on the front porch waiting for her breakfast. i went back in the house (after feeding the cat)  continued getting ready for work when it happened. i exhaled, and i thought i actually saw my breath. then i wasn’t sure. no, couldn’t be. it has to be really, really cold for that to happen. (although i once told one of my friend’s eight year old son that the reason you could see your breath sometimes is cause it’s so stinky) a few minutes later it happened again. still not convinced, still thinking i am hallucinating, (after all i hadn’t had breakfast yet) i headed out the door. i climbed into the car and the temperature gauge read 29 degrees. damn. that’s cold.  cold enough to snow.

i have been making an effort not to turn on the furnace yet. i am trying to hold out for november first. i was even contemplating waiting until after november eighth, since i would be out of town that weekend and wouldn’t need to heat my house. i don’t think i’m going to make it. the extended ten day forecast on weather.com is calling for rain over the weekend, followed by snow on monday and tuesday, followed by more rain, with temps never getting out of the fifties during the day and dipping into the thirties at night. i may not make it through the weekend. after all it’s easier to hold out when you are at work all day and can enjoy the free heat, but sitting in your house, huddled under a blanket shivering and clutching a cup of hot tea just trying to keep your hands warm, is another story.

i was hoping for one or two more good warm days. i’ll even take temps in the high sixties. i wanted to mow the yard one more time. get a few fall hikes in before all the leaves hit the ground. with all this cold wet weather coming up fall will probably be over before i get that opportunity. i think back to last year when lori came out to visit and what an incredible week we had. perfect weather, perfect fall foliage. driving tours down back country roads, visiting pottery studios, our pilgrimage to the super mother pumpkin in circleville, eating pumpkin chili and fried pumpkin blossoms. (don’t knock it. it was good!)

i read the yarnharlot’s blog , if you are familiar with her you know about the furnace wars. every year there’s a contest between her and her siblings to see who can hold out the longest before turning on the furnace. she says there has to be ice in the toilet before she puts the heat on. i myself am only in a furnace war with the gas company. the longer i can hold out the less of my money they get to steal.  i say steal because two years ago they so grossly overcharged their customers that people had credits on their bills of several hundred dollars. i personally had a credit close to five hundred dollars. that’s my money. it’s the gas company not a bank. this means i do not earn interest on all the money they lined their pockets with. unfortunately with the gas company it’s a losing battle. eventually we turn on the heat and the billing games begin. with our economy being what it is, they of course jacked the price up. (by 7%) everything seems to be going up except my wages.

so i’ll tough it out tonight and even tomorrow, but come saturday i’ll probably be turning up the heat in the house to a balmy sixty two degrees. after all it’s not just me. if it really is going to snow next week i am concerned for pepper. she lives under the house in the winter and snuggles up to the duct work to keep warm. the yarnharlot would probably call me a wimp right about now.

back to square one

four years ago when i first started knitting, i bought cheaper yarn. i have since moved on to better quality yarns and have developed a taste for natural fibers. llama, alpaca, cashmere. i am a fan of hand spun, hand dyed and hand painted as well. this year i am attempting to knit from the stash.  i was looking for yarn to make a lap throw for my dad. i needed something that would be warm and washable. i had, what i thought, was the perfect thing. a one pound (that’s right. one pound) skein of dark green yarn. i thought for sure i would be able to get twelve squares for an afghan from that. not so much. i ran out about three quarters of the way through block eight. i tried several yarn stores to try and find something that would match, but no such luck. everything was either a darker or lighter shade of green. no match. not even close. so i bought another shade of green and decided i would knit it up every other square. i had knitted almost two complete panels. tonight i sent them to the pond. since they were knit as single strips i had to frog everything but square one. and start over.

these panels had not been blocked yet, but this is how far i was.

and here i am now.

in only a matter of minutes, two weeks of work, gone. back to square one.

would you like that autographed?

i came home from work and found a package on my door. not too surprising since i had ordered several things online recently. this package was actually an envelope and i couldn’t recall what i had ordered that would come in an over-sized envelope. i tore open the package and found this inside.

honestly i had forgotten all about it. about a year or so ago i had received an email from sark asking if she could use one of my stories in her book. i was thrilled to grant permission and although this an abridged version of my original post it’s really exciting to see it in print. my story appears on page 138, (i was given credit by my full name for the story, but it mistakenly list my story as being on pages 136-137) about my great-grandfather’s violin, and sark autographed the book for me as well.

this is my original post in it’s entirety.

dear sark
i wanted to write to you and tell you about my dream. in july 2004 my father gave me a beat up old violin that belonged to his grandfather. it was in need of extensive repair and was not playable. i just set it in a corner and forgot all about it. On aug 6th 2004 i saw your book “make your creative dreams real”. i bought a copy and began to read. i thought to myself, “i don’t have a creative dream”. i played in the band in school, the hand bells and choir at church, so i have always been a musical person. i read the chapter about talking to your inner child to find your dream, well my inner child reminded me that one of my dreams was sitting in the corner. i have always wanted to play a stringed instrument! i recently finished the chapter about micromovements, so i made one. hey, even i can do anything for 5 mins! my first micromovement, i went on line and found a music shop that repaired violins, that was easy, why not try another? my second micromovement, i called the shop, hey look at me, i’m on a roll! this shop is only 15 mins from home, so for my third micromovement, i took the violin down to the store.
the guy at the store, thurman, said my violin was still in pretty good shape, it’ll need some work, but he could restore it and it can be played again. he showed me a large black stain across the front. thurman said that when you draw a bow across the strings it will leave a powder residue, called resin, eventually it works it’s way into the wood and leaves a mark. thurman also showed me a spot at the base of the violin where the finish was completely worn off. It was the place where my great-grandfather had rested his chin when he played. he loved this violin so much, and played it so often that he literally wore the finish off of it.
thurman offered to re-finish the violin, but i said no. the “stains” on the violin are a personal history, a connection to my family three generations ago. the “stains” will remain.
this violin is now about one hundred years old. i have never played the violin, i have always wanted to learn a string instrument. it will take three months to restore my violin, once it is finished i plan to take lessons. even if i never play in public, i know that my great-grandfather will be listening and sharing in the beautiful music of that treasured family heirloom.

regardless of everything that went down on planet sark i am so grateful for the relationships and friendships i made there. some of the most incredible and strong women it has ever been my honor to call friend came into my life because of that message board.

stanford trail to brandywine falls

i have a lot going on in my life right now. i have been depressed, feeling a lot of angst, and i have been quite the couch potato as of late. i had planned to re-do the final hike of the hiking challenge today, but another light came on in the car and i ended up at the dealers again. driving home it was such a beautiful day outside, the sun was shinning and the temp was warm. there’s not going to be many more days like this. november is just around the corner. i decided to get out and go for a walk. i had to choose a shorter trail since it was getting to be so late in the afternoon. i was hoping to re-hike a few of the trails this coming weekend, but for now they are calling for rain. i headed out to the park and decided to visit brandywine falls, i had taken amy and lori there last year when they visited. a few years ago on another one of the parks hiking challenges they had combined the stanford trail with the brandywine loop. i decided on this hike for the day.

in 1806 james stanford arrived as part of a survey crew for the connecticut land company. he settled in the valley and became a prosperous farmer and community leader in boston township. his son built the home which is now the stanford hostel. i started out on the stanford trail.

this trail was very peaceful and i soon started to feel myself relaxing. the turn off to brandywine was closed due to construction on a bridge, they detoured you about a mile or so out the way. this took me to a part of the trail i hadn’t previously hiked, and to averill pond.

this pond was constructed as part of the avrill farm in the 1950’s and stocked with bass and bluegill. i soon reached the end of the trail and started down an old road that had been closed by the park, where i made a new friend.

this took me to the brandywine trail. i choose to turn right and head out to the falls. the leaves are just turning color and fall is not quite at it’s peak just yet.

i headed down the deck and the many stairs, lori and amy can tell you, there’s a lot of stairs, but it’s worth the climb and the strain on the knees for views like this.

i worked my way to the top of the falls,

and the explored the remains of the champion electric company sitting at the top of the falls. built in 1920 by willis hale near the remains of the old gristmill of brandywine village, the champion electric company was struck by lightening in 1937 and burned. it’s was the last industry of the now lost brandywine village.

i like to explore the ruins for some of the interesting things (and views) you find.

i wonder what all the slots in the wall were for?

you cross a bridge at the top of the falls and head down into the gorge, passing the brandywine inn. maybe next year for my fortieth i’ll plan a visit there.

the trail passes along the inn’s property and then you descend into brandywine gorge following along brandywine creek a branch of the cuyahoga river.

you continue down into the gorge, and i came to a spot on the trail where i had to choose left or right. i choose to go right and it took me to the creek bed.

i have a good pair of sturdy hiking boots i love. they are comfortable, and they are water resistant. i can easily walk across a shallow stream without getting my feet wet. i started to pick my way across the stones

when my foot slipped off one of the rocks and plunged into the stream. water resistant is not the same as water proof.

at this point i figured, screw it and waded across the stream. i reached the other side soaked from mid calf on down. i had difficulty picking up the trail on the other side. it was clear where i had exited the trail on the opposite bank, but not so clear where i should continue once i crossed the creek. it’s fall, it’s possible that the trail is obscured by fallen leaves, i looked up and in the distance i saw cars. i had to be near a trail head so i started off in that direction and soon found the trail again. that’s when i turned around and saw this.

giant sandstones laid across the creek bed so you could cross the stream. i walked back and crossed the stream and saw that had i turned left i would’ve taken the path directly to these stones. crossing over them the creek was waste deep here so i was careful not to fall in again.

i followed the trail back out to the road i came in on, and started up the hill, i took this shot about half way up, a metaphor for my life right now, it feels like an up hill climb, but the scenery is good.

i started back onto the stanford trail to return to my car when i spotted this tree. i thought, well just like opinions, everyone has one.

christmas is coming

only 62 days left to go. i spent the weekend down home, stayed overnight at sharon’s. we were late for breakfast because i did not realize what time it was. breakfast of course was at bob evans. after breakfast was over the rest of the family headed off to church, while jan and i went for a walk, or at least we tried. we didn’t know that they were having a breast cancer walk down in the park that sunday. we drove out to the park and the entrances and the roads were closed. we parked over near the cemetery out on the road and walked over to the mckinley monument. we walked up the steps, around the monument and back down, then head through monument park, past the duck pond where we used to throw popcorn to the ducks after a day of play at mother gooseland. (now long gone and forgotten, canton if nothing else loves to tear down it’s history)

we crossed the road and stepped onto the walking track at waterworks park when we spotted them. couldn’t quite figure out where they came from. a good thousand or so people walking all wearing pink ribbons and pink t-shirts. i don’t know where the walk started out at but they headed down to monument park. by the time jan and i made our way around the track and started heading back to her car it was like trying to swim upstream. everyone else was now headed in the opposite direction trying to get back to their cars. (now i know what salmon feel like) it was a beautiful crisp fall morning, really a perfect day for the event, and it always does the heart good to see so many people out there trying to make a difference.  as we headed back to jan’s car we saw kids sliding down the sides of the monument stairs, and jan says i remember doing that and tearing a hole in my pants, i couldn’t stop laughing.

we met at mom’s and headed out. it was truly a nice weekend with just the girls. we haven’t done that in a very long time. we went to the macaroni grill for lunch, had fun harassing the waiter, i gave him a good tip for all the trouble, then spent the next few hours christmas shopping. it was nice to have jan along to help me pick out what to get kurt and kyle for christmas. i am knitting everyone a  hat this year, and the older kids just want money, so i am actually done with christmas shopping and it’s not even halloween. this means i can now avoid all malls and shopping centers until februrary.  the afternoon flew by and before you know it, we were done shopping and it was time for everyone to head home.  it was great being able to spend the weekend together. as soon as i got home i wrapped all the gifts, so besides the knitting there’s nothing left to wrap. i’m actually ahead of schedule this year, usually i am still shopping days before christmas. now it’s a knitting marathon.