King's Island Wildlife Management Area

I took these pix this morning when I went for a short walk down to the boat launch at King's Island Wildlife Management area. I tried to link this post to the photos on facebook, but the page wouldn't come up. One more thing to thank FB for! :-))))

I'm standing out in what normally would be the river. I'm looking back at the parking lot.

Many shades of green. You can see some fall colors starting to show through.

Look how low the river is! Enlarge the picture and look across the water at the large piece of driftwood. Doesn't it look like a river monster?

This is a school of geese. Not a gaggle! Look at the teacher at the front of the class. :)

This is not a submarine! :) It's either part of the rapids or something that snagged on a rock.

The island is also known as Terry's Island. Both families occupied the island a very long time ago but I'm not sure if it was the 1700s or 1800s. I would have to do some research.

Facebook is Holding Me Prisoner

I had quit FB for good. I was fed up with the way they cram changes down my throat (and everyone else).

However, FB has the last laugh. In order for the links to photo albums I've put on FB to be available to my on-line journals, I HAVE TO BE ACTIVE ON FB! Crap!

OK. I give up. I have activated my FB account just so my photo albums will be available to this blog. 

Grrrrr!

History Disintegrating

I have lived within three miles of the Connecticut River for 70 of my 76 years. I have loved the river through flood and drought, pollution and pristine. One of my favorite bike rides goes south along the river’s east side from Warehouse Point (East Windsor) to South Windsor, across the river to Windsor and then north on the west side to Windsor Locks. It’s the bike ride I call Ride the Four Windsors. Another favorite ride is the Windsor Locks/Suffield Canal State Park Trail. It is the Canal that I want to discuss in this essay.

The Connecticut DEP website for the Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail relates some of the history of the canal.

The Windsor Locks Canal was constructed between June,  1827 and November, 1829 to skirt the Enfield rapids in the Connecticut River. The continuous water connection from the Connecticut River valley farmlands above   the rapids through to Hartford and points south provided farmers with expanded markets and investors with  freight fees in this business venture. Today’s paved surface lies atop the towpath, the actual walkway which animals, often mules, hauled the freight barges by rope north and south along the water way. Author Charles Dickens was a notable visitor who passed through the canal on February 7, 1842.

Because of the rapids, the canal was necessary to get boats between Hartford and Springfield without carting their contents overland between Warehouse Point and Enfield. This once necessary and beautiful waterway is rapidly decaying because no one wants to take responsibility for it.

Back in the day, the canal was drained every year to make necessary repairs. It seems that since it is not used any more for floating pleasure boats around the rapids no one cares. The “new” bridge over the canal is not high enough for boats to pass under, nor is it a bridge that can open,

There is so much dredging that needs to be done I suppose it has become cost prohibitive. Continuing to do it every year would have made more sense. A lot of debris has fallen into the canal. Recent storms have dropped many canal-bank trees into the water.

Up at the Suffield end, the single lock has completely disintegrated.

How can the State of Connecticut allow such degradation to the canal when it parallels a State Park Trail?

The trail along the canal is the old towpath. Unfortunately, it is paved and the pavement is deteriorating rapidly. I suspect that by next year I’m not going to ride the trail because of its condition. How sad!

What is happening is that too many of the paved trails are deteriorating and there isn’t any money for upkeep. One solution is to stop paving and make these trails hard packed dirt and stone dust. Another solution is to do what they did on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Plastic plates were sunk on both sides of the trail where tree roots could cause upheaval of the pavement. The plates went deeper than the roots, which eliminated the problem. At least that was the theory. I’ll know better when I ride the CCRT in mid-September.

Look at the accompanying photos of the Windsor Locks Canal and weep (taken Aug. 18, 2012).

Mud swallows on the wall of the canal viaduct over Stony Brook

Shows how the lock has degraded

Another view of the lock

The water gates where river water enters the canal. However, in the past few years not enough water has been let in to flush the canal of accumulated silt and debris

Shows the surface of canal water just south of the water gates

The canal looking south from the water gates

A bench placed so you and I can sit and contemplate the degradation...how lovely

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Today is my oldest daughter's birthday. She is also my oldest child. My, how time flies.

The Day After
Today is the day after my magnificent toss from my bike. Even though I got the arnica gel to the damaged area pretty quick, I seem to have missed part or all of the area that hit the ground. I do have an ugly black and blue. Other parts of my body also hurt and show signs of brusing...places I didn't now were involved in the accident. So...I'll be colorful for a week or so. :)

Compromising 

I have certain brand name products that I buy all the time. In most cases I have tried the store brand, but those products just didn't taste good. What's the sense of buying cheaper foods if they will wind up being tossed.

Today I was in desperate need of mayonnaise. I happen to like Hellmann's with olive oil.  When it's on sale, I will buy at least 2 jars and hope it lasts until the next sale. It hasn't been on sale in a while and this morning the cost was $4.59. No way will I pay that much for mayo.

The compromise was I did buy the store brand. It doesn't have olive oil in it but at least it was only $2.49 for a 30 oz. jar...which is the same size as the Hellmann's. It had better be good because I can't afford to toss it out.

Another compromise was bread. My preferred brand name hasn't been on sale for a while either. I was going to scout the bread aisle to see what was on sale when I came across a package of onion rolls on sale...right in front of the deli counter. This is a substitute I know I will like. Some days you win and lose. :)

Norwottuck Trail Bike Ride

 This is a story of the bad, the good, and the ugly.

First the bad: the condition of the surface of this trail. Lots of root heaves. Many miles of this trail is surfaced with a combination of melted (recycled) tires and crushed (recycled) glass. What no one thought about was that the rubber would erode leaving the glass. I leave the result to your imagination.

Then the good: I was told that next year “they” were going to start ripping up the offending surface in order to re-do it with a better material and make it wider in some sections.

Lastly, the ugly: At the eastern end in Belchertown, there is a chain link fence with openings on either end to allow users to go through, yet prevent banned vehicles from accessing the trail. I (being a determined genius) thought I could ride through the opening. Let it be known…I cannot. My handlebar caught one of the posts and tossed me, and my bike, to the pavement. Luckily I landed on the…shall I say padded…upper thigh. I’m sure the black and blue will be magnificent, in spite of the arnica gel I generously applied after my shower. More arnica will follow later this evening.

I made two new friends at the site of my magnificent flop. I didn’t get their names, but their concern for my well-being was appreciated.

I made two more new friends on the way back. I stopped at the swamp where the blue heron was. Phyllis and Karen (ladies I hope I remembered your names correctly) were a delight to talk to.

I stopped at the little restaurant hoping to get a dish of frozen yogurt, but there were about a dozen noisy people in there and I couldn't concentrate on the menu on the wall. I had to leave without my yogurt.

The ride was just over 20 miles total. I hadn’t ridden that many miles in quite a while. I will be taking ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer at bedtime to ensure I can get out of bed tomorrow.

Enjoy the photos that follow (click on photos to enlarge).

The welcome sign at the beginning of the trail in Northampton, MA

Bridge over the CT River heading east

Tunnel of trees makes for a cool ride even in warm temps

This is not graffiti! This is how the bumps are marked so riders can use caution

A detour because of work being done on a bridge

This was the detour...I hate hills! :)

Blue Heron. I think it was working for the Chamber of Commerce the way it was attracting onlookers.

Location! Location! Location! A small eatery right on the path about 2 miles east of the trail head.

My Recent Adventures With Food

Grabbing the wrong ingredient could go horribly wrong, but the time I’m going to tell you about, I lucked out. 

Potato Salad

I come from French Canadian stock, which means I grew up on meat, potatoes and a vegetable…fresh or canned depending on the season and simple desserts. One of my aunts was a super cook…she knew how to make a salad and fantastic desserts. Needless to say, my culinary experiences were with substantial food, but not very imaginative. That pretty much describes my potato salad. Diced cooked potatoes, diced onions, maybe celery salt if I have some, and mayo. I like to sprinkle a little paprika over the top for color.

Last month I reached for the paprika and grabbed curry instead. I noticed my mistake too late. For sure I wasn’t going to throw out a whole dish of salad, so I dug in. Well, well! What do you know? It was really good. The curry gave the potato salad a sort of smoky flavor.

Just to be sure, I repeated the error a couple of weeks later. Same result. I now have a new ingredient in the recipe…curry.

Crusty Bread Pizza

Now this is no mistake…I did it on purpose! Have you seen those ads on TV by Pizza Hut for crusty, Italian bread pizza? When I saw that, I said to myself, “self…you can do that, it won’t cost you what they’re charging and you'll have what you want on it!” So this is what I did…

I got a loaf of crusty bread…not sure if it was Italian, but it was long and fat, as opposed to long and skinny. I don’t think it makes any difference.

I cut the loaf in half crosswise. I took one half and sliced it in half the long way. I put both pieces side by side on a cookie sheet and started the process.

*Pre heat oven to 350° or 400°

*Brush the top of the bread with garlic butter (make your own)

*Spoon on spaghetti sauce…any kind will do as long as you like it

*Top with whatever you want. I used crumbled cooked ground beef, crumbled cooked sweet Italian sausage meat, canned mushrooms (fresh if you want), and finally - shredded mozzarella cheese.

*Put in oven for about 10 – 15 min, until the pizza is hot and cheese is melted.

*Remove from oven and enjoy!

Improvements on the above the second time I made it with the other half of the loaf…

*Cut the bread crosswise to make circles

*Line the cookie sheet with parchment paper for easier clean-up

*Place the bread slices close together to make it easier to place the toppings.

I think I’ll be making my own pizza from now on…unless I get lazy, which is quite possible.

Summer’s Heat

 It’s almost mid-August and it’s hot. It’s supposed to be hot…right? This past July was the hottest July on record for the U.S.A. It was hot last summer, too, but not like this year.

What’s going on?

I think most of us will agree that the climate is changing. Whether it is a normal cycling of the planet or it’s a man-made condition is a debate I won’t get into at this time. What is important is that it is getting warmer.

What are the results of this warming

For one thing, we are seeing a repeat of what started the dust bowl back in the 1930s. No rain means no crops. If the grain harvest is not adequate, then prices of just about everything will go up. Bread, cereals, meat…everything! Okay. That’s one front.

What about the weather? Climate warming is causing glaciers and ice caps to melt. That is putting millions (billions?) of gallons of fresh water into the oceans.

Lets look at the Atlantic Ocean. With all that fresh water coming into the north Atlantic the salinity of the water is changing, and it is salinity that drives the Atlantic Conveyer.

Think of a never-ending loop of a conveyer belt. The cold, highly saline, heavier water of the north Atlantic sinks and flows to the warmer south Atlantic waters. From there, warmer, less saline water now rises and flows north, conspicuous as the Gulf Stream. Then the cycle is repeated. This is what gives the east coast of the U.S. and northern Europe their weather. Change this cycle and the weather changes.

Results of this change

If the cycle of the Atlantic conveyer is interrupted by too much fresh water diluting the salinity of the water, the conveyer will shut down—the waters will not circulate. And, believe it or not, this will bring on an ICE AGE.

When?

I have no idea when all this will come to pass (but remember, it comes to pass it doesn’t come to stay!) Will it happen in my lifetime? Probably not. I’m already 76 yrs. old and this journey toward the Ice may take a hundred years or more.

I don’t know about you…

I start getting antsy about this time of summer. I am a Gemini and I need lots of open space around me. I am, after all, an air sign. I want my curtains wide open and the windows the same. I want fresh air wafting through my home day and night. By now I’m super tired of having to keep the windows and drapes closed to keep out the intense heat, and especially the humidity.

While I bless the central air in my condo (never had c/a before and I do love it) I watch the weather forecasts like a hawk to see when the H & H will diminish and I’ll be able to shut the c/a off and open everything to the fresh air.

(To give you some idea of how much I love fresh air…my bedroom door is weather stripped against the cold winter air because I sleep with my window open all winter.)

What can we do?

If you believe the change in our climate is a result of planetary cycling, then there isn’t much you can do. Do the best you can to survive the increasing heat with the least cost? That might mean using solar, water and wind power instead of fossil fuels. You might want to use a geothermal system to heat and cool your home.

If you believe the problem is man-made, then do everything you can to reduce carbon footprints. Reduce, reuse, recycle. And, oh yes, stop burning fossil fuels.

Another thing I can do is ride my bike the 3.5 miles to the store if what I need is small enough to fit in my panniers. I had an extra pannier rack installed on my front wheel just for this purpose. If I must use the car, I make sure I have several places to go and I map out the most efficient route to accomplish all my errands. If I can get things done without using my car, so much the better. I get the exercise. I don’t pollute the air so that’s good for all of us. And, lastly, I hope when you see me riding my bike, you start talking and thinking (in a positive way) about how you can also keep the air clean. Clean air also means clean water. It’s all connected.

That was a long way around just to tell you I can’t stand heat and humidity! But, then, I am a Gemini, and I do love words. :)

Intrusive Facebook

Facebook has informed me that as of August 15th I will have Timeline...whether I want it or not. 

I DO NOT WANT TIMELINE! But there is no way to tell Facebook. I was never asked if I wanted it.

I find Timeline very confusing, therefore, I do not go to the "Wall" of friends who have it. And the worst part is the map that shows where I've been recently. What?

Where I've been is none of anyone's business. If I want you to know where I've been I'll tell you...personally. 

Now let's be clear...I don't go where I shouldn't. I don't go places that would cause shame to my family. I just find this feature an invasion of my privacy.

Maybe I'm just getting old (wash my mouth out with soap for saying that)! And, admittedly, I have let a lot of technology pass me by.

But, this Facebook thing... A little more paranoia among its members would be a good thing.

I am taking my paranoia and leaving Facebook. I know, I've done that before and came back. This time, August 15th, I will be gone for good.

I will miss the instant contact with my family and close friends, but there is email and the phone (as much as I hate using the phone), and face to face visits. How innovative! 

Then, if you really want to know what I'm up to now, there is my online journal...you are reading it now.

Riding on Quiet Tires

When I bought my SUV I had no idea it had not been checked out for things that needed fixing. When I drove it home I couldn’t help notice the tires were noisy. I assumed it was the brand of tire, and since it was just slightly noisier than my Saturn wagon (that I had traded in), I didn’t give it a second thought. I should have become suspicious when after 6 weeks the service light went on and I needed an oil change. I brought it to a different dealer who did the oil change and rotated the tires at no charge. That was great! I still didn’t get it.

I am now on my third dealer and finally was told that the reason the tires were so noisy was because the front end was out of alignment and the tires were cupping.

So I went to Town Fair Tire and got new tires. Now I can hear the radio and have conversations with passengers above the noise of the tires. What noise! There is no noise.

Oh, and the best part is, they asked me for the “wheel lock key.” The what? I never got one when I bought the car.

Even though it was a 1 yr old used car (a returned lease) I should have driven off with a car whose front end had been aligned, the oil changed and with a wheel lock key!

What would have happened if I had a flat tire on the road? The tire could not be removed. How happy would I have been?

The only thing that provides balance to this sad tale is that the original dealer was the only one around who had the car I wanted at a price I could afford. AND I found out about the car through a set of circumstances that tells me I was supposed to have that car. It was one of the hottest items in car dealership. There were very few used models and these were gobbled up as fast as they came in. Mine had been there for 2 weeks before I heard about it and snapped it up. Maybe others had looked at it and recognized what was wrong.

I’m happy to have a car I love. I just wish I didn’t have to wait three and a half years to finally ride on quite tires.

All’s well that rolls well (and quietly). (sigh)