I’m currently hanging out at a coffee shop (Bitty & Beau’s) downtown. They have some big, floor to ceiling windows, and I’m enjoying the view of the Fall weather outside: it’s sunny, and a a bit breezy, and many trees still have their foliage — which finally turned spectacularly colorful the last week or so — but there are a few leaves blowing by every so often, just like the groups of little brown birds also flitting about outside. The weather outside is pleasant enough, I walked over and it was really nice, but sitting in here and watching is even nicer.
I’ll head home in a bit, then walk over to Southside to meet Doug at Wishful Thinking (formerly the Bavarian Tavern), then I’m meeting Anne at Bonn Place around 6:00. Ironically enough, we’re meeting at Bonn Place to see a show featuring artists named Doug. (Another friend, and you can guess his name, is one of the exhibitors.)
We have Iris tomorrow, and we’ll probably take her up to Jacobsburg for a trail walk.
Oh, Sweet Summer Child
This is what I wrote five years ago, and this is what I wrote ten years ago.
We did a few things on day three, but it started out with another picture-perfect morning:
Fog On Mohr HeadHigh Green Neighborhood
Troup Head and Gannets
Our hike over Troup Head started among the barley fields and eventually led to a cliffside trail, where said cliff was home to a huge gannet colony. We could see them flying out over the water, and every so often we could get a view of the cliffs themselves, covered in birds.
Walking to the CliffsScottish CoastCraggy ScotlandTroup Head Cliff TrailGannetsGannets on the CliffTroup HeadScottish FieldsBarley BalesNesting Birds on the Cliff
We made two more stops on the drive home to check out some historic ruins: the stone circle on top of Aikey Brae, and the ruins of Deer Abbey.
Aikey Brae Standing Stones
This was a short drive from the Troup Head trailhead, and a short walk from our parking spot brought us to a sort of mini-Stonehenge where we ate our lunch — the site was built maybe 4000 years ago, and used for a few centuries in some way connected with lunar observations before falling into disuse. It was kind of neat, but I was disappointed to not get any vibes off the place.
The Way to Aikey BraeLunch Among The Standing StonesLunch Among The Standing StonesAnne, Aikey Brae Stone CircleAikey Brae Standing StoneStanding Stone, Aikey Brae
Deer Abbey
Deer Abbey is the name of a monastery founded in the 12th century. It was converted into a manor home in the 16th century, eventually fell into ruin and is now a historic site. We stopped here on the drive home for a quick walk around.
Donna at Deer AbbeyJohn at Deer AbbeyThe Ruins of Deer AbbeyRuins at Deer AbbeyRock Wall, Deer AbbeyJohn at Deer AbbeySepulchres, Deer Abbey
Our Hike To Crovie
We did this hike later in the day, starting from Gardenstown.
Crovie is the next fishing town over, less than a mile to the east of Gardenstown along the beach. There used to be a road atop a seawall between the towns, but that washed away maybe 75 years ago, leaving a footpath accessible at low tide. There is also a footpath along the cliff, from the upper village at Gardenstown to the road into Crovie just outside of town, we walked this path to Crovie and took the beach path home. (I think this is one of Donna’s daily hikes when she’s there.)
Gardenstown and Mohr Head from the Path Above TownGamrie Bay from the Gardenstown PathNorth Sea and ScrubRoe Deer, near GardenstownCrovie, from the Upper FootpathAnne and Donna Enjoy the ViewCrovie from the lower path.
Well, the stone roof for my father’s final home has finally been installed. They put the gravestone in place sometime last week, and Mom and I visited the gravesite on Monday. It looks really good:
It was good to finally see it in place. Dad’s actual burial place will no longer be a guess, it’s a real milestone on our way to closure, and it turned out really nice. Mom loved it.
It was a good day to be at the cemetery too: quiet, sunny and autumnal, it left me feeling peaceful and introspective. I’d been feeling Dad’s death a little harder recently, especially after hearing the stone was finished; seeing it for myself made me feel a bit better.
I went to physical therapy on Wednesday and the place was closed: on the door was a notice that Dr Sewards, aka Dr Pat, aka Doc, had passed away a few days before. His obituary can be found here.
I don’t know when and why Anne first went to Dr. Pat, but she recommended him to me almost ten years ago for my knee. He was an orthopedic surgeon who almost always recommended against surgery unless absolutely necessary, and advocated motion and exercise for almost all bone/joint problems. His office was mostly a gym, with a bunch of greybeards like myself working our muscles and joints to 60’s-era rock. (Strangely enough, this office was in the building that used to be the West End Community Center, where PPRAC had a bunch of meetings and parties — my last time there, before Dr. Sewards took over about a decade ago, was for Janna’s 50th birthday.)
Dr Sewards gave both Anne and me excellent treatment and advice, and he helped lot of other people too. He was also very inspiring — he overcame some serious injuries himself, back in his youth. I don’t know what’s going to happen with his practice, without him it probably can’t continue the way it is now. His passing left a big hole in the world.
This was our first full day in Scotland. John had some home-buying business to attend to, so we hung out mainly with Donna. We took a drive to the next town over to get some shopping done, then in the afternoon we went on a hike up to the ruins of St John’s Kirk.
These first shots are what greeted us in the morning, the view from our cottage:
Gamrie Bay From Our CottageLooking Uphill From Our Cottage
On the way to/from our shopping destination, we stopped to admire the Scottish countryside, and also to take a photo that I think Donna’s been itching to take for years…
Welcome To My Fishing Company!Highland CattleA Rural Scottish RoadA Highland CowAberdeenshire: Gorse
These next photos are from our hike up to St John’s Kirk, a ruined church (and still maintained cemetery) dating from about 1500-1600. Our route was on a trail up through a small gorge, known locally as the “Bloody Pits” because that’s where the locals threw the bodies after defeating a Viking invasion around AD 1000. Incredible views of the landscape, the North Sea and the village below as well as the kirk.
In the “Bloody Pits”Looking Up from the GorgeNorth Sea CoastGardenstown from Mohr HeadWalking to St John’s KirkWalking to St John’s KirkGamrie Bay and GardenstownAberdeenshire (Gamrie)St John’s CemeterySt John’s CemeteryKirk and Graveyard from AboveWalking Back Down Into the Bloody PitsIn St John’s CemeteryGrave In St John’sGraves Inside the ChurchInside the Ruins, St John’s KirkBeach at Gamrie BayBush and Butterfly, Gardenstown
We had dinner that night at their rental cottage, one of the last nights they would be in it.
These are just some photos from our first day in Scotland, which was mostly a travel day. We’d flown overnight to London, and from there to Aberdeen where John & Donna picked us up for the drive to Gardenstown, about an hour away on rural roads.
Barley HarvestUs at the PubSunset Over GamrieThe Rocky BeachSunset From Our Cottage
The first photo (from inside the car) is of recently harvested barley fields, which dominated the landscape on the way to the village. Other shots are of us at the local pub, and various evening shots around town.
My broken arm/shoulder is healed. I’ve been out of the sling since the start of September, and have been doing PT several times a week ever since. Most mobility/flexibility is back, strength is almost back to normal (for most movements), and the pain is gone except for the occasional twinge.
We had our big East Coast party for Ben & Jennie, hosted by Anne’s sister at her family property outside Tamaqua. This was sort of a belated wedding party for their East Coast friends and relatives, a “welcome to the area” party, and a “thank you” to all the people who helped them, financially and in other ways, after the big fire. Catered BBQ, a big tent and a dance floor, even a few porta-johns… no expense was spared! There were probably just north of a hundred people, and it was a two-day blowout. (We were going to camp with everyone else, but I was still in my sling at the time, so we went home and came back with coffee in the morning.)
We went on vacation to Gardenstown (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) to visit our friends John & Donna, who vacation there every year — they actually closed on a house while we were visiting. Scenic hikes, whisky tours, and a lot of sitting around enjoying the incredible views. I’ll be posting photos soon.
I’m back on the bike. I’ve done a few rides in the past week or so, and things seem to be OK, though I keep admonishing myself to pay more attention to the road surface… I’ve been riding the touring bike, which really has been my go-to lately anyway since the MTB needed work — I was planning to bleed the brakes before I fell, but that had to be put on hold until the arm healed. I brought the bike up to spec about a week ago, and I’ll probably take it out on the towpath tomorrow.
We got back yesterday from an overnight trip up to Homer, NY with our friends Jan & Marty, to see Iris DeMent at the local art/music venue. Jan & Marty have a cabin just outside of town, and it was nice to finally get to see it.
Plenty more has happened in the past two months I’m sure, but those are the things that come most immediately to mind.
Life, and the pavement, can sometimes come at you fast… I took a spill on a road ride Monday, hit the deck and broke my shoulder. Helical fracture of the humerus.
I caught a crack or pothole right in front of Lost River Canyons just outside Hellertown, about 3/4 of the way through what was, up to that point, a beautiful ride: I got up early, broke out the road bike fresh from a full bike store tune-up (it had been sitting unused for a year), and was enjoying a perfect summer morning on the bike.
But then: splat. I knew I was hurt as soon as I hit the ground. Some guy in the parking lot helped me out, and I called BIL Joe who took me to the hospital. X-rays, painkillers, sling, yadda yadda; I saw the orthopedic surgeon yesterday who advised against surgery (I got the same advice from the ER guys). I just need a few weeks in the sling and then rehab.
So here I am! The pain subsided enough that I stopped taking the pills, now its like having a headache in my arm, and I have some mobility problems but I’m on the road to being OK. If I don’t go stir crazy first…
Earwigs — that’s what was blocking our mini-split head the other day. The unit was dripping condensate (again) so we put in for a service call, and the technician found the condensate line clogged with dead earwigs. Ewwww!
The tech cleaned it out and put some anti-algae enzyme tablets on the condenser pan to keep things clean, and our system is back up and running.
In other news, I got my road bike back, tuned up and with a new small chain ring. I took it for a very short test ride today — felt great — and may do a longer ride, a real ride, tomorrow.
