Happy 61st Anniversary to my Mom & Dad! We visited them for their anniversary, and took them out to dinner at a steak place called The Edge. Awesome meal, followed by some complimentary prosecco for the anniversary couple:
Salute!
Happy Anniversary!
-
Mom & Dad At Dinner
-
High Summer Rides
I got out with Renee for a ride in Jim Thorpe on the 3rd. It was a bit disappointing (OK, that was an understatement — it was devastating) when we discovered that a lot of the area around the trailhead had been logged off. I wanted to do the Deer Path but it was literally gone, and we ended up doing the Uranium Road and the Pine Tar Trail. By and large the ride was fun, but it was hard to see what they’ve done to that place, especially right at the entrance. Some pictures:
New Game Lands Parking 
Logging In The Game Lands 
Logging In The Game Lands 
Logged Off Game Lands 
Monarchs on Milkweed 
Monarchs On Milkweed 
Mountain Laurel 
Mountain Laurel 
Where The Deer Path Was I did get to see some mountain laurel blossoms before they passed, but I could tell the main part of the season was long over. Maybe next year…
On the Fourth I went over to Greg & Judy’s to do their annual ride, a little mellower version than in previous years — which is good because I don’t think I could have handled one of those old-school rides… An awesome morning on the road bike through, with friends I just don’t see often enough. I didn’t stick around for the post-ride BBQ — I just came home, showered & napped, and then that night we watched the fireworks from our porch.
Doug and I did Jacobsburg in the heat yesterday, about 15 miles including some new rail-trail:
And Anne and I got out this morning and sneaked in a quick 25 miles before the rains came. Not a bad week!
It’s pouring now, on and off as storm cells blow through, and we’re just hanging out listening to jazz. Emmi & Kyle are coming over for dinner tonight (with Iris of course). Tomorrow is more rain.
-
Bike Update
Well, the bike parts showed up yesterday afternoon, and I changed out the cassette and the chainring last night. The chain itself had to wait until morning, I was just too tired. (Good decision: the job was a piece of cake once I was fresh and rested.)
Among my Master Mechanic Moments last night:
- dropping a wrench, reaching down and finding the chain whip I thought I’d lost months ago, just lying there on the floor, and
- Struggling to get the rear thru-axle back in place, while at the same time looking for a missing spring on the old-style skewer I’d used to help take off the cassette, only to find the spring jammed into and blocking the thru-axle threads. Lord knows how it got there…
Anyway, everything is done except replacing the front tire. If it’s nice tomorrow (fat chance) I might go for a test run on the towpath. We had Iris today, so cello duets got pushed to early afternoon tomorrow; lets hope for a reasonably dry afternoon.
-
All Better
I finally got rid of that cold — it took a week of rest, Advil and Mucinex-D, but it’s in the past now. Unfortunately, pretty much everyone in our extended household is currently still under the weather: Iris is now recovering from an ear infection, Emmi and Kyle are both sick, Anne looked like she was over it but is in the middle of a relapse, and Ben, who visited for just long enough to be exposed to the Whole Sick Crew before flying to LA, came down with it and is probably giving the cold to his girlfriend and her family as we speak. We’ve all been using a lot of tissues lately…
So while I was spending my days in bed I managed to finish the first “Wheel of Time” book. I’m still on the fence, though I have to say I read an 800-page book in about a week, which might be an indicator… I downloaded the second book, but I’m finding it to be much more of a slog, so I’m back to “we’ll see.”
Meantime, I went for a bike ride yesterday, my first in about a week: fifteen miles or so, riding with Anne and Julie to check out a new assisted-living facility for walkability issues — someone in CAT noted/complained that the place was isolated from anything around it. Turns out it’s true, but it also looked to me like the place was purposely designed to discourage non-automotive accessibility. Anyway, it was a nice afternoon on the bike.
The mountain bike is currently out of commission: I found a broken part on the chain, and bought a chain to replace it, as well as a new front tire and handlebar grips. I discovered I also need to replace the cassette and chainring, and am currently waiting for the parts to come in. Soon…
I hope soon — I really want to get up to Jim Thorpe to do some real mountain biking, where I can ride among the mountain laurels if they’re still in bloom. I missed them last year, I mostly missed them the year before, and I fear I’m about to miss them this year as well.
-
Summer Cold
I am currently home sick, with enough downtime that I can actually muster the wherewithal to write something. We’ve been watching Iris a few days a week, which isn’t too strenuous but nothing else gets done when she’s here, so the rest of the week is compressed, etc, etc. Not much to write about lately anyway. No good news anyway — global warming is reaching the “find out” phase here, but that’s just too depressing to write about.
Meantime, I finally picked up the first book of the “Wheel of Time” series, The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. John R and Matt I are both reading the series, and both recommended it, so I e-borrowed it from the library. It’s fantasy, which is not my thing, I’m having trouble deciding if different aspects of the story are required tropes in the genre, or just plain derivative, and it reads like it was written for children, but I read 600 of almost 800 pages since Friday, so it must have something going for it…
-
Jacobsburg Ride
I got out for a mountain bike ride Saturday at Jacobsburg, just a chance to tool around and clear my head after some difficult days. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve done in quite a while…
The day was beautiful, sunny with blue skies and a few puffy clouds, and the trees were all greened up and the fields were full of flowers — mostly the pretty but invasive Dame’s Rocket, but I didn’t care.
I parked at the main lot, which was only about a third full, and didn’t see too many people out on the trails (though I did run into Sean C walking his dog). I had the trails mostly to myself, except..
Jacobsburg these days is pleasant enough, but it’s kind of tame compared to its old self. Much of it is smooth doubletrack over rolling hills, but there are a few places left with true singletrack, and even some rocky, rooty sections. One short rooty climb is a real challenge (it’s on the trail where we put in bridges, lo those 28 years ago), and I was looking forward to giving it a try when I came around the bend and saw two other cyclists resting at the top. Oh no, an audience! Well I gave it my all, and made it up pretty smartly I thought, and so did those other bikers, who were amazed that the little climb was even doable. The honest truth is that I’m not the mountain biker I once was, but in that moment — yeah, I still got it.
I talked with those guys for a bit, then I went on my way, and in the end I probably rode for about two hours, getting in maybe fifteen miles.
That evening we went to the Rose Garden, watched a couple of bands (we ran into Sarah & Marc there, and sat with them for a bit), then met up with Doug & Lori for some drinks downtown. Just what the doctor ordered!
-
Rest In Peace, Uncle Jake
My uncle Jake passed away last Tuesday. Here is his obituary; he was only a week or so away from turning 90 when he died. My dad was pretty devastated, and especially now that his last surviving sibling was gone (Dad was the youngest of five). Here are some pictures of my dad and his siblings over the years:
The Kelly Kids, 1939 
Uncle Jake, Suzanne, Grandma Kathryn, and Don (my Dad) holding Wayne. 
The Kelly Kids, mid-1980’s? Because of the holiday weekend, his funeral (in Brooklyn) was last Friday and the viewing was Thursday night; my parents needed a ride so I drove down and took them Thursday night, then stayed over and we went to the funeral together. It was a long two days…
-
A Wedding And A Funeral
Remembering Sally A: Our friend Sally passed away early this year, and there was a memorial service for her Saturday at the Quaker Meeting house. She was an amazing woman, with a big personality and a sense of humor and a heart to match. There were many people there, friends and relatives, teaching colleagues and people she’d helped over the years, with many stories from her life and travels. It was nice to see how people cared, to bump into old friends and to hear the stories, but it was still a tough day.
Congratulations Holly & Chris! Our niece Holly got married on Sunday down in Glassboro. Rainy day, travel was tough (there & back) but the wedding was fun. Some pictures:
Bruce with Baby Moriah 
Chris Waits for The Ceremony To Start 
Wedding Music 
Here Comes The Bride! 
Wedding Ceremony 
Nick Gives A Reading 
A Reading By Chris’s Dad 
Exchanging Vows 
Lighting The Candle 
Wedding Ceremony 
The Newlyweds 
You May Now Kiss The Bride 
Bride’s Parents: Frank And Patricia 
Groom’s Parents 
Holly And Chris 
Father-Daughter Dance 
Mother-Son Dance 
Ben And Bruce Outside 
Newlyweds In Their Party Clothes
-
Road Scholar Recap
Here are some photos of March’s Road Scholar ride:
A Selfie In The Van 
Road Scholars: Freemansburg 
Road Scholars At Lock 22 
Buttermilk Falls 
Eating Lunch Along The Lehigh 
Road Scholars On The Nesquehoning Trestle The ride doesn’t seem that long ago, but it’s amazing to see how wintry it looked compared to now.
Here is one last photo; I just liked the looks of this tree at Shawnee:
A Tree At Shawnee
-
Break Time’s Over
I guess I could have had a lot to say this past month, if I wanted to, but the inspiration didn’t come — I also didn’t want to blog about some things (birthdays, anniversaries) in the moment, as they might turn into a security risk. But now the tales can be told:
- I did another Road Scholar ride, the first of this year, and the second-to-last ever RS bike ride from Shawnee. This was actually one of the better ones.
- Happy Birthday to me! I hit the big Six-Oh this year.
- Happy Anniversary to us! Anne and I celebrated ten years of marriage this month.
- Welcome Home! We just got back from our final big trip out to Denver, where we helped Emmi & Kyle pack and move. Five prep days in Denver, then five days driving back here to their new home. We’re already on babysitter duty…
Now that we’re home, I’m easing my way back into the cello — Iris loves when Anne or I play music, by the way. The Native Paths project continues apace, and I just did a volunteer day (my first in weeks) at the D&L archives. And now I’m blogging again! It’s good to be back.
As a bonus , here’s what I wrote ten years ago, and what I wrote fifteen years ago.
