Things Seen

          We saw so many new things this week. And a bunch of them were coming down the highway toward us. I know you're as excited as I am about it so let's get to it, shall we?

           Because there's so much fracking going on in our area, this is a tank you will often see going down our highways. These tanks can contain or transport 21,000 gallons of water or corrosive fluids used during the fracturing process. It looks like the back corner is all but skimming the road, doesn't it.

          "What's that?" Mike asked when he saw this giant tank coming toward us.

          "Um... a giant tank," was my answer.

          We knew something big was coming at us when an escort truck with a height pole mounted to the front of it passed us. We held our breath as we rounded a corner and there he was, laboring to get up the hill.

           Not far behind him were another escort and another piece of equipment.

          Something else used in fracking is tons of sand and it's often transported in containers labeled — what else? Sand Box. We've seen two styles of sand containers. The one called Sand Box is so big they can only haul one at a time. 

           Then we've seen these smaller ones labeled Prop X which they haul two to a trailer.

          "Rival company?" I asked Mike the first time we saw one.

          "I guess," he answered.

          Prop X is a Colorado-based company, I found when I Googled it. I assume they took their name from the word proppant. A proppant is a solid material, typically sand, treated sand or man-made ceramic materials, designed to keep an induced hydraulic fracture open during or following a fracturing treatment.  

          Coming back from Sayre the other day, crossing the bridge into Wysox, Mike says, "Let's go see where all those Sand Box trucks are going." He hung a right, go past the Riverstone Restaurant and meander down a road we've never been on before. I took tons of pictures. In the middle of the train yard you can see a bunch of staged Prop X containers.

          Barns.

          I told you about our shopping trip to Sayre Friday a week ago now. While we were at Lowe's we'd seen a display of bathroom vanities. It was an all-in-one type deal where you get the vanity, sink, mirror, and fixtures all for one price. "It's probably not a bad deal," Mike said but we didn't buy it. He thought about it and talked about it all the next day. I, of course, want a vanity for the bathroom and Mike was talking himself into it.

          Finally, Saturday night, I said, "I think they only had one or two left so if it's a good deal maybe we should just go get one tomorrow."

          "What about church and your blog?" Mike asked.

          "If we leave early we might get back in time for me to go to church. As for my blog, if I don't get it done Sunday, I'll finish it on Monday."

          So Sunday a week ago found us making another trip to Sayre.

          At Lowe's, we stood at the display and looked a little closer. Yes, it says brush finished hardware but that doesn't mean the faucet. It means the doorknobs and drawer pulls. Faucet not included. Now our deal wasn't such a good deal. Faucets are expensive! We decided to see what else was available and ended up buying one with a sliding 'barn' door. I wanted it in brown but they were out of Distressed Java. "If I'm missing church for this, I'm not going home without a vanity," I told Mike and settled for white. By shopping around, we saved a bunch of money 

— and Smudge helped install it!

         

          Coming home from Sayre, we're driving past Milan Nursery and Treasures and I see the OPEN flag is hanging out. The last time we were there I'd seen a pair of stained glass Blue Jays for $3 but didn't pick them up. "I don't need them," I'd told myself. Now, sailing past at 55 miles an hour, I suddenly wanted them. "Turn around," I said abruptly. "Please?"

          Mike slowed the Jeep. "What for?"

          "I want to go into Keith's. Can we?"

          Mike turned around and I went in and picked up my treasure. "I sure wouldn't make these for three dollars," I told him.

          Mike spoke with Keith. "What's the deal with that building up the road, the one with the steel frame around it?"

          "The guy was going to put up the steel frame and tear down the old building. Then he found out he couldn't because it's a historic building. He can't tear it down but he can let it fall down," Keith said.

          None of this makes any sense to me but that's what we were told.

          A couple of more pictures from that day.

          That night, as I stood in the kitchen, I glanced out the window and saw the prettiest pink and blue clouds. If the clouds are this pretty facing east, what must the western sky look like, I wondered. 

           It wasn't as fabulous as I thought it would be.

          Besides putting the vanity in the half-bath, Mike made a shelf under the exposed steel beam between the living and dining rooms. 

           Then he lined his 'collector' cars up along both sides of the shelf.   

          We had a visit from this beautiful young lady this week. Stephanie is my first cousin once removed. That means she is the child of my first cousin. Her mother, Lorraine, and I were born the same year and our first-borns were born the same year.

          I'm sitting here, thinking back over our visit, I can tell them we went out for pizza, I'm thinking and that's where this picture was taken, but that doesn't sound all that exciting. My mind wanders back over Steph's arrival.

          "Do you want the nickel tour or the grand tour?" Mike asked.

          "Oh, the grand tour," Steph answered and laughed. "I want to see everything."

          At this point, my mind zips through the tour and comes to a screeching halt up against a memory. I shake my head, wipe my face, rub my eyes, and mumble to myself. "Oh Lord. I did that. I really did that." I own it. And now I have a story to tell on myself.

          Even though Steph follows my letter blogs, she said it was nice to see everything in person. "It gives it all perspective," she said.

          After the tour and before we went for dinner, I asked Steph if she wanted to pick out a bird. She'd already let me know that she wanted a blue one and I had two blue ones made, one with clear wings and one with blue wings.

          "And I'm supposed to pick one up for my mom too," Steph said.

          "Oh no!" I exclaimed. "I just mailed it this morning!"

          Steph laughed. "When Mom and I were talking about it I asked her if she thought I should let you know that I'd pick her's up too when I saw you," Steph explained. "She said no, that she thought you'd just know."

          Didn't I just get done telling you guys that sometimes the most obvious of things escape me? I never thought about Steph going back to see her mom again before she left the state and headed for home, although, I expect, I should have.

         

          Late in the week, we went to Scranton on a shopping trip. We didn't need nothing, but we still managed to pick up a few things anyway.

          How about a few road pictures.

          An old fuse box maybe?

          The road used to run through the small town of Laceyville. The highway skirts it. This is where the two roads come back together again, on the edge of Laceyville.

          Check out this yellow truck. He's sitting halfway off the back of a flatbed wrecker. I wonder how that happened.

          The pipeline going through. When they're done there won't be much evidence left that they were even there.

           They painted the windows. Why do people paint over windows?

          Mike and I haven't had Mexican food since we left Missouri almost two years ago now. On one of our trips to Scranton we spied a Mexican restaurant.

          "Want to try it out?" he asked this trip.

          "Heck yeah! I love fajitas!"

          Mike had a sampler platter and even though he got a lot of food it was just mediocre, he said. I had shrimp and scallop fajitas. There wasn't anything wrong with the shrimp, but the scallops weren't scallops.

          "They just cut round pieces of fish," Mike said when he tasted it.

          I only ate a few and brought the rest home for the cats — who didn't complain one bit about it not being scallops!

          The best part of our lunch was Nelly, our server. He was helpful, polite, and very sociable with us.

          The manager Patty, seated us and knew it was our first visit. When she came around after we'd eaten she asked, "How was it?"

          "It was good," I told her, "but I didn't like the scallops," and I pointed to the pile I had pushed to the side.

          "Oh, I'm so sorry you didn't like the scallops," she was empathic but wasn't in a hurry to do anything about it.

          "Would it be okay if I took a little of Nelly's time and interviewed him for my Peoples Page," I asked.

          "Sure!" she readily agreed.

          Nelly's passion is boxing and he told us how he got into boxing in the first place. If you'd like to read Nelly's story, here's the link.

          https://www.facebook.com/humansimeet

          Mike finished the rough sawn over my kitchen island. This is the living room side, facing into the kitchen.

          And this is the kitchen side. I found that with the lights behind me, I was casting a shadow on my cooking. Mike put a light over the stove for me.

          We'll put a steel bar up to hold hooks and some of my cast iron. The rest of the cast iron I thought I'd just hang around for decoration since I have many more than I'll ever use.

          The Kipps, on a morning visit, said they liked it. "Only I'm not dusting it," Lamar said.

          "I'm not dusting it either," I told him. "I'll get the vacuum out and suck it off!" I made a motion of using the wand and going back and forth across the wood. How else would you have said it?

          Lamar is giving Spitfire a little lovin, and Spitfire was so relaxed in his lap that Lamar had to hold him to keep him from sliding off.

          Speaking of cats...

          Our Molly has taken to yowling. 

          She'll sit in front of a dish of water and yowl until you freshen it up for her.

          But she yowls at other times through the day too.

          "Peg, why don't you Google it and see why she's yowling so much," Mike suggested.

          I kinda, sorta, already knew but I Googled it. "It says they can become very vocal and yowl when they're hungry, thirsty, want attention, are in pain, or have dementia," I reported back to him. "They said you should take them to the vet to find out the cause."

          Molly's getting old, I think she's thirteen now, and Mike has always thought she was an odd cat, going so far as to ask the vet if cats can be mentally impaired, I guess is the politically correct term.

          Speaking of cats...

          I feel so sorry for this guy. Jerry looks pretty beat up in this picture and was limping on his front paw the morning I took this photo. 

           He's got a crooked back leg where it was broken and mended sideways. Jerry eats here at my house and many mornings I find he's slept here too. I'm glad to give him a place where he can get out of the elements and have all the food he wants to eat. Jerry won't let anyone pet him so I don't try anymore; he runs and I would rather he stay. This morning, after I put the food down, he got up from where he'd been sleeping on a pillow, crept to the side of the dish and started eating.

          My wild girls were the only other cats in the cat room this morning. Callie was busy licking out the remains of the cat food from the can I'd set down for her. Sugar was busy purring around my feet.

          "How's my girl?" I asked and reached down and picked her up. I won't love on Sugar too long because she gets to a point where she'll nip at me if I do. But I scratched her ears for her and was rewarded with a rich, deep purr.

          Anon gave a little meow and jumped up onto the little table that sits in that room. She wanted me to pet her. I put Sugar down and rubbed on Anon for a few minutes while I contemplated Jerry. His breathing was raspy this morning, as I've heard it many other mornings. I wouldn't be surprised if I find him dead in the cat room some morning. And this morning it made me sad to know he's never known a kind hand or gentle stroke on his beaten and battered body.

          "Who's beating him up?" you wonder.

          I wonder the same thing. I thought it might be Mr. Mister but a couple of mornings ago, when I went out to give the cats breakfast, Mr. Mister was sleeping on the pillow right beside Jerry.

          "Where're all your other cats, Peg?" you ask.

          Yeah, you know we have eight outside cats not counting Jerry and Mr. Mister. The younger cats, Rascal, Spitfire, Smudge, and Cleo often take their breakfast outside the kitchen door. I oblige them and feed them there. Feisty is the only other younger cat and I have no idea where she is. Some mornings she's in the cat room but seldom does she come around to the kitchen door. 

          Even though I have three seed feeders hanging in the tree for the birds, I added another to it. I hung a thistle feeder. Thistle is the preferred seed of the finches and they make a special feeder for thistle.There are four finches in this shot, but one is on the seed feeder.

          I was really interested in seeing this photo, credited to Guthrie Capwell when it was posted on FaceBook. The new bridge is called the Rainbow Bridge and was constructed in 1942. 

           Here's a picture I took of it six weeks ago.

         Lastly, look who I had the pleasure of taking a shower with the other morning.

          "Ewww, Peg!" you say.

          I know, right! This is Dolomedes, a fishing spider and they are found in and around water. I guess that's why he was in my shower.

          Smudge was sitting outside the shower door waiting for me to finish so he could come in and get a drink. I don't know why he does that but it's like his favorite thing to do. As soon as he was allowed in he spotted the spider and was on it. I grabbed Smudge and shut him out of the shower. Smudge isn't hungry, wouldn't eat the spider even if he was, so I wasn't going to let him kill it. Once dried and dressed I grabbed a paper towel and offered it to Mr. Dolomedes. He was grateful to have a dry place to go and exhausted from trying not to get boiled alive.

            Yeah, my shower was hot.

          I took him outside and turned him loose.

          Let's call this one done!