Old River Road

          Our weather was warm enough long enough that flowers and bugs came out of their winter slumber. This big guy came out from somewhere and when I spotted him I gently cupped him in my hand and took him outside. Wolf Spiders can get much larger and he won't hurt you.

          Speaking of spiders, I have one living on my kitchen windowsill.

           Okay! Okay! So he's not a real one. He's one I made. Nonetheless, when I catch a glimpse of him in my peripheral vision, I think he's real — if only for a second.

 

          I made a butterfly too but I'm not crazy about my paint job. Next time I make one, I'm going to use more vibrant colors. 

          And I made a bunch of flowers. 

          To make some of the flowers I used a wire jig. This was something that my daughter Kat had. I brought all of her craft stuff home with me. She dabbled mostly in jewelry making and I can make hearts and butterflies as well as flowers. 

          Our crazy windshield! How can the crack just take off and go in a completely different direction like that! There was ice on the windshield when I came out of Bible Study on Thursday night. I didn't have an ice scraper so I turned the defrosters on full blast. The windshield clears and I start for home only to realize the crack has changed direction and is coming straight across the windshield at me. Oh no! I cry in my head. The defrosters are making it worse! I shut 'em off but the crack continued on its course and is almost the whole way across the windshield. Now that it's in our field of vision we're going to have to get it replaced.

          "Peg, don't you have glass replacement on your insurance?" you ask.

          Yep. Yes we do. Five hundred dollar deductible, four hundred ninety-five dollar windshield.

          We ran some errands mid-morning and the fog was still hanging in the valleys. 

          We drove a couple of side streets...

 ...and saw a metal scrap place.

          Skeleton of an odd six-sided sign.

          We stopped and washed a couple of layers of back dirt road off the Jeep. Who doesn't like to watch the water droplets run races down the windshield. 

          We also took a different road home, one we've never been on before. The next twenty-six pictures are from Old River Road.

 

          "Look at the size of that horse," Mike said.

          We stopped for milk at the local grocery and I see a VCR tape sitting on top of the trashcan. A quick look tells me it's Satan's Disciples and I think it's close to where it belongs. I know some groups, some cults, use this method to lure people in and I helped the tape get the rest of the way home. 

          Bridge work has begun! This is the lower bridge, about a mile from our house, on the other end of Robinson Road. They've cut trees in preparation for replacing this old single-lane open-grate bridge. 

          The same company that did our bridge is doing this one as well as another one that isn't far away. They've started work there too. This is Turell's Corner on the Wyalusing New Albany Road and because this road is heavily traveled the construction company has to make a go-around. They're working here, also cutting trees, and dozing the land in preparation for that. 

          We stopped and visited with the Kipps on our way home. Ginger was with us. She was sitting in my lap, whining, so I took her out for a run on the Kipps' back forty. As many times as I've been here I've never seen this old foundation before.

          "What's that old foundation across the creek?" I asked when I got back in the house.

          "It's not an old foundation. It's what's left of a dam," Miss Rosie told me.

          "If you look up under that old apple tree you can see what's left of it on this side," Lamar said.

          "A dam?" I wanted to know more.

          "They used to float logs down and load 'em on a railcar," Rosie said. "I don't know where the railroad used to be but I bet one of the Raymond boys can tell you."

          One of the Raymond boys, now men, is married to my beautiful friend Jody and I'll have to ask the next time I see him or his brother.

          Skies don't have to be all pinks and reds to be beautiful and I thought this morning's sky was beautiful.

          Let's call this one done!