Brokens

          I was feeling blue.

          "Why?" you may wonder.

          I was feeling blue because I didn't have any stories to tell you this week. It seems that's a reoccurring theme in my life these days.

          "I don't have anything to say," I told my cute little red-haired sister in a recent conversation.

          "You always have something to say!" she exclaimed.

          And I had to smile. Certainly having nothing to say has ever stopped me from visiting with you. Fortunately, or maybe I should say unfortunately, two family members and one of my church sisters have come to my rescue this week with stories to share.

          Sweet beautiful Ashley is my youngest brother John's oldest daughter. 

         Monday she fell out of bed and landed on her leg wrong. She broke both the fibula and tibia as well as damaging the tendons.

          "I didn't know how easy it was to break bones in your leg from a fall," she tells me.

          Ashley had surgery and they used a plate and pins to put the fibula back together then pinned the fibula to the tibia to stabilize it. She's looking at a five to six-month recovery period assuming nothing goes wrong. Ashley posted a picture of her leg on FaceBook. They put in a nerve block to lower the need for narcotics post-op.    

          Ashley broke her leg first, but I found out about it second.

          Thursday I got a call from my beautiful and much-adored oldest sister Patti. "Well, I guess it's just as well that we need to stay home because now I really am stuck.  I broke my ankle last night."

          "Oh no! How did that happen?" I asked.

        "We had a thunderstorm roll through last night and they freak Dakota out." Dakota is her Australian Cattle Dog or some people call them Blue Heelers. "I went out and brought her in to the laundry room. Once the storm passed I took her back out, misjudged where the railroad tie was and tripped over it. I took Motrin to help with the swelling and put ice on it right away but decided it was more than a sprain and went to the ER. It's broken."

          "I hope she doesn't have to have surgery," Ashley said when I told her.

          "I have to make an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor," Patti told me. "At the hospital they put this boot on... 'That's not going to work for me,'" she told them. "'I can't drive with that thing on and I have to drive myself home.'" I think they must've frowned at her. "Okay, but put it on when you get home," they told her.

          I'll tell you what! My family is tough! Patti drove herself to the hospital and back with a broken ankle and our dad cut through his hand with a circular saw, wrapped it in a towel, and drove himself to the hospital.

          The first night Patti spent in her boot was just torture for her. "I had to take it off for about five minutes three times during the night because I just couldn't stand it anymore. Thank goodness it isn't a cast or I'd really be miserable — and poor Dakota doesn't understand why we can't do our evening walks!"

          Saturday morning I get a message from my beautiful sister-in-Christ, Joanie.

          "Friday's and me just are not getting along!" she tells me.

          "Oh, no! Why?"

          "If they review the security footage they'll observe me falling on my face last Friday. I skinned my knee and the palm of my hand and this Friday I had a fight with the weather!"          

          That piques my curiosity. "Tell me about it."

          "Last Friday I was coming out of work, talking with Sara, a girlfriend, adjusting my shoulder bag, and the edge of the sidewalk snuck up on me faster than expected. I missed a whole step and went tumbling down. I couldn't believe it happened because it happened so fast and then I started laughing uncontrollably. Sara is trying to see if I'm okay as she's laughing and some young man jumps out of his truck to come check on me and help me up. All I could get out between fits of laughter was, 'Boy, that last step's a doozy!'"

          I can sure see that. I've been there! "I'm sure glad you didn't break anything. I probably would've cried."

          "I think I was just shocked that it happened. It hurt my pride more than anything and I was sore for the next two days. Sara called and checked on me a couple of times over the weekend."

          "She's a good friend," I told her. "What happened this Friday?"

          "By the time I left work it had started to downpour before I got to my car. Wellllll.... here's a picture of my umbrella after a gust of wind came through! I wanna know where the weather people buy their umbrellas that don't seem to break and flip every which way."

          Awww. Poor brelly!

          This is not a good time to be getting hurt and needing to go to the ER. That Coronavirus has everything all messed up.

            We stocked in groceries and I had to put a harness on Mike to keep him from going overboard. This panic is as contagious as the virus. As of Monday there weren't any cases close to us so we made yet another trip to the grocery store. One thing that we can't keep fresh and would run out of in a week is milk. That won't do if we're ordered to stay home for two weeks.

          "I've got canned milk," I told Mike. "Or you can freeze milk you know."

         So we bought four gallons of milk at our local grocery then went to Tunkhannock Walmart for dog food and birdseed.

          "No toilet paper?" Patti asks.

         Honestly, Mike would probably have bought some — but the shelves were empty!

          No eggs either.

          And the dairy case was looking pretty naked too!

          I was able to get the few things I needed.

          Have you seen that some of the stores are issuing No Return notices on some of this stuff that people bought a ton of?

          We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and watched some old man bring his dog inside. He tied her to a table and toddled off to the restroom. The pooch laid down to wait. What a beauty!

          We took a side road on the way home and I took a bunch of pictures for you.

           I saw this place from a road over. "What's that!"

          "A writer's loft?" Mike posed.

          I like to make a big meal and freeze portions for easy meals later on. This week I pulled a piece of lasagna out of the freezer for Mike's supper.

          "I really like this lasagna," he said after tucking into a hot steaming plate. "Where'd we get this one?"

          "That's the one we got from Aldi's in Williamsport."

          "Let's go get another one," he suggested.

          Michael dreams of a good piece of lasagna. But Aldi's considers it a seasonal item and only carries it for a few months in the winter. "We don't need it," I pointed out. "We have two other lasagnas in the freezer."

          "Like this one?" he asked.

          "No. One's Stouffer's and the other is Walmart's."

          "Let's go get another one like this one," he pleaded.

          He wore me down. "Okay, but only if we can take a different road this time." I figured I'd get some new road pictures for you.

          "How about we take 220 down but we'll come back up through Forksville?"

          And that's what we did. The toilet that I showed you last time that was broken? The one that the people change out the throne-sitter? They fixed it but I missed getting a picture.

          Aldi's didn't have the lasagna but we bought a few things anyway.

          I've taken pictures of this barn in years past but it didn't look like this. I'm wondering if they've made it into a wedding venue.

                 More road pictures.

           There was an airplane in the same yard with this train but I missed it.

           St. Basil's in Dushore has its new steeple up and it's looking mighty fine!

           Mike was heading out of Dushore, up the hill on 220 when he says, "I meant to take the Marsh road."

          "You still can. There's that little dirt road that cuts down to it."

          On that little dirt road that I don't remember the name of, someone, or a bunch of someones, has lined the branches on both sides of the road with bottles and cans and cups.

          "Why!" Mike wants to know.

          And I don't know why.

          Then we were home!

          Have you all done your 2020 census yet? I'm sure I've participated every time I was asked but I don't remember there being stuff like this in it. I guess it's just a sign of the times.

          And how about question six that says Hispanic origins are not races? What's up with that?

          I'm not sure what the rest of my family marked for origins but I know my mother's family is from Ireland so that's what I put down.

          Our new lower bridge...

          Mike wanted to see them bring the beams in. He's interested in how the rear steering works. He asked Duane, the crew boss to let us know when they were coming.

          "We're gonna set the beams Thursday," Duane told us early in the week.

          Wednesday morning Mike got a text. "Peg! We gotta go!"

          He scared me. "Why? What happened?"

          "They're bringing the beams in today. Sometime between 9:30 and 10:30. While we're out we might just as well fill the tank on the Jeep."

          Mike didn't want to miss anything so we were down at the job site by a quarter to nine. The crane company was still setting up the big crane they needed to set the beams. My window was down as we drove past.

          "Hey! I heard a woman! I didn't know they had a woman!" She was helping set the counterweights.

          We watched for a while then decided we had plenty of time to run to town for gas. "Maybe we'll see them bringing the beams in. Or maybe they'll already be staged at the gas station," Mike mused.

          They weren't and we didn't see them. I did see them setting this thing though. I'm not sure I ever knew what was in this building. Its been empty for a long time until recently when they started to remodel it — and I still don't know what it's going to be.

          I wonder if Miss Rosie knows? I think. It might've been in the newspaper.

          I called and asked.

          "It used to be the bowling alley," she said.

       "That's right!" I'd forgotten. "Steph used to bowl there. How long's it been closed?"

          "I don't know for sure. After the owners died the kids took it over and ran it for a while. I don't know if it was still open when it flooded in 2011 but I know it wasn't open after that."

          I called my other neighbor Steph. "Oh, gosh! I don't remember how long it's been closed. It was something for the gas company after that and now it's going to be a concrete place for the new LNG plant."

          "How interesting!"

          "Not to me, but Jon thinks it is."

          So! There you have it.

          Back to my story...

          On the way back down to the worksite we passed this handsome couple and their dog Tux. Yep. It's the Kipps out for their morning walk.

          Mike parked us out of the way and we waited for the beams to arrive.

          "Maybe we should park someplace else," I suggested.

          "Where?" Mike asked. "I wanna see how that rear steer works."

          "We could go up to the bridge and park in the Kipps driveway. They won't care. And we can watch them bring it across the bridge!"

          Mike liked that idea but when get there we see we can park off the road on the other side of the bridge and watch them come down the road too.

          While we waited I did what I always do. I looked around for pictures to take for you and I found a couple.

          I'm not sure what the writing on the board is all about.

          And then we saw them coming!

          I waved as the drivers passed and they were kind enough to wave back at the old woman with a camera. When the back part passed I could hear an engine running.

          "It runs the hydraulic pump that turns the wheels," Mike tells me. "In the old days it used to be hard-wired to a box with a joystick and a guy would walk behind and steer it that way."

          Only two of the beams came through while we were there.

          We drove down to the opposite side of the creek and watched them set a beam in place.

          The neoprene pads came first. They must be pretty heavy if each guy can only carry one.

          They'd better not get their toes under that when they set it down, I thought. The crane driver moved really slow and watched for signals from everyone.

           I turned around and saw Mike had walked over to talk with Liz, Duane's wife and the kids. I didn't even hear them drive in.

          "Since they're off school I decided to bring them out and watch Daddy set the beams," Liz told us.

          Their dog had nine pups! I knew she was pregnant and I had wanted to go see them when they were born but now, with the virus, it's not a good idea.

          We didn't stay overlong because I saw the process when they set the beams on the other bridge.

          We went back on the other side and see the third beam had arrived. The driver was on the back getting his load ready. Mike pulled over to the side and parked.

          "Are you going to talk to him?" I asked but I already knew the answer.

          "Yep."

          This guy is third generation hauling these beams around and he was happy to share with Mike the mechanics of how the joe dogs work. I wasn't there for that part of the conversation but Mike gave me the low down.

          "He watches in his mirrors and controls it from the cab. Sometimes though they need to give it to the driver behind them because they can see it better but he doesn't like to do that. He likes to control it."

          Thursday we had to go out to pick up our taxes. Right smack in the middle of Towanda was a whole herd of those Black Vultures sharing a possum fritter. I say sharing but they're really not very good at that and chase each other around.

          Coming home we see a man and his dog. Yep. Lamar and Tux. Miss Rosie won't chance a slip and fall if the roads are muddy.

          We went on down and checked out the bridge.

         All of the beams were set and the safety cables were in place. I got out and walked part way across. The crazy designs on top of the guide wire posts were the most interesting thing I saw.

          You know, I've noticed this thing before, several times before as a matter of fact.

          "What is it?" you ask.

          I know, right! That's what I asked too. "Mike you see that over there?" and I pointed to it. "Is it a tree or a foundation?"

          "I think it's a foundation."

          He pulled over and I went to explore.

          Steps.

          The basement.

          I saw more rocks stacked up nearby. At first I thought it might be another building but as I studied it I concluded it was likely an addition to the house with no basement underneath. I think the barn was farther back past the house but there's not enough left to tell.

          The property is State Game Lands now and they put birdhouses up on some of the trees.

          On up the road, on the other side, are more ruins of an old foundation. "Do you think that was the barn?" I asked like Mike would know.

          "It's pretty far from the house. Maybe it was the neighbors."

          There's a little creek just past the game land building and I see a pond has formed. I thought the culvert was clogged. "It looks like a beaver dam!" I told Mike. "Are the beavers smart enough to do that?"

          "I guess so," was Mike's answer.

          What do you guys think?

          We went out to the Y before we turned around to go home. That's where this old house sits. I'd already explored one ruins today, I was in the mood to explore this one too!

          "Don't go inside," Mike warned.

          "I won't!" I called back over my shoulder.

           One day, this old girl is gonna give up the ghost and just finish falling down.

          Hey! The peepers are peeping! I heard them a couple of nights ago. Spring is really on its way! At the pond I spotted this guy before he could jump back in.

          One day we hit 71! This moth came out then it turned so cold he couldn't move. I picked him from my screen and put him in the sun. I don't know what he is.

          Let's call this one done!