Almost Done!

          Our bridge!

          It's almost done!

          Wednesday they were cleaning up, picking up, and hauling out stuff they didn't need anymore.

           The next step was to dig out the old drainpipe and put a new one in. The collar that goes on the end of it was sitting there, brought in the day before.

          Mike and I didn't stay long and on the way home Mike stopped at the end of our driveway and cleaned up the branches that had come down under the snow load. This big beautiful pine lost at least three nice size branches.

          That night was the night of the full moon.

          "Peg, did you take any pictures?" you ask.

          Well, put it this way, I tried. I almost always use my camera in the automatic settings and that's because of the way I take pictures — one-handed and on the fly.

I don't have time to make adjustments in ISO, shutter speed, or f-stop so I never bothered to learn what all that stuff was about.    No matter what I did, prop the camera against something, hold my breath, I couldn't get a clear image of the moon. 

          I'll get my tripod, I thought.

          And I did. I also grabbed my jacket because up until this point I hadn't bothered to put one on — and it was cold out! Even with the tripod, I didn't get anything decent. It appears to me that just the release of the shutter caused enough movement that the pictures came out blurry.

          The next morning I see one of my FB friends got a really nice shot of the moon and I was a teensy bit jealous. He set some of the controls himself, so I thought I'd give that a try.

          I'll Google it and see what to set my camera on.

          Just about then, Mike comes out to where I was sitting in front of my 'puter. "Let's go see how the bridge is coming."

          "Nooo," I whined. "I don't wanna go. You go."

          "Come on, Peg, You wanna see 'em dig the ditch, don't 'cha?"

          He was right. I did. I could Google my camera settings later. When we got there they hadn't started the ditch yet. But we did get to see some trucks dump their loads. They got big rocks dumped on our side and gravel dumped on the other.

          We didn't stay long because we were on our way to town to run an errand.    

          It rained and melted all of our beautiful snow. It rained and it rained and it rained some more. "It's been raining for 36 hours straight," Kurt Aaron, our local weatherman, said at noon on Tuesday. And the rain didn't end until sometime that night.

          "Creeks up," Mike says as we cross the Rainbow Bridge.

          Okay. It's a river. It's the Susquehanna and it is indeed up. "He left his bed," I say.

          The games we play.

          A car sits beside the road, flashers on, front fender smashed.

          "Did he hit a deer?" I asked.

          "I don't know," Mike answered.

          On the way home, the car was still there. "Did you see a deer?" I asked Mike, "Cause I didn't."

          "Nope. Maybe he hit it somewhere else and was driving the car anyway and it broke down there," Mike speculated.

          "Sounds reasonable to me."

          Before we went home, we drove down to the bridge. Mike was watching Greg, on the dozer, push dirt around on the other side of the bridge. On our side, most of the big rocks were where they wanted them, which was the bank, and they'd left one or two in the bucket. I guess they're saving those for something else.

          I was looking around for stuff to take pictures of and spot bolts sticking out the side of the parapet. "I bet those are for the guide rails." 

          Mike put the Jeep in gear, crept forward a little, and I see some stuff sitting on the opposite parapet. That's when I notice there was a plaque embedded in the wall.

          "Hey! There's a plaque!" I exclaimed.

          "What's it say?" Mike wanted to know.

          I zoomed in and took a picture. brought it up on the screen of my camera and made it big enough for me to read.

          I'll tell you what it says in case you can't read it. It says BRADFORD COUNTY BRIDGE NO. 31, then it lists the county commissioners, project coordinator, design partner, contractor, year built, and ends with FUNDED BY ACT 13 – COUNTY IMPACT FEES

          A dump truck comes in and backs around. Duane, the site boss, gets out and gets in the backhoe. He scoops up the dirt that his dad was busy scraping from the road. I watch too.         

          "It opens up!" I exclaimed.

          Later we go back down and see they're digging the ditch.

  

          A couple of hours later the old pipe is out. 

  

          Duane climbed up the side and checked his measurements. 

          And hitched a ride to the other side. "Then I don't have to climb back down in and up the other side," he said.

          Walking back to the Jeep, Mike says, "Take a picture up the pipe."

          I did. But you know what? It kinda looks like the moon pictures I'd been taking.

          Speaking of which...

          I Googled the settings to put my camera on and that night I got the tripod back out, took a flashlight and my jacket and hung out in the back yard for twenty minutes or so. By then my hands were frozen.

          "Peg, didn't you wear gloves?"

          Honestly, I never thought about putting them on.

          I have to use the autofocus because I don't trust my eyes, but no matter what I did I couldn't get my camera to focus on the moon and not the branches it was hiding behind. I thought it would've been a cool shot if I could've gotten it to do that.

          I relocated to a spot where the trees weren't in the way and tried a few dozen more times, changing all kinds of settings. I didn't even know what I was getting until I looked at them on the computer. This is my best shot and it's not all that great.

          The next day, by the time we got there, the new pipes were in, the collar was on, and they were covering it.

          The last little bit they had to fill by hand. 

          They moved the crane off the road and parked it in Vernon's field until they need it for the lower bridge.

          That crane is heavy and tore the hayfield up. 

          But they fixed it.

          

          The only thing left is for the guide rails to be installed and they're coming Monday. Our bridge has an unlimited weight limit now, is two lanes, and depending on how fast the crew is that installs the guide rails, it could be open by Monday afternoon!

          I know I've got plenty of stuff to keep me busy. I know I don't need one more thing to do. However, that doesn't stop me.

          "Peg, what are you going on about now!" you wonder.

          I've added resin casting to the list of things I like to create with.

          My beautiful friend Jody gave me some old jewelry. Some broken and the rest was stuff she didn't want anymore.

          "I just need to downsize," she told me.

          I'm tickled pink to have something new to play with. As I pulled each piece from the bag, I would envision how I could incorporate it into my glass and wirework. Then I found an earring that I thought was perfect for an owl body, then I found his ears and nose on another earring and finally, I found his eyes. Then I decided to cast it in an oval mold along with a lock of Kat's hair. Owls were Kat's favorite critter. And here it is. Now, before you go thinking more highly of this piece than you should, just let me tell you that I used a little visual deception. I 'erased' a couple of three air bubbles. I'm still pretty new to resin casting and there is a learning curve but since it's just for me, it doesn't matter.  

 

           Before I go, before I call this one done, I want to show you one more picture.

          This is the moon picture taken by my Facebook friend, Michael Illo. His camera lens has a little more zoom than mine and he obviously knows where to put his camera's settings.

          By the time I'd gotten permission to show you his picture, I was way past page two, which is where I would've put it in my letter blog. To go back and put it in now would have messed up every single picture after that and would've taken me hours to fix. So, this is the easiest way for me to show you his beautiful moon shot.

          Until next time, know that you are all my loves.

          Let's call this one done!

Real Snow

          Oh my gosh! We had our first real snowfall of the season. It was so beautiful! I took hundreds of pictures in the first two days after it fell. I had a hard time narrowing it down and deciding which ones to show you but know this. Pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of the day.

          The first thing I did was pull on my snow boots and walk down to the creek.

          Snow makes even the junk pile look pretty. 

          Although it was cold, there wasn't any wind so I was very comfortable in my layers. When I got back to my mountain home I decided to walk up and see what the red Bittersweet looks like against the stark whiteness of the snow. I was on the upper side of the barn and spotted these tracks. They're huge! Bear? One thing is for sure, they aren't deer!

          Bittersweet.

          I followed the bear tracks. When they headed down over the hill I veered off and went down around the pond. I'll pick 'em up on the other side, I thought.

          Our mountain home under its blanket of snow. We ended up with about six inches.

          Nothing at the pond piqued my interest so I headed up to the house to find the bear trail. He came down off the hill, cut between the red barn and the house, past my burlap-wrapped Rhodie, and went down over the bank. I know we have bears all around and the neighbors see bears but due to our lack of windows, I haven't seen one yet. Boy! Won't that be the day when I do!

          I got back to the hose and was making a cup of coffee. While the water was warming in the microwave, I stood and watched the birds at the feeders. A cardinal lands on the dog fence. 

          "Peg, that fence looks like its seen better days," you say.

          I know, right! The cats jump over. The deer step over. The coons climb over. The possums climb over. And the top has given up on standing straight. Truth be known Ginger could probably jump it but she's never tried. She just accepts the barrier.

          Smudge.

          That cat! He loves, loves, loves, the old stinky dishrags. He'll get in my laundry basket and canoodle with them. This day he was laying right in the middle of the floor, on his back, legs spread wide. He lays like that a lot. So I was at the sink and decided to get a clean dishrag. I picked up the dry stinky one, turned, and saw Smudge laying there. Knowing his proclivity for stinky dish rags, I tossed it to him. He was in heaven to receive such a gift. He grabbed it in his teeth and rolled himself up in it.

           He held it to his head and rubbed.

          He rolled on it.

          He was so happy. I let him play with it for a while and I took care of a sink full of dirty dishes. Then I picked it up and dropped it in the laundry basket.

          Mike started moving around. He usually drowses in his recliner in the mornings while his westerns are on. But he was getting more awake now and brought his teacup out to the kitchen. Yes. Yes. I serve him his tea in his recliner. There. I said it. 

          "You should take me out for snow pictures," I said.

          Mike didn't say anything but he got busy getting dressed and pulling his shoes on. "You ready?" he asked.

          "I am."

          And out we went. The first stop was the bridge but there wasn't much to see because the guys weren't back to work yet after their Thanksgiving break. I did take a picture of Miss Rosie's fall yard decorations.

          Mike drove me all around the back roads. 

          In the last few pictures, you can see it started snowing again. It truly was a winter wonderland. Mike and I oohed and aahed at every new twist and turn in the road.

          "All the trees have white dresses on," my husband said, "like they're going to a wedding."

          Will miracles never cease! I never thought I'd see the day when my big ole rugged mountain man waxes poetic!

          A lot of people did lose power because of trees coming down under the snow load but we never did. Our lights just flickered a few times.

          With all of this snow, the birds were hitting my feeders hot and heavy. Smudge sat just inside the dog fence and watched for his chance to snag an afternoon snack.

          The next day I went out for pictures and see Spitfire has taken a different approach.

          "I don't think you're going to get many birds that way, buddy," I told him.

          Then I heard someone talking and saw it was Lamar and Tux out for a morning walk. "Can I go with you?" I called.

          "Sure," Lamar called back.

          We walked for a while, taking in the beauty of the day when Tux starts nosing around in the snow. I had to laugh as he buried his nose right up to his ears!

          "I don't think he's ever seen snow before," Lamar tells me.

          "So you think he's what? Eight or nine months old?"

          "Something like that. And if you add that to his chewing it makes me think that all the more."

          Yeah. Tux's chewing. Shoes, the corner of the recliner, footstools, the bottom stair step, chair rungs, the list goes on and on.

          "Peg, why don't they get him a chew toy?" you ask.

          They did. They have. They do. He destroys even the most indestructible ones in something like eight point five seconds.

          Here are some pictures I took while on that walk.

 

          Geese! We heard geese and I stopped to look for them. "Can you see them?" I asked Lamar.

          "Naw. Oh, wait. I see them! There above the barn," he pointed.

          I fully zoomed out my camera and could see them.

          "Why aren't they south already?" I asked but Lamar didn't have an answer.

          The guys were back to work Wednesday and stripped the forms from the parapets.

          My first look at our new bridge.

          They're taking down the outside walkway and safety rails that they needed when they formed up the parapets and later took the forms down.

          Isn't this an interesting contraption?

          My beautiful friend Jody and I had a girls day. The plan was lunch, a little shopping, then back to the church to paint the window screens.

          Our first stop was the local pizza place. We were sitting there chatting, eating pizza, and I pulled a napkin from the holder. The edges are ragged like someone cut them with scissors. 

          "Do you suppose they took a larger napkin and cut it in half?" I asked Jody.

          She looked at her napkin and laughed. I love to hear her laugh. "It sure looks that way."

          I'd left my camera in the car so I brought a couple of napkins home with me. I can see how a small business owner, trying to save money, would buy a cheaper napkin and have the employees cut them in half when they aren't doing anything else.

          We both picked up a few things at the Rainbow, a second-hand store in Towanda. I scored some old lady pants and a seven DVD box set of all the Star Trek movies.Then we went back to the church.

          Jody, bless her heart, takes such care in everything she does. Me? I just slap that paint on there. And when you talk to her she stops whatever she's doing and listens. I keep painting and listen. I must admit that I think Jody's got it right. I think she — we hear better when we're paying full attention.

          Pastor came in and we talked theology for a while.

          Can you forgive someone who has not asked for forgiveness? I know one thing. If they're dead they can't ask for your forgiveness.

          After Adam and Eve sinned and became conscious of their nakedness, God slaughtered animals to make clothes for them and then banished them from the Garden of Eden. I've heard that after that the Garden was a mess with the shed blood and in ruins. We feel that the earth is beautiful. All the beautiful mountains, and sunsets, and waterfalls, and what have you. Do you think that's Satan deceiving us? Trying to keep us in this world and in his power and away from God? Do you think God sees this world as ugly because of all the sin?

          Jody stopped painting and listened to Pastor's answers. I kept on painting and had to ask Jody later to tell me the answers again. "And say it in words that I can understand."

          Not that I didn't understand the words, I do, but it's the way it's said that I sometimes don't get. It's hard to explain but Jody gets me and can often reform it into a way that makes sense to me.

          Because of Jody's good listening skills, I painted two boards while she painted just one. I finished and stood watching her paint her last block and it strikes me that our paintings are indicative of our styles. I set right to it, putting the tape on and was done in a few minutes. I have big bold blocks. I am forthright and straight-out with things. 

          Jody took much more time and care laying out her blocks. She has smaller blocks and interesting shapes. Jody is much more eloquent and thoughtful in what she says and how she says it.

          She laughed when I pointed this revelation out to her. "I take lots more words to say something that you can say in just a few." She made it sound like it wasn't such a bad thing.

  

       

          I've been baking this week. I made Wedding Cakes in my new oven for the first time. I meant to check them before the timer went off but got to talking with my sister on the phone and forgot. I burnt the first batch. I went ahead and rolled 'em in powdered sugar anyway and gave them to Lamar.

          "They weren't burnt," he said. "They were good."

          Miss Rosie says that she's burned a lot of things over the years and Lamar eats them anyway. He probably thinks that's the way they're supposed to taste.

          All kidding aside, I ate one and they weren't that bad. 

           I saw this graffiti on the side of a train car. Is the one on the right letters or just art?

  

          With that, we shall call this one done!

          Done!