Checking In

I can't believe it's almost the end of February. It's been two years since I was able to finally snag my first COVID vaccine and almost three years since the start of the whole disaster that is COVID-19. 

Six Flags was the site of a massive vaccination line. I wanted to slalom these cones so bad.

I'm still trying to recover my mental health from the past three years, as being trapped at home and teaching remotely really brought home that a work-life balance is critical to maintaining a healthy outlook. Part of that recovery is trying to keep up with my resolutions (SMART goals). Let's see where I am.

1) Just last week, I was on the C&O Canal Towpath around Snyders Landing before stopping by mom's in Sharpsburg. And the week before, I was at Soldiers Delight NEA again so that I could do the whole Serpentine Trail, so yes, this goal is still being met. 

The C&O Canal Towpath, just west of mile marker 77 near Snyders Landing

The far end of the Serpentine Trail at Soldiers Delight

With Spring Break started at the end of March, I don't see it being a problem to continue hiking at least once a month. 

2) This is a blog in February, so yes, I'm still meeting this goal. I haven't been as prolific as maybe I could be, but I've met the goal. 

3) I've fallen off a bit here. While I started off strong, I've stalled a bit recently while reading Karen Marie Moning's Burned. 

I got into this series years ago, and it's a bit hard to remember all the previous stuff

This is the first book I've been reading on the new Kindle that Pat got for me. It's nice to have the backlit display and not try to finagle a booklight on the Kindle like I used to do. My mom also got me a book I need to read (or at least strongly peruse) for road trip reasons; this is one I requested after Stefanie Payne hosted a #ParkChat evening on Twitter.

So far, this looks like some great ideas even for Parks I've been to

4) Yep, definitely been doing this. If it's not hiking, then it's been doing the Centr Sculpted program. I've even had to buy new weights! 

5) Yeah, that NBCT thing. I have applied the MSDE funding to my components. I just need to start doing the thing. I seriously have to do this now, since mid-May is the deadline for submission. I know what I want to do, so it's really a matter of documenting. 

6) The brakes are still mocking me. Maybe if Pat can actually go to Abacus this coming weekend, I can bring them with me and do that while I'm waiting around. Otherwise, I'm going to be bored. Considering I won't get a tax return, it would be nice to be able to sell the car to someone who is. 

7) I've started slacking on this a bit. I have my journal here next to the desktop, and I think about writing something down, especially after dreams like I had Friday and Saturday night. But then I don't do it. Same at work; I think about writing something down, but it's usually at the time where I just want to go home. I have felt better about accomplishing something each day, for the most part. For instance, today I fixed a cabinet door in the kitchen (after repeated trips to Lowe's) and yesterday I made a bunch of wands to list on Etsy, mostly because someone had requested a custom and I wanted to give them some choices. I just still need to list them!

So, this week is a "short" week because Friday is a half-day for students. It's interim prep day, and if I get all my comments and stuff in early, I can probably bolt just after noon so that we can get down to Abacus for tuning Pat's Camaro. He's been trying to get this thing tuned for the past month, but every weekend he's scheduled it, the weather's been in the low 40s (Fahrenheit) or colder. I just need to make sure I'm caught up on grading, and I need to come up with some lesson plans that don't involve collecting more work. 

I can't wait to be daily driving this beauty again

In the meantime, I'm waiting for my little green terror of a Camaro to come home. The poor car is undergoing a transplant due to a collapsed and stuck lifter. I had those lifters replaced by the hack who left cigarette butts under the hood and didn't properly tighten down a bolt when installing a clutch, so... yeah. I gave that tool more chances than I should have, and it's ended up costing me a lot of money. Fortunately, Pat's former employer, Powertrain Products, worked with me to get an LT1 to Redline Performance quickly. I'm keeping the core, and we'll see if I can do something with it. 

Here's hoping it's a good week!

Reflections on the Potomac River at Snyders Landing

note : some links are associate links where a click will result in minimal compensation to me if you also make a purchase through that link 

Three Weeks

It's Sunday evening, three weeks into the New Year. This is apparently when most people have failed and given up on their resolutions. 

Sunset at Soldier's Delight

Apparently, "three weeks" is the magic time span when things that are done routinely shift into a habit. So far, my SMART goals are going pretty well. 

1) I've hiked several times already this month, including yesterday in a new-to-me place called Soldiers Delight NEA. I went kind of late in the day, so I didn't get around the entire Serpentine Trail, so I'll definitely be back. I guess the real test of this goal will come next month and the month afterwards.

2) This is my third blog post of January, so again, this will likely be tested more next month and in March. 

3) I not only finished The Queen's Weapons, but I've also read Ben Raby's 100 Things Capitals Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die and finally started on Steve Glynn's This Team is Ruining My Life (But I Love Them). I've had the latter book around since August of 2019, when I went to a RMNB-sponsored book signing and met "Dangle" himself (who is pretty cool).

Pat got this for me last year.

4) This one is about to get easier, as Centr is about to start a new six week program called "Sculpted" which is 4 days of 30 minute workouts. At this point, I've been mixing it up with Centr workouts and hiking, but I have met the goal each week.

5) This one, not so good right now. I've thought really hard about the students I plan to track, and I still need to get some information down on "paper" (pixel). With only four days of "instruction" this week, since it's the end of the marking period, I should have some time to work on this more formally soon.

6) I have put the intention out there, in multiple places. People know. I need to buckle down and get the brakes done now, so that it's ready to sell during tax return season. 

7) For the most part, I've been doing okay on this last goal. Sometimes I record it in my journal at home, and sometimes I do it in my plus/delta book at work. Sometimes both. When I'm having a mentally tough day, it's tougher to get something on paper, even if I do recognize that I've accomplished something.

This week is going to feel so long, I really do want to go back to Soldiers Delight and finish hiking the Serpentine Trail. The site is a fairly unique ecosystem (serpentine barren and oak savanna), which has a very magnesium rich soil. This results in some plants that aren't found anywhere else in Maryland. I'm thinking of seeing if I can maybe incorporate the area into some evolution/adaptation lessons, especially with my magnet biology students. 

The serpentine grassland in late January

I also need to start thinking about doing taxes and I'm hoping that I get a refund this year. With Pat's new job, maybe his withholding is correct. I haven't played hockey in a year because the refund money that helps pay for that didn't happen last year. Plus, the green terror has some significant engine issues, and I might need the refund to pay for that. 

It's almost 8PM, and Sunday sadness over going to work tomorrow is in full swing. The rain today also didn't help. Here's to hoping that this is a good week.

note : some links are associate links where a click will result in minimal compensation to me if you also make a purchase through that link

So Far, So Good

Two days into the new year, and two hikes under my belt. That's making some good progress on my resolutions!

Yesterday, I did an obligatory First Day Hike in Patapsco Valley State Park, starting at the ambiguously defined Pickall Area by the CSX train tracks, then trying to meet up with the Ole Ranger Trail. The trail is very poorly marked, and I didn't find the cut-over to the trail, but I did eventually meet up with the Union Dam Trail. It was a shorter hike than I thought it would be, which is good to know for future reference. I might start at Hollofield next time so that I can take the Ole Ranger Trail to see where I'm supposed to go from Pickall. 

Maryland State Parks gave out these First Day Hike stickers

A Pontiac center cap in the mud

The CSX tracks curving to match the river's bends

A train tunnel underneath US40.

The link to the Union Dam Trail

Cold, clear river water where the Union Dam once stood

A thriving community once stood here, until repeated floods in the mid-1800s kept destroying the dams, mills and homes of those who tried to use the river for their living

I texted Pat that I was at the entrance to Hollofield, and chatted with the ranger on duty there until he arrived. Turned out that someone's car had been broken into -- rear window smashed and stuff taken -- so I was watching the response to that. The thieves were quite brazen, as the vehicle in question was easily visible from the entrance gate. 

For today -- the Federal holiday version of January 1 -- I decided to go to my other standby, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath. I needed to stop by my mom's anyway, and I initially thought to go to Ferry Hill and from there, maybe up to Snyders Landing. Then I thought, maybe I should go to Catoctin Aqueduct? Finally, I settled on parking at Point of Rocks and heading downstream, a section I don't think I've been on before. 

Point of Rocks is at MM48.2 

The last time I'd been to Point of Rocks was just over a year ago, when my friend Andy Howe was in town. Being an engineer who designs bridges and the like, I think he wanted to see the aqueducts and locks of his 19th century counterparts. Sadly, there are no locks or aqueducts east of Point of Rocks, at least not until past Noland's Ferry. There are culverts though. 

A culvert right at Point of Rocks

Seek says these are "stinking orange oysters". The area smelled like garbage, so, yeah.

I hiked down to mile marked 46 before turning back around. I was going to be cutting it close to get back to the Crosstrek by sunset. 

As far as I went today. 

Like yesterday, the drab Winter colors in the forest made nothing stand out. That's probably why I noticed the orange oysters. The sunset was pretty, reflecting off the river, but other than that, there wasn't too much else to see. 

A larger culvert east of MM48

The sun's getting real low

One of the reasons I was really hankering to get out on a trail was because one of my holiday gifts from Pat was a new and nice pair of Merrell Moab hiking boots. They are super light compared to my old boots, and I wanted to see how well they handled muddy conditions. 

So far, so good with the boots! I know I'll be testing their waterproof-ness and more in the coming months. 

After a short stop at Mom's in Sharpsburg, it was back home to wrap up Winter break and prepare for the end of the semester.... and to think about camping and hiking and where to go next. 

note : some links are associate links where a click will result in minimal compensation to me if you also make a purchase through that link

Wake Up To a Brand New Day

It's 2023. Yay. No, I'm not particularly excited about it. The last few years of societal collapse around a maniac as President and the subsequent pandemic and just decreasing lack of civility and compassion has worn me down. 

Still, I wanted to think about things I wanted to do better for this year. I mean, I make "new years resolutions" at every "new year" chapter, whether it's the start of the school year, the start of the summer or whatever, so it's really just an exercise in putting the thoughts out there, and then trying to make them manifest. 

Instead of just vague objectives though, I'm going to take a page out of my teaching book and try to make them "SMART goals" with time sensitive, measurable and attainable attributes.

1) Hike at least once per month. This one should be easy. If I can do more than once per month, that will be even better, and I want it to be a real "once per month" not an average over the year. This might work well if Pat has a resolution to fish at least once per month. If I can bundle this with camping, it would also likely help my mental health a thousand-fold.

The C&O Towpath is one of my go-to places for hiking

2) Blog here at least once per month. Yeah, that seems like a low hanging goal, but considering "blogging more" hasn't worked out too well, making this something measurable, time sensitive and attainable seems more realistic. Maybe I'll even finish the "writeup" from last year's road trip before this year's. 

3) Read at least one chapter in a book at least five times per week. Seems weirdly specific, I know. I'm very disappointed in how much I've read the last few years. So, again, I'm trying to make it measurable (one chapter) and attainable (5+ times per week). Will I read more than one chapter and more than five times per week? Maybe. Hopefully. I'm still working on The Queen's Weapons, which I bought in March of last year, and finally started just before Yule.

4) Exercise at least 20 minutes at least four times per week. Again, it may seem like an odd goal, and why not the recommended "30 minutes"? Because I am still subscribed to Centr, and some of the sessions there are 25 minutes, and not a full 30. Like the previous resolutions, I would like to do more than four times per week when I can. Hopefully, sickness doesn't derail this particular goal, as it often does; the most recent bout with COVID-19 over Thanksgiving break derailed a good run started after my "second marking period resolutions". Of course, hiking any particular day would tick off this box as well as the first one.

And now for a few more difficult ones to attain....

5) Make strides towards National Board Certification every week. This can take different forms, depending on which component I am working on, but I do need to do this, since I really dropped the ball last year and it turns out that you can't last minute this like you can a fifteen page term paper in college. I will start this right away this week when I go back on Tuesday. 

6) Sell the WRX and get a reliable new(er) car. This breaks my heart to write out, but if I don't commit to it, I don't think I will ever go through with it. I haven't driven it since April of last year because the brakes need to be redone, and while I have all the parts to rebuild the front calipers (and my brother did the work of removing the seized pistons from the calipers I have for rebuild), I just haven't sat down to do it. Part of it is fear of doing it wrong, I know, and part of it is also knowing it's a PITA to swap a caliper much less two of them. I did a caliper on the black Camaro years ago, plus I did the front calipers on the green Camaro when I upgraded to LS1 brakes after finding a pair up for grabs at the pull-a-part junkyard. Anyway, once I get the brakes done -- let's set a timeframe of "by Spring" for that -- then the car is going to be officially for sale so that I can use whatever I get for it for a down payment on a new(er) car that has a warranty and all that. 

No more road trips to the Salt Flats in this car

7) Feel like I've done something worthwhile everyday and making note of it. I don't know how else to phrase this one. Those who know me know that I suffer from depression, and a lot of that revolves around constant feelings of worthlessness. So, making strides to feel like I've accomplished something, no matter how small, and acknowledging that accomplishment in some away will be tough. I have a little journal at work that I have used off and on since autumn 2019 where I try to do this. I try to write at least one positive thing about the day, no matter how minor, and then one thing I wish I could change and how I could change it (a "delta"). The framing is important -- it's just not something bad, but something I wish had gone better and (this is the important framing part), how I might have done things differently or what I could do to change the outcome. 

I think with this last goal, it's about the negativity that permeates everything these days, and I just need to try to find the positive out there, somewhere. Oh, hey, I put together this coat rack today! Check it out, I mowed the lawn! I got out of bed and took a shower! I read that chapter in a book and hiked today! 

It's 2023. 

note : some links are associate links where a click will result in minimal compensation to me if you also make a purchase through that link

No Particular Place to Go

(this is part two of my 2022 road trip; part one is here) 

Getting out and about on Friday was a struggle. 

My traveling companions

After I managed to get up, grab a bite to eat and pack up the tent, I sought out a place to fill up the gas tank and get some more ice. I found myself in a little town called Bolivar, on the Tuscarawas River. I considered going to the Fort Laurens Museum, but then for some reason decided to go to Bolivar Dam instead.

Bolivar Dam on Sandy Creek

I wandered around the path a little, and thought, "I think Pat would say this place looks fishy." I decided to look at how much a one-day out-of-state Ohio fishing license would cost, and if it was less than $20, I'd fish for a little while for the heck of it. 

It was $14. Fish on!

Looking down to the "fishy" area

Settling in, judging the best spot to cast from with minimal chance of treeing it

I started with a "ned rig" which got nothing. So I switched to a Whopper Plopper (top-water lure)

Yay! It may be little, but it was a largemouth bass on a top-water lure, so it was good.

After switching from a ned rig with a coppertreuse Z-man Finesse TRD worm to a "yoda" Whopper Plopper, I started to see interest from the small (6-8 inch) largemouth bass in the area. I finally not only enticed one to bite, but stay hooked until I could land it. 

Minutes after that, I saw feeder fish scrambling to get away from something out by the turtle basking logs in the middle of the creek. I cast in that area. 

It bit. And it fought. And I had it barely out of the water and was reaching for it when it unhooked itself and swam away. It was a chunky 16-ish (maybe larger) inch largemouth. It kept antagonizing the feeder fish while I kept trying to entice it to bite again. I tried Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper swimbaits, went back to the Whopper Plopper, and nothing. 

More and more turtles showed up to watch the show during the two hours I was here

I'd only planned to stay maybe an hour, but that stupid fish that got away made me stay another hour trying to get it back. It was still a fun diversion, and I caught more fish than guys that showed up for 30 minutes with their catfishing gear (I caught the first fish as they were leaving and they saw me bring it in). 

From the dam, I drove south on I-77 and thought about visiting Hopewell Culture, since I hadn't been there in several years and I'd gone to Cahokia Mounds last year. Instead, when I stopped for gas outside Newark, OH, I saw a sign for the Great Circle Earthworks -- another Hopewell site -- and chose to go there instead. 

The entrance to the circle, looking directly at the Eagle Mound

Photos alone really can't do justice to this structure. The circle itself is 1200 feet in diameter, with an arrow shaped mound in the center that is called Eagle Mound. Archaeologists found the remains of a wooden structure in the mound, and think it may have been a ceremonial building that was intentionally burned and buried when the inhabitants left this site. 

Inside the circle wall is a ditch which was probably full of water when this area was inhabited. It's thought that the circle symbolized the turtle in an ocean, an Indigenous motif of the world in the universe. 

The inner ditch just inside the entrance to the circle

I was being watched while I walked around the interior of the Great Circle

 

Standing on Eagle Mound, looking towards the opening to the Circle

A nearby Hopewell site and part of the Newark Earthworks is called the Octagon. It is only somewhat open to the public because it's been leased to a country club since 1910. This actually upset me, because both the Great Circle and the Octagon were evidently sacred sites tied to the moon, and in fact may have represented the moon at perigee and apogee. Fortunately, I have since discovered that I'm not the only one disgusted and angry that an historical and sacred site (one that is part of a nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage site), and that the battle to remove the country club (has gone to the Ohio Supreme Court). Here is a NY Times article on the subject from 2021. Of course, if this truly was a lease to the country club (which, according to the article, runs through 2078), there should be provisions for ending the lease early. 

As of August 1, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court has not ruled on the case. 

Part of the view from the viewing platform, which Moundbuilders Country Club considers "open access" to the grounds by the public.

The golfers can walk on the earthworks for a shot.

Observation Mound, from which Woodland period native peoples would have watched moonrise. This view is from the "public access" trail.

From the Octagon, I headed south through Cincinnati into Kentucky, thinking maybe I'd try Mammoth Cave in the morning. I made a reservation at a KOA in Horse Cave and set Waze to get me there. Construction on I-65 at the Horse Cave exit backed traffic up by two miles, making the trip take almost an hour longer than it should have, so I found myself putting up the tent in the dark. The Horse Cave KOA is not very tent-camper friendly, as the tent area is not flat, and is about as far away from the restrooms/showers as can be. In the dark, it was difficult to find my site, especially with no clear place to park the car. 

At least there was a little bit of firewood left in the firepit, so I started a short-lived campfire.

The next morning, I looked at Recreation.gov for cave tours at Mammoth Cave, and it looked like I wouldn't be able to get anything that I haven't done previously. I contemplated my next steps while avoiding the group of murder ducks wandering the campground, as well as a loose dog that was looking for a friend. 

Murder ducks. It's like being in Hershey all over again. 

What do you guys what to do today?

In the end, I decided to skip Mammoth Cave and go to Hidden River Cave instead. It was only about ten minutes away from the KOA, and when I got there, they waved me right into the tour. 

This is the Horse Cave, because when it was first settled, "horse" was just a term for something really big. It's now called Hidden River Cave.

The river is right at the bottom of the opening, and you follow along it a little ways before going into the other two dome rooms. This is a cave much like Mammoth in that it has domes and very few "wet" formations like stalactites, stalagmites, flows or columns. And of course, the "big sell" for Hidden River Cave is the bridge, which was more than a little nerve wracking for someone like me who doesn't like bridges. 

The hidden river

No one wanted to be the first (behind the guide) across the bridge

One of the few places of "flowstone"

Sunset Dome, the third of the three rooms on the tour

Heading back out of the cave

The American Cave Museum is part of the Hidden River Cave tour, and explains how the cave reflects an ecosystem that was nearly destroyed by the town basically using the cave as a sewer.... which then almost killed the town, since their drinking water originated from the cave. The cave had to be closed in the 1940s because of the pollution, and it was known as the most polluted cave in North America. Only after a new wastewater treatment facility was put into place nearby in 1989 did the cave ecosystem begin to recover from nearly a century of abuse. 

From Horse Cave, I meandered northward past Louisville and into Henderson, where just before crossing over the river to Evansville, IN, I saw a sign for John James Audubon State Park. I pulled in and immediately saw the Civilian Conservation Corps work. 

The Welcome Center, gift shop and museum are located here.

The museum is a paltry $6 to visit, and I would share photos, but due to copyright issues, you aren't allowed to take photos of the amazing collection of original Audubon works they have, including multiple copies of his Elephant Folio. There is also a comprehensive history of Audubon, who spent several years in Henderson, KY trying to find his way in the world. 

Of course, there were hiking trails, so I took the opportunity to stretch my legs. I saw birds, but also myriad other animals!

And fungi.... you know I saw fungi too!

A still and quiet pond

Green dragonfly, an Eastern pondhawk female

Five lined skink!

Eastern pondhawk male

Heron

Two deer

I legitimately chastised some super loud children right after I saw these deer. They were basically yelling at each other in conversation, and I just shushed them and said, "You just scared away two deer, a duck and who knows how many turtles." The kids went silent and I continued, "You probably haven't seen anything since you're so loud. If you want to see the animals, you need to be quieter." The parents just looked at me.

I walked away (they were going in the opposite direction I was), and I didn't hear them again. 

A CCC constructed shelter, marking where the overlook spur branches from the main trail

Built in the 1930s, renovated as an Eagle Scout project in 2000, and still needs protection from vandals

Turtles basking

Plainbelly watersnake, maybe

Hummingbird sculpture based on an Audubon painting

Butterfly on a coneflower

I decided to call it quits outside St. Louis, and got a tent site at a KOA I've stayed at before. The tent sites there are okay; they are flat and somewhat close to the renovated restrooms/showers, but they are also buggy. 

Campsite for the night

Buggy campsite also means spiders

A friendly lightning bug that looks just slightly different from the Maryland variety

I cooked up some "Forever Young Mac and Cheese" for dinner, and it wasn't as good as the spicy sausage pasta. Maybe it would have been better if I had some Old Bay to put in it. I still had no itinerary besides being in Salt Lake City by next Friday, so I figured I'd just drive through St. Louis, take I-70 for a while and then either find some things in Kansas or head up towards Lincoln, NE. 

But first, sleep. 

note : some links are associate links to sites where I received minimal compensation if you make a purchase through the link