Metro to Mountain

Walking the Old Roadway lots of folks were pushing strollers. Those who were pushing strollers seemed happy if the pushee was happy and upset if the pushee is upset. If the pusher was also talking on a mobile phone then the condition of the pushee seemed to have no relevance.

As we were walking the winding Old Roadway Jake, the dog, kept stopping and looking back as if another dog was coming quickly and he was concerned. It was cold and I was trying to walk faster, but he kept stopping. No dogs were behind us. Then it dawned on me, in the distance a loud train was passing. The noise was echoing in the hills. Jake was afraid the train, or rather the noise of the train, was coming up the road behind him. After we were away from the noise he was all right. He just likes to be safe.

I have used the vector drawing program Freehand for years. The company was bought out by Adobe and Freehand has not seen an upgrade since the buyout. This forced me to start using the Adobe product Illustrator instead…

Using the keyboard shortcuts after working on an Illustrator document I typed command-h to hide the program. It didn't hide the program (like all the other Macintosh programs). I went to the menu and selected hide instead of using the short-cut.

When I re-opened the program, something was wrong. I could not select anything. I could not select a point, line, or object. I had spent hours drawing the map and now could not select it. I could not alter it. I could not edit it.

I threw things. I slammed things. I yelled at the computer. My wife sympathetically watched. I explained to her how the program was wrong and I was right.

Checking the Adobe Help, I could not even figure out what to ask for help. I just knew I would draw something and then not be able to select it again.

Then one day I was searching for shortcuts and found that command-h was the shortcut for hiding edges, which made it so you cannot select something, not hide the program!

Last night we found that something was wrong with the refrigerator. The freezer was not cold the and fridge part was too cold. We decided to shut the appliance down over night.

A good bit of the food in the freezer had thawed out. We had to decide just what to do with the food. Some we felt needed to be thrown away, some eaten, some cooked, and some we hoped would stay frozen over night in the coolers.

We decided Jake, the dog, could have a Bubba Burger. Even more special, Amy cooked the burger and added potatoes and vegetables. Jake paced the floor in anticipation. He howled to show his anxieties. He jumped with excitement.

After the food cooled, Amy put it in his bowl. As fast as possible he ate and ate and ate. His serving was probably four times his normal portion size. He seemed as if he thought we had made a mistake in giving him the feast. He wanted to eat it all before someone changed his mind.

For the rest of the night he regularly returned to his bowl to inspect it. Empty, he gave it a few licks searching for any remnants of his feast. I am sure that meal will be long remembered; but of course he could have eaten the same amount again and again - after all he is a dog.

There was a sign post at a trail intersection at Bledsoe Creek State Park. The arrows for the green trail pointed in every direction. The hiker was definitely going to be on the green trail, but that might not take him to where he wanted to go.

Yesterday, while riding my bike I was in a left turn lane stopped at a traffic light. The light turned green but I could not go because of the oncoming traffic.

Next to me the driver also first in line at the light, was talking on his phone with their window down. The cars behind the talker began encouraging the talker to drive, but the talker was talking, not driving.

The horns began to bother me, so I finally leaned over and said, "I think they want you to go."

It was at least thirty seconds after the light had first changed before the driver moved.

The first car behind the talker said, "thanks" as they passed me.

Fall Creek Falls had a beware of tick sign much like the one at Long Hunter Park. I am not sure of the tick population at Long Hunter, but I know for a fact the one at Fall Creek could not be at a more deserving location.

The Cable Trail at Fall Creek Falls goes to the base of Cane Creek Falls. Dropping down a Class 3 cliff, the hikers are assisted by a cable. It is truly third class and a fall would hurt. There was a lot of litter at the base of the steep section of the trail. The liter could have been from the creek flooding and washing up the debris; but I did not see the signs of receding water. Perhaps the adventurers climbed down the cliff with the drink, food, etc. in hand. But, when it was time to leave, they did not feel like they had the strength to climb out with the empty bottle, can, or wrappers.

I went bike riding in town the other day. After a few miles I had a flat tire. As I patched the tire three bikers stopped and asked if I needed help. I didn't; but I appreciated them for asking. It made he feel good about people. Each would have stopped to help, and I was definitely not a damsel in distress!

We gave our begging dog asparagus tonight. He ate it with a big yum. I wonder what he will do the next time he raises his leg and then smells. Will he think it is his marking when he returns to the area?

Rode over the weekend at the greenway in Ashland City. No one wore bike helmets. No one. I guess they knew we were from out of town.

My friend Ray ran a trail run. He actually finished better than he thought. As I questioned him, he said, "well, I ran pretty hard. I was afraid that I would finish last (as in dead last). I had never run in a race before. I just didn't want everyone to be standing around waiting on Ray to finish. I really didn't want them to wait on me."

I saw a postman the other day. He was delivering a piece of mail to an address. He jumped out of his truck and hustled to the house with the envelope held in his mouth as he listened to the phone. SWAK, I guess.

Amy had a birthday the other day. Jake, the dog, was at the party. When a pan of baked beans spilt on the floor. He was quick with clean up duty. The only problem was he was sick for the next four days. By the way, the tablet Pepto-Bismal worked well for his upset stomach.

Amy was united with four of her old friends for her birthday. It was great seeing them together. They were quite entertaining.

Rode in Murfreesboro, they didn't wear helmets either. There was a small child riding in a carrier behind her mother. No helmet. Crazy.