Beth and I have been busy working on my mom's house, painting and doing floors and other things, with the hope to be moved in by Christmas. We are becoming a bit burned out by it all, but the end is in sight and the house will be a perfect home for us to live in-probably for the rest of our lives. Real estate in Warren is dirt cheap by the standards of the rest of the country, so the isolation and relative poverty of this part of the country make it a perfect retirement haven for prospective 'snowbirds' such as ourselves. Eventually,we plan to buy a small motor home in which to travel during the winters, and God willing still have a few good years left to enjoy life!

Goodbye Mom

Just returned from a vacation to Maine and Mt. Washington, a beautiful part of this nation and much less crowded during mid September than in summer and autumn. We dropped a car off at a brother’s house in Boston along the way, and then spent a few days in Sanford, ME, where my parents used to live, before returning home through New Hampshire, Vermont and NY…T'was a little too much driving for one week we decided, but it was great to get away from the Warren routine. My youngest son Skylar joined us in Sanford, where he used to spend vacations as a kid, so it was a nostalgic trip for him, and relaxing as well. Beth was able to reminisce with her childhood friend Annette in Portland, and we took side trips to Kennebunkport, where an aunt and uncle once owned a bookstore, then drove to a lighthouse near Portland. We also stopped at L.L. Bean in Freeport, but did not buy much. The ocean all along the coast was surprisingly warm for Maine,near 60*F although we did not do any swimming. Mt. Washington, N.H. has a cog railway to the top, built around 1870, which still runs one steam engine and well as two bio diesel engines. The views on top are spectacular, but the mountain is famous for terrible weather and there is a plaque at the top listing all the people who have died there, usually one or two a year. The Prius averaged 52 mpg-as it has since April-so besides motels and food and miscellaneous tourist stuff, it was a very economical journey. At the beginning of the trip Beth and I had stopped at an RV show to plan for the future, and we have our eyes set on a class “B” motor home built by Pleasureway. The advantage of the “B” class is their maneuverability and small size, which can be parked anywhere like a common van. That will save on motels and food to offset the poor gas mileage...

CO2 Emissions and other hot air

CO2 emissions in the United States are at 1992 levels, a twenty year low that is attributable to cheap natural gas replacing the burning of coal at electric power plants. So whatever problems have been associated with 'fracking' at the new Marcellus shale gas wells have been compensated for through lower emissions. Of course coal is still cheap and is exported to other countries where it is burned, but in our own country we have made progress related to global warming. Whether this years nationwide drought is related to the warming atmosphere-which is likely, considering that extremes are one of the consequences of a warmer atmosphere-or whether humanity will ever do anything other than react to global changes, is still being debated. At any rate like with most things in life people follow their wallets, so when alternative energy sources are cheap enough we use them. Regarding other sources of hot air, there was a discussion on PBS this morning about Facebook and other social media, and whether or not posting daily minutiae about one's life is simply a form of narcissism. Surely there is some of that, and I have no clue whether anyone reads any of this drivel,so likely I am writing to myself. But I am hesitant to criticize any new media too harshly, because both television and the telephone, and before that the telegraph, were viewed with suspicion when they were first invented. Generally something becomes a problem only when it is not used intelligently, so when balanced by other activities technology can be a positive addition to one's life. The trick is to straddle that line, which is a hard thing for some people.

J.D. Northwest

Northwest bank won the JD POWER customer satisfaction award for the Mid-Atlantic region for the 3rd year in a row...Not bad for a hick institution headquartered in Warren,PA!?! The corporation has about 8 billion in assets with branches situated primarily in PA, NY and OH...There was a celebration on Main street again this morning, which was a nice gesture although of course many employees would rather the money had gone into their personal paychecks. Still the few hours off from work in the sunshine helped their dispositions!

This quilt,which we had appraised at a quilt show in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, was made by one of Beth's relatives in 1884 ...The official quote has not come back yet but two less impressive quilts from the 1920's together were assessed at $600-$800, so I'm guessing that this one will be worth at least $1,000. I'll post the true number as soon as we get it. During this trip we stayed overnight at a Comfort Inn in Akron,Ohio and were awakened at 3:00 AM by some guy knocking on the door. I asked him what he wanted and got some mumbled reply, so I loudly told him to get lost, after which he wanted to know if "Nora " was there. "This is room 209 isn't it?" I yelled again to get lost then dialed the front desk and angrily said that some guy was knocking on the door. The front desk just as angrily replied "Are You yelling at me?" and I said 'Yeah, I don't like to get awakened at 3 in the morning by some black guy knocking on my door'. When I called the manager yesterday of course he was apologetic and adjusted the bill a little, but needless to say my opinion of Comfort Inn has been permanently tarnished. We had been pressured by time to find a place and the on line reviews were ok, but any place that lets derelicts roam the halls all night is not policing their facility properly. POSTSCRIPT: t'was worth $1,000

Random Musings

-The picture is of the Conewango Creek, which merges with the Allegheny River in the middle of town about four miles downstream from this location. People tell me that this is a good bass stream, although I stopped fishing years ago so cannot verify that claim. There is dirt road following the left shoreline on which I walk the dog sometimes, and she enjoys this place because the woods is full of chipmunks to chase-never catches them of course but it’s in her instincts to run like a little kid. The walk offers a nice, tranquil area for a quick four miles. -I just finished 3 plus hours of filing paperwork into medical charts at the office, and despite claims by industry and government that electronic records will simplify and make more efficient the health care system, so far efficiency has been reduced by 15-20% in the local offices that have implemented it. There is no doubt that patient care has been compromised,through incorrect medication lists and computer glitches etc, so overall the doctors feel frustrated by the encroaching bureaucracy of administrators and politicians. Treating patients like customers and trusting in computers-which regularly crash and get hacked- has fundamentally changed the medical field for the worse. Ironically, paperwork, or rather, busywork, has exploded. The consensus is that the system will collapse through lack of money and sheer complexity, but for the moment people muddle through, which is the word they use. The office I work in is scheduled to begin the electronic transition next week, so I’ll post the “progress” as I experience it. -Meanwhile I have distributed a few drafts of my book for family and friends and friends of friends to read, and a stranger or two as well, and the little feedback I’ve heard has been positive. No doubt it will appeal to a select audience but such is the nature of all books; writers are a dime a dozen. I’m still considering how and where to release it generally. If anyone I met on the walk reads this blog and is interested, let me know. -Over the weekend Kenny and his band were rained out of a show on the 27th, but have another one scheduled this evening, rain or shine, so he's now looking for a more powerful

PA system.

Heart's Content

This is a hiking area about ten miles from town with old growth trees, some at least 110 feet tall as estimated by my stride length against that fallen tree. The pictures do not convey the majesty of the canopy as compared to the rest of the woods in Pennsylvania, which must have been a remarkable place when our ancestors arrived. Even in their limited scope, these twenty acres give the impression of being among redwoods or sequoias when viewed alongside the remaining forest. We do not hike here too often because of time constraints, but it is worth a look for anyone contemplating a visit.

May

I have been reading some old blogs and notice that a few of the links no longer work, so I apologize for the inconvenience… The content itself reads alright-a little more excitable than I remember- but that is the nature of a journal: to reflect the evolving nature of ones thoughts and life. The blessing of hindsight reveals the errors and successes of ones thinking, but there is no way to know which is which during the immediacy of the present moment. The above picture is of a Mayapple blossom, common now in the woods and destined to be short lived. When I was reaching to cup that particular flower in my hand two small moths the color of the petals flew off; they had been so well camouflaged that I had not noticed them! The flower itself is perched inconspicuously beneath the leaves, so together they offer a secure hiding place for such moths. Also blooming now are phlox and buttercup and wild mustard and others, but I do not see any adders tongue, a normally common flower that had just begun to bloom when that late April snow fell. I think it was one of the few species harshly affected by the ice. While hiking today I also saw pileated woodpeckers at two separate places, which, although they are not rare in the woods here, that

are not common either. Generally it is the massive holes they carve in trees that one sees, for the birds are wary and fly off when approached.

Minister Creek

I hiked some of the Minister Creek trail for the first time today, a popular trail about 25 miles from town by road and maybe half that as the crow flies, intending to do the North Loop of about six miles. As it turned out the trail, like many trails, was neither well maintained nor well marked, so going clockwise I missed the right turn ( near the top of the map after the apex ) and found myself on the North Country Trail, a thru hikers trail that extends the width of the state. Fortunately it crossed Minister Hill road further on so I realized where I was and turned right to get back to the car. With all the crisscrossing trails and logging roads in these mountains it would have been easy to become lost miles from where I expected to be, and even seasoned locals have embarrassed themselves that way. The trail itself included hard climbs and open woods and passed through some of the sandstone formations that are common around here, a few of which were four story high cliffs left after the land around them eroded away. Like all of the trails in the Allegheny Forest the clay soil had not absorbed the rain water so mud was abundant; in that regard western PA is not the place for new shoes! I think the dog enjoyed the outing as much as I did, and as usual she chased chipmunks and raced ahead or to the sides or fell behind, but always returned to me without calling. She could easily have done another six miles without breathing hard!

Out Of Sight, Out of Mind...

…

at least to most people. The gas and oil drillers have had a great few years in PA, and this particular rig in the Allegheny Forrest, one of thousands, is located about two miles from town as the crow flies, one and a half miles into the woods from the nearest public road. These are not Marcellus Shale wells, mostly shallower conventional wells using vertical and horizontal drilling techniques which together have glutted the market with cheap gas- $2.50 per thousand cubic feet down from $4-$5 a few years ago. As the pictures show the workers follow existing roads built by past drillers and loggers or bulldoze new ones to reach their desired locations. Overtime a vast network of trails has been created in the woods around here, most of them gated shut to motorized vehicles except those of the companies, although walking and mountain biking is still allowed. It is public land so the government owns the surface while the private companies own the underground minerals and they are allowed to access them. Until recently, there have been no federal regulations regarding the chemicals the companies use to “frack” (crack) the rock to release the gas, so although rare, a few towns and homes have had their drinking water contaminated. Methane sometimes builds up and explodes as well. Royalties paid to private landowners are at a minimum 12.5%, but there are no taxes paid to the state, rather a fixed, convoluted “impact fee” is issued per well, lobbied by the companies to a receptive governor whose campaign was partly financed by them, and essentially forced upon local municipalities at cost of their local zoning codes. The promise of course is new jobs and surely some have been created. But with the glut of gas new well drilling has slowed so there have been layoffs, and now the promise is in the other products that can be made from natural gas. To exploit those, Shell Oil is planning to build a new petrochemical plant in western PA. As of last year the industry made about $3.5 billion gross on the gas alone and paid about $400 million in royalties. They claim to have invested 11 billion over the last four years drilling 2,200 wells statewide, and will spend a few billion more on pipelines, but the supply is so tremendous that America will be burning natural gas for a long time; eventually electric power plants as well as transportation vehicles will use it. At 3 billion a year, not including other products, the bulk of their investments should be paid off in about five years, after which stockholders and those directly involved will be the primary beneficiaries. Of course, the more energy independent we are the better, and natural gas burns much cleaner than coal or oil, so overall the Marcellus Shale gas fields should be a positive development for our country. Lower prices have already benefited the average consumer, although no doubt the companies will eventually manipulate the price back up by withholding and manipulating the supply as they have begun to do. The land around here has been decimated by oil and gas and logging companies for over a century, yet in all my walking I observe no permanent damage, rather I am encouraged by nature’s ability to heal itself. A hundred years ago what is now a thriving trout stream had been regularly polluted by hundred of barrels of crude oil that used to fall off the barges, so nature is resilient if given the time. Hence the thriving ant nests within the minor oil spill on the road.

Kenny and his band 'Egypt Hollow' completed a six song CD about a month ago which has received good reviews locally. They've sold approximately 80 copies for $8.00 apiece so they are in the black and feedback has allowed them to pick up some more local paying gigs. The band consists of Kenny on guitar and vocals, Ciara on keyboards and vocals, Mary on violin and vocals, and Addison on stand up bass. All of them have had years of experience in the school band with private lessons so they are all talented and accomplished teenagers. Kenny wrote all the material(contemporary with a folk/acoustic flair)and it is professionally produced. If anyone is interested the CD's can be purchased through me so let me know on this blog! Meanwhile,check out Egypt Hollow on Facebook!

Streams and Trillium

This is Morrison Run, a stream barely 1/2 mile out of town and at the edge of miles of wilderness in the Allegheny Forest. The dog and I walk here regularly, as well as along many old logging trails and oil and gas roads. The flower is White Trillium, which I discovered is very fragile to being disturbed ( it may not bloom again for several years if picked) thus is a protected species in some states. It's not all that rare here but still nice to find along the roadside in wet woodsy areas. The pond is an old logging pond about a mile upstream of the other picture. In the old days I presume that the logs were stored here then floated down the stream to the Allegheny River by releasing the water. From there they went to Pittsburgh and beyond. Logs are transported by truck these days,and are still a world class export of these mountains.

A Trifling Paperback from AmazonKindle $3.99

Of maybe 150 pages considering all the time and effort I put into it, but I am satisfied as to the quality of it's content at least. So what now to do with 'Anti-Clock,Walking Across the Country'... look for a publisher or upload to Kindle or print copies meself and hand them off to passersby? One more piece of kindling for the dollar bin perhaps...In the meantime copies can be purchased from Amazon Kindle for $3.99 Thanks

APRIL SNOW

After four days of rain and snow it cleared to blue sky today, and although there was no accumulation in Warren, a thousand feet up on the mountain about five inches of snow fell, quickly melting in this April sun. The pictures show the extent of the prior canopy foliage as well as the dog investigating some bear tracks. A few branches snapped off because of the additional strain but overall I think this will be gone in two days with few ill affects. I'm not sure what will become of the cabbage, spring azure, tiger swallowtail and red admiral butterflies that had emerged, nor the flowers-mostly violets, dandelions and adders tongue as well as domesticated varieties, nor of the buds and flowering trees , but it looks so far that they all will survive unharmed. It was 72 degrees on the 20th, and in the high thirties/low forties for a couple days, so strange weather indeed. The natives tell me this is not unusual but the Buffalo news claims that a measurable snowfall like this had only occurred three times since 1884. At any rate, with temps back in the fifties I expect spring to come along any day now. March and April simply changed places.

New Machines

Beth bought a 'Prius C Two' on March 27th, and here are some impressions: First, mileage- The EPA figures are pretty accurate, and we get at least 50mpg in real world driving. Slightly less with all highway driving and more with all city. Our first tank was 54.5 mpg but we have not measured again with diligence.The on board computer that tracks MPG is pretty accurate-maybe a little optimistic by a mpg or two- and that varies from the low 40's mpg when we are climbing a long hill and really gassing it to over 90mpg if we are going slow in the city and are using electric power only. The car automatically switches in and out of electric but really only uses pure electric up to about 20mph and only so long as the battery lasts..If the voltage drops too low and/or speed gets above a certain range the engine automatically turns on. All of this is unnoticeable except by the relative silence of battery (EV) mode versus the sound of the engine. There are 3 modes EV-pure electric...which we never use, but you could for a mile or two if you wanted to be real quiet or if the gas engine died. ECO- which automatically uses both electric and gas but limits how high the engine can rev to save gas, and 'regular' mode which is the same as ECO except the engine can rev higher. To use either ECO or EV you have to push a button on the console near the shifter. Really, the only difference between 'regular' and 'ECO' is the engine revs, and the little screen ( the "Eco Score " ) on the dash has a little gauge which shows the driver how much gas he/she is/is not wasting. So if we are careful pulling away from a start and not flooring it into what the gauge calls "power", we can make great mpgs in either mode. We keep it in regular mode 90% of the time, and I assume that ECO mode just activates more software so why do that.. This all sounds complicated but is not...What a hybrid does is make you conscious of your driving habits and shows how wasteful jackrabbit starts and climbing hills and high speeds are to mileage. The difference between going lightly with your foot and flooring it can be 5-10 mpg ! So staying at speed limits such as 55mph on the highway returns over 50mpg and 70mph drops mileage to 45-47...By being careful on the back roads and out of the "power" range as much as possible and by coasting down big hills and to a stopsign- which (along with normal braking) recharges the battery and increases mpg's-we can average 55mpg to 60mpg without feeling like a slug. The on dash screen tells you what is happening so it becomes a video game with yourself to see how well you can do. Otherwise the car handles well and feels nimble and the seats and driving position are comfortable and the automatic climate control and all the other accessories work fine, although we do not use Bluetooth so cannot comment on that...In deciding what to buy we figured that the initial cost had finally dropped low enough that the PriusC could compete with other small cars and the payback time for the gas would not be too long.. For instance, the well rated Honda Fit and Hyundai Accent are cheaper but only get real world 32-33 mpg... a big difference between that and 53 mpg...so the PriusC is both green and Fun to drive! :) .........
       As for the Yamaha's, they are TW200 dual purpose bikes I bought used last Autumn and have been tooling around the area with. The red and white one is an '87 with about 12,000 miles on it and the silver one is an '04 with 4,000 miles. My impression of them is that they are excellent all around motorcycles that are perfect for back roads and slow trail riding. On the road their sweet spot is below 45 mph but they will hold 55mph if need be and off road they will climb any trail you throw at them-kind of like an ATV with those big tires that truly allow you to go anywhere, which is very rare in modern motorcycles. The eventual plan will be to carry one of them behind an RV when we travel in order to cheaply explore wherever we end up. Between the motorcycle and bicycles and our feet we should be able to go anywhere :)