Journal

12/4- Sunday-Walk the woods atop Mohawk Avenue. Clouds, 40F It is more pleasant air today than yesterday, although in Warren in December such changes are subtle and only by small accounts more agreeable. No hunting on Sundays in Pennsylvania allows the dog and I to move freely. As we exit the car we hear the whirring thump of a natural gas engine pushing the natural gas through underground pipes. These pumps are relatively quiet-unlike the large diesel engines that push oil within similar pipes-and they burn the same gas which they help to extract to power their own existence. Sometimes I am startled by the starting of a jack pump miles from civilization when a sensor trips the pump, but generally the oil and gas extraction is unobtrusive to a hiker-except during the initial drilling and bulldozing of access roads.

       Otherwise the woods is unusually still this afternoon, silent of even a slight breeze, and we are too far from town to hear the noise. A few juncos and chickadees trill and chatter from the hemlocks, and a solitary goldfinch passes in the distance- unusually late for this time of year. The dog enjoys running during autumn for it is cool and the ground is not yet covered with snow. She explores every smell unnoticed by me and sometimes dashes into the woods after a chipmunk or squirrel, following the scents for hundreds of yards then rejoining me further down the trail. Despite her age she is still able to run ten miles and remains wholly acclimated to the woods. No doubt her small size would make her vulnerable to coyotes were she alone, but I suspect she would not yield easily.

      The ground is a spongy brown mass of fallen leaves showing scarcely an inch of open soil. It is mostly oaks here so the pattern is angular, crisscrossing shapes flattened by the rain. Here and there a twig with three or four leaves has been blown down, and those leaves show hints of green where the chlorophyll had not receded. Now they appear youthful among the other leaves as they take that much longer to decay. I notice that fallen logs retain a trace of snow and I assume that that is because they are raised higher than the warmer ground. The tops of rock and a few leaves that are not touching the earth also show some snow, but not all of them and not in every direction. Probably there was a heavy squall in this small area yesterday that did not touch further on. A single crow calls out as we approach, warning whatever animals are within earshot; it is the alarmist of the woods, like a siren in town calling us to a fire. 

    12/5-  Clouds, some drizzle 38F. Do charts at the office then walk Betts Park.11:30. Walk two more miles with Beth at 1:30 We experience a few precious minutes of sunlight and snap a quick photograph of our shadows,  possibly the last time we shall see them for another week or more. 

    12/6- Clouds, hazy sun then rain by 2:30. I walk a circular route through town to the office in morning. It is an unexpected sound to hear water gurgling beneath the road near sewer drains, for I forget that they are there and that the streams are underground in town. Even this small city has a thousand miles of unseen pipes. I once asked retired workers from the refinery whether anyone there knew the purpose and connection of the thousands of pipes in that facility, and both immediately named one supervisor whom they suspected did. Probably such knowledge is accumulated over years like that of a surgeon or lawyer who learns the intricacies of the profession through long experience. On Irvinedale road I pass a road killed doe, but they are uncommon in town considering that there are woods on every side. Some hunters complain that regulations have decimated the deer population, yet I hear enough success stories to know that luck and skill have influential roles. Probably patience is also lacking in the former. One house in town shows a sign reading "It's About Jesus" which of course is only partially true. Rather, "It's About Love" would be a more accurate statement regardless of where one finds the inspiration. At another house the homeowner is collecting leaves for what will probably be the last time before winter. He pushes them to the road where the city vacuums them up for disposal.

      At the office a 'drug rep' as they are called buys access to 20 minutes of the doctors time by purchasing lunch for the staff. So twice a week the pharmaceutical companies spend some $70-$80 per meal to try to influence the physician to prescribe their latest medicine. In some offices-and there are thousands across the country- that would be five days a week for smaller or larger staffs contributing to the 'hidden' cost of healthcare. Until a few years ago the companies spent more millions on pens and magnets and other trinkets, but laws were passed to limit that form of bribery, so now television and magazine ads have prevailed.