Homer's Travels: Forty Eight Days In ... And Another Mediocre Post

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Forty Eight Days In ... And Another Mediocre Post

Another week has gone by and things are doing well.  It seems I've been doing a lot of these lists of small events lately.  If I didn't do this type of post, Homer's Travels would be a bit empty.  Well, it is a little empty I guess but it would be worse.  I suppose I could have been breaking these posts into two or three shorter posts but I'm finding this an easier way to package my life.  If I broke it up into more posts, those posts would probably never be written.  So let's just get on with what I did this week.

I hiked in Fontenelle Forest this week using my poles.  Like the hike the prior week at Hitchcock, the trails were muddy.  This time I managed to stay upright.  I also managed to bend one of my poles.  I'm not sure where I did it or how it happened.  I stopped at a bird blind for a scheduled rest stop and I used the railing to help bend the lower section (of the three section pole) back into line.  It isn't perfect but it was usable again.  I ended up squeezing out over nine miles on the hike.

Later in the week I did a city walk around northeast Omaha.  I decided to walk in an area that I'd never walked before so chose a road that wraps around the east side of the Eppley Airfield, Omaha's main airport.  The road around the airfield is probably the most boring 5.1 miles in the state.  I was hoping to see at least some airplanes flying in and out of the airport but there were only three in the hour and a half that I spent walking the road.  The only notable thing along this road is the other side of the swing bridge but, because they are fixing and reinforcing the flood control levies around the airport, which were damages during the 2011 Missouri river flooding, you are not allowed to get very close to the bridge itself.

There was a first on this walk for me.  I'd been waiting for it to happen for quite awhile. While I was walking around the airport a police car slowed down and asked if I was okay.  There have been several times when I have waked along country roads and out of the way places and I've always wondered why no one, not even the police, had stopped to ask if I needed help.  I suppose if I'd really been in trouble I would have actively flagged down a passer by.   I suppose this time was different since I was walking around the airport, not a normal occurrence in this day and age.  It's nice to see that the police were doing their job.

We had some light snow Friday night.  On Saturday I went out with the leaf blower and cleared the driveway and sidewalk of our house and the neighbors.  Yes, I said leaf blower.  I'd seen a guy doing it the last time we had snow and, if the amounts are small and if the snow is of the light and dry variety, the leaf blower does a great job at clearing the snow.  In addition you don't have to bend over so much so my back is happy.

The only special event this week was going to the regional Poetry Out Loud competition.  The Wife's student had already qualified for State at another regional competition so we were there to scope out the competition and to listen to another of her students recite.  The student, winner of the Wife's school competition, could not compete because she was not a US citizen (she's an exchange student from China).  The second place school winner will be competing in the state finals in early March.

4 comments:

  1. Dude, it might be time to invest in some more robust poles. Trust me, I've had my poles for close to a decade and they're still going strong. Well worth the money.

    I was once stopped by the police for something similar. It was in the East Bay, across from San Francisco. Apparently I matched the description of a patient that had recently escaped from a mental institution! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GH: I will eventually but good poles have been known to walk away by themselves on the Camino so I think I'll wait until I get back and start working on the AT.

      So, you got away then ... ;-)

      Delete
  2. I'm glad you're okay and that only the pole is a little bent. And it is nice to see a police officer doing a good job.

    Leaf blower is a clever idea for powdery snow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Miss McC: Thanks. The pole can be fixed (it already is).

      Delete