Pink Floyd, a Car and Heaven, Almost

For as long as I've been driving I've only had a way to play music, other than a radio, for less than a year. So it was always something quite special for me when Pink Floyd would play on the radio- what better music to drive by, watch the scenery float by, see the vultures flying above as though they too are listening. Even semi-trucks lose their aura of gigantic bringers of instant death and become simply fellow travelers on the road. I remember hushing the kids when they would talk "shhhh....it's Pink Floyd" I'd whisper, kind of like I was receiving special instructions from the gods and didn't want to miss a word. Once, driving through Florida in a rental car, six Pink Floyd songs played in a row- we were following a group of Harleys, cruising the interior plains of Florida, ahhh. Today I was feeling kind of ill from the flu and figured a good drive into Appalachia, just one county east of me, would cure me, or at least make me feel temporarily better. And of course I was listening to Pink Floyd as I entered the sandstone hills. And yes, I surely did feel better.

Tanner Station at Blue Licks State Park 18th Century Rifle Frolic

Great event the weekend of Nov. 7th at Blue Licks Battlefield State Park. Shooting competition, participants wore authentic 18th century garb.

Knapping the flints for the rifles.

Tanners Station
Primitive 18th C camp.

Why I Really Love Maysville

Old stone sidewalk on the way downtown with sweet gum leaves. The other morning I just had to slow down and pause as the sun was making the fallen leaves just glow. There is an endless supply of visual interest here.

A Walk Across the River to Ohio, On the Bridge of Course

Rosemary Clooney mural on the flood wall, view of Ohio River Valley
Bridge to Ohio

I think I like this picture better than the next one.
Simon Kenton Bridge as seen from Aberdeene
Maysville from the Bridge

Train Tracks pass through the Flood Wall

A Weekend Hike at Blue Licks Battlefield State Park

There's a very neglected garden patch by the pole palisades

My daughter came down to visit last weekend and we drove about 20 miles south to Blue Licks State Park, the site of the salt licks that mastodons, then bison and Indians came to, then pioneers used for salt making, and during the early to mid 1800s was the site of a huge resort where people came for the healing waters. This is the place where Daniel Boone and his men who were making salt, were captured by Indians to be sold to the British in Detroit. This lead to Boone's trial on charges of treason! Something I never knew about until the past year. We hiked around almost the entire park, noting the historic sites. This modern version of an early trading post really captured my imagination. There was even a neglected garden there by the unfinished chimney. Trying to time travel back to a time where this was safety from Indians who were irate that their sacred hunting lands in Kentucky were being taken by the whites, it was a bit unnerving here. A lonely outpost in a hostile land. I've been reading the whole history of the area from the Indian's point of view, was a bit disappointed that the park primarily presented the other point of view- at least on the signs at the various sites. I'll check out the big museum there on my next trip down.

And if the Doll isn't Creepy Enough!

The Big Read is Edgar Allen Poe's works this year and there is a local art contest- create something inspired by a Poe poem or story. So, here's my entry- about as grotesque as can be. Based of course, on the short story The Masque of the Red Death. The title of the piece is "This is What I Look Like When You Are Afraid of Me". Found objects- timing belt cover, deer and groundhog bones etc.

Tis the Season- for Halloween!

Leaves are falling, temperatures are dropping, October has been cold and damp and the sun sinks below the valley wall earlier and earlier each day. So, it's creepy, spooky time at my house. Spotted this 3' doll in a neighbor's garbage can- just standing in the can, naked, waiting for the garbage truck to come and end her life. So, while walking the dog, I yanked her out by the hair and dragged this huge naked doll the half block home - feeling rather foolish the whole way. Took her inside and put her in a chair in the kitchen, thought about how I could fix her up a bit for Halloween. She was definitely uncooperative in the house- jumping out of the chair, making strange noises. So I didn't take too long fixing her up, quickly grabbed an old black shirt with a tear, dirtied her bright skin up a bit, gave her a scarf and got her back outside as fast as I could. She's tied to the bench now- clinging to her roses and watching the folks walking by on the sidewalk.