After being gone
about five weeks I am back in beautiful downtown Okemos. And I didn’t miss
Okemos for a moment. Got to spend some quality time with family, both one on
one and in groups. Did 190 tough miles on the AT. Spent some time playing in
Delaware and around the Lebanon area of Pa. Spent a couple days at Lynn’s place
up near Lock Haven Pa., where cell reception is but a dream. Something other
people and other parts of the world have.

Lewes DE canal at
sunset.

Tanks at the Dogfish
head brewery. There’s lots of good stuff in those tanks. Liquid gold.

Cypress trees at
Trapp Pond State Park in DE. The northernmost cypress swamp in North America.

Union Canal locks at
Swatara Gap, near Jonestown PA.

Did some serious good
eating too. Got to eat some great food like crabs, fried oysters, and that
delicacy, scrapple. In the serious weirdness category I found out that
Bridgeville, Delaware that has a scrapple festival. They even have a scrapple
carving festival. Even I wouldn’t go that far. I’ll eat the stuff but I’m
having a hard time visualizing it as an art medium.

Found some other
serious weirdness in Pa. First, there was the live bait vending machine. Can
you get minnows out of that? Then there was the Statue of Liberty lifting her
lamp beside the pond in a farm field. Why Miss Liberty, I don’t know.

Bait machine

Miss Liberty

Had lots of outdoor
time. Got some in some hiking, kayaking, birding, biking, odenating, and
photography. Not as much photography as I would have liked, but enough. We
added a bunch of bird species to the list. Lise is up to 299 for the year and
I’m coming at 295.

 

Tree swallow
sibling rivalry, Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Kleinfeltersville, PA.

Clapper rail
preening, Mispillion River, DE.

Clapper rail with
chick, Mispillion River, DE.

 Clapper rail
with chick, Mispillion River, DE.

Clapper rail bathing,
Mispillion River, DE.

Clapper rail bathing,
Mispillion River, DE.

Seaside sparrow
bathing, Mispillion River, DE.

Seaside sparrow spin
cycle, Mispillion River, DE.

Female pondhawk
dragonfly, Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, DE.

Unknown damselfly,
Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, DE.

Slaty skimmer
dragonfly, Cape Henlopen State Park, DE.

Immature blue dasher
dragonfly, Cape Henlopen State Park, DE. 

Seaside dragonlet
dragonfly, Cape Henlopen State Park, DE.

Fence lizard, Cape
Henlopen State Park, DE.

Baby box turtle, Cape
Henlopen State Park, DE.

We got back Sunday
night and I’ve spent the past two days catching up on things. Unpacking,
putting things away, answering messages, reading mail, cataloging over 400
photos, doing the emergency home repairs, etc… Right now it doesn’t feel like
I’m retired. It’s more like coming back from any old vacation. I think it will
be a couple days before the reality sets in. Then I have to figure out what I’m
going to do with the rest of my life. Within the bounds of good taste and some
fiscal restraints of course. I am up to five notes on my bagpipe practice
chanter. Look out world, here I come.

Political ranting
follows. Proceed at your own risk. Please note that I am a political
independent and do not belong to any political party.

One of the pleasures
of being out of touch for five weeks was missing the political circus. Tonight
the Republicans crown Trump king. What I love is seeing all his former
Republican detractors bending over backwards to kiss his royal butt. So much
for taking the moral high ground. Chris Christie has his head so far up the
Donald’s rear end that he can’t see daylight unless Trump opens his mouth. Then
there’s Melania Trump’s speech. It’s pretty obvious that Trump didn’t marry her
for intellectually stimulating conversations. So one would think he would at
least hire a decent speech writer for her. Instead she copied a Michelle Obama
speech from 2008. Sounded good then, why not use it again?

Not that the
Democrats are much better. This could be a golden opportunity to drive the
Republican Party close to political extinction. Doubt that will happen though.
Democrats are good at bringing a knife to a gun fight. Instead of trying to tie
every Republican to Trump, in every election at every level of government, they
will appeal to the intelligence of the electorate to make an informed decision.
 And lose a golden opportunity to do something good for the country.
Anyway, the next couple months should supply some amusing moments.