Captain America Isn't Dead.

Captain America Isn't Dead.
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Wow. There's that guy with that unstoppable patriotic spirit! I really admire him. Well done, and way to support the ultimate "support staff", our Armed Forces.

I wish I could have gotten as good a picture of my husband... perhaps Rick needs to run with a huge get-up on his back, so I have advanced warning when he's coming, too!

 

Waiting for the Towpath Marathoners

Waiting for the Towpath Marathoners
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Obligatory pretty picture while I wait for runners to appear on the course. It IS a national park, after all. There's scenery and there's scenery, and it's all over the place.

This is the Cuyahoga River, as it runs along the old Canal Towpath in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Taking this picture, I'm right by the M.D. Garage and the Boston Store, and I stayed across the road from those landmarks for the most of duration of the race.

 

En Route to the Marathon Start Line

En Route to the Marathon Start Line
Originally uploaded by sunspotting.

Sunrise touches the ski slopes at Boston Mills as I accompany Rick to the start of his race.

It's peaceful. It's also hilarious, as we observe dozens of men disappearing into or reappearing from the not-so-deep-brush, adjusting the fronts of their shorts and looking furtively around.

 

No Exit

The race is over and we would like to go home. We'd even heed the sign, but it's hard to return when one cannot leave.

Camp Manatoc is so scenic, we didn't mind that we had to backtrack to leave!

swelter shelter with reflected clouds

A heat-reflective window shield in a pick-up truck at Costco allows me to capture a bit of today's popcorn-cloud sky.

(Anyone else see the cloud camel?)

 

Remains of the Day

I drew this picture of the barn 5 years ago. All the Demolition Crew got to sign the mat today.

Something else that's cool? As long as the picture was out of the frame, I took advantage of the chance to 'correct' my name. Instead of the 'rjop' initials that applied to me at the time of creating the drawing, I was able to sign it as 'rjogarcia', a far happier name. The 'p' was for my ex-husband's surname, with which I remained saddled after my divorce.

My name is Rebecca Joy Oerkfitz Garcia. I am thrilled to have 'Principe' deleted from my name. I hated it. And I don't use the word "hate" lightly. Particularly, ESPECIALLY, when there are humans associated with that particular "4-letter" word.

I'll always be an Oerkfitz (my maiden name) and a Kopsell (my mother's maiden name), and I absolutely LOVE, and am proud to be, a Garcia. (I still can't believe how lucky I am!!!) (I wish my level of happiness for everyone getting married. Or WHATEVER venture. Really. It's amazing when you find your soulmate/calling.) It is such a blessing to be rid of unnecessary chains, such as unwelcome names/people/commitments. Marrying one is marrying ALL. 'Nuff sed.

It's far better to have both kept my birth name, and to have a married name with which I may be proud, and with which I may make them proud, too. I have a good heritage of my own. I have married into a family which has been blessed with abundances of inherited pride, from the Philippines and from Rural America, the same as my roots. How God has blessed me.

 

All in a day's work.

That used to be the shed. Criminy.

It seriously changes the landscape at Bill and Louise's farm. It will take several visits to acclimate.

Or not. Time will tell.

I'm very glad now that I made my drawing.

 

Cool. NOW What?

With the skin off, no one is quite sure what the next step is.

Wundermanner sind Bob und Mike. Nekkid, as usual. (Well, partially.)(The excuse? "Everybody needs Vitamin D!!! And M!!! And B.O.B!!!!!")

All the other outbuildings victimized/taken down by this family have simply fallen over at this point of the demolition. This one shudders when pounded, but shows no sign of sweet complicity.

 

Last Bit!

This corrugated metal was all that held some of this shed/barn/outbuilding together for a while. It proved to be one of the most persnickety bits to remove!!

 

'Here, hold my beer and watch THIS!'

(You have to read that title in a Jeff Foxworthy voice.)

Pulling down the beam.

Mag pulled on the twine, and Mike did ... Aw, heck, I don't even know what he did. Definitely something useful. Besides that, all I know is he didn't fall, and that's quite an accomplishment.

 

Bats in the Belfry in the Barn...

Bob and Mike do a high-wire act/barn demolition demo on what increasingly seems like 'borrowed time'.

It was (quite frankly) getting a little scary at this point. And those of us charged with pounding nails out (yes, OUT) of the boards pulled from the shed frame were getting fewer and fewer boards, and therefore less and less work to keep our attention occupied.

The frame was actually rather sturdy. But the knocks it was taking from the sledgehammers Mike and (you can't really see him, but he's on the other end of the shed, on the other cross-bar) Bob were swinging at planks while clinging to the beams ON WHICH THEY WERE SIMULTANEOUSLY HANGING... (shudder), were actually making the entire remaining structure shiver. It was a bit nerve-wracking.

After lunch most of the crew returned to tear down the frame. I was too sun-burnt, and besides, my dog needed looking after. Especially since Someone returned to the farm and told all of the children present to be very afraid of my dog. Which, of course, made the children seek out my dog; first to see what exactly she would do to them, and secondly, to accuse my dog of the evils it would exact upon them (sometimes to warn me to get 'the bad dog away' from them... odd, since they sought her out...). Cleo, however, was a model citizen all day. I found it rather confusing and very hurtful.

Otherwise the day was very nice.

 

Not much skin left!

Some MORE progress...

Hemiptera ROCKS!

It's a milkweed bug! My husband always thinks of me. What an awesome guy!

It was a very interesting day. Many expected to see the families of groundhogs that had made homes in this shed over the years, but they were no-shows. Rodentia was well represented instead, however, by several field mice who ran from the shed to the burn-pile!! (The burn pile was not put into action that evening.) There was a bat (little, but whether brown or black no one took the time to ascertain) in the shed. It had been 'playing possum' for at least an hour before it took off for the trees. I saw several species of spider (wolf, orb weavers, jumping, 'daddy longlegs', others), so many types of beetle (deathwatch, several ladybirds, 3 types of longhorn, 2 types or 2 sexes (I didn't have time to look closely) of click, lightning 'bug', a couple others), and a cricket.

Then (hours later, and to my complete delight) I saw a little brown bat at the gas station, hunting for food which was attracted by the lights, when we made a fuel stop on our way home. What a rich day!!

 

Boom and Bob

I hope we get to preserve this somehow.

Actually, what's going to happen is Rick's Uncle Bill will keep it after all. (Phew!!! I was very worried it would end up on the burn pile!!)

It turns out there's some use for it. Since I'm not sure who reads this blog, I don't care to share what the deal is since it's not my story. It's public enough knowledge that it's going on the utility pole by the road, so that's fair enough to report. It won't be that far removed from its original spot; it'll still be a fair landmark for local folk. I'm glad of that, too.

It's just SUCH a fun and whimsical sign. If it were going to be destroyed, I wanted to salvage it. I'm just as glad it's still got life as advertisement.

 

Skylight

That roof won't keep the rain out now. Heck, it barely keeps Bob out!

Demolition Men

Some progress...

We have arrived to help with the demolition of this barn, shed, out-building, whatever-you-call-it! The whole family is around to help with the deconstruction.

It's a Barn-Razing in Amish Country!! A Community Event! Much food is involved!!

(I helped pound out nails. We salvaged as much of the beams and planking as possible.)

 

Adventure Dog

Cleopatra's all buckled up for yet another adventure this weekend! Today we'll be at Rick's Aunt Louise & Uncle Bill's farm in Holmes County, helping to tear down one of their sheds. This dog's going to need a vacation to recover from our vacation...

Normally I'm not wild about pink, but...

...there always has to be an exception! These are the first hollyhocks of the season. In *our* yard, at least. I've seen them blooming in other people's gardens for about 2 weeks now, and I am delighted to have some blooms in mine!

The next bloom will be black, my favorite. It's extraordinary.

 

Day's Eye

Our daisies are growing simply *everywhere*! This one is part of a clump that sprang up between our brick steps and asphalt (who's fault?) driveway. Persistent! And I love them.

Columbines!

They came back in droves to brighten our front garden beautifully this year. I love columbines!