Busy, busy, busy

Esther and I have both noticed that retirement seems to keep us busier than when we were employed. It just seems like there is a ton of stuff to do and plenty of places to go. It is nice in a way, but it does not leave much time to do anything serious. Maybe that is the point.

We started off our "weekend" with a last walk over at the Chincoteague Refuge Wildlife Loop. There is always something new and different there. This time it was a whole pile of pointy long curved nose birds (some kind of Ibis, I think).

Then, farther along the road, came a shocking disregard for logic. In a previous post I lamented the labeling of the "Closed Gate". Proceeding around the loop I found this travesty, an open gate still labeled as a "Closed Gate". I know the US government can do better. A proper gate is displayed toward the bottom of this post.

As the weekend drew near we got on the road to visit Dad. He was in unusually good spirits, happy to have had an infected tooth pulled. The antibiotics had erased what doctors referred to as polymyalgia. Dad had been limping around and experiencing back and leg pain for months, with no doctor able to provide relief. The antibiotics seem to have killed that off completely. He was ready to walk, one of his favorite activities.

We headed down to a local boy scout camp that the US Forest Service had taken over years before. Esther and I had never been there. The trail started out on a gravel road, but eventually petered out to a track down the hill. Dad (fresh from his 88th birthday) led us a merry chase all the way down to a washout just above Seneca Lake. This is a view of Queen Catherine's Castle. Queen Catherine was a local Seneca queen and matriarch who lived in the 1700s. Her castle was apparently recreated by local women with a "certain frame of mind". They gathered here to discuss topics of the day. I think they were on holiday from Seneca Falls. Anyway, this was a beautiful spot to gather.

All of the other Boy Scout buildings and facilities were removed by the Forest Service. Our local expert, Clay Grove (a former Forest Service manager), told us that they had been discussing upgrades to the site for a "quarter century", but they had not done a single thing. It would be a lovely place for campsites, a retreat, or any of a dozen other improvements.

Dad's walking was the best I have seen in quite a while.

He lead the way back up hill until Esther disappeared in a cloud of dust. This stretch of the road was very pleasant, running along the edge of a grape orchard.

This park had a proper closed gate installation. There is no "Closed Gate" stupidity going on here, just a pair of reflectors to let you know it is closed.

Anyway, we went on to hike up Taughannock Gorge later in the weekend. This place always amazes me. The gorge is beautiful any time of year.

The falls are spectacular from above or below.

Dad decided to have a fake Thanksgiving since we would not be there for the real one. One unsolicited addition was donated by Clay Grove from his garden. I ran down to pick up these trees before he took off to visit his daughter at Auburn University. The Brussels sprouts were so heavy I could hardly pick these up. The stalks were 2-3 inches thick. You either love these or hate them. We loved them. Note the Fibonacci spiral of the sprouts on the stalk!

My sister always provides a pie for Thanksgiving. This weekend was no different. One of my brothers baked a pumpkin pie. Peg baked a beautiful apple pie with a crumb top. Everybody eagerly began to try it, then stopped simultaneously. Somehow she had substituted two cups of salt for two cups of sugar!