June 5, 2011

It's hard enough to find the time to write this blog once. This morning, early, I had another post written only to lose it in the Ethernet.  So here goes with a second attempt.

"That one's not a tail-dragger, Dad"

Last week on Memorial Day morning Fred, Mark, Spencer and I made the trip to west of Bainbridge to the grass airfield for the annual Haas' Fly-in Breakfast.  I had been up most of the night Sunday but after a nice smorgasbord breakfast Spencer and I managed to walk the entire flight line and enjoy the old and new flying machines.  He has a pretty good concept of lift, drag, control mechanics, engines and weight conservation.  I just have to get him out to the Ross County airport and up in a CAP plane. His last day of school was Thursday. We are officially on summer schedule now.

Looking East towards Bainbridge

We were on the tandem for a few miles after school on Thursday.  He is improving as a stoker and we should be able to do some road rides soon.  Rainy May allowed me 301 miles in the saddle and 830 for the year so far. Not my best year, but better than 2010.


Work Wednesday started with training in unarmed self defense, concentrating mainly on back of the squad maneuvers.

Happily, the belly award went to the CPD instructor.

The rest of the day was DOAs and codes. Two DOAs were long term undiscovered in the well above normal for June heat (90's).  A shocker happened at the ER when we discovered a working code... our retired CFD Chief David Carnes probably had an AMI while helping his son on a roof in Londonderry.  Dave was a gentleman, Mason, friend and mentor.  I can honestly say that, while we are around death and disaster almost daily; Dave's demise weighed heavily on my heart. His church-filled funeral on Saturday was preceded on Friday night by viewing with formal CFD gasket honor guards and a Masonic service.  Following the funeral we had crossed ladders for the procession  in front of the main (only) station.

Storm line above Adena ER just at sunset.

May ended a little drier than it started. But we are still experiencing pop up thunderstorms in the afternoon.  On Saturday evening we attended an outdoor Mexican fiesta two doors down at the Gillespie's just before a hail and thunderstorm at dark.  The six hens are still in the backyard as I haven't finished the coop/tractor at the cabin yet.  They are content and productive.  They average five eggs a day and six some days.  Interestingly, several neighbors have expressed chicken envy but not so much that they will get their own hens.

Sunday I had planned on biking at one with the Roadie group but was called in for an explosive (hazmat) incident.  Some one had set out a metal

At the put in; pretty tame griffiti, huh?

container of tear gas, grenades and fuses near a trash pile on Mulberry St and CPD noticed it gassing off.  Three hours later, with the Columbus Bomb Squad, I drove the CFD pickup truck into the city park annex for disposal by fire in a pit.

Zack and Fire Department Josh.

Later in the day, Spencer and I did get to put the kayaks into Rocky Fork Creek at Barrett's Mill with two co-workers; Josh and son Nate, Christy and her fiance´ Zack. This was Spencer's first solo and he did very well.  After two hours of beautiful paddling Nate, a ninth grader, and Spencer  put out at the Rt 50 bridge so that the adults could finish the float with a run through the chutes of Paint Creek at Falls Rd.  The other three adults had never done them.  The water in the chute appeared to be about Class 3, a little too daring for the kids. Just below the confluence of Rocky Fork (of Paint Creek) Paint narrows into a gorge about 1/4 mile long.  As we entered the gorge the thunder we had been hearing all afternoon now added an ominous lightning flash just over our shoulders.    I guided the others through finishing by"showing" them how to swamp your boat while surfing the last standing wave and riding out the end of the run under water.

Christy and Zack at Barrett's Mill Dam.

The rain held off until we had the cars ferried and the boats tied on top.

Coop/tractor in progress.

Today Spencer and I worked on the sidewalks in front of the Temple until about eleven when the temps grew too high for that work.  After moving desks and office spaces around, we finished off around 1230 and came home .  He stayed at Connie Meyer's and I went out to the cabin for more work on the coop/chicken tractor and finishing touches on the mower deck repair to the '74 Cub Cadet.  I didn't get to jump in the creek as planned since it was nearly seven before I got home.