Trip Plan

Things I'm going to stop to see on my way back to the Midwest:

The Kinzua Viaduct (again, this time with light): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinzua_Bridge

"Where the Ducks Walk on the Fish": http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2204

A bridge with some fantastic allegorical art-deco bas-relief art (I just adore allegorical art, monumental sculpture, *and* art deco): http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/35444

A graveyard in Cleveland with this amazing sculpture (The Angel of Death Triumphant) and the castle where President Garfield is entombed: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/44626

A memorial to a World War I dog: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/23162

And the Temple of Tolerance, which appears to be another of those giant art installations created by some random guy; I *love* these things!: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/19633

If I was independently wealthy, I would bicycle around the world to meet people who have put so much life and passion into things like The Forevertron or the Temple of Tolerance, or the World's Largest Ball of Twine, and I would interview them and write a book. What leads these people do what they do? What do they have in common? They have a transcendental, otherworldly quality to me.

Potential visits!

Hey, do I know anyone between Syracuse and Wisconsin who'd like to meet me on my way through on Tuesday? Let me know!

(no subject)

I was feeling down yesterday. Lots of stuff is swirling in my brain, and the bad things were outnumbering the good for a while. An encouraging message from Miriam helped, but I almost decided that I didn't want to deal with the cold outside to go on my usual walk with Lily. I'm glad I did anyway. As is often the case when I'm looking for reasons to not to do something fun, once I was actually in the moment, I had a wonderful time. Lily's boundless enthusiasm and excitement are infectious, if occasionally mildly irritating.

The two of us walked to Lincoln Park, climbing the old set of stairs I've posted photographs of before. We walked around the summit, then down a different set of stairs, then along a decaying brick sidewalk on one edge, back up a third set of stairs, and finally returned home via the first set. I like that route; I think we might do it again today.

Afterward, I roped restoman into a paczki hunt, it being Fat Tuesday. The internet suggested a couple places that might have them here in Syracuse. The first one was a Polish restaurant and bakery called Eva's European Sweets. Glenn said their food is wonderful, and the woman behind the counter spoke with a heavy Polish accent. Score; these were going to be the real deal! Except she said they hadn't had time to make any that day. Sadness. The local bakery we tried next was a winner though!

There seems to be a little local language difference. In Chicago and Detroit, paczkis can be filled with all sorts of stuff. At the bakery, the employee pointed out the prune paczkis, and when I asked about lemon-filled paczkis, she said they have lemon-filled donuts, but those aren't paczkis. I didn't see an outward difference, and I was mildly concerned about the prune filling; I've never eaten prunes and was worried about flavor and texture. But I adventurously bought one because I wanted the 'authentic' experience. I got a lemon one too, partly to have a fall-back if I couldn't eat the prune version. As it turns out, the prune-filled paczki was entirely edible, and though it's not one of my favorite flavors, really not too bad. Glenn, who'd never heard of paczkis before I mentioned them, enjoyed his too. I've introduced him to both Japanese sushi and Polish donuts now! I still have to get some Turkish delight for him to try before I leave though....

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Woah; wait. This is weird. I'm the adventurous eater who's getting zir friend to try strange new things. I may have slipped into an alternate universe somewhere along the line.

Dog Walking, Wrist Update

Here's restoman's dog, Lily, at the top of one of Lincoln Park's many sets of stairs.





Stairs are some of her favorite things. I mean, most things are her favorite things. But stairs are the mostest favoritest! I think I got her to slow down a little bit on the way down after repeated halts; the stairs were slippery and I didn't want her pulling me off my feet. But even when she's stopping, she can't stop and has to run back and forth on the steps, or climb off their side to nose around. Back at the house, I tried keeping her on a leash while sitting down in the living room in the hope that she'd sit down and mellow out a little instead of dashing around the house looking for anything and everything she can get her teeth on, and our attention with. It's hard; unless I'm paying active attention to her, petting her and talking to her, she's running in circles, back and forth, looking for toys, chewing on her leash. I don't know how to calm her down for more than ten seconds at a time; she's the most energetic dog I've ever known. (That picture was one of the only ones in a series of blurred noses and tails as I tried to get her to sit for a little bit at the top of the steps before moving on.)

Here's how difficult it is for her to focus on something for long periods. Very often when I give her a treat, she'll chew once or twice and then kind of drop the fragments out of her mouth and forget about them while she casts about for places to go and things to see. Today, she actually dropped an entire treat I gave her for slowing down when I asked and I had to pick it up again, covered in slime, and ask, "Lily, don't you want to eat this?" She did, once she could focus on it. And it's not that she doesn't like them! If she knows I have one while I'm sitting in a chair, she'll start frantically nosing around all sides of me, pushing her way under my arms, trying desperately to get at it. She just can't even hold her focus long enough to eat it once she does!

I, on the other hand, am not so energetic these days. Even though I don't have my stereo set up for music anymore, I still sometimes spend thirty minutes to an hour sitting in my recliner, blanket over me, letting my mind wander, sometimes napping briefly. Sometimes napping a little less briefly; I think I just slept for more than two hours. That's not something I've done regularly in the past, or wanted to, but it feels so good. I'm hoping that I'm still in some kind of recovery mode and that that will wear off. Or that it's related to my still somewhat funky sleep schedule. I'd rather have a solid span of active hours and then sleep for a while. But I think it's also been good listening to my body and doing what seems right while I have the opportunity to.

I had my first, and last, physical therapy appointment today. Everything looks really good so far. My strength is significantly reduced due to pain under exertion, but he expected that. I have another three weeks or so before the hole in the bone where the screw was is likely to be filled in, and until then I must avoid compressing or twisting motions so it doesn't rebreak. That's advice I will follow! So no bicycling until a few weeks after I'm settled in in Illinois. After that, I can start doing some strengthening exercises, as well as the other exercises he gave me today. I used my phone camera to record video of a few of them to make sure I get them right; I want to make sure I can keep doing this right without follow-up visits! He's fully confident that I'll be on a bike and doing hundred mile rides once I'm healed, which was a real relief to hear.