Miscellaneous

Anomalies at the Autumn bird feeder:

A cute pair of Wood Thrushes have hopped around beneath the feeder for nearly two weeks. At some point they will surely continue their migration, but for now they appear to have amble food and warmth here.  Smile.

A few days ago, two very young baby Cardinals appeared. Maybe the late season young of some of our local residents. So young there was no hint of a crest, coloring, etc. At first, they merely sat on our crab apple tree, trying to eat LEAFS. We quickly refilled the sunflower seed feeder! After other birds--parents, maybe--showed example feeding behavior, the little pair learned.    Big Smiles.

Hummingbirds continue to drift through, stopping to feed at the Zinnias and Cannas. I don't trust myself to have hummingbird nectar feeders: I could see me forgetting to re-fill it, doing it improperly, killing masses of humming birds!  Frown.  So I rely on my nectar flowers.

Miscellaneous books:

Rosamunde Pilcher's "The Empty House".  August Reading.  Vintage Pilcher, published in 1973.

Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods". Once upon a time, I thought I wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail; I was about 20 then. The book is entertaining, for sure; funny. Does have some good tips for long hikes.  I read "At Home", it was a better quality read. I sense a "pot boiler" in "..Walk..". On our recent trip, we strolled a fraction of a mile of the AT at a Pennsylvania State Park near Gettysburg.

"A Perfect Spy" by John LeCarre. This is LeCarre run wild. Amazing analysis of the personality (disorders) of a high-functioning espionage agent and his ultimate ruin. I plan to read all of LeCarre's novels, if possible.

Sojourn in the East: Pittsburgh Deserved Better than This--too much rain!

The city's art museum shares facilities with the natural history museum--convenient shared entry price.  We enjoyed our day at these museums very much; then found a cute campus bar and restaurant, the Union Grill I believe, close by for a gooey dinner and shared bottle of wine. Then a nice long walk back to our Air B&B on Squirrel Hill! Cooler in the evening, a perfect day for me.

Due to weather related back wash from Hurricane Gordon, our second and third days in Pittsburgh were wet. On day 2, we walked in moderate rain to cover the downtown tourist areas, took the Incline up to the Grandview area.

Geographically stunning, with the formation of the Ohio River before us.

Then rode a second Incline down to river level. The Incline is a 19th Century-flavored experience. Or European.  One funny scene: as some passengers got off at the top, a tiny little girl about 5 exclaimed to her Dad "This is NOT Safe!"

Day 3 was a total wash-out. We went to Pamela's on Squirrel Hill for amazing breakfast, but it was soooooo wet with chilling rain. We spent the rest of the day in bed with our books. We never do that, so I guess it was OK for once.

Air B & B -- My new Enthusiasm!

Somewhere in the Eastern US

So far, our recreational travels took us exclusively in the US: National Parks, biking, camping, touring, visiting family, etc.

We camp sometimes, if weather, convenience and the activity suit. Or we stay in motels. Neither Hubsy nor I have any desire to tangle with RV's or trailer type camp-mobiles; one of the few things we completely agree about (along with not smoking). The price of on RV covers tons of motels, hotels and resorts, in my opinion.

Motels can be Heaven or Hell, like anything on the road. On the recent trip, we had two very nice ones and one Horror. And--gee, after all these years, motels are boring!

On a trip last May, we used a very economical Air B & B in NC-- we dipped our toes in the experience.  It worked very well, was novel and fun.

So this trip, we reserved rooms in both PA and NJ. Both were fun, safe and unique experiences.
We enjoyed vintage homes, nicely appointed and decorated by caring hosts. We met and enjoyed interacting with well-behaved pets. We met fellow-travelers from the US and India at one place.
The company (Air B&B) seems very good about vetting host and guests; the vigorous ratings of both parties seem to keep everyone on their best behavior--everyone wants a superior rating.

My goal was to select homes in neighborhoods similar to our own; the home above closely resembles our next door neighbors! We would rather go out for our own meals (breakfast), so I did not try to find that service. As a "senior citizen", I watch out for little irregular features, steps, minor hazards. (I can trip over my shadow). I'm pretty social, so can tend to get drawn into the hosts' worlds--that could be good or bad, I guess.