Weston Bluffs Trail Kona Rove

Sun trapped

 

Snownami?

 Two years into “15 days to flatten the curve,” COVID finally made an appearance at my home.  First Pam was a bit sick and then me a couple days later (now a week ago). Hopefully we got Mom out of the house in time.  We both came back positive on a PCR test, prompting a call from the State.  I called back and the person wanted me to help them fill out a form.  She had no good answer when I asked “Why do you think I want to help you do that?”  Statists gonna State. 

I’ve had cases of the flu—actual influenza—that were much, much worse.  A week later, I’m mostly just congested and extremely tired. Fortunately, we were able to have my sister pick up the elderly parent for a few days relocation. This could have been much worse.

We had snow overnight.  Originally forecast for 1-3 inches, there is over six in the back yard.  And it is coming down sideways, which is always nice. 

 

Fox 4 reported that this was a record snowfall for KCI.  Several places around the metro are reporting up to 10 inches. It appears to be all but over.  I really wish we’d had more of a winter this year, but Monday and Tuesday are forecast for the 60s.  Ah, well. 

Blue Springs Milk Cartons

 The local news just reported that today, the Blue Spring, Missouri school district went on “lockdown” for fear of “shots fired.”  The Blue Springs police responded. The news report did not say how long the lockdown lasted. Though I imagine it was probably several hours.

Apparently the “shots fired” was merely a milk carton popping. 

How have we come to this?

My father was a young man, really a boy, when he joined the Army in 1944. Underage, at 14 he had his “growth” in already as the Appalachian denizens would have put it.  He told me of changing his birth certificate with ink eradicator and enlisting.  Of course, he was discovered a year later and sent home, but that really isn’t the point.  

The World War 2 generation is only one removed from some of us.  I was born in 1965, so the first of Gen X, not really a Boomer, but I believe I think more like a Boomer.  One generation, possibly two, from the men that stormed Point du Hoc and fought in the Pacific at places like Pielelu and Iwo Jima. 

 A milk carton.

The late Rush Limbaugh referred to this type of cowardice as the “new castrati.”

I think he was right.

New Year

 January 1, 2022

I’m up early as I often am.  Usually I cannot stand to lay in bed for too long.  Over night a storm system moved into the area and there was a pretty steady sleet coming down earlier. We seem to be right on the edge of the ice-snow boundary, with accumulations increasing as you go north. (Well that seems obvious). Temperatures have already hit the high for today and will drop to below zero by morning. The Kansas City forecast for this area predicts three to six inches of snow on top of the accumulated ice. 

I sit here in the warmth enjoying fresh brewed cup of coffee.  I’ve no idea where the beans for my cup of “go juice” came from, South America? Africa? It occurs to me that the comforts that we take for granted in modern civilization are a fragile indeed. Thousands of people, huge sums of money, and expenditures of great energy were required to bring this simple cup to me this morning. 

Of course, it isn’t just the coffee. I look about my living room and consider what would be left if the technological clock were turned back a century or a bit more. Only two items would remain: an Antebellum armoire and a ceramic coffee cup. The existence of everything else, down to the sheetrock and paint, is dependent upon a complex network of economic and industrial forces. The bases of those two things is the dollar as reserve currency and oil as the engine of modern manufacturing. There is a hard push from the Left to change this.  I listen to people talk about a “green economy” and they have no idea what that means.  They have no understanding of physics or how the real world functions. Their goals appear to be driven by some sort of childlike magical thinking.

Just as the Lefty ideas of a green economy and cars running off of unicorn farts and fairy dust are a fantasy, so are the ridiculous ideas of total self-sufficiency of many survivalists. Even the Amish communities are not completely self-sufficient, though they get closer than any survivalist stockpiling five gallon gas cans with stabilizer added. I have no problem with the idea of preparedness—I do the best I can toward this. I do stock up on “beans, bullets, and band-aids,” as well as other things.  However, I’ve never lost sight of the fact that it is primarily a stop-gap measure for short term disaster or political and economic disruption as seen in 2020 and 2021.  I’ve followed a number of survivalist type writers for about twenty years now and I’ve never seen one say what to do once you’ve consumed the last can of beans. There is a reason that dystopian fiction portrays a 95% population loss.

Robert A. Heinlein, the acclaimed Dean of Science Fiction, wrote about the signs of a society in decline. High taxation, deficit spending, restriction of liberty, violence, Balkanization (though that term had not yet entered the lexicon), were all mentioned.  Additionally he included interpersonal rudeness in small matters. That is blatantly evident today, particularly online.  I would include a coarsening of the culture.  A moment ago an advertisement for a new TV show was on.  Apparently it centers around several middle aged women. One referred to another as a “Tik-Tok ho.”  The person did not see this as an insult, but something to which to aspire. How has this happened?  I think we may be well beyond the tipping point to the fall. 

I hope I’m wrong.

The Gear

 As I mentioned a few months ago (welcome to slow blogging, as if anyone reads this), I said I might be up for a bicycle ride.  Years ago, 2005 to be exact, gas prices in Topeka went on a sudden spike and I purchased a “commuter bike.” At the time I was a correctional counselor at a women’s prison. This prison was on the opposite side of town from me and the trailhead to the Shunganunga was near my house. All set, I rode off to work.

A few weeks later gas prices returned to normal.  A few months after that, I quit the job at the prison, which I truly hated.  A year after that, I deployed to Kosovo for a year.  The bike went into storage. For years.

Fast forward to May 2021.  The bicycle remained in storage all that time and most recently was under the deck and exposed to the elements the last two winters.  I’d thought of selling but never did.  Then one day I got out of the shower and took a good look at myself in the mirror. I did not care for what I saw.  A few days later and the bike went to the Santa Fe Trail Bicycle and Coffee Shop. 

Imagine my surprise when the staff told me I had a really good bike! They called it a Trek 7200 hybrid. It did need some TLC and I had a serious tune-up with many replacement parts.   Twenty-four gears, added some saddle bags, and really bright LED lights ( I mean like motorcycle bright). The shop did good work and bringing it back to life took only about $400. The next day I took it on a ten mile spin about town and followed this with several trips to work and back. Now it seems to ride like new. I did have to add a new seat as my butt was going numb.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve more or less given up on the idea of being a distance runner.  At some point there is just too much damage and too much time.  I’m blaming most of it on wearing body armor in my forties.  It is very unlikely that even with significant weight loss that my back will ever allow me to be a serious runner again. But we’ll see where the Trek will take me.

Rails to Trails--Windsor MKT and Rock Island Line

 A few days ago I stayed overnight in the small town of Windsor, Missouri. I was there for a funeral and it was just a bit too far to go to an evening visitation, drive home, and then back down for a funeral the next morning. 

 

Looking online for a place to stay, I came across Kim's Cabin's, LLC. Perfect. These little cabins are nicely furnished, sleep six, has pretty decent Wi-Fi, and come with a nice kitchenette. And even better--there is no television!!! A perfect stay for a quick overnight or someone wanting a bit of peace and quiet.

The cabins are located along the Katy Trail near the Rock Island Spur trailhead. The Katy and Rock Island are a part of the "rails to trails" movement, where unused rail corridors are dedicated for recreational purposes.  The Katy and Rock Island are open to hikers, runners, bicyclists, and equestrians year round. There are a number of readily available publications through an internet search, showing routes, points of interest, and services available in each town. 

The morning before the funeral I spent a short time walking about the trailhead on both the Rock Island and the Katy. 

This sign is located near where the cabins are next to the trail. 

The Katy Trail runs from Clinton, Missouri some 237 miles east to Maachens, Missouri.  In 2016, the Rock Island Spur was opened from Pleasant Hill to Windsor, Missouri.  It currently spans 47 miles.

Looking up at the Katy Trail where it crosses the Rock Island Spur.

Looking down from the Katy.

Services available in Windsor.

The state park rules.  Be courteous.  Respect private property. What a great idea!

The opening of the Rock Island Spur in 2016 was supposed to be only the first step in extending the trail further east.  The next several towns are to be Iona, Cole Camp, Stover, and Versailles. The economic impact to these small towns will be significant. The extension appears to be in the works, but a significant requirement for funding is needed before it can be initiated. See the status here: https://rockislandtrail.org/status/

Something about my overnight stay in Windsor seems to have awakened something dormant within me. Perhaps it is merely a sense of mortality from attending the funeral of a friend's parent. Years ago, I was once a runner.  Now the decades have passed and I have the abuse from deployments and a military career.  I am slowly facing the fact it is unlikely that my back will ever allow me to be the distance and trail runner that I once was. However, I may be up for a hike or possibly a bicycle ride.