{"id":279,"date":"2011-10-09T17:51:52","date_gmt":"2011-10-09T17:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/?page_id=279"},"modified":"2011-10-09T17:51:52","modified_gmt":"2011-10-09T17:51:52","slug":"17-chaplin-and-shades-of-escondido","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/17-chaplin-and-shades-of-escondido\/","title":{"rendered":"16. Chaplin: And Shades of Escondido"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>2<sup>nd<\/sup> Kentucky Posting<\/p>\n<p>Written in my tent on Saturday night, October 8: east of Bloomfield, KY, off of Highway 62.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>8305 \u2013 <strong>Early Thursday evening, October 6:<\/strong> east of Central City. The edges of the pavement are grooved like this, or in some not-too-different manner, in all of the states I\u2019ve ridden through so far. If a driver falls asleep, or just drifts off the road while fiddling, say, with an electronic device, the rattling this uneven surface causes on his tires will alert him to the danger. Good idea. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> But it\u2019s also a big nuisance to somebody like me because it\u2019s practically impossible to negotiate with a heavily loaded bicycle, at any speed. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> In some cases, what\u2019s off the pavement to the right would be unstable and dangerous; it could tip me over instantly. Gravel like what\u2019s seen here, for example, is treacherous. Sometimes there\u2019s nothing at all \u2013 just a deep gully, or some obstacle like a piece of garbage or a pile of dirt. Gotta keep an eye out for anything like that. It doesn\u2019t take much to turn over a bicycle. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> If there isn\u2019t any oncoming traffic, what\u2019s coming from behind will pass me wide on the left \u2013 nothing to worry about, except just to keep an eye returning to the mirror on my glasses. If there\u2019s nothing coming up from behind, the oncoming traffic is no problem either because I\u2019ve got a whole lane to myself. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> But if both lanes are occupied \u2013 especially by large vehicles like trucks, semis or RVs \u2013 then I have little choice but to stop and get off the road. Once a couple days ago, I did this so quickly, in such an unfavorable spot, that the bike pitched over on me. It takes a lot of strength to pull it off the ground again, then muscle it back up an incline to the pavement. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> This dance with deadly highway traffic reminds me of when I was touring Patagonia half a dozen years ago. There\u2019s this stunning pinnacle of stone in the Andes there. The peak has an Irish name, which I forget, but it\u2019s so well known that it was featured on the cover of the guidebook to Argentina that I carried and studied daily like I\u2019m studying my DeLorme atlas pages every evening now. Experienced climbers come from all over the world to \u201cconquer\u201d that peak in the Andes \u2013 and every year some of them die there. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> I can remember photos of rock climbers scaling sheer faces of stone \u2013 like El Capitan, in Yosemite, California \u2013 and how just contemplating those images would make my palms sweaty. I don\u2019t like heights, and I\u2019m definitely not a climber. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> But I am a seasoned vagabond, in numerous modalities, and my means of travel now does have certain elements of risk. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> What kind of serious travel doesn\u2019t? How could the sweet rewards of freshness and openness occur if there were no risk? I am reminded of an aphorism to the effect that the difference between an ordinary trip and an adventure is that, in the latter, you might not come back alive. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> There is no way around it. Every journey of the dedicated vagabond is a metaphor of life \u2013 whose one, most certain characteristic is that no one gets out of it alive. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> The core components of authentic rambling are at the essence of real living too \u2013 challenge and uncertainty, joy, exhilaration, skill, planning and foresight, alertness \u2013 as well as a bit of luck, or grace, or providence (whatever you want to call it). All of these contribute to one\u2019s presence \u201con the edge,\u201d as they say in my books and classes on yoga \u2013 which beats the hell out of any drearily conditioned routine.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8305-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-280\" title=\"IMG_8305 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8305-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8306 \u2013 <strong>A lovely and placid evening on an untroubled road,<\/strong> which is the kind of payment you will usually get in exchange for taking up the challenge. I slept two nights ago in that same patch of woods, a little ways farther ahead, on the left.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8306-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-281\" title=\"IMG_8306 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8306-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8308 \u2013 <strong>A mist still clings to the fields,<\/strong> as I look to the north from an ascending section of the bridge over the Green River, which forms the border of Ohio County.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8308-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-282\" title=\"IMG_8308 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8308-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8311 \u2013 <strong>Still facing north.<\/strong> Notice the rope on the lower left, suspended from a tree limb. So simple, and so much fun \u2026 to play, to swing far out and then let go in a place like this, when you\u2019re a kid.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8311-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-283\" title=\"IMG_8311 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8311-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8313 \u2013 <strong>Another pleasing view<\/strong>. I think the countryside in Kentucky is the prettiest I\u2019ve seen so far. This may be in part because the weather is so perfect, and because the autumn has clearly begun. This isn\u2019t even the part of Kentucky I thought I\u2019d find most appealing \u2013 still on the other side of Lexington.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8313-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-284\" title=\"IMG_8313 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8313-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8316 \u2013 <strong>Another stretch of quiet, country road.<\/strong> The sun is still close to the horizon, and the morning mist up ahead has not yet burned off.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8316-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-285\" title=\"IMG_8316 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8316-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8315 \u2013 <strong>Somebody\u2019s work is almost done.<\/strong> The hay is rolled up neatly. All that\u2019s left is to gather it and store it.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8315-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-286\" title=\"IMG_8315 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8315-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8318 \u2013 <strong>I see quite a lot of this <\/strong>\u2013 junk shops, or antiques, depending on which dialect of English you\u2019re using.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8318-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-287\" title=\"IMG_8318 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8318-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8319 \u2013 <strong>Main Street, Beaver Dam<\/strong>. Just after a nice breakfast at the Green Tea Caf\u00e9.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8319-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-288\" title=\"IMG_8319 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8319-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8323 \u2013 <strong>Real autumn colors,<\/strong> and another perfectly clear sky.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8323-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-289\" title=\"IMG_8323 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8323-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8326 \u2013 <strong>County by county,<\/strong> the road is tended and surfaced differently. But the same gracious countryside continues.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8326-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-290\" title=\"IMG_8326 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8326-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8328 \u2013 <strong>Strings and Things Trading Post.<\/strong> I stopped in the vain hope of laying in a couple beers to enjoy while listening to the ballgame on Friday (yesterday) evening. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Not far back up the road, I\u2019d missed my last chance for the next hundred miles or so. Another stretch of dry counties \u2026 back in the Bible Belt.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8328-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-291\" title=\"IMG_8328 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8328-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8331 \u2013 <strong>Here is one of several selections of musical instruments inside. <\/strong>The woman tending the \u201ctrading post\u201d told me her husband was a musician. This region <em>is<\/em> the home of Blue Grass, you know.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8331-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-292\" title=\"IMG_8331 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8331-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u00a0#8333 \u2013 <strong>The bicycle is often a conversation piece.<\/strong> That\u2019s fine with me. I love to chat with folks along the way. This time, it started out: \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d (In disbelief.) How far have you traveled? How can you ride that thing?\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8333-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-293\" title=\"IMG_8333 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8333-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8330 \u2013 <strong>\u201cCome to Kentucky!\u201d<\/strong> Ken (left) moved up here from Alabama because he bought a house. He\u2019s been gardening all his life and says, \u201cYou\u2019ve got to play around in the dirt.\u201d <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Ken\u2019s buddy Thomas (right) was watchful and taciturn. He didn\u2019t second Ken\u2019s enthusiasm \u2026 nor did he contradict it.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8330-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-294\" title=\"IMG_8330 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8330-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8336 \u2013 <strong>Set deeply back from the highway,<\/strong> as is customary, this home is not one of the more elegant ones I\u2019ve seen. But it does have a typical aspect of well-tended graciousness.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8336-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-295\" title=\"IMG_8336 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8336-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8347 <strong>I had to scramble last night,<\/strong> as the sun was going down and I encountered a stretch of relatively well-populated road that offered no likely camping sites. At last I noticed the opening to a field in this little burg. I found an inconspicuous spot well back from the road, shielded on one side with a border of trees and brush.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8347-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-296\" title=\"IMG_8347 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8347-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8349 \u2013 <strong>Another rosy dusk,<\/strong> looking back towards the highway, all of my camp-making ready for the night.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8349-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-297\" title=\"IMG_8349 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8349-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8354 \u2013 <strong>Big occasion.<\/strong> Maureen of St. Louis has kept me informed by email regarding the Cardinals intoxicating come-from-behind bid for glory. St. Louis is one of the most passionate baseball towns in the USA. Maybe that\u2019s why, having grown up there, I still love the game, even though I long ago quit being a dedicated fan. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> The Cardinals played last night in Philadelphia, to determine the division winner in their best-of-five-game playoff series. That was worth pulling out my radio for, and giving the evening to. I raised a scratchy but adequate signal from KMOX out of St. Louis. The Cardinals came out ahead \u2013 one to nothing \u2013 the single run having been scored in the top of the first, on a lead-off triple and double. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> I asked several times along my way, but still haven\u2019t heard how the Cards did in Milwaukee this afternoon, starting the series that will produce the National League champions. I anticipate that \u2013 should I come across a roadside tavern tomorrow afternoon, with a big screen TV showing the Cardinal-Brewers\u2019 game \u2013 I wouldn\u2019t be too much of a purist to stop and while away an hour or so inside.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8354-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-298\" title=\"IMG_8354 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8354-copy-e1318179940251.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More on the Redbirds:<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com\/index.jsp?sv=1&#038;c_id=stl<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" title=\"Between Brewers and Cardinals, Sparks Fly, Along With Chaw\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/svc\/oembed\/html\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbats.blogs.nytimes.com%2F2011%2F10%2F08%2Fbetween-brewers-and-cardinals-sparks-fly-along-with-chaw%2F#?secret=lODNzUrIRT\" data-secret=\"lODNzUrIRT\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8356 \u2013 <strong>This morning, Saturday.<\/strong> There is always a telltale imprint where my tent was pitched the night before.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8356-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-299\" title=\"IMG_8356 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8356-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8359 \u2013 <strong>I never lay my bicycle down on the ground for the night. <\/strong>I always find a tree, or something, to prop it up against. If nothing else is available, I use my walking stick \u2013 as shown in the Illinois shots I took with Jon Voelz. But that\u2019s a last resort; I prefer to keep the stick with me in my tent at night. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> Aside from the aesthetics, this makes it easy to unload my bike in the evening and, as seen here, to saddle up again the next morning. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> I always hang my helmet up too, with my riding glasses and trusty mirror inside. The glasses are normally fogged in the morning, and need wiping off. My <em>reading<\/em> glasses are another matter. They go into a case which I keep in the larger of two zippered pouches on the front of my handlebar bag, seen here on the ground at bottom center.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8359-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-301\" title=\"IMG_8359 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8359-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8361- The way back out to the road this morning \u2013 along the very edge of the field, then right.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8361-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-302\" title=\"IMG_8361 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8361-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8362 \u2013 <strong>Today I had another \u201cday without dollars.\u201d<\/strong> No spending, no touching of money. I need to restrain my profligate spirit and get budget-conscious again. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> It\u2019s amazing how just a couple mouthfuls of simple fare will take the edge off your hunger. Also, how instant coffee can taste perfectly fine when that\u2019s all there is. <strong>\u00b6<\/strong> I sat here in the parking lot of a convenience store, where the lady inside was kind about letting me wash up in the restroom and take hot water from her beverage dispenser. That\u2019s a lot less trouble than setting up my camping stove.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8362-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-303\" title=\"IMG_8362 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8362-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next morning, Sunday, from Miss Denise\u2019s Grill and Grocery in Chaplin, KY.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8421 \u2013 <strong>Miss Denise,<\/strong> proud proprietor, friendly and helpful to a fault.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8421-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-304\" title=\"IMG_8421 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8421-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Never a dull moment. Turns out Miss Denise, a gal about my age, lived in California for many years, starting at Valley Center in San Diego County, right next to Escondido, one of the critical stopping points on my own life trajectory.<\/p>\n<p>What I was able to write last night is about as far as I can get on my laptop battery. This includes a lot of weighing and sorting through the latest haul of pictures.<\/p>\n<p>Amazing luck, but Miss Denise has wifi here. She says it was the first thing she put in. So I\u2019ll be able to post before I leave.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8364 \u2013 <strong>How much difference a day can make.<\/strong> View from my breakfast \u201ctable\u201d yesterday.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8364-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-305\" title=\"IMG_8364 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8364-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8367 \u2013 <strong>Someplace in here<\/strong> there may be a bargain, a treasure, just what you\u2019ve always been looking for. If you\u2019ve got the time to search \u2026 and room on your rig to carry it away.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8367-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-306\" title=\"IMG_8367 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8367-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8374 \u2013 <strong>Just what I was looking for<\/strong> \u2026 autumn colors, a clear blue sky, pleasant temperatures. And, lo, I still have digital \u201cspace\u201d on my camera to pack it away.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8374-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-307\" title=\"IMG_8374 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8374-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8375 \u2013 <strong>Another frugal meal break<\/strong> \u2013 peanut butter, crackers and two cups of hot tea. Not as attractive as being waited on and having something hot. But it still feels good to chow down, and get out of the saddle for a spell.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8375-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-308\" title=\"IMG_8375 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8375-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8377 \u2013 <strong>\u201cCan you move your bicycle up against the wall?\u201d<\/strong> I\u2019d had it propped up next to me on the nice, soft couch. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>No problem, of course, but the tone of irritation in the owner\u2019s voice reflected a general truism: The more affluent the area, the less friendly, generous and accommodating the people are going to be. The woman at the more countrified convenience store I\u2019d stopped at earlier was actually solicitous about whether I\u2019d gotten enough of her free hot water for my instant coffee. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>The owner at this later, much more spiffy-looking spot did agree to let me draw 2 cups for my tea. But he came out and questioned me as I was finishing up. Someone had made a mess at his coffee dispenser, and he was sure no one else had used it. I insisted I hadn\u2019t touched anything but the hot water spout. I also offered to clean up the mess anyway, but his employee had already done this. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>I\u2019m not sure whether he believed me or not, as he returned inside. He did mutter \u201cyou\u2019re welcome\u201d when I thanked him again for the hot water.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8377-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-309\" title=\"IMG_8377 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8377-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8379 \u2013 <strong>If I had only known<\/strong> I was going to come upon such a large and beautiful crafts fair in Bardstown, I wouldn\u2019t have promised myself not to spend or handle money yesterday. Interesting and good spirited as this gathering was, I didn\u2019t linger there too long, amidst all the pretty souvenirs, savory food and enticing beverages.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8379-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-310\" title=\"IMG_8379 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8379-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8382 \u2013 <strong>A peculiar feature of this event<\/strong> was that I didn\u2019t see a single person who wasn\u2019t white.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8382-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-311\" title=\"IMG_8382 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8382-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8384 \u2013 <strong>Until I was just about ready to leave,<\/strong> when I came across John here, peddling his line of delicious barbecue sauces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8384-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-312\" title=\"IMG_8384 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8384-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fortunately, he had some free samples laid out for the passers-by, so I can attest that what I dipped those little weenie bits into was downright yummy. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Speaking of black guys, as I was leaving town, I propped up my bike in the shade of a building so I could peel off my T-shirt and study my map. I was accosted by a very black man with a cheerful, African-accented voice, assuring me that I was indeed, still in Bardstown, KY. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>After I\u2019d recorded his image and extracted the outlines of how he got to be where I found him, I was required not to divulge any of these specifics, about a certain well-traveled, educated and experienced professional man \u2026 wielding a broom in the parking lot of a small Kentucky town. I told him about talented immigrants I know in New Jersey, who experience the same visitations shame. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>And I reflected \u2013 yet again \u2013 on the subversive strategies of our ruling \u201celites,\u201d who aim to vitiate and weaken the Euro-Christian nations by swamping them with alien folk, then provoke conflicts among these disparate social elements. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Like it or not, my guess is that these people are here to stay. I have wondered if the successful counter strategy may not entail a sort of jujitsu \u2013 going with the flow \u2013 accepting, and banking on, the bedrock of our common humanity to prevail against the criminal sociopathy of our unduly selected rulers. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Encounters, like the one I had with the good-natured African fellow yesterday, help to persuade me that \u201cgoing-with-the-flow\u201d acceptance \u2013 redirecting the Adversary\u2019s own vectors of force, to bring him down \u2013 is the proper way. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>This is consistent with a haiku I learned from a student of Japanese culture and a mentor of many years in San Francisco, which translates something like this: \u201cWhen caught in a riptide, surrender, not resistance, will bring you to shore.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>#8378 \u2013 <strong>Back to the fair:<\/strong> \u201cI heard a sweet voice, so tenderly calling \u2026 I knew it must be the voice of my Savior.\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8378-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-313\" title=\"IMG_8378 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8378-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Quintessentially American \u2013\u00a0 <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pitt.edu\/~amerimus\/foster.htm\">http:\/\/www.pitt.edu\/~amerimus\/foster.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sXroRFZv078\">http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=sXroRFZv078<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Incidentally, I can\u2019t remember where or how (or even if) I (really) heard this \u2026 but the one song most associated with my dad\u2019s English-born father, which he (allegedly) used to always hum or sing, was another Stephen Foster classic \u2013 \u201cBeautiful Dreamer.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>#8385 \u2013 <strong>Picturesque Central Bardstown.<\/strong> On a busy Saturday afternoon.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8385-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-314\" title=\"IMG_8385 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8385-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8388 \u2013 <strong>Historic central Bardstown.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8388-copy1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-315\" title=\"IMG_8388 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8388-copy1.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li>#8391 \u2013 <strong>These shoulder-less bumps are the worst and deepest I\u2019ve encountered yet.<\/strong> Moreover, this section of 62 was fairly busy. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>But there is a way you get into the groove of a difficult passage; you actually feel like you\u2019re dancing with your weighty and cumbersome machine, simultaneously watching forward and aft, to keep in synch with the traffic, like some basketball artist maneuvering up a hostile court; then at just the right moments you\u2019ll sit one number out, patiently wheeling off the road and pausing to let the lines of vehicles stream through in both directions.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8391-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-316\" title=\"IMG_8391 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8391-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8395 \u2013 A brief spell of relative calm, as shadows lengthen from the west.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8395-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-317\" title=\"IMG_8395 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8395-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8396 \u2013 <strong>Please excuse.<\/strong> I know \u2026 old barns are such a clich\u00e9, in paintings and photographs. But I couldn\u2019t help myself.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8396-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-318\" title=\"IMG_8396 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8396-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8397 \u2013 <strong>Bloomfield<\/strong>. Another pretty little \u201cwide spot in the road.\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8397-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-319\" title=\"IMG_8397 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8397-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8399 \u2013 <strong>Well back from the highway.<\/strong> Walking my heavy rig up towards the campsite I\u2019ve already sought out and settled on, about halfway up the tree line here.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8399-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-320\" title=\"IMG_8399 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8399-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8401 \u2013 <strong>This is a trick I haven\u2019t used in a while.<\/strong> A strong, overhanging limb will work just as well as a tree trunk for keeping my parked bicycle upright. You can\u2019t see it too well here, but the front wheel is kept in place by another strap, holding it to the frame. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>I carry more of these straps than I need \u2013 in long, medium and short, but mostly long. They are another illustration of the fundamental truth that it\u2019s often the simplest articles which are the most versatile and necessary.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8401-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-321\" title=\"IMG_8401 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8401-copy-e1318182111346.jpg?w=225\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8405 \u2013 <strong>Ouch!<\/strong> Walking beside your bike, or just standing next to it and hoisting it back upright, with the heavy-burdened front wheel subject to swinging violently and pulling the whole machine askew with it, can expose your shins and ankles to a slicing action by the peddle. <strong>\u00b6 <\/strong>Yesterday morning, as I was leaving my breakfast perch, I had such a mishap. I was squeamish and avoided looking at the little gash, until I was set up in my tent for the night, by which time it had stopped hurting.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8405-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-322\" title=\"IMG_8405 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8405-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>#8408 \u2013 Pre-dawn this morning, Sunday, as I gather my gear and saddle up.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8408-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-323\" title=\"IMG_8408 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8408-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8415 \u2013 Pretty view as I walk off of the field beside which I\u2019d slept.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8415-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-324\" title=\"IMG_8415 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8415-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8418 \u2013 <strong>Looking back out towards the highway,<\/strong> beyond the \u201cNo Trespassing\u201d sign, pointed in the opposite direction. In fact, this one had been damaged; the only parts you could read properly stated \u201cNo Hunting. No Fishing.\u201d No problem. All I wished to borrow was a few square yards on which to rest for the night. Thank you.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8418-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-325\" title=\"IMG_8418 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8418-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>#8420 \u2013 <strong>Cattle ranching is a common sight.<\/strong> You find about as much pasture in these parts as you do farmland. A lot of horses are kept here too.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8420-copy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-326\" title=\"IMG_8420 copy\" src=\"http:\/\/blamming.wordpress.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/img_8420-copy.jpg?w=300\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Finally, a couple of sobering thoughts. Among the interesting bits of information Miss Denise fed me with my ample breakfast were stories off the front pages of Friday\u2019s and today\u2019s <em>Kentucky Standard,<\/em> both of which issues I have before me as I write.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kystandard.com\/\">http:\/\/www.kystandard.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s lead is titled \u201cMan indicted for throwing infant boy into ditch.\u201d Denise added, \u201cThis is the kind of people who live around here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s horror story was about a Bloomfield man, \u201cone of two inmates who escaped\u201d the Blackburn Correctional Complex a week ago and are still on the loose. I might not have slept so easily last night had I known these desperate characters are prowling around the area. It isn\u2019t the coyotes I hear sometimes yapping and howling in the night that are most to be feared; the two-legged varmints are a lot more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>Church is out now, and the lunch crowd is drifting in. Denise knows all these people. She says everyone in this town of 600 is related.<\/p>\n<p>The sky is overcast, but it\u2019s still supposed to get up around 80 this afternoon. Time to get this posted, settle up with Denise and roll out a few more miles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2nd Kentucky Posting Written in my tent on Saturday night, October 8: east of Bloomfield, KY, off of Highway 62. 8305 \u2013 Early Thursday evening, October 6: east of Central City. The edges of the pavement are grooved like this, or in some not-too-different manner, in all of the states I\u2019ve ridden through so far. If a driver falls asleep, or just drifts off the road while fiddling, say, with an electronic device, the rattling this uneven surface causes on his tires will alert him to the danger. Good idea. \u00b6 But it\u2019s also a big nuisance to somebody like me because it\u2019s practically impossible to negotiate with a heavily loaded bicycle, at any speed. \u00b6 In some cases, what\u2019s off the pavement to the right would be unstable and dangerous; it could tip me over instantly. Gravel like what\u2019s seen here, for example, is treacherous. Sometimes there\u2019s nothing at all \u2013 just a deep gully, or some obstacle like a piece of garbage or a pile of dirt. Gotta keep an eye out for anything like that. It doesn\u2019t take much to turn over a bicycle. \u00b6 If there isn\u2019t any oncoming traffic, what\u2019s coming from behind will pass me wide on the left \u2013 nothing to worry about, except just to keep an eye returning to the mirror on my glasses. If there\u2019s nothing coming up from behind, the oncoming traffic is no problem either because I\u2019ve got a whole lane to myself. \u00b6 But if both lanes <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/17-chaplin-and-shades-of-escondido\/\">Continue Reading &#8594;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-279","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ehomba.ro\/blamming5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}