bird in hand

last saturday me and jenny road tripped to lancaster
stopped at a few antique joints along the way
one of my favorites is pheasant run antiques in parkesburg, pa
it's a huge barn with all kinds of goodies and old treasures
great stuff
reasonable prices
and they have a cool fat cat who sleeps fireside

we hit some outlets...banana republic, 9 west, j crew, and then arby's
i got some footless leggins at j crew and a raspberry velour tank top at banana
jenny went nuts and had 6 shopping bags
including some killer olive green alligator heels

we then went to visit a fellow we met labor day wknd at the wrinkle ranch in avalon
we accidentally only brought $12 cash to the wrinkle ranch so we had to meet and greet some older males at the bar

jay (bird) lives minutes from the outlets in bird in hand, pa
his 5 bedroom farm house is amazing
it's been in his family for 3 generations
unbelievable furniture, chippendale mirrors, monogrammed blanket chests, and canopy beds with beautiful quilts
felt like i was at the winterthur estate
the kitchen was huge with this spooky pantry similar to the shining

he served us corona roadies and we took off in his jeep for a tour of his neighborhood
we passed amish farms with girls in the fields cutting down tobacco, a one room school house, and a covered bridge

we hit some golf balls in his front yard
aimed at some weeping willows lining the conestoga creek (where conestoga wagons were made back in the day)

he wanted us to stay over night and go see the grease band but we lied and said we had plans
he's a nice guy if anyone's interested...50-something retired banker farmhouse guy

i love my mom

a pic from her surprise 70th bday party that my sister hosted this past june

marshalton

that good ole marshalton triathlon
is approaching 2 weeks from sunday
oct. 1
it's usually a beautiful fall day and always a swell time
biking, canoeing, and walking about 10 miles
then cold beers at the four dogs
can't wait to blow by everyone in the first ironman class heat with the t 1000

saturday morning

so i wake up early saturday morning, gear up and jump on
my orange trek 1000
i pass my neighbor jo on the way out
she shows me her new $4200 windows
real nice, clean windows with fiberglass screens
she's excited
she tells me that our neighbor "bea" (this name is false not to protect her but because i never cared to remember her name)
told her that i almost ran her over on my bike the other day
i wasn't on my bike the other day and fortunately haven't seen bea in weeks?

bea is 92 and lives with ron in the first floor corner condo
ron is a widowed snow bird and heads to florida every winter
a few winters ago he returned with crabby bea
i guess ron considers her a companion and someone to drive the gold oldsmobile
isn't that what cats and cabs are for?

just a little history on bea...the free-loading lady friend
a few years ago i knocked on ron's door and she answered
i asked her if she'd receive a dell pkg for me and she said, "we're going to genardi's today" and closed the door

last summer my buddy and i were leaving my place walking over to board the R3 to phila for a concert and she squawked "don't walk on the grass"
bea, ron and some other fossils were chatting on the sidewalk so we said hello and walked around them, yes entering onto the grass...MY GRASS!
i didn't appreciate hearing "don't walk on the grass" WHERE I LIVE!

so anyway back to saturday morning...i leave jo, my nice neighbor with the new windows, and cruise thru wallingford and media en route to ridley creek state park
on the way i roll down preston road
haven't been on that street for many years
very surreal
i reminisced
ran into brent and as usual he shared some preston road dirt
mr. long is re-married
mr. barlow has a girlfriend
the fittipaldi's still live there
some trees were destroyed by the storms
the neighborhood kids still consider #10 the "nolan's house"

i leave upper providence and cruise down sycamore mills
i'm goin about 8 mph, still thinking of preston road childhood memories
station wagons with wood, kick the can down near the turberville's house, lawn chairs circled around our front yard as my dad lit his fireworks display with a 6-pack of schlitz in him...
i then feel this male presence to my left
"hi, nice day huh?"
"yeah it is" i say
"how many miles you doin today?"
"about 25" (not a lie)
"how bout you?"
"did 40 already, about 20 more" (probably not a lie either)
"great day huh?"
"yeah it is" i say again
"see ya"

by now i'm doin about 20mph on my skinny tires
my cheeks are at my ears
many thoughts cross my mind as i whiz by jacques lane
"that guy was cute"
"if i wipe out i'm fucked"
"i'm going too fast"
"do i have disability insurance?"
"could i crawl to mr. wiggin's house for first aid?"
"that guy was really cute"

i enter the park and loop around twice and head back to swarthmore
the cute biker passes me again on sycamore mills
this time uphill and not conducive for conversation
just a friendly out of breath wave

i make it home safely after a great morning ride
i approach rutgers ave and pass by ron and bea's corner condo
i don't see big tall visually impaired ron or bea in her sag harbor skirt
so i keep riding to my door
as i'm getting off my bike and opening my door i hear "excuse me excuse me" and i see this blue skirt coming at me
"you almost hit me the other day" she says
"i haven't been on my bike this week, it wasn't me"
"yes it was" she says
she goes on and on pointing her finger at me and my bike accusing me of almost running her down 2 days ago and says "you should walk your bike through here"
i looked at her and said "you should stay in the house"

i couldn't believe it...there i was in my courtyard arguing with a 92 yr old
she is unbealievable!
when is that cold front coming?
bea needs to go south

tennis talk

a banana incident last night during maria sharapova's quarterfinal match called into question the idea of courtside coaching

sharapova and her dad were watching each other and eating bananas

courtside coaching...come 'mon
it happens all the time

tomorrow at 11am she plays #1 seed amelie mauresmo and i hope she gets the nike cocktail dress beat right off her 19 yr old back
sharapova is #3 seed and the highest paid female athlete

i think mauresmo will end up playing henin-hardenne (# 2 seed)
and win the open saturday night...good sports this wknd

where is my mom?
she doesn't write
she doesn't call
i know she's in her lazy boy recliner following all this flushing meadow tennis while
fantasizing about roger, james, and andy

oh boy...my banana incident link above doesn't connect for some reason
and it displays a "let" at the us open site
"let" how cute...i think i'm gonna let it be
just google "sharapova and the banana" for the story if interested

huh?

McDonalds McFlurry cups redesigned for hedgehog safety The British Hedgehog Preservation Society has won a years-long fight with McDonalds to shrink the size of the opening in a McFlurry (a frozen edible-oil dairy slurry) reduced. The present wide-mouth McFlurry cups serve as fatal hedgehog traps by sucking in 'hogs who lick up the left-over slurry, get stuck, and die.
Up to now the opening in the container has been large enough for hedgehogs to get their heads into for a lick of the left-over dessert -- a trap they have then been unable to withdraw from, so dying of starvation in untold numbers.
But from September 1, the wide-mouthed opening in the lid of the McFlurry containers will be reduced in size, making them too small for the sugar-loving animals to get their heads into. Link