Time for Me to Fly

Like many teenagers that aren't successful the first time they take their drivers test this little fella had some troubles. My husband found him in the yard and because the nest was inaccessible it was time to come up with a plan or Dee-Dee would have made a snack of him !An Easter basket filled with straw was placed out of Dee-Dee's reach in the tree where his nest was. The rescue has been successful so far as mama robin has been tending to her fledgling with worms and berries.

Trying to get the nerve to take to the skies my son and I watched and waited, but alas it would not be. Young Bobbin Robin is still there this morning getting breakfast from mom. I've had my eye out for the cat and I see she had a successful hunt last night as an unlucky mouse lies on my porch.

I've watched mama robin chase away birds that have come to close to the nest and its interesting to hear the difference in the chirps Bobbin Robin makes when mama approaches with a tasty morsel. The little fella is preening now so maybe soon he'll try his wings again.

Sweet

The sweet tastes of summer are just begining !

Interesting Insects

The nectar was so scrumptious that the bee paid no attention to me.

Taking time for a little reflection and prayer does a body good.

A Sight to See

Garret and his girlfriend Stacie enjoyed spending time together in such a tranquil piece of the world.

A Favorite Place

Rimrock in the Allegheny National Forest is one of my favorite places close to home. Today was a perfect day for a visit since the temperature was 70 degrees and if you are doing any climbing you can work up a sweat.

You can catch a glimpse of the Allegheny Reservoir standing atop of one of the enormous rocks that has a railing to keep you secure. I spent a lot of time on the reservoir boating and camping in the forest with my family as a child - aah those were the days!

I enjoy climbing the rocks and ascending to the top of the behemoths that are scattered about the forest. Some of the giants can only be admired from the ground for they reveal no obvious way up unless your spiderman.

Having a camera in tow made climbing a little treacherous and I had to set it down on more than one occasion in order to get a secure hold to pull myself up. More photos to follow next post.

My America: Hometown Icons

As a child my school bus passed by this oil derrick on the way to my elementary school and it was easily seen from the playground. I never realized what a rarity it was until it was destroyed in a tornado and it needed to be rebuilt.

The refinery in my hometown has the distinction of being the oldest with 126 years of continuous operation. We also usually have the highest gas prices in the state! On the day of this post we were paying $2.69 a gallon. Our local roads are full of pickup trucks and SUVs, but with the high cost of food nobody could afford to fill up as evidenced by the lack of vehicles on 219.

If you have ever owned a Zippo, it was made in my hometown. Before my sister Kathy moved to Florida she worked there for 10 years or so. The above photo is of the museum which is just down the road from the factory and can be seen from 219. The economic downturn has resulted in hundreds of layoffs and its sister company Case cutlery announcing in today's paper another 45 laid off.