Ruminator

Photo found on Google This is a story as I know it to be true.  It changed me forever. In 1923, a young woman named Mary Dean drowned in a river.  Conflicting stories recorded her death as suicide, others said that she had fallen overboard and simply drowned.  Shortly after Mary’s death, three ferry boats disappeared on this river, thus resulting in immediate closing down of the boat landing and nearby island.  Several teens have also died while swimming at this boat ramp over the years since Mary died.  All ruled suicides. The nearby island at one time housed a sanitarium, run by a doctor who owned several dogs, rumored to have killed his only son. There was even a documented report about 50 years ago of two people in a pickup truck parked in this very spot I was going to.  The truck was found empty and the bodies never recovered.  Blood was splattered everywhere, and the investigators found hairs from an unknown species in and around the truck.  They never solved the death investigat...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Thirteen years ago (2007) at 3:59pm my Dad took his last breath.  It has been a long time, but this time of year still bubbles up some of those memories. My Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer (are you listening smokers) in May 2007.  This was 23 years after he stopped smoking, but the damage was obviously already done.  I watched a 6’0” man go from 230+lbs down to 170lbs in the course of six months.  He was in and out of the hospital, but ultimately died in a hospital bed in the living room of his home. I remember the day well.  They called hospice on Sunday (day before he died), and they came that morning to stop all meds except the pain meds.  Our neighbors, some family, all came and went throughout the day.  We all said goodbye to Dad, not knowing when the actual end would come.  I have one regret about that day.  My sister- and brother-in-law left to go get medication for dad from the local drugstore.  Dad died while they were gone. Vividly, I remember the mom...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today I hit the trail again for the first time in what has seemed like an eternity, yet it has only been a few weeks.  I needed the hike. Mark and I had planned to meet Sunday morning at 8am at Mount Saint Francis.  No actual plan on distance or time, but the idea of “ cutting back to the car ” if I needed to, seemed like a safe plan. As I arrived Mark asked if I was feeling okay and added, “ if something is wrong I am not dragging you back to the car, I will call for a rescue helicopter ”.  I appreciate his love, friendship and sense of humor.  Not knowing how my body would react, we headed off. As we ambled along the gravel path, past the water tower, then the field, we approached trail 10.  Our eyes scanned the field to the left, forest to the right and trail below for any proper photography subjects.  We talked and caught up on how both we and our families we doing.  I have noticed with Mark the conversation we do not force it.  We tackle a variety of subjects...

Photo by: Tim Bindner I have not written in a while, but I have a good excuse why.  I was sick and ended up in the hospital. Monday November 30 th began a week of pain, weakness, weight loss and misery for me.  As my symptoms began, I notified my boss I was not feeling well and may need a bit of time throughout the day to rest.  The next day I couldn’t function well and called in.  This is where another aspect of my misery began.  As co-workers and friends hear about my illness, they began reaching out to me.  Most conversations began the same with I am sorry you are sick or feeling bad, then they those conversations quickly turned to diagnosis.  I have a few friends that are doctors, but no one I received a diagnosis from has any medical training. Multiple times I was told I had COVID-19.  Then I was told by someone it was a stomach bug.  Another mentioned the flu.  Yet another told me a story of a relative who had the same symptoms and had stomach cancer. Jump ahead to Thursday of t...

Photo by: Tim Bindner Today I am going to write about my hike along the Breeden Ridge Trail.  It is one I planned to take recently but got scared off by the suggestions of the Property Manager because of potential dangers.  This time I took a friend along with me. As described on hikingproject.com the Breeden Ridge Trail can be navigated by beginning at the intersection with  Rocky Ridge Loop , Breeden Ridge is one of O’Bannon Woods State Park’s newest trails. It joins with the new  Potato Run Trail  near the Nature Center. Breeden Ridge begins with a classic hand-built segment leading into a rocky section with a number of optional lines. Past the rocks, the new machine built trail begins, with a rolling climb to the top of Breeden Ridge. A stair-step segment through the rocks leads toward the top of the ridge. Once at the top of the ridge, the trail twists, and winds, with a number of berms and rollers, and descends through a challenging, rocky staircase toward more berms, ...