Yesterday morning, drove to TP. Wanted to get gasoline at Costco, but the road leading to it was blocked with orange cones. Maybe they plan to install speed bumps to keep people from using it as a short cut to get around traffic on the bypass.
The gauge kept dropping as I drove, so I got a fill-up at the Marathon station just inside the PA line. Instead of paying $4.69 a gallon at Costco, I paid $4.999 for 15 gallons. $75 for a full tank of gas. Yikes! I put the gas on the Costco Visa, anyway.
On the spur of the moment, I didn't get back on I-78, but instead drove south on 611 along the Delaware River. First time I tried that to get to TP, and the scenery was nice. Plenty of wildflowers to go along with views of the big river. It's phlox season, plus I saw some daisies in season.
Crossed the river into NJ at the Riegelsville bridge. Another first. Took the road along the west bank of the river, including some narrow one-lane sections. There was hill on the left, a strip of asphalt wide enough for one car, and a guard rail on the right. Beyond that was the old canal, and further on, the river.
I knew I could get to Milford on this road, but when I saw a sign that indicated a left turn would put me on CR519, I took it instead. That road took me through some hilly, pretty, and rural parts of western NJ. At one point, I succumbed to the admonition I'd recently read online: "Go photograph what you can't *not* photograph." I pulled over on the shoulder and snapped stills and took video of a phlox-y area along the road.
At last, just after warning PG that I was taking the scenic route and was going to arrive at TP later than usual, I stopped at a 4-way stop and recognized it from another route I've often taken. Go straight ahead, and you pass a high school, and in a mile or two you're back on a main road. Turn right, and you stay on a CR for a few more miles before reaching Route 12.
At TP, I pushed the shutter button a couple of hundred times. Some shots I deleted immediately, some others I downloaded at home and then deleted. A dozen or so were thoroughly FreeStoned, Bridged, and ACDSee'd (one was even GIMPed) before upload to Flickr.
My cell rang and a voice claiming to be from Citibank asked for me to verify a transaction. I hung up and dialed the number on the back of the Citi card instead. Turns out it was legit. The $75 charge at the gas station set off an alarm, and Citi phoned my cell, phoned the home landline, and emailed me to ask whether I authorized that transaction.
A few weeks ago, I stopped carrying the camera case into TP, and in its place I added Velcro tape to both pockets of an old hoodie. Now, the cell phone and its camera ride in the right pocket along with the LumeCube continuous light. In the left pocket I keep the point-and-shoot with the 40x zoom, and around my neck is the DSLR with the prime 50mm lens. Starting to get used to this setup, and it's working as planned. If the shot is right there, that's for the DSLR. If I need to zoom a bit for something, that camera is easy to get at, too. And if a cat is inside a cage, I can slide the phone between the bars and get a shot that way. All the tools I need are at hand, without any unnecessary gear to carry around, and all for the cost of a bit of Velcro tape.
Slept well, awakened early, enjoyed part of the morning in bed, in no hurry to get up.
Mid-afternoon, through the kitchen window I saw a rabbit at the back of the property. It hopped to its left, and I slid to my right to watch it through the window of the laundry room door. Good thing I did. Now I could see a grown rabbit and a younger one a few feet apart alongside the shed. The adult approached the young one from the rear and stopped just behind its tail.
This looked like behavior PG and I had seen many years ago at a walking trail. The young rabbit on that day was a very small one who hopped out of the underbrush, past its mother who was nibbling clover just off the trail. PG and I watched as the adult got behind the little one, and we realized she was "encouraging", let's say, her baby to move somewhere else, back to a safe place. On that day, the baby bunny started to obey and hop toward the underbrush, but then it made a U-turn. The mother rabbit patiently got behind the baby once more and this time, the little one went where it was told.
Today, the older little one wasn't having any of its mother's counsel. The rebellious rabbit hopped this way and that, forcing its mother to expend energy to keep up. At one point, the little rabbit actually obeyed and went under the shed, only to re-emerge seconds later and hop back into the yard. Both rabbits eventually disappeared under a bush in a neighbor's yard.
Supper at Outback Steakhouse (or as the dad humor in me puts it, Steakback Outhouse). With the tip, it came to $79. Yowie. $75 here, $79 there, and pretty soon I'm wondering where all my money went. No wonder all I can afford otherwise is a bit of Velcro tape.
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