(or - springtime, when the nuts and the bears return)
When I went to 'the Cottage' to check out the Susquehanna River level, there was, naturally, still a hole in the road, so I had to walk the dirt road to 'the Cottage'. Fortunately it was relatively warm and very sunny, and though it was very windy, the road is surrounded by hills & trees that blocks the wind.
So I'm walking down the dirt road, and I see a pile of crap in the middle of the road. Of course at first I assumed someone had their dog on the road. But then I did a double take, and realized it was not dog do-do.
After looking at it for a second, it occurred to me that bears have come out of hibernation in the area, and the pile of excrement was bear poop.
Worse, it looked fresh. For having been lying out in the sun & dry wind, it didn't look too old nor particularly dry.
I sang the rest of the way down the road, so as not to creep up on and startle the bear that pooped the poop, if he was still in the vicinity. And thought about ditching the cheese crackers I had in my bag.
Fortunately, I didn't come across the pooper... I mean the bear.
I could hear the river even from the road. And when I got to the river the noise of the wind and the water was so loud it was almost deafening.
I could hardly hold the camera steady in the violent winds.
So though it was sunny, it was still a pretty stark sight.
But it looked like the waters had receded just a tiny bit. And there was no evidence that the river had risen much farther into the yard than it had the day before.
So it looks like this is possibly the 7th worst flood in recent times. And not even comparable to last year.
On my way out on Route 2013, I saw a man near the river walking his dogs.
Or rather, he was just standing there watching the river while his dogs ran around the railroad tracks and back to him. But the reason I say he was walking his dogs is because there was no other car in sight besides my own. So he was definitely a local.
I was reminded of the various warning cautions I heard from various people worried that I might get too close to the river and get 'swept away by flood waters'...
Because this guy looked like he was standing right on the precipice. And with 2 big dogs. I really hope they weren't the type of big dogs that like to jump up and bowl a person over!
And then I went to the Falls Bridge to take photos.
While on the bridge, taking photos of the river, with my camera, from behind me I hear a car approach, slow down, and a man's voice saying in a very assuming tone, "Wanna ride?".
Naturally I turned around in confusion & mistrust, with a you-can't-be-serious look, and he then said, as if backpeddling, "So, do you need a ride?"
I said, with my camera still in my hand of course, pointing to my car right behind him, in a you-can't-be-serious tone, "My car's right there."
To this he first looked back to see the car, as if he hadn't noticed it (he may not have), paused, and then responded, "Well, I thought you were stuck."
To that I pointed to my camera, and sweeping a hand across the scene of the river, I said in a tone as if speaking to an obstinate customer service line operator, "I'm taking photos of the major flood that's going on here."
Now before anybody accuses me of being ungenerously rude to a gentleman who was offering assistance to a woman he thought was a damsel in distress...
He had a slick tone and demeanor that resembled the type of guy I'd had the misfortune to come across when walking the streets of the less reputable parts of the city of Wilkes-Barre some years ago, who would lean out his window and ask if I needed a ride. And of course, what it really meant is, "Are you for sale?" (in some way, shape or form). Granted, I wouldn't have expected to encounter that in a rural town like Falls in broad daylight during 'rush hour', but there it is.
My car was parked right nearby, and he obviously hadn't seen it, or at least hadn't realized it must be mine, until I pointed it out. Thus, I believe the "I thought you were stuck" line was actually a lie he cooked up after he realized he wasn't coming across as charming & I was treating him like the suspect he seemed to be.
I actually had the camera in my hand, and was actively taking photos when he stopped and interrupted me. He couldn't have failed to notice that I was busy unless he was too busy thinking about picking someone up.
There's a major flood going on, and over the past 2 days I'd seen several other people along the river, and on the bridge, looking at the water and taking photos of it. Not only that, but people do, even in ordinary times, walk along bridges to look at the water & the view.
If someone were on the bridge with car trouble, looking for a ride somewhere, why would they be several yards away from their car, and completely ignoring traffic and their car? Someone whose car was stuck would be standing with their car. And someone looking to be picked up wouldn't have their back to traffic.
The Falls Bridge Deli, not to mention a couple of other businesses, are practically in spitting distance of the Falls Bridge, and they have a pay phone. It's not like I was standing forlorn out on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere.
Numerous other cars passed by and none of them stopped, or even slowed down to gawk. So I think it was pretty obvious I wasn't in trouble.
A real gentleman would not imagine that a lady of any sense would accept a lift from a complete stranger. A woman who would get into a vehicle with some guy who stops on the road is taking a big risk indeed. It's a good way to get oneself assaulted, robbed, raped, or worse - killed. The risk isn't worth it, and any man thoughtful enough to offer assistance, would realize that.
A genuine concerned citizen with sense would offer the use of their cell phone, or offer to go to the nearest payphone and make a phone call for the stranded person, or they would ask if there was anything they could do to help.
They wouldn't be offering "a ride". In fact, a sensible person wouldn't offer a ride to a complete stranger out of concern for their own safety.
I think a normal person would've just driven off after the first explanatory sentence out of my mouth, not bothered to stick around to explain themselves, or carry on a discussion about it in the middle of the bridge, right in the lane.
And what was also a tad odd, is that he drove a few feet, and actually stopped and looked back at me... until I raised the camera to take a photo of him.
No, he was being shifty and he knew it, and I called him on it. If I was out in the middle of nowhere, or it was after dark, in a city, etc., I would've just brushed him off politely in the interest of safety. But in a populated place in broad daylight, where I've often seen police cars patrolling, I'm not about to just pretend his behaviour was normal, because it wasn't.
(And if you're still thinking it's polite to offer a woman one's not acquainted with, on a bridge, 'a ride', under any circumstances, before you defend the wanna ride guy, re-read numbers 8 & 9 again, because obviously the word "killed" didn't register the first time.)
After that, I made my way home over the mountain again, and while traveling through South Abington Township, I passed what might be the wanna ride guy's home someday, if he's lucky...
The Clarks Summit State Hospital.
And as I took a photo, I thought about how they have pretty nice grounds there, and quaint architecture to boot. From the outside, at least, it looks like the type of place to which I could retire happily. Though of course looks can be deceiving. I've known 2 people who've worked at the facility, and I was told, many years ago, one of them very suddenly stopped wearing a neck tie to work for some reason.
And thankfully, it was sunny and warm traveling through Clarks Summit, as opposed to the snow encountered yesterday.
I was worried about the dirt road being washed out from the rains. I have 4 wheel drive, but I still don't like to muck about. Usually after snow melt and heavy rains, the hill at the start of the road is all rocky & uneven. I was delighted to find that someone had leveled it out recently.
But then I got to the bottom of the road and discovered I couldn't go any further. Not because of rocks or mud, but because of a big hole in the road. I believe there's a pipe under the road that carries a stream under the road there, and the flooding must've busted it and the road caved in there.
And then it was snowing in South Abington Township (near Clarks Summit) as I went over the mountain on my way back to Scranton on Route 307. As soon as I started coming down the Morgan Highway it turned to a downpour of rain.
By this evening they were predicting 32 feet.
As of midnight the river level in Wilkes-Barre is at 30.76 feet.
Update: River level during the night is hovering around 30.73 feet & 30.83 feet.
(or: OCD & germaphobia - now mainstream & hip, or imprudent as well as psychiatric?)
I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a germaphobe. But who isn't these days?
I don't like to shake hands with people a lot, especially during flu season. I may wash my hands more than most people. Of course a lot of my hand washing is usually due to stickiness, from eating candy. Though I have been known, during the winter time, to rush to a public restroom after feeling oblidged to shake hands with someone after I've heard someone in the vicinity sneezing.
I've even done extensive reading on the topic of contagious diseases. It's one of my interests, despite the fact I would never choose a career in the medical profession... Probably because I have a phobia about some types of medical facilities and a, probably healthy, fear of sickness.
But I have the luxury of being able to compare myself to friends and family who have some of the same phobias as myself, or even more phobias than myself. Two my friends who seem more germaphobic than me. Of course they actually both work in the field of health care, which may have something to do with it.
But since I spend time with people who are washing their hands & using antibacterial hand soap & waterless antibacterial hand lotion, quite frequently compared to myself, I can easily consider myself as normal, and simply concerned about real threats. (And I don't mean Ebola or Malaria; I mean viruses known to be a threat in my part of the world, such as influenza or West Nile Virus. Though I never use deet bug repellent yet rarely attract mosquitos even in the woods & countryside.)
I don't think I'm irrational or compulsive about any of that sort of thing. But I can so very easily understand how one can become that way.
Sherry applies raspberry scented antibacterial lotion before eating popcorn at the cinema.
But now it seems as if being germaphobic, even to the point of OCD-like symptoms, or being diagnosed with OCD, is almost in style and hip. And I don't think it's because of the tv series Monk, I think the existence and popularity of the show reflects the widespread openness about these things. As perhaps does the recent popularity of the film The Aviator.
People like Howard Hughs, or the fictional character of Adrian Monk, are, of course, extreme examples. But the behaviours and feelings do seem more popular, more widespread, or at least more & more out in the open.
And this is demonstrated by the popularity of all the "antibacterial" products on the market today. From antibacterial hand soap, antibacterial waterless hand washing lotion, antibacterial everything, and a plethora of disinfectant products.
There's more than just the basic Lysol products of my childhood.
I was getting ready to watch a movie, and before I got the dvd player on, the commercial I saw seemed the very epitome of this target marketing.
Chloe's non antibacterial dish detergent. It has a nice scent, hands are soft, and dishes are clean. The dishes are washed well, it doesn't seem necessary to involve antibacterial agents.
It was a commercial for the new Dawn with Bleach Alternative, which is being touted as a breakthrough formula for removing what they called "Unseen Food Residue", whatever that might be.
Actually, they explain on their web page that though dishes might "appear to be clean", "often there is food residue that is still left on the item".
Well, damn, and all this time I should've been examining my dishes under a microscope!
I'm thinking of the people who run out to buy 'Dawn with Bleach Alternative'. Who's going to be the one to inform these people that they sleep with bugs in their beds?
Probably the brilliant marketing strategist who gets someone to invent some type of more broadly affordable hermetically sealed Bedroom Bubble to sell consumers for their homes which can somehow keep out the bed bugs and everything else.
I think of this because the movie I watched right after seeing that commercial was the film, Fear Dot Com, (which I thought was quite awful); But in this movie, the public health worker informs the cop about dust mites, and he's not too happy about receiving the education.
Now of course some people are actually allergic to dust mites, and that's a real problem. But I think even those people merely have to cut down on the amount they're exposed to. Most people don't have to irradicate them completely & live in a bubble.
And of course today's modern hygeine and disinfection methods provide an environment where people live in much less danger of contagious diseases.
But let's face it, a lot of the fear is not rational. And the more fear people have, and especially the more irrational the fear, the easier it is to prey upon people to part with their money for increasingly elaborate products which are not necessarily imperative to a healthy life.
Indeed, many of the people who carry around antibacterial lotion, or use antibacterial soap, are getting sick just as often as anyone else, if not moreso. Probably because antibacterial agents apparently kill off "good bacteria" as well, which can apparently leave one even more vulnerable to the bad stuff.
I think this is along the same lines as the push for the more prudent use of antibiotics, which my most recent family doctor, (Scott Prince DO of Wilkes-Barre), supports, judging by the posters on the wall in his waiting room, and his reluctance to prescribe antibiotics willy-nilly.
WebMD with AOL Health - Cleanliness Rules Germaphobes' Lives
"In the Monk TV series, gentle detective Adrian Monk works the grimy streets of San Francisco but is so driven by a fear of germs that he must scrub his hands after shaking hands with someone. Monk has been called the "poster boy" for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
...
It's true that hand washing is the single most important thing you can do to prevent catching an infectious disease, including colds, flu, hepatitis A, meningitis, and infectious diarrhea, according to the CDC. But that's not license to scrub hands raw."
APUA: antibacterials
"Using antibacterial agents to destroy many organisms before they enter the body may not always be the best way to stop the spread of infectious disease. This is because we need "good" bacteria to control and compete with "bad" bacteria.
...
In certain settings, antibacterial agents are essential to fight against infection. However, if used too frequently and indiscriminately, certain antibacterial agents�those that leave trace chemical residues and that target particular processes in the life cycle of bacteria�may, like antibiotics, select for resistant strains.
Generally, the best way to remove "bad" bacteria is through good hand-washing practice using a non-bactericidal soap and water. Proper hand-washing will remove 99.9% of bacteria, and normally, few other control measures are needed."
The MUHC on the cutting-edge of research
A relatively new theory called the hygiene hypothesis has gathered steam around the world. This "curve-ball" idea, still in its infancy, works on the basis of �whatever doesn't kill us, will make us stronger.'
...
There is clear scientific evidence to support the hypothesis.
...
The problem, particularly in the developed world, is that our current environment is almost too clean - we've become 'germaphobes'.
...
Many scientists believe that our fastidious hygiene is at the heart of observed increases in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions such as allergic reactions, eczema and asthma; and make no mistake these diseases are raging out of control - one third of North Americans suffer from asthma; as many as 40 percent have some form of allergy.
superficiality >>If the facade is what's important to you, all you wind up with is an illusion. Disillusionment is the gift of substance.
-- Chloe<<
(more)
Man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much... the wheel, New York, wars, and so on, whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely the dolphins believed themselves to be more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons.
The Book in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
