The Drive

I divided the 2900 miles of drive into 3 days.  Sometimes I drive straight through with a few naps at rest areas but prefer two hotel stays to break up the drive.  Day 1 was light traffic from Oro Valley, AZ to Amarillo, TX.  Awoke Day 2 to rain and the expectation it would rain for most of the entire day to central MO.  That was a long day.  But....

.....Day 3 was all sun.  Driving through southern IL and IN, crops are barely emerging from the ground.  Too much rain kept farmers out of the fields during early spring.  What we need is a more equitable distribution of precipitation.  I can think of one state that would benefit from more of it.

And then, in western OH, this happened.  A truck crashed, entering a construction area so I sat for over an hour.  Did enjoy getting out of the SUV and chatting with the other drivers.  What else can you do?  Arriving in Granville, OH sooner than I expected, I.....

....toured my woods.  A couple of already dead trees had fallen so looked forward to starting the chainsaw.

The 400 red oaks that I had planted as seedlings many years ago, are thriving.  I feel something like parental pride when among them.  I'm going to make sure this land remains as it is and will probably mount a sign that says, "Wilson Woods".  That's what some of the neighbors call it anyway.

My first full day, I dropped my bike at Rick Miller's, a well respected bike mechanic and good guy, for a tune-up.  Then to the woods, and began a long day of work fun.  Cut two ash trees, victims of the emerald ash borer, a pest brought in from China via pallets. The wood makes for good burning.

Then I began splitting the pieces (manually of course). I enjoy this activity too but have to warm up to it, increasing the duration of splitting each day.  I don't do much upper body work in AZ so my back began feeling the effects so.....

....I switch to clearing and burning brush.  Still bending over a lot but at least I'm not picking up heavier wood.  Rick dropped off my bike mid day so ready for a ride.