Fall, dead raccoon, and the swan family parade

A perfect fall day yesterday. The tips of some trees are starting to change color, and an invigorating spirit in the air. We saw the swan family, gliding in single file from the lake, around the Peninsula, and up to the lullwater. It was a fine day for a family expedition.

Alas, there was a dead raccoon on the Peninsula. When we got back, Ber e-mailed 4 people in the Parks Dept, asking for the results of the rabies testing. They are supposed to test every dead raccoon - it's their policy. BUT, when there was a dead raccoon last year, it was not tested. After many e-mails asking about the results of any rabies testing, Ber finally got a response saying that, although such testing is their policy, the Park workers who took the raccoon away didn't know about it. Sounds like the tree falling in the empty forest. If the people who are supposed to carry out the policy don't know about it, does the policy really exist? Anyway, today the raccoon was still there, maggots and all, but there were two orange cones demarcating it.

The Vanderbilt Playground is finally open, and there were a couple of kids playing in it. The most exciting part is a sort of geodesic dome climber, with a network of rope inside for climbing. Looks great! Can't wait to see kids on it. Years ago,I took my kids to Sesame Place, where they have (had?) a huge network of rope ladders, tunnels, etc., for climbing. I had as much fun as they did.

Not sure when I can bring pictures back. My computer got invaded and crashed. I'm now on an old laptop and gradually learning how to use it. My fabulous daughter is trying to resuscitate the desktop. We'll see. If she can't we'll either get a new one or wipe the hard-drive clean and install Linux, which I will have to learn. Luckily, I'd backed it up a few weeks ago, so all is not lost, just temporarily unavailable.

Amazing, the problems of modern technology that were inconceivable some years ago. I remember 1976, when my geek husband and I went to a computer convention in Atlantic City (pre-gambling, really cheap and shabby). I had a nice time horseback riding on the beach, but couldn't understand Ber's enthusiasm. After all, I thought, why would ANYONE want a computer in their home? Moral: Don't look to me for investment advice. Oh, there was a squeaky-voiced nerd named Bill Gates there, who took the stage to yell at everybody for using his BASIC program and not sending him royalties. Never heard from him again, LOL.

Dog training in the park

Great day for biking in the park, which I did. Very humid, so the speed is quite cool and wonderful. Best not to stop - that's when the sweat comes. I'm trying to train JJ to be more obedient to my commands. She's 8 and, I hate to say it, doesn't really come when called unless you get really, really enthusiastic. Now I have tiny treats in my pocket to give her when I call her name without shouting and she comes. Took a while to start. She has the incredible doggy sens of smell, and wouldn't leave my side as long as she smelled the treats. Anyway, I biked around the Nethermead, and she stayed pretty much right at my heels (wheels, actually). Every so often she will run back across the meadow to Ber, but we figure I'm the Prodigakl Person because I keep going away and coming back, so she is more concerned with keeping up with me.

She can keep up for a while at 5-7 MPH. At 9 she falls back, but I slow down a bit, call her name, and she comes. 8-12 MPH is my comfort zone in the Park. Sometimes, coming down the big hill,k I am up to 20, and absolutely terrified. A sign of aging. Once, I'd be thrilled and excited. Now I imagine the tire will burst - I'll die. A car will come in from a side road, I'll die. Martians will land right in front of me - I'll hit them and die. The awareness of mortality!

The three singletons are fine, grooming themselves by the lake. No one was feeding any of the wild life today.

Update/hearsay on the alleged proposed toilets at the Wellhouse. Ed tells me that he found the Parks Dept. Budget somewhere on line. $900,000 has been allocated to turn the Wellhouse into bathrooms. He also says the older fisherman say there used to be bathrooms there, so it wouldn't be that big a deal to update them.

Nothing is still happening at Vanderbilt playground. Wouldn't want those sprinklers to be available in the HOT weather, now would we. What is the delay?