CAPSIZED ISLAND--

Toppled trees on this small island in Mansfield's Clear Fork Reservoir near Lexington make it appear the island has, indeed, tipped over.

Recent heavy rain events have saturated the ground to the extent the moist soil is not always capable of anchoring shallow rooted trees, then the gusty winds of passing weather systems make short and fatal work of them.

This photo was taken by Tommy Barnes, a well known local radio personality at Mansfield's WMAN AM and FM stations and shared by Peggy Volz Smith who lives in the neighborhood of the reservoir and has offered frequent Facebook commentary on her own recent storm-related conditions.

GENERAL GEORGE CUSTER--
Born New Rumley, Ohio, December 1839


One synopsis of the general's history reads thusly:

"George Custer was born on December 5, 1839 in new Rumley, Ohio.  He served in the Civil War with General George B. McClellan.  He became a brigadier general, and his pursuit of General Robert E. Lee helped to bring an end to the Civil War.  In September 1868 he joined the 7th Cavalry in Kansas.  On June 25, 1876, he led 210 men into battle at Little Bighorn against Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.  Custer and all of his men were killed in the battle."

We rolled into the general's hometown one recent afternoon during a geocaching outing.  New Rumley is located between Scio and Germano in very sparsely populated, northern Harrison County.  It's one of those rural towns so small the village limit signs could be displayed on the same post.  Well, more or less.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a fairly elaborate memorial display in this tiny village especially given the manner of death, often described as humiliating, suffered by the decedent.

There was a larger-than life bronze statue of the general with multiple, nearby panels depicting significant events of his short, 37 year life.  The display was done with taste and dignity.

But, we were chagrined to see the weed-infested condition of this memorial.

While the general lost the last battle of his life, he served his country with distinction while the country was struggling to place a solid foundation under its newly born form of democracy.

Shame on you New Rumley.  The general deserves better!

oooops

GREAT DAY FOR A RIDE!

The morning's forecast was for more of the same sunshine as grandson Dane (left) and son Brian with wife Kate (right rear) rolled across my dam.  That's my bike in the foreground enjoying the morning's sun.  I pushed it there from its shady parking place to help evaporate the night's condensation.

Soon I was suited up and we meandered southeast through Butler, Mohican State Park, Jelloway, and Danville, headed for a church camp north of Walhonding.  It was the last day of this camping cycle and we intended to surprise grand daughter Brittany who was there as a counselor.

Both she and Dane have enjoyed many, many years of camping experience at the remote facility.

Cycling enthusiasts will recognize Dane's ride as a "crotch rocket."  It certainly is.  Brian's ride is an older Yamaha cruiser, perfectly suited for the day's run.  Mine is nicely mixed in between and more than adequate to propel this 72 year old grand pa in exciting fashion.

Mostly we rode in staggered formation with Brian in the lead and me hanging on to the group.  Dane's youthful exuberance was often noticeable in between--and sometimes in the lead--when he would power through a sweeping curve with his foot pegs reaching to make sparks on the roadway.

Below Brinkhaven we turned north on something akin to a buggy trail and I shivered my way through several miles of graveled surface more suited to a Moto-cross event.

At the campground we joined a crowd of parents in pick-up-the-kid(s)-at-camp mode.  Our biggest treat was a short hike to a pavilion where the campers and counselors were enjoying a medley of rousing music as they said their good-byes in a formation of robust bodily rhythms.

Soon a young man approached Brian and Kate and they exchanged greetings of old familiarity.  Turns out he is now a youth minister and doing great things at someone's church.  It also turned out, he informed us, Brittany had left.

That's us below in his photo of us mimicking our chagrin at the news.

The ride home was a mirror image of our arrival except Brian and Kate split off for lunch at Loudonville while I chased Dane through the Mohican forest area then stopped for my lunch at the Butler custard stand as Dane disappeared around the town's big curve.

I munched my sloppy joe while the adrenaline high of the morning's ride slowly drained away; marveling continuously at how good life really is treating me.

Cemeteries

ANDREW RICHEY--
May you rest in peace

Mr. Richey's tombstone shows he died in 1817 "in the 82 year of his age".  That means he was born in 1735, 54 years before George Washington became our nation's first president.

Ponder that for a minute.

We discovered Mr. Richey's tombstone in a Revolutionary War cemetery in southeastern Mifflin Township while on a geocaching outing.  It was quite close to the tombstone from that war we featured on July 4th.

BIG OAK TREE--

It took three reaches of Sue's and my span, plus a a few inches for us to conclude the circumfrence of this tree was about 18 feet.  It is located in a small cemetery in Cass Township.  It was hard to speculate the year of this tree's "birth" but there is little doubt Native American's were roaming nearby trails when it's sprout first peaked above ground level.

 POTTER'S FIELD--

...and a different kind of sadness.  That is a deteriorating silk flower in the foreground depression, the gravesite of some poor soul buried in a field serving as the cemetery for "Dayspring", the perky name of the old Richland County Home; visible as the silver roofs against the background woods.  The field at least is maintained by mowing the grass.  Otherwise, visible and identifiable markers are few and far between in this burial ground of mostly discarded citizens.

We found and did these three photos plus the tombstone of the Revolutionary War soldier featured earlier, while geocaching recently in Richland County.  All caches are placed with high regard and respect for the decedents.  

In fact, I make it a personal practice to maintain the little flags often found on veteran's graves.

The true benefit of geocaching is quietly reflecting on such things as those above; things that likely would otherwise go completely unnoticed as we travel elsewhere in our usually busy lives.  

 

Flint Ridge

FLINT RIDGE--

History presented from geologic time

Sue is looking into a pit from which flint was mined by the earliest civilizations to reside in what is now known as Ohio.  To her right, an artist's rendition of an early man is shown with samples of products made from this same flint; axes and knives and spear points and arrow heads; the sharp tools of defense and sustenance that allowed early man to survive.

The phrase "early man" is representative of humans living here since the last ice age, some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.

A native American (left) is depicted mining flint in the pit Sue is viewing from above. 

The mineral, flint, that Sue sees began its formation under the pressure of an overlying ocean that once covered this area eons ago; a length of geologic time that generally defies human comprehension.

Plate techtonics ultimately pushed the North American continent above sea-level exposing the bounty of it's minerals.

The ridge, spreading across Licking and Muskingham Counties, is a mineral deposit some 3 to 9 miles in size and 2 to 10 feet thick.  The site's museum (above) was built over one of the pits used to quarry the flint and to preserve it as the artifact of history it truly is.

Hundreds of quarry pits and workshop sites are scattered across more than 2,000 acres of ridge top in these Appalachian foothills.

Flint mined here was as important to early man as iron and coal have been to their modern successors.

During the stormy day of our visit (hence no outside photos) we had the pleasure of meeting Bill and Pat Weaver, site managers.  Over recent years the Ohio Historical Society has suffered budget problems, consequently moving the responsibility of funding and maintaining many, if not most, of Ohio's historically significant sites to community history groups.

In this case enter the Weavers and their small cast of dedicated volunteers who are working hard in the critical task of historic preservation.

They are doing us a more obscure favor in the process:

It has been said, "Folks ignorant of history are condemned to repeat it's mistakes."

*            *            * 

Do yourself a favor.  Load 15300 Flint Ridge Rd., Glenford, OH 43739 into your GPS and do what it says.

More here!

EPILOGUE--

Thursday dawned with brilliant sunshine; the first in about three weeks of wet and stormy days.  But, the celebration was tarnished when by 4 p.m., yesterday afternoon we passed 24 hours with no electric service.  Finally I was shaken awake near midnight with a blast of illumination from a near-by lamp I had left on for just that purpose.

Let the ceremony begin!

Here's a big Tip-of-the-Hat to the American Electric Power Company line crews who obviously were working around the clock to restore service to the balance of their customers.

But, here's an equally large vote of no confidence to the local radio station which continuously broadcast the fact 2,000 Richland County AEP customers--among many others--remained without power while never once exercising journalistic initiative and informing customers of efforts or areas of success in getting power restored.

 

LESS THAN 24 HOURS LATER--

Compare this scene with the bottom photo of the three we posted last evening.  As you can see the emergency spillway did its job.  Now I simply have to dispose of the log and the stump that washed ashore; a very small price compared to what could have happened.

Some work remains, however:

The foreground trail used to lead to the bridge that gave us access to the trail along the north side of the pond and on into the northeast woods.  That's the approach end of the bridge surface (far right) hiding behind branches that piled up behind it when it reached this resting place (lower right).

With some manpower four of us should be able to clear the debris then pick the bridge deck up and replace

it.  The ends are chiseled into each bank and the center is supported on a 4 x 6 wood beam visible in the center of the stream just under the water.

That it was not attached to its moorings probably saved it from being destroyed by the incredible force of the storm's flow.

The stream pictured is the watercourse for approximately 300 acres of upstream watershed.  Two other wood bridges on the east side of the pond were undamaged.  That watershed is only 85 acres in size and doesn't produce enough flow to be damaging.