Random 5 for May 9, 2021 – Gestures, frivolity, walking trails, barfy, cats

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This walking path is a block from my house. Once on it, you can’t see houses or people. Glorious!

Something you don’t see every day! – This week at Starbucks I followed an older guy (my age) in to the store. On the way he bent down and picked up a cup and straw that someone had thrown down. In this day of covid people are terrified of touching anything from someone else. Kudos to him!

Mom’s rolling in her grave! – This is appropriate for Mother’s Day. I’ve always been one of those people who “poo-poo” the whole “bought water” thing. It comes out of a faucet free and it’s basically tasteless. Why buy it? Then we moved to this house. I’ve lived in a lot of places and water can taste slightly different from place to place. You adjust. The water here tastes terrible so I am buying water. My mother would think that’s frivolous.

Finally – This week I got out to explore the local walking trails. There is one that starts a block from my home and winds its way around a stream. Despite being so close to a home development, it’s like walking in a state park. I walked it three times this week and only saw 2 people. I love that. I took some pictures. It’s heaven. I loved walking in my old neighborhood but this is more soothing. The stream is lovely and sometimes there are ducks.

This is the nice wooden bridge on the walking trail.

Well there is one thing – I have to walk over two bridges. One is a wooden bridge. It’s beautiful and natural looking. The other bridge is at the end and it’s an open grate bridge. You look down and see the running water. I don’t like open bridges. They make me barfy. I have to tell myself “eyes up” but I still look down and feel the tummy swirl. It’s that weird compulsion to look at something you know will gross you out. Fortunately it’s a very short bridge. So far I haven’t tossed my cookies.

Doesn’t this look like a friendly cat who wants to eat your food and sleep on your furniture?

Really good news – The cat that I “rescued” just before I moved has settled in his new home. His new owner loves him and he has adapted to an inside only life. Despite being labeled as feral, I didn’t think he was. I saw something in him and I’m glad I was right. I wouldn’t want to force a cat or any living creature to live in a way that didn’t make them happy. He’s being adored and fed and he loves it. I want to be a cat.

Happy mother’s day to all you moms out there!

79 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 9, 2021 – Gestures, frivolity, walking trails, barfy, cats”

  1. Water taste certainly does change with location.The best water we ever had was in Ark. There water here is a bit brackish – tolerable, but we have a Zero water pitcher which makes it take great.
    Your park is so cool! A water feature close by and ducks – It does look like Heaven. (Just don’t look down on that bridge – not a fan of grate bridges or stairs either)
    Cheers for that cat! (and you for helping him)

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  2. You have a good point.Perhaps I have been overly concerned about my retirement. All I need to do is turn into a cat and find a nice home out of the snow! Lounge my days away napping! Be cantankerous as always but purr every now and then. I can do this!

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  3. Your walking area is just fantastic, Kate. I am sure you’re going to thoroughly enjoy the solitude! And I’m thrilled the little rescue kitty has found a loving forever home!

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  5. Kate, that walking trail w/stream and bridges sounds positively enchanting. I’m envious! However, I do have a nice place to walk…just not woodsy or cloistered. I’m happy you don’t walk there when it’s dark/dusk. I wouldn’t either. The cats are beautiful…love ’em cats.
    Thanks for the Mother’s Day wishes. One of my four sons brought me a cherry-creme cheese pie he made himself. Sweetness.
    I have good water now but prior to moving here we used Brita and it was excellent…made us happy! Good luck on getting something that pleases you!
    Oh, my husband is like that man you mentioned; he would pick up everything. Now I’m even in the habit of picking up litter. I try having sanitizer on board…you never know what’s going round. Enjoy your walks…and your cats who rule.

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  6. Your new cat is gorgeous!

    I love your new trail. When my daughter lived in Burke, Virginia, The builder designed a trail through the woods. It was behind all the houses but out of sight of them. What I liked was that It ended at Starbucks.

    When that same daughter moved to Indiana, they bought a house with a neighborhood well. The water tasted terrible! I couldn’t drink it. In a couple of weeks, they’ll be moving to WA. Hurray!

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    • The area I live in was developed 20 to 25 years ago and the developer laid out a plan with a park and walking trails and unlike many other neighborhoods, left it rustic. It isn’t mowed and it’s mostly wooded. It’s delightful! If it ended at a Starbucks we would have moved here years ago! 🙂 Some water isn’t good! Yay for having your daughter closer and that’s not my new cat! (Sometimes I wish but I have 4.) That’s one I was able to rehome. He is gorgeous which has helped as he was shy and scared for the first couple months. He’s settling in nicely now but with someone else.

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  7. That kitty cat looks like Miss Pear Blossom! So happy to hear it’s a good situation. (Pear is not feeling well–I’m getting a little worried).
    Your bridge is beautiful!!! Too bad about the open bridge as I fully understand, but the setting is so lovely there.

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        • So we have a purifier thing the previous owner put on our kitchen sink that we get serviced. We use that for drinking and cooking and the cats in the kitchen and living area. But in the bedrooms and office, the cats get bottled water. I also drink some bottled water. I really don’t know what’s going to happen because the city ignores our water problems. This water eats up our house pipes, all our plumbing, and out in front of our house, there have been countless repairs and our street is totally messed up from all the times the asphalt has been opened and patched.

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  8. Cincinnati has very nice water. I drink tap water. But now I work across the river and Wow. It really tastes awful where I work. I have to bring water from home, including ice, or buy it. I wonder what particular thing makes the taste bad.

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  12. Thrilled to hear that Bailey has a home where he is loved and adored… great news. Your walking trail is beyond peaceful, just looking at your pictures calms my mind and heart. I would love a place to walk where there was some shade! Your pictures remind me of Missouri. SSNS drinks our water but he doesn’t drink a lot of water. I think our water tastes off and I buy bottled water. I never thought about a Pur or Brita filter that Marty suggests and I think I will check out the ones at Target also. We have filtered water that comes out of the fridge but it just doesn’t do the trick. Good Morning!

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    • Our filtered water from the fridge doesn’t taste good even after we changed the filter. It’s municipal water so it’s not from a contaminated well. Not sure why but my quick search suggested doing a water test.

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    • Overall it was a good week. Got a lot more painting done, found the trail and got great news on the cat. Since I was backup if the adoption didn’t work out, I had “stuff” ready to bring him here. I’m putting it all away.

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    • He didn’t have gloves on. He went in and picked up his coffee (with the same hands) but maybe he had sanitizer in his car. There is also sanitizer in Starbucks. The walk is right your your alley. It’s easy with one decline and incline. It’s a stoned path so I have to be careful I don’t slide like a board on ball bearings but it’s just gorgeous.

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  17. I am glad you helped that cutie find a home. My mom buys water and also has me fill empty jugs with our well water. Happy Mother’s Day to a wonderful cat mom!

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    • Aw thanks! I am so happy about the cat. He was a cutie. I was afraid he wouldn’t adjust to indoor only living and we didn’t have an indoor/outdoor adopter. It all worked out.

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  18. Such good news about the cat Kate!
    As for water, we had a water filter on the boat and still use it. It’s like a tea urn and has ‘candles’ in the top that filter the water down to the lower container. We use it for drinking and cooking, and you can definitely taste a difference.

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  19. A wonderful walking trail and with a stream! I walk every day, but it is all on city streets. I do visit a “pocket park” that is a block from where I live. It’s nice but no water feature. Good to hear the adoption is finalized, and all are happy.

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  20. I concur on the earlier recommendation of Brita filter (or it’s competitor, Pur. It seems to do the trick nicely with the water at each place we’ve moved to being improved by it. Also, after many tries with generic filters, I can vouch for the ones at Target if you want to save money — they work just fine. – Marty

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  22. Love Love Love that walking trail!!! I would love to meander through there.

    We keep a Brita Filter Pitcher in the fridge even though the water/ice here doesn’t taste too bad ~ I just prefer to filter it. In Maryland, we had a stand alone cooler in the kitchen with delivery of 5 gallon jugs of water every month because our well water there was ICKY! Fine for bathing, but NOT for drinking.

    Anyway, we all impact the environment in positive and negative ways so drink the water the way YOU like it . . . just don’t fly off for weekend jaunts . . . or keep the thermostat at 60 in the summer and 90 in the winter . . . or drive around in circles wasting gas or . . . eat meat at every meal or . . .

    Glad that the kitty is happily adopted. That is good news. Happy Mother’s Day (I know you don’t have kids, but you have kitties and that counts).

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  24. What a beautiful place to walk. Maybe you can find a walking buddy. I’m not big on going on wooded trails alone. I’m with you on the open bridge…and stairs too! I’ve never been able to climb to the top of a lighthouse due to the space between each step. Eek!

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    • I get wonky with heights too. Any sort of heights. The miracle is that this is an oasis and if I screamed homes which I can’t see would hear. Having said that, I wouldn’t walk there (or anywhere) in the dark or even at dusk.

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  25. You may have already tried this, but filtering your water might help with the taste. Your local walk through the woods sure looks like heaven to me! I’m happy you found this treasure, and so close to your home!

    Deb

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  26. A water pitcher filter systems like ZeroWater, Pur or Brita are a godsend for off tasting water in new places and alleviates any guilt about adding plastic bottles to the environment. The taste of water at my parents’ house is gross so thankfully, the filtered water makes drinking it palatable.

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  27. Oh what a gorgeous place to walk – I bet it will be pretty any time of the year too and nice and cool on a hot summer day. Glad “Bailey” got a second chance – thanks to you and his adopter. Lucky boy. When we moved into this house we thought the water was awful – it really was just DIFFERENT from where we lived before but we couldn’t get used to the taste. We got a whole house water filter and have never looked back after 24 years. I think everyone in the community has whole house filters now – too much iron and the occasional “orange tinge” to things in the clothes wash made extra filters a necessity!!! Hope you have a wonderful Mother’s Day……….

    Hugs, Pam

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  29. I am so glad that the cat you rescued is settling in and all if finally going well. Hooray for you and everyone who had a hand in helping that guy!

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  31. Your Mom would understand about the water at first taste. We have well water and it tastes just like bottled! Would you believe they actually used a water wand stick to find the right spot for the well?

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    • I had a house with a well and they used a divining rod to find the spot. They still had to go very deep! The house she grew up in had a cistern. Not sure she would approve of buying water when it’s plentiful and free.

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