Eastward Ho!

The call of adventure had me antsy for the road again today.  I tried so hard to stay put and take care of domestic chores, but I just couldn't get my mind and heart off the need to go.  So my intrepid road warriors and I headed eastward for Hancock, MD.  It's a place I've seen Main Street as a passenger in someone else's car a handful of times so it seemed like a good jumping-off point to start today's explorations.

Photo from Hagerstown Magazine.
Today these rocks were covered in ice that looks like
a curtain of flat icicles.  The Rest Area is just around
the bend.

First, we had to pull off for a potty break at Sideling Hill.  All this time I thought it was just a good spot for a Rest Area... but it has a history.  There was a Civil War battle there on what's known as the Gettysburg Campaign.  I got the boys out to take care of their business.  They were so intoxicated by all the unfamiliar smells they almost forgot to get their legs lifted...  And then I went to take care of my need and saw the historic marker explaining more about the battle.  There's also a Vietnam Memorial I want to take time to explore one day and some of those pay-per-view binoculars that let you look out over the many layers of blue-tinted hillsides.

Just off Main Street in the center of Hancock, you'll find this
access point for the Rail Trail and a section of the Chesapeake
& Ohio Canal National Historical Park.  Looking uphill from
the driveway, you see St. Thomas Lutheran Church that was
used as an Army hospital during the Civil War. It was such
an important establishment to the Union Army that they
fortifications to surround it during the Confederate invasion.

Sideling Hill is only 30-some odd miles away but even at freeway speed, it felt like it took forever to get there!  Hancock is just a quick 8 miles further.  It marks the end of I-68/beginning of I-70.  We cruised down Main Street with me taking note of the many antique stores.  Oh for the time and money and place to put all the treasures I'm sure I could find!  Our first stop was a central access point to the Rail Trail built on the abandoned rail right of way which ran parallel to an even earlier mode of moving goods to market, the C&O Canal and its towpath for the men and animals that pulled the barges along.  193 miles of the Canal and towpath, running from Cumberland to Washington DC, are under the protection of the National Park System and known as the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

Hancock Visitor's Center,
Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National
Historical Park.

A bit farther up the road, you'll find this old mansion right on the bank of the Upper Potomac River that now serves as the Hancock Visitor's Center.  Parking was a bit far to leave the dogs in the car and the gate was only half-open so it was foot traffic only today.  And the dogs were so naughty that I wasn't about to walk them up there!  Everywhere I got them out of the car, they had no manners that are good... it was pull and strain and cry and circle around my legs like obnoxious little maniacs.  More than once I told them I didn't want them along on future adventures if this is how they're going to act.

Just about a mile past the Visitor's Center, there's a store that I've wanted to stop at as long as I've been in Maryland.  But I was always in a rush or I was the passenger and so it never happened until today.  I made a stop at the Blue Goose Market!  They have a fun selection of merchandise, local wines, gourmet canned goods, and their own bakery!  It's pricy.  But so worth the stop...  For a treat tonight, I picked up a caramel pecan sticky bun that's as big as my outstretched hand.

Entrance to the Blue Goose Market.  You can't tell from
my photo, but the flag in the background is huge.  From
the road, it looks as big as some houses!

For our final stop, I decided to make a short side-trip to see what's the big deal about Berkeley Springs.  The sign said it was only 8 miles into West Virginia... The claim to fame is the public baths.  I think they were once marketed as having some sort of healing properties because they are fed from warm mineral springs.  The town also hosts an International Water Tasting event.  I might just have to look into that more!  Again, I passed lots of antique shops and one with the windows full of handblown glass.  I also caught a glimpse of a giant cat's head painted on the side of an old house and a sign that said Cat Cafe and that you could adopt.  I think lunch with the felines is in order.

Warmer weather, a few dollars to spend, and an early start to the day... Hancock and Berkley Springs both deserve a deeper exploration!  And I think I'll get a sitter and leave the dogs home...

An Unfat Kathy

They say every journey begins with a single step.

After a couple of reschedules on the appointment, today I took that first step on getting to be an unfat Kathy and sat down to talk about it with my doctor.

Well, actually she's a nurse practitioner.  And she's a fellow fat Kathy.  Almost.  She's a fat Katie.  She had Bariatric Surgery and then, all in the same year, she went back to school to advance her degree, got married, and moved from Pittsburgh to Cumberland.  And with all that stress, she gained most of the weight back.  I like that she not only knows the struggle, but she's right there in the trenches with me.  It feels like a whole different ballgame than when a skinny person is cheering you on...

I wasn't quite sure what to expect today, but it seems that in the beginning there's a lot of mental working out.  I came home with about 20 pages of 'homework' to fill out reflectively.

And it jumped right into the hard stuff.

The first thing was to complete a chart.  On the left side, it lists a series of weight ranges and across the bottom age groupings.  The task was to make an "x" for low and high weight in each age grouping and then draw a line connecting the dots.  Basically, it would be a Line Chart if you were doing it in Excel.  Next, you look at each point where the line is trending upward and add a note about the major events happening in your life then.  It was eye-opening to see the correlation between some big traumatic events and big weight gains.

For example, when I got my tonsils out (at age 29) I was raped at the hospital.  Whoever was taking me from the operating room to the recovery ward made a stop along the way and pushed the stretcher into the closed for the day pre-op area where you get undressed, meet the anesthesiologist, make the mark on what part they're operating on, and that kind of stuff.  I was in and out of consciousness... the paralytic drugs from surgery were still in effect so I couldn't move and I couldn't scream.  I remember dark eyes and black eyebrows between the green cap and mask.  And that I went home gooey and bruised far from where your tonsils are located.  That's when my hatred and distrust of all things medical-related began...  Almost to the day the following year I had to have a thyroidectomy.  I was so freaked out about being put under anesthesia that I postponed it 7 times.  That very frustrated surgeon kept asking me questions until I told him what bits and flashes I remembered.  He went many extra steps to assure me that I was safe in his hands.  And even then it took a truckload of Valium to get me to the hospital!  Then the cyst he thought he was removing wasn't a cyst at all... there were so many tiny tumors in the gland that it couldn't be saved.  He tried all day. My waking memory is him yelling into my eyeball that it was cancer, but "it's the good kind."

As if there's ever a good kind of cancer.

Between those traumas and the hell that hypothyroidism unleashes in your body, how could my body mass not balloon rapidly?  A few years later, add care of a parent suffering from a slow spiraling descent into dementia...  Then my knees started to go out and people around me didn't believe me when I said I was in pain and made jokes about it.  And there's the past 3-4 years that I'm just not ready to talk about yet.  Each experience was horrific in and of itself. And each used the trauma, fear, and distrust ingrained from previous events as a foundation for a more distorted image of myself.

Now begins the process of undoing that damage, both the physical and the mental...

I'm not sure yet what tools we'll use.  There are a number of surgical procedures that are an option as well as several different kinds of drugs and some heavy-duty lifestyle changes.  Stick with the journey and find out!

A Fish in Murky Water

I thought this was a profound little proverb.  Then I went searching for the picture a friend had included in a collage and learned it's less Zen and more pop culture... but it's still a profound idea.  The quote actually comes from the movie Bulletproof Monk but it's based on a passage in the Ts’ai Ken T’an (translates as Vegetable Root Discourses) compiled by Hong Zicheng during the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) in China.  The actual quote from that text:  "Soil that is dirty grows the countless things. Water that is clear has no fish. Thus as a mature person, you properly include and retain a measure of grime. You can’t just go along enjoying your own private purity and restraint (Robert Aitken translation)."

I guess that means I've achieved some measure of maturity because sometimes I am pretty grimy!  And sometimes I find myself swimming in murky waters...

This week is a good example.  I've been mysteriously annoyed by everything.  Seriously!!  I mean everything annoys me.  Everything! Little things that should be no big deal get to me and I even realize right as I'm getting annoyed that they are tiny and of no consequence.  So do big things that are a big deal.  I've had to make a lot of phone calls.  And every last one of them has annoyed me.  Even more so when I get put on hold and have to listen to insipid hold music or an endless reel of repeating advertisements. And in that state of mind, I've snapped at people.  I've been pushy almost to the point of bullying.  I've used unkind, some might even say vulgar, words about the general populace of Cumberland, Maryland.

I realized I was getting out of hand and silenced myself in person and on social media.

And I've said I'm sorry.

The thing about ugly words... once they are out of your mouth, the damage is done.  You can't do some sort of magical backwards breathe and suck them back inside you.  They are out there in the universe and whatever ripple effect there is has begun.  You get the consequence.  Some people call that Karma.  Some talk about the universe reflecting back on you.  This has been a week in my quest to learn how to be happy again that's just knocked me on my butt and I haven't reacted well to the resistance in getting what I want.

I also know that I'm my own worst critic.  And I'm trying to incorporate compassion for myself into how I look at life and what I have accomplished.  It's hard.  I fail often.  But I always try again to change that internal dialogue.  I'm trying to believe that I deserve better.  And maybe more importantly, that I can have better.  In all my grimy glory, I can be better because my imperfections, impurities, and the murky water I sometimes find myself in all provide a fertile field for growth!

The Amish Cook Does Frogmore Stew

That little dish I picked up on yesterday's adventure came wrapped in a section of year-old newspaper.  The only possible name I can find on it, Weekender, seems unlikely especially since it's dated Thursday, January 24, 2019.

There's a regular column called The Amish Cook authored by Gloria Yoder and on this day she's telling the tale of Frogmore Stew.  Her picture and recipe are intriguing... and the story about how she was first introduced to the dish is cute.  The editor notes that it's more commonly known as a Low Country Boil and is an example of how non-traditional foods find their ways into unexpected kitchens and become family favorites.

I can't wait to try this!

FROGMORE STEW

Broth:
1 cup ketchup
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup vinegar
3 oz pkg of your favorite crab boil (I like Zatarain's but this is Old Bay country....)
3/4 cup salt
2 tsp black pepper
16 cups of water

Stew:
6 lbs chicken breasts or tenders
5 lbs link sausage (I'd pick Andouille or a smoked sausage ring and cut it into pieces)
2 lbs shrimp
12  unpeeled potato wedges (or as many new potatoes as you want)
1 1/2 lbs baby carrots (or big ones cut into 2-inch pieces)
18 cobbettes of corn
1-2 green peppers, chunked
2 12 oz pkgs of button mushrooms
3 lg onions cut into wedges

Leave burner on high at all times.  Bring broth to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.  Add potatoes and carrots and cook for 10 minutes.  Add sausage and cook for 10 minutes.  Add chicken and cook for 20 minutes.  Add mushrooms, onions, and corn and cook for 10 minutes.  Add shrimp and peppers and cook for 5 more minutes.  Turn burner off and let sit for 5 minutes.  Drain liquid and serve immediately by dumping onto the center of your table (or on a big cookie sheet placed on the table).  Have dipping sauces available.

Ms. Yoder suggests catsup, barbeque sauce, sour cream, and ranch dressing.  I might add cocktail sauce and horseradish infused mayonnaise to her list...

In her story, she tells of being a young woman working at an Amish store and being invited to the boss' house for dinner.  They only told her the meal was Frogmore Stew and she was curious but also a little worried it was made from frogs...  When she arrived, she was shown to their dining room where the table had been expanded to accommodate several guests along with the family and was covered with a plastic cloth.  She noticed that there were no plates set, only napkins and forks... After a prayer of thanks, she watched in wide-eyed fascination as they dumped several piles of drained vegetables, chicken, sausages, and shrimp right onto the table!  Dips were passed around and each person dobbed the ones they wanted on the table in front of them and then used their fork to stab a morsel from the pile, dip it, and enjoy.

The dish made such an impression that she and her parents made it for a visit from her out-of-state boyfriend (and later husband).  Maybe it's the dish that won his heart?

Well, you know... Valentine's Day is coming right up!!

Where The Road Took Us

When I got up this morning, I felt in need of an adventure. This probably isn't the brightest move since every time I take Nelly out on the road I have a niggling worry if she'll make the trip or die somewhere along the way. But I did it anyway. I took the doggies and stopped for gas and then we went wherever the road took us. All my stops were unplanned but quite wonderful!

Somehow we ended up on Rt. 28 in Wiley Ford, WV. (Confession: I thought Wiley Ford was an auto/truck dealership the first time I saw the words in a newspaper but it's less car and more wading across the river kind of ford.) We followed this road as far as it goes. I stopped to check out the discount grocer that's out there and got couscous, salsa verde, canned beans, and some cheese that was on sale. We went on through Short Gap and other places with names that I'm sure must have stories like Hanging Rock and Loom. When we got to Romney, I drove around looking for a bathroom... Thank the Lord for the region's abundance of Sheetz! And instead of getting headed toward home, I made a wrong turn and we were on the way to Winchester, VA. It's a pretty drive, even on a day as dreary and gray and wet as this first of February. Sometime after crossing the Little Cacapon River, I found a place to turn around.

Photo courtesy of bridgehunter.com.
The John Blue Bridge crosses the South Branch of the Potomac River.
John Blue was an early settler in the area, arriving in 1725.

Even in the drizzling rain, I took the opportunity to stop at every historic marker (except the couple of them where it wasn't safe to pull over), thrift store, and interesting looking wide spot in the road! Right after we crossed the decidedly green John Blue Bridge I learned about the Civil War skirmishes fought over the railroad line at Camp Washington and the Wire Bridge Engagement.










We went by the places where even earlier forts stood... Fort Forman, Fort Sellers, Fort Ashby, and coming home, Fort Cumberland. Each has an interesting history that I'd never heard of before living here.

Photo courtesy of Potomac Eagle Facebook page.
Two of the engines that pull the Potomac Eagle Excursion
Train that runs from Wappacomo Station to Petersburg.

We kept passing brown tourist signs for an Excursion Train and finally went past Wappacomo Station where you could board the Potomac Eagle.

One of the markers I couldn't pull over to read more than the name, Oriskany Sand, marks a specific sandstone formation where more than a million cubic feet of gas has been produced.

It's marked California Pottery
but it reminded me, both in color
and shape, of some of the Homer Laughlin
china lines.  I'm using it as a spoon rest.
This is my 52 cent treasure from the
Augusta, WV Goodwill!

Coming homeward, a bathroom break was again making its need known... I pulled into a little strip mall in Augusta and thought maybe I can find one in Goodwill while I see if they have anything interesting.  They had something interesting... but it was the Burger King across the parking lot that saved the day!!



I saw lots of places today that beg for more exploration! Stonewall Jackson's headquarters, Indian Mound Cemetery (where we saw a gravestone with the captivating epitaph "Dead yet Speaketh"), and the site of Blue's Gap Battle are on the list.

Now, we are back and I've made Jambalaya for dinner (mental note: get Zatarain's next time!). Now to settle in for the night and plan for future adventures!