Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Insulator Hike. Part 1.
Hello everyone! I thought it was about time for another story from my archives of great times with my dad and I. We used to go out a lot on different adventures. Dad was rather accident prone, something always seemed to happen to him when we were together. But we still had a fun time. So, grab some coffee and enjoy part 1.
Here it is, a very beautiful, sunny, hot day. The smell of creosote, from the railway ties, filled the air. Dad and I were heading down to a section of the railway we hadn’t checked out before. It was a long, hot walk. Did I also mention it was a hot day? And it always seemed to be hotter walking along the tracks. Or maybe it was because I would rather be digging for old bottles, not looking for some odd shaped chunks of glass. Anyway, soon we spotted an old beaver pond that had been drained. This was as far as we had walked the last time, but the pond was full of water then, so we decided to check it out.
It was nice to get off those hot tracks anyway. Many insulators ended up in the water, the linemen would often toss old unused insulators into any nearby water, so it was a good place to check. It was also very steep getting down to this old pond. And the gravel was dry and loose, and dad started to slide. And when dad gets going, he really goes! Amazingly he didn’t fall, he just started running down that steep embankment. Amazing how fast he could run downhill and not fall. However, it was inevitable that he would fall and he did, face first and kept right on sliding!
Finally he landed in the bushes which stopped him quite easily. Considering how fast he was going, I was surprised he stopped that quickly. Dad yelled quite loud when he hit those bushes. I finally caught up with him. Your nose is bleeding, I said. He just kind of stood there feeling his nose and face, wiggling his nose. Maybe if you didn’t wiggle your nose so much it would stop bleeding, I suggested. Dad just looked at me. We made our way through the bushes and came to the edge of the old pond. AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! dad yelled. Poison ivy!! It’s not very much, I said. It’s too much, said dad. Then why are you standing in it? I inquired. AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! dad yelled again.
He didn’t notice that little patch. Just don’t touch your shoes or pants, I said. BONEHEAD! said dad. Not quite sure how standing in a patch of poison ivy can be enjoyable. Unless you’re me. Since it doesn’t bother me. But it does hit dad hard. Off into the old pond we went. Sure enough, glass was sticking out of the ground here and there. Didn’t find anything too exciting, but at least everything was in excellent condition. Picked up a couple dozen from that old pond. Then over by one edge an old cross arm was half buried. Is that purple I see? It is purple, but mostly buried. So dad grabbed one end to pull it out of the mud.
Suddenly there is a swarm of wasps around dad’s head. Wow, second time today running fast, and after that long walk too. Odd that he isn’t tired by now. He ran right into a little bit of water which he started splashing around. Poor dad. Just not his day. I went over to him and handed a branch to him so he could get out of the water easier. Seems his feet were a bit stuck in the mud. But when I did that he decided to sit down in the water. Odd. Are you getting hot? I asked. He claims I pushed him. I just handed him the branch and poked him gently. He claims I pushed hard so he lost his balance.
To be continued.
Steve and Muffin.
© 2020 Steve McLeod.
POISON IVY??????? I loved part 1!!! Can’t wait for the other parts! LOVED THIS ONE! Though not that part when your dad stood in the poison ivy!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks Eshal, glad that you are enjoying our little adventure!😂😹
LikeLiked by 1 person
I always do steve! Still am though!
LikeLike
Wow. I feel bad for both of you guys.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading Lydia!😂😹
LikeLiked by 1 person
The maternal side of our family were railroaders. Grandfather and 2 of mothers cousins. Well acquainted with the terms here. thanks.
LikeLike
L-L-L-oved this episode ! It had me laughing and laughing !…🐝🐝🐝😂☕️☕️
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was a good adventure with more to come!😂😹
LikeLike
I never know whether to close my eyes, laugh, or shout useless words of caution when I read these stories, haha. It often feels like I’m watching a movie! Cheers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Peregrine! So happy that you enjoy these little adventures we had!😂😹 Have a wonderful day!😁😸☕☕
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thoroughly enjoyed the first part.😂😂 I must say I feel sorry for him for all he have gone through. Why does that happens a lot when he was with you 🤔 I suspect you 😜. But did you mention it before why they have Stopped using insulators 🤔😉 curious to know.😉☺️🤓 have a beautiful day ✨💐
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Simon!😀 They don’t need insulators much anymore, there are a few still used, but made from porcelain not glass. But because everything is in cables now, insulators are not necessary. Before it was just bare wires, made from copper, and back in the 1800s they used iron wires which were very heavy. But now wires are all in a plastic covering which acts as the “insulator” now. So now they just need to hang the large cable on hooks. Some countries still use insulators a lot though. A lot of wires are also buried underground now too, so insulators are not necessary.
I really don’t know why things always happened to dad?🤔🙄 Really strange.😂😹
LikeLiked by 1 person
My country still uses porcelain insulators. Let me email you one of the pic that next to my house. Here, they are yet to find that technology it seems, 🙄 Now I feel like I’m in 1800 🤓 ✍️ See you are the one time travelled now. I wish my government will start to use that very soon. Right now these wires are the house for lot of crows here. You’ll find plenty of crows here than any other birds 😂😂.
LikeLiked by 1 person
hehe. Don’t feel bad, my town still uses them a bit too. Little towns like this still have some wires that need insulators. Larger towns and cities most wires are underground. Hard to do that here since it’s all rock.😬😬
You have crows?🤔 Would you like more?🤪 Actually our ravens are worse, would you like some of those?😜😜 Ravens look like crows but more than twice their size and incredibly mean.😲
Have a nice day!😀 I’m having an “ice” day!😂😹🙄
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha ha I totally don’t bother Until it cuts down and kills someone 😂😂 during those rainy days it’s scary☺️ I’m scared Actually 🙄 Ravens and crows are mixed up here. I know Ravens are large and they’re are really bad you know. But we feed them everyday. They need food right 😉 so you are having a n”ice” day… Wow..😍 I mean.. why again 🤔 Snow? Unpredictable climate change 🙄🤔. You should think about shifting yourself to North Korea, no virus, no population, totally deserted 😂😂 I mean, I’m sorry if the spelling is wrong. Hope u got that 😜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not N Korea!😲 I’ll stay here. I try not to feed the ravens, only because they scare my other birds away.😾 If they were nicer to the other birds I would feed them too.😁
Yep, lots of ice,😬😳 covers everything, now snowing off and on, but not much. Going to be cold today and tomorrow,😕 then start to warm up again.🌞 Typical spring weather.😂😹🙄
LikeLike
That’s a lot of crazy weather you have there. North Korea 😂😂 Just joking, but they say there is no Corona over there. I wonder how they didn’t got it yet. But happy for the people live there, at least this virus is not making their life hell, as they are already in hell 🕵️. Raven’s here are the only birds that come and eat in my area. Because it attacks other birds and the other birds now stopped to come for food and now adays no nests of them in trees too. They completely shifted.🤔 Wish I could shift my house like them 😂😜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yep, birds are smart, if they don’t like a place, they just fly off someplace else. North Korea probably has it, they’re just not saying anything. After all they live right next door to the worst hit area in China. No way they could escape it.
So much ice outside, haven’t seen it like this for years.😳 Who says it’s getting warmer anyway?🤔🙄 Bring those people up here for awhile!😂😹🙄
Have a good day Simon,🌞 I’m on my way to bed. Long day. Good night.😀🌙😴
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good Night Steve,🤓 I’ll try to bring those that said it’s getting warmer anytime soon after you wakeup ☺️ 🕵️😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good morning. Good evening.😁😸😂😹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes! That’s quite an adventure! Poison ivy – double Yikes! 😬😸☕️☕️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, that poison ivy was bad for my dad, he really would get a bad rash from it! Didn’t bother me at all. Thanks for reading Eugenia! Hope you’re having a good day!😁😸☕☕
LikeLiked by 1 person
I so love the insulator stories😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Stu! Sometimes a good laugh is a needful thing!😂😹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Steve, I had to travel back to Part 1 before reading the next installment. Thank goodness you don’t seem as accident-prone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oops, you got the wrong part one. The part 1 you want is in Steve’s Country Cabin Journal #4. Here’s the link https://stevescountry.com/2020/10/15/steves-country-cabin-journal-4/
All new stories with my dad will be in my Journal posts, along with other stories as well. And my journal post will soon have their own new spot on my home page to make them all easy to find. Thanks so much for reading, glad you enjoyed it so far, more coming on this insulator story!
LikeLike