Hello everyone!  I hope your day is going well.  Here we are back again with another adventure with dad and I.  We both liked to get up early, which is what we did that day, and off we went.  The sun was shining beautifully, though the forecast did say clouds and light showers for the afternoon.  We’re up early so we could be home before any rain.  This was a new destination and close to home.  There was a nice road right to this spot.

There they were.  Insulators as far as we could see!  Which actually wasn’t very far since there was a curve and a hill just a little ways from where we parked the car.  Oh well.  Dad checked to make sure we had everything, even after asking me to check.  Odd.  It had been very dry, which turned out to be good for us as we came to what normally would have been some very wet areas.

Off we go, hiking mile after mile down the tracks.  Tromp, tromp.  Mile after long mile.  Tromp, tromp.  Finally we arrive at the first hill leaving behind that long boring section.  That was a long stretch, I said.  Dad looked at me and said, we’re only about 500 feet from the car!  That’s all?  Seems like we have been walking for miles, I said.  Bonehead, said dad.  At least dad is enjoying this.  It is a nice warm, sunny day.  Being wasted looking for some blobs of glass.  Amazing.  Why waste time collecting something that just holds wire to a pole?  Chunks of glass with no historical significance.  We should go back and find a nice spot to dig for some old bottles, I said, certainly a nice day for it.

Dad just looked at me.  Why waste time collecting bottles, he said.  They don’t even look nice.  Just look at those beautiful insulators sparkling in the sun, he continued, now that’s something to collect, with a lot of history behind them too.  We obviously looked at those chunks of glass a little differently.  I was hoping this higher ground would last for a while.  It was not to be however.  Just a small hill.  And a curve in the tracks.  Leading to miles of swamp.  Sigh.  Look at all the swamp, I said, might as well turn around now.  That’s opportunity, said dad, that swamp is dry and there will likely be a lot of insulators laying around just waiting for us.  Well, I tried.

Around here we discovered that as insulators were removed, the linemen would toss them into the water, if there was any nearby.  Just wait, said dad, we will find a lot when you go down there looking for them.  Hmm, certainly went from we to me in a hurry, said I.  Well, the mud might be soft and you are lighter than I am, said dad.  I need to gain weight.  Off I started down the embankment, which at this spot was only about 20 feet high, not as bad as some we have had to go down.  Maybe you should come along, I called back, after all, if I need help in a hurry it would be nice if you were closer.  Okay, said dad, and he started off.  Right then a train came roaring around that curve!

A good place to stop for now, but don’t forget, part 2 will be coming soon!  I hope everyone has a beautiful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

© 2019 Steve McLeod.