It Fell Off a Truck

 

  As I teach English to impressionable teens from other countries, I like to throw in some words and terms I think they are going to need to get through life wherever they end up.  One day I taught them the expression "It fell off a truck", both the literal and figurative uses.  All that to say I learned asphalt is sold in bags when one fell off a truck on a steep hill with a sharp curve along my walk to work.  Had I known you could get it in a bag, I would have bought one years ago to fix this spot in our driveway.  But eventually, everything happens, and I was in the right place at the right time.  It seems to hold up well.

   Away from the driveway, but thinking of those teens from other countries: I've been passing this display deep in the woods as we work on opening a rail trail southeast of Ithaca.  It's agonizing not being able to contact two of my former students who returned to Ukraine a couple years ago.  Thankfully, the ones still here are safe and doing well.

  

Some of my students are surprised to learn Tompkins County is a tourist destination.  We're reminded of it if we happen to take a walk to Taughannock on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  I thought there must be more people there than anyplace else in the county.  But then I went to Wegmans and learned how wrong I was.

     Both places are worth getting to once in a while. 

  I don't know if you can get these mushrooms at Wegmans, but they are doing well in Danby.  There were also enough chanterelles to take home to enhance a meal.