Where I went to 2nd and 3rd grade. One of my strongest memories of Madison is being in that playground and having a dart hit me in my right face, below my eye. I honestly don't remember anything else about the incident. That dart point went through my cheek and into my mouth below my good eye. I had amblyopia and was technically blind in my other eye. Even as a third grader I understood that if that dart had hit an inch higher, my life would have been radically different.
Halûk OkurI fully emphatize with you Mark. I also have a lazy eye, I was born that way. Still my worst nightmare is losing my good eye. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
Mark BoydYes, having amblyopia has been a problem in my life, as it is for lots of children. My older sisters younger son also had it but was successfully treated early on and has normal vision now. My treatment started too late.
However, it was also a blessing in that it gave my a 1Y draft status which meant I could go to gradschool here rather than in Canada. In gradschool , further negelect let to becoming wall eyed as by bad eye drifted out. That turned out to be a problem when I was teaching and simple eye muscle surgery got it back in line with my good eye and I've been able to keep it locked in since then. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
This is why I wanted to ride KY 227 to Owenton. This long part of the road runs in the river valley of the Kentucky river. when it finally leaves the valley, shortly after KY 355 ends at 227, the climbing is as hard as you might guess looking at those hills.
My night in Owenton was supposed to be at the only motel in town. When I got there, I discovered a local rodeo meant there were no rooms. So I went to McD's to hydrate - I'd already eaten and bought breakfast at Subway on the other end of town - and headed south looking for a place to sleep. I took this image about 6 AM the next morning.
Camping items I carry. The ones I used last night are the front four. i didn't use my Tarptent, or the water. or the pack towel. I did use the emergecy shelter small red bag with bigger, rolled up, tube tent, my Thermarest mattress - folded up in black bag- My tent's foot print - dark with yellow taped edges and my light weight down sleeping bag, I stared in the emergency shelter on my Thermarest mattress on the tent foot print and using the bagged sleeping bag as a pillow. It was damp ad warm in the tube tent, but at roughly 2 AM it was cool enough to switch to the light weight down bag.
Mark BoydHaving hat emergency shelter wasn't nearly as important as it was the night in a park just south of Minneapolis two {?) years ago when I had to sleep out because there was no place to put up my tent. Two super cell storms came through that night with torrential rain. With out my emergency shelter it would have been an extremely miserable night. With it, I actually got some sleep. It is definitely a must carry item for me. Reply to this comment 3 years ago
I rode out of town about 4 miles on US 127, spotted a rarely used track and ended up spending the night without my tent because all of the land was too steep. The bugs were mostly fireflies , a few regular files, and lots of daddy longlegs. I slept pretty well despite sleeping on steep bumpy ground. Yesterday, my back was a problem and today it was much worse.
Every few miles I would stop and stretch out in the grass for 15 minutes or so. The last time I did that ended when the 911 folks showed up in a big fire truck. Those folk were fine but the idiot who called 911 because I was resting on my back with my hat shading my face, and my tents ground cloth under me just off the wide shoulder of 127 with my bike parked vertically next to me because they were concerned about me but, I guess, to scared to just stop and speak to me.
I haven't called yet but trying to find a rental car is my next step. The last two days of riding have been quite hard on my back and that has meant that, even using lots of assist, riding 25 hilly miles is really, really hard.
Today's ride: 86 miles (138 km) Total: 458 miles (737 km)
3 years ago
However, it was also a blessing in that it gave my a 1Y draft status which meant I could go to gradschool here rather than in Canada. In gradschool , further negelect let to becoming wall eyed as by bad eye drifted out. That turned out to be a problem when I was teaching and simple eye muscle surgery got it back in line with my good eye and I've been able to keep it locked in since then.
3 years ago