Coop's Corner: July 4 Ramble - Esdaile, Wisconsin

Thursday, July 4, 2013

July 4 Ramble - Esdaile, Wisconsin

Out the driveway at 6:30, it wasn't the early start that I'd hoped for but the pillow just felt so, so good this morning. I've got more chances yet this weekend to get it right, though not tomorrow; I've got to get up extra early and head for the City.....I'm one of the lucky few at our place of employment that will be working.

Feeling again the pull of Wisconsin, I headed to the bridge upriver this time rather than downstream to get across. Early breakfast in Bay City at the small hidden diner that Dave first shared with me; the many conversations enlightening, fun and mischievous all at the same time. I ran into a neighbor and old workmate there as well, his daughter and grandson along.

I was hoping for some early(er) morning light for the photos, but I do Point-N-Shoot for a reason......I present them as I take 'em. All images, except the last 2, are on "Scenic Road", seen in less than 3 miles of scenic valley north of very rural Esdaile, WI.

Lots of yellow but there's some purple in there as well.

An old abandoned building site/foundation almost in the center, the brook near front.

At the north end.......

"Bow and Arrow"

What it was and is all about.......

Hope everyone is having a great July 4th.....and for our friends to the north, hope you're still basking in the glow of YOUR big day! For me.....65 miles.....4 hours.....a perfect Holiday pace.

26 comments:

AnonymousJuly 4, 2013 at 12:07 PM
nice ending to the story.... :)
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SonjaMJuly 4, 2013 at 2:16 PM
What a lovely outing. Your scoot is quite the eye catcher in this summer scenery, though.

Oh, when looking at your photos I can't wait to explore my own backyard (a.k.a. Black Forest) on two wheels again.
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Erik RJuly 4, 2013 at 5:21 PM
It's nice to get an early start. You can avoid some of the mid day heat!
We went to Turtle Lake to meet up with some friends from the city. Tonight, fireworks.
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UnknownJuly 4, 2013 at 5:31 PM
Coop:

No rain, a nice looking day, little traffic, empty roads and riding at scenic pace.

what's not to like on a day off, away from work.

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
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DebJuly 4, 2013 at 9:09 PM
Sweet ride time!

And I did not know you owned a Helix too! And my fav color!

A nice time on the back roads can not be beat...
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Keith - Circle BlueJuly 5, 2013 at 6:12 AM
I, too, work today. I have a photo somewhere of the Bow and Arrow. I once thought of stopping at all the "historical markers" on that road, but gave up of it. Too many.

For me, going to work will take me right into the teeth of Fair St. Louis. I may get some photos, but I suspect I'll just hide out. While Freedom is what this Holiday is all about, I could live without the firecrackers and the crowds.
~k
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Martha July 5, 2013 at 6:49 AM
You are certainly in some lovely rural WI here. I can't say I've ever even been to that county. So much WI, so little time...
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Coop a.k.a. CoopdwayJuly 5, 2013 at 8:15 AM
Martha,
So true. Pierce County is right across the river from us and is often neglected by my hill/corner seeking riding friends from the Twin Cities since it is really the front line transition of where those roads begin. Pepin, Buffalo, Trempealeau, LaCrosse, typically have more wild and dramatic riding.
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Scott GJuly 5, 2013 at 9:09 AM
As always my friend ,I enjoy your posts.Gotta get up your way one of these days.
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TrobairitzJuly 5, 2013 at 10:56 AM
A perfect way to spend the day. Those yellow blooms on the side of the road accent the bike nicely in photos too.

We try and stay on the roads around here on the 4th. There have been at least 4 accidents involving motorcycles in the last 10 days or so and there are just too many drunks on the road on July 4th. Sad, but true.
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David MasseJuly 5, 2013 at 3:02 PM
Coop, Happy 4th! The Honda Helix is your fave? Is that because it makes you feel like George Jetson? Or is there a more practical explanation far from the metaphysics?
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Back RoadJuly 7, 2013 at 5:23 PM
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Back RoadJuly 7, 2013 at 5:26 PM
Thanks for taking us on this journey. The photos and the write up are great! Appreciate the views of lightly traveled back roads. What a delight for riders of all bikes.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)