We spent last weekend visiting Ryn. We hadn’t seen her since Thanksgiving, and hadn’t ever seen her house. Ryn planned a wonderful weekend and made us feel totally at home.

The area has had record rainfall. The creek behind Ryn’s house was quite high. Fortunately, measures taken by the local government for flood management worked.

Purchasing a house means inheriting some strange objects. Ryn says this is an outdoor space heater, but that isn’t nearly as much fun as a robot or an artifact left behind by an advanced race of beings. We all agree it would make a really great marker for the entrance to her driveway.

Saturday we spent a lot of time at the Walton music fest. The music was mostly quite good, but when the Beetles tribute band started playing obscure music from their origins, it was time to move on. It rained on and off, but tents provided rain-friendly venues. Walton has many other interesting attractions, including the best ice scream in this part of the county. We had raincoats and umbrellas, but it we were lucky. It didn’t rain while we were waling around Walton.

Sunday was spent largely at the closer town of Delhi. Danita’s favorite was the Rip Van Winkle Put Put Golf. This was a tremendously fun and original course. The owner leaves putters and balls out 24 x 7. There’s a jar if you want to donate. The owner is quite an interesting person. We enjoyed a half hour of conversation after we finished our game.

My favorite was the Arkville Rail Road. These days, most engines are diesel electric. A diesel engine turns a generator. Power from the generator turns the electric motor. The concept has been refined to the point that our hybrid car uses exactly the same architecture. This engine was one of the first diesel electrics, built in 1947. There is a selections of passenger cars, including a refurbished passenger car pre-1947, an open air car, and an observation car with hints of an art nouveau design. The dining car offered quite a sense of opulence.

They have a wonderfully simple way to offer rides. They run the engine backwards, pushing the train uphill. When they get to the end, the let the train drift back downhill. Of course the engineer can’t see what’s behind the train. So a conductor sits in the observation car and reports the status of the track through walkie talkies. Both enjoyed their jobs, and offered stories and answers to all our many questions.

The rail was shut down during Covid. They just re-started rides on Mother’s day this year. The conductor offered us the most interesting story. Between the tracks and the river, there is a house with a rather large plastic sheet greenhouse. They never specified exactly what they grow, but they complained loud and long about the presence of so many tourists. If they are growing what everybody assumes they are growing, it’s legal these days. But these folks don’t appear to be the type of people that would apply for a permit.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.