Helenistic Day

I slept well and was up and downstairs around 745am. Mindy asked that I bring her coffee in a little bit. Sure dear. Downstairs I stepped out onto the deck to drink in some of the lovely morning air, which was slightly cool, though significantly warmer than the last few mornings. Inside, I started some coffee then headed to my PC where i spent a solid thirty minutes before taking Mindy coffee. She didn't wake when I entered the room with the coffee so I quietly set it on her night stand and tip-toed out. Rare that she didn't wake.

I played for a while longer before finally heading out on a run. Must've been near 915am when I headed out. Ran three miles. Mindy was sitting on the deck when I got back. I joined her there while cooling down after my run. Despite not being in the forecast, heavy cloud cover moved in over the next hour. Thankfully though, it didn't last. Around 1115am we made the decision to spend our afternoon in Yellow Springs. I actually offered that we do Darby Park instead, but Mindy was fairly adamant about Yellow Springs. We haven't been back since last October.

I took a shower. Mindy simply freshened up. We left the house near 1215pm taking the Accord. Ashley sent a text asking if we were brining the stove by. I shared that we were going hiking and would either bring it later that evening or possibly even Sunday. Took about 50 minutes to get to Yellow Springs. And like it did earlier at home, the skies bounced between sun and clouds. But by the time we got to Yellow Springs it was mostly sunny and somewhere in the 70s. We found parking along Xenia Ave. right outside the Twisted Tines. From there we walked to the public restrooms before heading into Glen Helen for a hike.

As fate would have it, we mistakenly took the wrong path once inside Glen Helen and instead of ending up along the name sake yellow spring and the all too familiar trail, we ended up heading almost due south on a lesser taken trail high above Yellow Spring Creek ducking in and out of steep out croppings or caves. Very unusual. We could hear those following the lower trail along the creek below. Lo and behold, we stumbled up a couple architectural gems. First we stumbled upon the Glen Helen Atrium Art Gallery in the middle of the woods. The building had a Frank Lloyd Wright feel about it. And then another 1/4 mile or so along the trail, we happened upon a nature center of similar architecture. Inside it was similar to the new Darby Park nature center. Cool! We stayed on that same upper trail hiking maybe 1.5 miles south of town. Almost purposefully, we aimed slightly west until we bisected with the bike trail - The Little Miami Scenic Trail. We walked that back into town, which proved to be a treat as well. Saw an enormous solar panel complex under construction, assuming it to power much of the university. Read about it here: http://antiochcollege.org/news/archive/antioch-college-breaks-ground-new-solar-farm

As we continued on we stumbled upon The Women's Park, a long narrow park nestled in between the bike trail and the college. It was loaded with greenery and lovely perennial flowers. We continued on the bike trail into town where we planned to have lunch. Though we love it, we agreed to try something other than Ye Olde Tavern. Decided to try Wind's Cafe.

By then it was nearing 3pm. Inside Wind's Cafe, which is newly renovated, we opted for bar seating. There they have a scaled down menu and a decent drink menu that includes a few good beers. I opted for a DIPA, Wanderlust from Nowhere in Particular Brewing in Dayton. Mindy opted for a glass of wine. We both decided on the lamb burger garnished nicely. It was top notch. Not wanting to sport a big afternoon beer buzz, I had just the one beer. Afterwards, we ventured out to hit a couple shops. Most notably, we wanted to check out the music store to see what they had in the way of drum boxes since we know two people who would love to own one. However, much to our chagrin, we were told that the guy who makes them found a real job and no longer has time to make the custom drum boxes. :( We ventured a couple more shops too, including the same one where we bought our large purple mosaic plate. There Mindy bought me a mini xylophone type thing. Too cool!

Before heading home, Mindy popped in Twisted Tines. There we bought nothing. We pulled out of Yellow Springs for home near 4pm. You wouldn't believe the crowd at Youngs Dairy. There must've been a couple thousand cars parked all along the road in all the makeshift parking lots. That time of year - the pumpkin patch.

Once on I-70, it's a very boring drive. I listened to the Alabama/Florida football game for most of the drive home. Just before arriving home I suggested we see if the old range will load up in the Pilot and if so, take it over to Ashley that evening to get it out of the way. I took some measurements before trying to simply cram it in and by all accounts it would fit on its back easily. We put the rear seats down, of course. I had to convince Mindy to come along, though she willingly helped load it up. I think she wanted to nap.

I sent Ashley a text letting her know that we were ready to bring it by. She called me back a few minutes later to let me know that they were home. I asked that she have the area behind her existing stove clean so all we'd have to do is slip the new on in. She shared that she'd already cleaned back there as recent as Thursday night in preparation for its delivery. Cool! We arrived to Ash, Steven and Olivia sitting out front. Ash & Steven were smoking. I gave them both a little crap about it. Always will too. Smoking is dangerous and will kill them if they don't quit! What Ashley may not realize is that Olivia will likely smoke just like the two of them. Odds are very, very strong.

Anyway, we wasted little time. First things first, Steven and I carried the old existing range to the dilapidated garage. And before carrying our old one, I had Ashley fetch me some cleaning supplies so I could "Jimmy clean" behind the stove. I joked with Ashley that I was going to come over one Saturday and teach her how to deep clean. I could tell that she swept and ran a sponge over the neighboring cabinet walls, but the sticky stove residue remained. I got most of it off with a lot of elbow grease and determination. Satisfied, Steven and I carried in the new range. Before moving to its final spot we leveled it up (brought a small level with me) and then installed the new drip pans. Looks like new! Ashley seemed excited. After all, it's far nicer than the one that was there and likely about 10 or 15 years newer.

We chit-chatted for a while, me visiting with Olivia who was busy watching kiddie TV, just like Bella does at home. Mindy and I headed for home near 6pm. We didn't plan to go out anywhere, agreeing early on to simply stay home, relax, and watch a little college football. Sometimes that the best plan of all.

While I cracked a beer and tuned into college football, Mindy headed off to the shower since she hadn't taken one earlier. She was upstairs for a while, emerging about an hour later all fresh, clean, and dressed only in a V.S. nighty. We watched a little football then lowered the lights for our own halftime show. :) Headed to bed near 11pm.