#old alton bridge

[tempest-melody]

Campfire Stories: Goatman's Bridge

It has been a while since I posted a Campfire Story! I really like doing these but sometimes they can be difficult and I want to do them right. This is one that I have wanted to do for a while and I finally found the right time. So, come on this – slightly – creepy adventure with me. I hope that I did not come across as incentive in this video. I wanted to be as honest as possible as to the…

[nessiopeia]

Throwback to day I visited the haunted old Alton bridge

[penumbralwoods]

best wikipedia page?

the old alton bridge, SPECIFICALLY the talk page. there is a long history of people attempting to change it to "shane and ryan's bridge" and include shane madej's ownership claim on buzzfeed unsolved in the article, it's so fucking funny. it's been locked several times because of this and i think rn is still locked entirely. the power two douchebags have to make some obscure wikipedia page vandalized for 7 years, i love it.

[izzyspussy]

The 12 Months of Cryptids

Cryptid #2: Goatman

The Goatman is a creature of urban legend from as far back as the 1950s. There are many versions, one of the most popular being the Goatman of Old Alton Bridge covered on Buzzfeed: Unsolved.

Early Goatman legends feature a faun-like creature with the top half of a man and the bottom half of a goat. More modern Goatman legends describe the creature as even more goatlike, with a goat face as well as goat legs.

In some legends the Goatman is said to be a man disfigured in a goat experiment gone wrong. In others, he's a cursed hermit. He's also been said, as seen in BFU, to be a demon or possibly even the Devil Himself.

Goat motifs are common in depictions of demons because of the association with the Devil. One relatively famous goatlike demon - or God, depending on who you ask - is Baphomet.

Baphomet was allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar in the early 1300s. Now, Baphomet is a symbol of balance in various occultist practices. This concept is clear in his various opposing traits. He is both animal and man, both male and female, and both good an evil.

[image description: on the left, the most famous depiction of Baphomet, a Goatman with wings, a star on his forehead, breasts, and a cadeucus rising from his lap. on the right, my illustration of Baphomet in the same pose in front of concentric circles. the images are cropped to be opposite halves. /end ID]

Up Next: Fairies

[madseance]

Ryan talking about how a fortune teller said he'd die on camera and then blatantly ignoring a warning from the spirit world (BEWARE BRIDGE)... Return to Old Alton Bridge (series finale)

[railwayhistorical]

In the Capital City

This post will complete the series focusing on one train, powered by F-units, on the former Chicago & Alton, later GM&O/ICG.

We begin at Ridgely Yard, Springfield, Illinois, where our train is approaching a signal bridge adorned with a color position light for each main track. In the second image see the train passing a GM&O caboose just a few seconds later.

The third has the train crossing over North Ninth Street, while the fourth shows it south of downtown Springfield at Iles Tower. The fifth image is a detail of the previous to highlight that the engineer is picking up orders via a hoop of string, old-school.

Five images by Richard Koenig; taken November 21st 1976.

[blogparanormalexpresso2stuff]

5 Dangerous Haunted Bridges You Should Never Cross

Join me and embark on a journey to 5 of the world's most dangerous and supernaturally charged crossings. From mournful ghosts of the past to demonic entities... prepare yourselves for bone-chilling tales as we uncover the dark history and ghastly hauntings surrounding five bridges that you should probably never cross. Are you sure you're ready?

Photos:

"Poinsett Bridge, Greenville County, South Carolina" by Indies1 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

"Poinsett Bridge 5" by Upstateherd (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

"Poinsett Bridge, Monument plaque, Greenville County, South Carolina" by Indies1 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

"Dyavolski bridge" by Evgeni Dinev (https://www.flickr.com/people/4174533...) is licensed under CC BY 2.0

"Devils-bridge-Ardino2" by Vassia Atanassova - Spiritia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Us...) is in the Public Domain

"Dyavolski most, Ardino, Bulgaria-2" by Klearchos Kapoutsis (https://www.flickr.com/people/8383084...) is licensed under CC BY 2.0

"Bunnyman bridge night" by Secretsqurl (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Se...) is in the Public Domain

"Norfolk Southern freight train at Colchester Overpass aka Bunnyman Bridge" by Kohlchester (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

"Night time traffic at Colchester Overpass aka Bunnyman Bridge" by Kohlchester (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

"Richmond Bridge 05" by Harryt51 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

"Richmond Bridge Tasmania date stone" by Luckydog429 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

"Richmond-Tasmania-Australia04" by Diego Delso (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28147777) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

"Alton Bridge" by EARTEAGAV (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

"Old Alton Bridge, Denton, Texas Historical Marker (8979778593)" by Nicolas Henderson (https://www.flickr.com/people/7679285...) is licensed under CC BY 2.0

"Altonbridge3" by Renelibrary (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

"Oldaltonbridge" by Brianchester666 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...) is in the Public Domain

[takadasaiko]

A Flicker of Light: Chapter Twelve

Story Summary: A canon divergent AU in which Luke Skywalker is raised within the Empire to be either his father's heir as a Sith Lord… or his replacement.

Chapter Summary: Luke takes command of his new flagship only to run across a damaged Rebel Rebel frigate and a mystery planet that holds even more mysterious dangers.

FFN II AO3

---

When Luke was young, he'd wanted nothing more than to see the stars. One of his first clear memories was the flight to Coruscant from Mustafar. Looking back on it now, he knew Father must have been afraid for what was to come, but at six years old he had been utterly fascinated by the control panels and every sound that the ship made. He wanted to fly. He wanted to be like Father. The fact that he'd been tucked away in the Palace on Coruscant when he wanted nothing more than to be on board the Executor had been torture. Even his time with Mara jetting around the galaxy on their covert missions hadn't quite matched the splendor of the Executor I-Class Super Star Destroyer. It had become his home as he shadowed his father and studied under him.

And while he was fairly certain no ship could match his father's own, the Aeres came close. Smaller than the Executor, it the the II-Class was still an imposing sight as it glided through open space or down towards a planet's surface. Luke had gotten his pick of crew and had done his best not to feel too bad plucking Renz from his father's own. It left Marrow to fend for himself, which would likely end in the captain's demise. That would be on his own head, the teen had to remind himself. No one took a position on the Executor without understanding that failure was not an option. Without Renz there to pick up the pieces, it would only be a matter of time until the captain's complacency became obvious, and Luke wouldn't let Renz go down with him.

He'd only taken a handful of stormtroopers from the 501st, and only ones he knew would come with him. Barrix had joined, along with Alton and Flash, but few gave up such a prestigious position of their own accord. Anyway, Luke needed to earn the same loyalty in a new set of troops as his father had in the 501st. When the time came, not all of them would choose the Dark Lord and his son's side, but some would, and some was better than none if Palpatine forced their hand. He knew that his father thought he'd been given command of his own Star Destroyer too quickly, but it could work in their advantage. Luke would make sure it would.

A flicker of warning through the Force pulled him out of his thoughts half a moment before an alarm sounded on the bridge. He tore his gaze away from the streaking stars to where Renz was already at the crew pit, awaiting the alert. Luke stood still, reminding himself that as the commander of the ship, it was the crew's job to speak up, not for him to follow his usual habit to crouch down to get a better look. He was in command now.

"I'm not certain, sir," the crewmember answered stiffly, fumbling with his computer. "It's as if something's throwing the equipment off."

Luke stretched out in the Force, following the flicker he'd felt toward its source as the conversation over faulty equipment became muddled in the background. It was strange. Hollow. No, not hollow. More like a pit, a black hole sucking in anything and everything around it.

"Pull us out of hyperspace," Luke snapped, cutting his new captain and the crewmember off.

"My Lord, I -"

"Now!"

The ship jolted, slamming everyone forward as they shifted hard out of the hyperspace lane and into the stillness of what should have been empty space. Instead they were facing a planet directly in their path. Dark, as if drenched in shadows, all Luke could tell was it was the source of the utter void he'd felt in the Force, much like the ysalamiri had done all those years ago when he and Mara had landed on Myrkr.

But this wasn't Myrkr. This planet wasn't even on any starmap that Luke had ever seen.

"My Lord Natus," Renz called softly, motioning to what appeared to be a stalled, damaged ship to the right of their own nose. There were signs of an attack, pieces of the frigate free floating in space and sparks still lighting up the darkened sky around it. There were signs of life, meaning that they must have sealed themselves off from the gaping wound in the side of their ship.

"Hail them," Luke answered, hating how tight his voice sounded. He didn't like this. Something was terribly wrong.

There were several long and brutally tense moments as they waited on a response.

"They provided old codes, sir," the Nav officer finally replied. "Altered, but they appear to be from a set of stolen codes we flagged recently."

"Rebels."

Renz gave a sharp nod. "It would seem so, sir. Your orders?"

They hadn't attacked and there was a fair chance they cutouts to, at least not from the frigate itself. Likely they were hoping the Star Destroyer would just pass them by. Luke could. These men would follow whatever order came down, but they wouldn't respect him like they did his father. This was his first real test and even though everything in him screamed to get far away from the shadow planet, he knew he couldn't. "Tell them to prepaid for boarding and ready the TIEs. If they are who we think they are, they'll have fighters out immediately." He turned, starting for the door.

"Sir?" Renz called, clearly confused.

The corner of Luke's lips quirked up at the corner. "What, Captain? You expect me to send my men in where I won't go?" Luke offered a wave over his shoulder. "You have the bridge, Captain. See what information you can find on that planet."

They needed to finish this quickly and leave as soon as they could and find a way to get out of there.

Just as predicted, it didn't take long for a collection of X-Wings to come swooping out of the damaged Pelta-Class frigate once they knew they were going to be boarded. Luke was already strapped into his TIE fighter, barking orders and grateful that, at least for the moment, the Force was with him.

He zipped out of the hanger, immediately engaging in the dogfight. The frigate might have been damaged, but it had been carrying a fair number of fighters on it, all coming to the same conclusion that he had if the distance they kept from the planet was anything to go by, which left them fighting in a tight space between what appeared to be the ring around the planet and the Ares.

Blaster fire flew by in every direction along with pieces of the crafts that it hit. Luke dodged in and out, taking out a number of fighters and feeling the rise in frustration from others. He punched the comm system. "What have you found, Captain?"

"Most of our readings are still jammed, Lord Natus, but I can confirm that none of our systems have any information about a planet in this location. It… shouldn't be here, sir."

"No it shouldn't," Luke answered lowly, rolling his fighter to dodge a close call. He swung around and his thumbs found the triggers, clipping the X-Wing before hitting the power pack and sending it exploding in several directions. "Anything on the frigate itself? They've got some talented pilots out here."

"Should I send another wave?"

"No, we're in close quarters as it is. Hold tight and we'll finish them off." Luke cut transmission, centering himself and reaching out. He flew between two fighters, bringing them in to crash into each other and flipped up and back to catch a third from behind. He took the shot, but the pilot rolled, leading him towards the planet. Luke smirked to himself. Alright. If he wanted to play it that way, he'd play.

The TIE followed closely on the X-Wing's tail, both crafts cutting in and around the other fighters like a dance. Twice the X-Wing pulled away, but instead of putting distance between them he took Luke head on. It was fun, even if he'd never admit it out loud. Serious as the situation was, it had been a long while since Luke had come across a pilot other than his father or Mara that could keep up with him. This guy had talent. Too bad he was going to have to blast him out of the sky.

And then it hit. There was no warning, only the suffocating void. It felt like a simultaneous blow to the head along with a kick to the gut, driving the air out of him. Luke struggled to keep his eyes open against, but somewhere along the way the X-Wing had spun around to face him. On instinct, Luke fired, the canon fire striking the X-Wing's attack, resulting in an explosion that sent both crafts plummeting towards the mystery planet's gravity field.

Luke could only assume that though. Between the bright light from the explosion, the sudden drop towards the planet, and his inability to access the Force, he could only hope he'd taken the bastard down with him as the shadow planet's atmosphere swallowed his TIE fighter up.

TIE fighters were not designed for durability. Instead they chose maneuverability and speed, supposedly leaving it to the pilot's skill to never take a hit in the first place. If they were struck, the lack of life support encouraged the pilot to use their craft as one last contribution to the battle rather than risk a more painful death in the vacuum of space. Even with Luke's own modifications he had made to his fighter over the years, it shouldn't have been able to survive a free fall through a planet's atmosphere to crash on the surprisingly hard surface, but there it was: set down as if he'd landed it himself, but he had no recollection of doing so. Nor of stumbling from the cockpit to wake up a handful of yards away flat on his back and staring up at the swirling, dark clouds above him.

A groan escaped him as he sat up slowly, making special note of each twinge and ache, the most notable starting at the base of his skull and radiating upward. Carefully he rolled to his knees and then to his feet. So far, so good, not that it helped him gain his bearings at all. Instead he realized that his TIE fighter was the limit of his vision, the dark clouds that had appeared to make up the bizarrely uncharted, Mid-Rim planet cover the ground and sky like a deep, black fog.

Luke touched his fighter, finding it cold beneath his fingertips. There was no way to tell how long he'd been there or if Renz had even had time to send a search party for him. Dank farrik. That was humiliating. His first solo battle in command of the Aeres and he'd crash landed. If Mara heard about it - and she would - he'd never live it down. If Father did, then -

There was a rush of movement that he heard rather than felt, his connection to the Force still impossible to grasp. Luke tugged his lightsaber free of its clip and the crimson blade snap-hissed into existence as he swung around, finding the space behind him void of anything other than the thick, foggy shadows. Another sound came from behind, then another from his left, and the young Sith-in-training gave a frustrated scream as he slashed at nothingness. "Show yourself!" he shouted and for the briefest of moments, he thought he saw orange skin between the wisps of fog and sharp blue eyes that he hadn't seen in nearly two years now. "Tano…?"

"Don't move," a voice said from behind. Decisively not Ahsoka Tano. The voice was male and young, or at the very least not too much older than him. Whoever he was, he had a blaster to Luke's back.

Luke tightened his grip on his lightsaber, feeling a strange ache make its way through his fingers as he reached out again and - again - failed to find a connection to the Force. "You clearly don't know who you're threatening," he snarled, bluffing his way through confidence in that moment.

"You're too young to be Vader and they say he never takes his helmet off, so you must be Natus."

"Then you're just a fool."

"If I am, I'm a fool with a blaster. Toss your weapon."

Luke snorted at that, but the muzzle of the blaster dug into his back. He weighed his options for a long moment before his thumb nudged the trigger and the red blade snapped out of existence. He held it out loosely, away from himself so that the man behind him had to reach for it.

And he did. Luke jumped into action, pivoting around and catching his attacker by surprise. He wrenched his arm upward, sending the blaster shot wild before the fog behind the man stirred to reveal another face. This one was distantly familiar, but he caught a clear view of him as he crossed his arms over his chest, frowning deeply beneath his thick, blond beard as he gave a long suffering sigh to someone beyond Luke's line of sight. "Your thoughts betray you," he directed at the unseen person, but the words struck an old memory.

There was a sudden, sharp crack as the man he'd been fighting slammed the blaster around so that it struck Luke along the side of the face, sending him crashing to the ground. Blackness spotted his vision and he did his best to shake it off as he rolled, surprised to find his opponent with his blaster trained towards the fog. A flash of green light and the hum of a lightsaber drew the other man's fire before he whirled back around to aim at Luke once more. "How many of you are there?"

His lightsaber had fallen out of his reach and Luke slowly raised his hands to show that. He'd have to bide his time. "Just me." He watched the X-Wing pilot. Helmet discarded, he could see the man's long face and dark eyes focused on him. There was a gash over his left eye and another across the bridge of his nose. He favoured his left leg ever so slightly. His bright orange flight suit stood out against the swirling shadows behind him. He readjusted his blaster, tightening his grip on it, and took a threatening step forward as if to remind the downed Imperial to stay that way.

"Then who the hells are they?"

Luke's gaze snapped behind the pilot to another hint of motion. "Locals, maybe." Not that he really believed that, but the last thing he needed at the moment was for the pilot to get trigger happy when he couldn't reach the Force to defend himself.

"Sure," the other huffed. They waited for a long, tense moment as the winds stirred around them, smokey tendrils licking at Luke's black boots and covering his lightsaber up like a maw opening up and swallowing it down. He watched it from his place on the ground, wondering if it would do the same to him.

The pilot risked another quick glance around, his dark gaze coming to rest on the TIE fighter still barely visible through the smog. Luke didn't need the Force to piece together what he was thinking. He was going to take the fighter and leave him there. He started to shift, if only to pull his feet away from the fog, and the pilot instantly spun, the blaster aimed at him again. "Don't move."

Luke watched as the dark, wispy tendril touched his boot, snaking a little further up. He wondered if he was imagining how cold it felt through the thick material.

The Rebel pilot looked the fighter up and down, clearly trying to find his best angle inside without the equipment typically used.

"Unless you're planning to shimmy your way to the top…." Luke drawled, finally pulling his legs in and sitting up, crossing them so that he could put some space between himself and what he could only suspect was cutting him off from the Force.

"Afraid of a little fog?" the other pilot asked with a snort.

"There's something not right about this planet. I imagine it pulled your ship straight out of the hyperspace lane, didn't it? A lane charted without a planet anywhere near here, but here it is."

"How come you were able to pull out before your ship was damaged?"

Luke tilted his head a little, studying the other and thinking about how much information it was prudent to share. "I listen."

"To what? There was no warning from hyperspace or even that the gravity field would just kill the engines on the fighters. Catching one of the currents was the only thing that gave me a fighting chance at a landing, but a TIE couldn't have done that. And your fighter doesn't have a scratch?"

The blond swallowed the truth before it could escape. "I guess I'm just a better pilot than you." His lips twitched upward as he received a frustrated snort for a response.

But then dark brows tugged upward as if their owner had realized something. "You must have damaged it in the fall, even if it doesn't look like it. Why else would you still be here?" He grimaced and lowered the blaster that remained mostly trained on Luke, swearing softly. "We're going to die here."

"Not likely. One side or the other will come for us."

"What part of hitting the atmosphere sending the fighters into a free fall didn't you get?"

Luke didn't have a chance to respond as a loud whistling sound drew both of their attentions, a blur of a yellow fighter of some kind swooping low enough to make the other pilot duck. The craft sped forward into the fog, disappearing.

"Where's the crash?"

Luke shook his head. They should have heard it, but there was nothing. Only eerie silence.

"Get up."

Luke quirked an eyebrow at that. "What happened to stay down?"

"I'm going to go check, and I'm not willing to leave you to attack me from behind."

Or kill him outright, which would have been much easier. Interesting that that didn't seem to be an option when the pilot would have happily done it from his own functioning cockpit.

Luke unfolded himself, feeling a stronger pull on his muscles than he expected. He was tired - exhausted - but he didn't know why.

"Move," the other growled, failing to look all that intimidating now that Luke knew his first instinct wasn't going to be to gun him down. At least for now.

—

By the time that Oldus Renz had been promoted to commander on Lord Vader's flagship, he had had every expectation of eventually coming into the rank of Captain. No ranking officer lasted forever on the Executor. No, he had fully expected another promotion that would have, of course, been his last, because Lord Vader's ranking officers always met the same fate.

When Lord Natus had extended the offer to serve him on the newly christened Aeres, it has been a relief that no self respecting Imperial would ever admit to. While he was Lord Vader's son, Natus had always shown more restraint than his father in his years on the Executor. No one would dare call it mercy, but the teen balanced a strange and thin line between the brutal tactics he had been taught and a respect for those around him. Even - and perhaps especially - those under him. By accepting the commission as Captain of Lord Natus' new flagship, Renz had found himself contemplating a longer career for the first time since he'd been promoted to a rank in which Vader had known his name.

Well, that hope for the future had been short-lived. At fifty-six years old, having fought in two galactic wars now, it was still going to be Lord Vader that cut his life short the moment he found out that his son had died on the captain's watch.

Renz pulled in a steadying breath. No. They didn't know anything yet. Not why Lord Natus' TIE fighter had been sent spinning towards the planet's surface or even what the planet was. They still couldn't get a reading on the damned thing. All they had was the Rebel frigate they had taken and a handful of prisoners that he prayed had answers that might lead them to Natus, because as it stood, his men couldn't break through the atmosphere.

Shoulders squared, back straight, Renz nodded at the stormtrooper who opened the doors to the brig. His boots clicked against the permasteel in a steady pattern and he turned sharply at the holding area that his captive was waiting in and the door slid open.

The Rebel was sitting hunched forward, staring at his clasped hands. The captain of the frigate. He was one of the few ranking officers that they had brought over. "Captain Orikan," he greeted, his voice steadier than he felt. "I am—"

"Renz," Orikan answered. "I know. We met on Ryloth during the Clone Wars."

Renz didn't acknowledge the familiarity. This wasn't an ally. Not anymore. "The planet —"

"Shouldn't be there," the Rebel captain answered with a shrug. "Found it out the hard way, but it looks like you had some warning. Was that Vader's TIE fighter I saw out there?"

Renz pursed his lips, not daring to confirm or deny. Clearly Orikan thought he had nothing to either lose or gain by speaking. Better to let him speak.

Orikan gave an empty smirk. "If it had to happen, at least Antilles took the bastard down with him."

And there it was. The name of the pilot that had somehow gotten through the atmosphere with Natus. "Thank you, Captain."

Orikan gave him a startled look. "For what?"

"My starting point." He turned on heel and waited until the cell door closed behind him before turning to the waiting stormtrooper. "The other pilot's name is Antilles. Find out everything you can about him, the X-Wing he was flying, and if any others like it survived the battle."

The stormtrooper acknowledged his orders and was off, leaving Renz to start back to the bridge. He didn't know if Natus was alive or dead on the surface below, but he didn't exhaust every effort to find him.

TBC

Notes: I am so, so sorry for the delay! Life has gotten absolutely insane lately with the main delay stemming form not being able to type for ages because my injured my wrist (he felt bad... sort of lol). I'm 95% back though and I hope it was worth the wait. I decided to split this chapter into two to go ahead and put this one out now and hopefully there won't be a two month delay for the second half!

But let's go! I'd love to hear theories for the planet!

Next time: Luke and Wedge try to survive the mystery planet (and each other!).

[nexttopghost]

[derschwarzeengel]

[Tyler and Damon are at the Old Alton Bridge outside of Alton, Texas.] Damon: You may not like this. I'm gonna try and agitate it. I'm just gonna go-- Tyler: You do what you gotta do, and I'll do what I gotta do. Damon: I'm just gonna be as crude as possible here. Fuck you, Goatman! Tyler: Holy shit, dude. Damon: Is that good? Tyler: I thought you were gonna build your way up. Damon: No, no, no. Just right of the gate. Why build up? Tyler: If you don't believe, then there's nothing for you to be afraid of, right? You could be as big a prick as you want. I'll stand over here. Damon, dancing on the bridge: Goatman, I'm dancing on your bridge! It's my bridge now! [Tyler laughs.] Damon: You hear that? You want me off this bridge, you're gonna have to kill me! Tyler: Holy shit! Damon: You're gonna have to throw me off this bridge yourself! Tyler: He did throw somebody off the bridge once. Damon: Look at the way I dance on it. I disrespect your bridge, Goatman! Tyler: He's taking names right now. Damon: You hear that, Goatman? Me and Tyler Walker own your bridge! Tyler: No, don't loop me into your shit. Stop looping me; I hate it when you do this. Damon: Well then, tell him! Tell him you're not part of this. Tyler: I'm not part of his little charade. Damon: You're talking to Goatman now. Tyler: I see what you've done. Damon, grinning: It's Goatman entrapment. Damon: Goatman? Tyler: I'm not with him. Damon: They're gonna put my name in graffiti. Children will come here and tell tales of ME!

[spaciousreasoning]

Two Days Rolled Into One

Posting the events of a day on the day after makes for a slightly confusing collection of information. For example, Thursday’s events have Friday’s date atop the entry. With the beginning of September there will be a change. The date at the top of the entry will be the same as the day’s events which are presented. That also means that both Friday and Saturday events of the current week are being presented in the following space. I hope everything becomes more clear with the new organization.

***

Friday’s blood sugar dropped to 151. After coffee and brain games, we headed out early for our walk to beat the day’s forecast heat. We went to Dorris Ranch and started out along the Middle Fork Path. While Nancy took a break, I walked another quarter-mile to the Quarry Creek Picnic area, then we turned back and finished the loop by going through the wooded areas of Dorris Ranch. I made about 3.35 miles, 2.85 for Nancy.

On the way home from the walk, Nancy decided she would be up for another breakfast brioche with ham, egg and cheese. The new brioche buns are slightly smaller than the previous batch, which makes for a better sandwich.

Friday is the 72nd anniversary of Mom and Dad’s wedding. I posted on old black & white photo of them walking up the aisle of the church after the ceremony on Facebook. It got lots of likes and several comments.

After showing and napping, Nancy and I shared a wee bit of the birthday pie. Eating it mid-afternoon allows the sugar time to disappear before the next glucose test.

We picked up new meds for Grace. The report from her blood test indicated that her thyroid levels are low for a change, and that required an adjustment to the treatment.

Nancy presented a couple of ideas for rearranging her stuff in the “cat/study.” If we’re going to be here another year, she wants a little more room in which to pursue her artistic hobbies, and, perhaps, space for a keyboard of some sort.

We put on a pot of pinto beans to cook, spiced with garlic and ancho chili powder. With the tamales I picked up the other day, we had a nice dinner. Just about sunset, I went back out for another walk around the greater neighborhood area, once again making 1.9 miles in just under 35 minutes.

The Friday evening streaming was the third episode of the new season of “Under the Vines,” followed by the third and fourth episodes of the new season of “The Sommerdahl Murders,” which were the two halves of a single story.

***

Saturday morning’s blood sugar rebounded to 161. After finishing our coffee and brain games we drove over to Alton Baker Park, where Oregon Ducks fans were already setting up for “tailgating” before the season-opening game against Idaho. We crossed the pedestrian bridge, and walked along the river path toward the Owen Rose Garden, which we previously visited during our time here last summer.

After spending some time taking pictures of roses, we continued on the South Bank Path until we reached the Greenway pedestrian and bike bridge, which took us back to the North Bank Path, adjacent to the Valley River Center.

The North Bank was not as picturesque, and a portion of the path was right next to the freeway, separated only by some concrete barriers. We thought about stopping for lunch at McMenamins, but the outdoor area was quite full, probably with more Oregon fans.

Once we reached our parking place and headed out, we ran into very dense traffic and were prevented from navigating to Trader Joe’s. So we decided to put off shopping until after church on Sunday and just headed home.

After showers and a nap, we wandered a couple of houses down the street from our place to where a woman and some friends were holding a yard sale. We snagged a nice collapsible ice chest for $5 and they threw in a Faye Kellerman novel because I helped move tables back into the garage to end the sale. They will have another sale next Saturday, and one of the women said the selection of items will be different, so perhaps we will stop by again.

We also began discussing plans for our upcoming fifth wedding anniversary. Since we have not gotten out and about in recent weeks, Nancy suggested heading to the coast. The coastal town of Florence is only about an hour away, and to the north are some sites we can enjoy, including the Heceta Head Lighthouse, which is about half-way between Florence and Yachats, a town of about one thousand people that is a favorite of a number of people we know. There’s also a covered bridge relatively nearby we can try and track down.

For dinner we went to Abby’s for pizza, the usual small, thin-crust pepperoni and mushroom. We did not know whether it would be busy or not. If it had been too busy, we’d have ordered the pizza to go. But there were hardly any folks inside the place, so we stayed and enjoyed the pizza there while watching some football game we cared nothing about on one of the big-screen TVs.

I walked the big block again after we got home. When I was done, we watched two episodes of “Silent Witness,” the two parts of a story about the evils of artificial intelligence manipulating people through social media.

[broken-moss-creature]

Whats your favorite mythical creature? Also, do you like cryptids at all?

I think my favorite mythical creature is either dragons or Cerberus. I love cryptids lol, I think my favorite is either moth man, the wendigo, or the goat man on Old Alton Bridge in Texas! I've been there before, it was pretty cool :]

[randomtimes-com]

Goatman's Bridge - just a registered historic landmark shrouded in macabre local legends....

“Goatman’s Bridge” is the popular nickname for what’s formally called Old Alton Bridge, just an iron-truss span that once connected Denton, Texas, to Copper Canyon. The through-truss bridge was built over Hickory Creek on Copper Canyon Road, south of the old townsite. Built by the King Bridge Company of Cleveland, Ohio, it was first built to carry horses but would later carry vehicles across the…

[uncryptid]

Diane, 9:32p.m., September 5. Some images found on the internet of our subjects and their potential whereabouts. Sources say the Loveland Frogman has moved from Ohio to Lantana, Texas, now residing next to Old Alton Bridge. Mothman has been reported to work at a DMV in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Bigfoot's whereabouts are still unknown. I'm headed to Texas to speak with the Loveland Frogman. Diane, remind me to order a steak while I'm there. My iron is low.

[steveskafte]

ALTON EVER AFTER Every small town has something that could serve as its face. Maybe a bridge, a natural landmark, or some singular structure most likely to be recognized in a logo or simplified artistic expression. For me, the heart of Caledonia has always been this beautifully weather-beaten building. It's been standing since the 1860s, just a few decades after the town's inception. First it was called Caledonia Hotel, later Golden House, then Alton House ever after. It's certainly looked better before, but the same old qualities linger. Elderly bones break easy, hair gets grey or goes for good, skin sags like paint peels away. Even if you'll never be young again, you can be your most youthful self. This building is still used, and loved, I hope – but there's no denying that it needs a lot more love than it's getting. Then again, don't we all? June 4, 2023 Caledonia, Nova Scotia Year 16, Day 5687 of my daily journal.

[drnosfercatu]

Steve on Shane's Bridge

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This is Shane’s bridge, and its former owner, Steve (AKA Goatman).

Jokes aside, I’ve been rewatching BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural and Watcher’s Ghost Files recently. If you haven’t seen them, go give them a watch. Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara are the ghost hunters we need, and the ghost hunters we deserve.

For those unfamiliar, it has been reported that Old Alton Bridge in Texas is haunted by a half-goat half-man demonic entity. I’d love to visit some day and see if I can catch a glimpse.

Do you have any ghosts or cryptids you’d like to meet? Let me know in the comments!