Larry A. Smail's Blog

   I haven’t placed any entries here in a while. We have had some hot, humid weather and quite a bit of rain as of late. However, I have been doing some local walking within the community. I have been busy recording a new CD placing many tracks with each song. I have been working on some art projects as well. I am going to enter the Pennsylvania Waterfowl Show later this year. Add to these, I have been doing some music at various places. So, as you can see, I have been staying out of trouble as well!

Rupp Run

Friday morning presented some much cooler temperatures in the morning so I decided to walk near my old homestead along Silvis Hollow Road in Kittanning Township here in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. I parked at the intersections of this road and the Garrett’s Run Road and walked the road easternly towards the home where I was raised. Eventually, I surprised my mother and step-father, Bob with a short visit.                                                                                  

Upon my return towards the car I, often,  entered the woodlands to walk along a creek I used to spend hours on…Rupp Run. This crick (creek) is a tributary of Garrett’s Run which in turn enters the Allegheny River. As a boy, I remember catching minnows from a bridge below the house. What a joy to have a water course to play around.                                                                                                                        

I have memories of carrying a tackle box and a bait-casting style rod and reel along the crick to catch trophy chubs. They were, probably, a maximum of around eight inches. That fact didn’t matter to a young lad….I had a blast in their pursuit.

Hickory Nuts

A friend and I would do litter patrols along these waters too. I always hated to see garbage in the streams!

 I remember another time while sneaking under one of the narrow bridges. I saw some old wood peewee bird’s nest anchored to the side. I reached up to see if the nest was empty and it tumbled from the bridge’s side onto my head. I was covered with bird lice!!! I quickly removed my white tee-shirt (Since that was we all wore back then.) and continually covered my head and torso with the cold waters. I learned a lesson!

Cattail

Another instance proved to be a lost shoe! I entered into a muddy looking area along the stream. A suction occurred and my foot and leg became sucked down. I had a very difficult time getting out of the muck. I did find I was missing one of my tennis shoes as I finally survived the quick sand. Oh the joys of being a country boy! The Keds were, probably, dirty anyway since I would always rub dirt into my new tennis shoes. They needed a patina immediately. No boy in his right mind would be caught with glossy black and white tennis shoes!

The recent warm and wet weather has proven to be a boom to fungus growth. I viewed many species growing within the woodlands.

Indian Pipes

A small waterway and a boy. These are things that make memories!