Cincinnati Pride - 2016

"And that's how you make a terrorist die in vain"

   - Steve Hartman, CBS News

 On Friday's CBS News, Steve Hartman's "On the Road" segment was timely. He described a gay teen who had just come out (via a Facebook post) in Alabama. and his fear of acceptance. The quote at the beginning of this blog was Hartman's powerful way of ending the story. It referenced the slaughter of 49 people at the Pulse gay bar in Orlando on June 12.

 And so yesterday, we made that terrorist die a lot more in vain. WLWT (channel 5 in Cincinnati), reported the turnout for the Cincinnati Pride Parade to be in the neighborhood of 90,000. Tom and I were among them.

 Rainbows were the color of the day.

 Tom and I spent our time at the corner of 7th and Vine.

 Police presence was extraordinary. Patrolmen were at every intersection I viewed and swat teams, with automatic weapons were also located strategically. Preparations for our safety were wonderful.

 Where did the flags come from? This is one of the places.

 Pooches were plentiful. One more a rainbow tutu.

 What about that guy's shoes?!

 Yeah, I'm really there.

... and so is Tom.

 The quote: If you're not gay friendly take your bitch ass home!

 This is the proper way to watch a parade on a hot day.

 Must have been hot under there!

 A numbers of guys wore just underwear, This guy was part of a Rocky Horror Picture Show float.

 A bathtub, complete with bubbles.

 During the parade all kinds of give-away's were tossed (sometimes handed) to us: candy (which Tom was still picking up after the parade ended), rainbow wristbands, cup insulators, printed material, Mardi Gras beads (in rainbow hues), condoms and lube.

 Loved this display of Pride and the person in the foreground offering a salute. I can't say gal or guy since drag was a common sight.

 This is the end of the parade. Now to Sawyer Point where the Cincinnati Pride Festival was held.

 Tom sides up to a cardboard cut-out of Hillary Clinton.

 The Belle of Cincinnati paddles lazily by..

 Tom was intrigues by the guys in kilts.

Across the road from Sawyer Point was a religious group with bullhorns telling us we should repent, that there was still hope we could be saved. "You don't have to be this way," one man bellowed. Then there was this opinion.

 Another view of the placards that honored the Orlando victims. These were carried in the parade.

 And then Tom and I started the long walk back to our car at the Garfield Garage at 7th and Vine. We enjoyed some of the sights at Smale Park on our return trip.

 Me with a couple of bronze statues. They reference Cincinnati's Black Brigade during the Civil War. Read more here.

 A love this statue of a mother and child pointing towards the Ohio River. Shades of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

 Downtown Cincinnati had lots of Pride banners. Altogether, a wonderful day, though quite hot (88°). We ended up at Tom+Chee for gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and endless soft drinks. Mostly, though, it was a place to simply cool down.

 Finally, here's a look at our route as we parked our car, watched the parade, walked to Sawyer Point, returned via Smale Park and ended up at Beerfest (see the previous post). Google estimates our walking (the light blue line) was about 3.5 miles. I'd have put it closer to five.

OTR Beerfest

 Tom and I walked about 3.5 miles in downtown Cincinnati yesterday (06/25) and one of our stops was at the Over the Rhine Beerfest. It was held all weekend at Washington Park, across the road from the Cincinnati Music Hall. For details of the event, click here.

 Trouble was, they only sold beer (canned or tiny 4 ounce plastic cups) by first buying a wristband ($5). I'd have preferred simply paying for a taste on the spot and showing my ID multiple times. But I suppose there are two ideas built into the wristband: a. They only have to check your ID once and b. They can limit your consumption to the amount of beer the wristband buys (assuming they record the purchase).

 Washington Park is an expansive greenspace, bordered by West 12th, Race and Elm Streets. The walkway is circular and allowed for vendor booths around this perimeter. There were plenty ... and a band, too.

 Across Elm Street, to the west, is the Cincinnati Music Hall, offering a regal backdrop to the festivities. Music Hall is Cincinnati's "premier classical music performance hall". Completed in 1878, it is currently undergoing renovation.

More Ashes Bite the Dust

 It hasn't even been a year since we had Joe's Tree Service here to remove a couple of dead ashes (see that story here). Now, at the rear of our property, two more ashes stand dead, the victim of the Emerald Ash Borer.

 Really they've been dying for the past couple of years. Every time the wind blows, I've had to walk around and pick up limbs before I could mow. Finally I'd had enough and called David to come and give me as estimate. He was here for that estimate on May 14 but has been busy taking down ashes that were close to homes and thus provided an insurance risk. Our two trees were not near anything and provided no risk ... except to me when I mowed.

 Yesterday he and his crew of two arrived just before noon  and got to work. They finished at nearly 6 pm.

 The two ash in question are those on the right side of this picture. I've always thought it odd that two trees were planted so close together. Maybe they came up naturally and were just left standing? In any case, they were here when we moved to Pinehaven nearly thirty years ago.

 Neither tree was particularly huge. Even so, rather than just cutting them down, all the lower limbs were lopped off first, some with a hand-held chain saw (as shown here), others with a chain saw attached to the end of a long pole.

 The chipper/shredder was parked near the work area so the debris didn't require pulling very far. It's a noisy and dirty operation on a very hot (88°) and humid day. While they were working, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued but we had no rain here until they had finished.

 The chipper/shredder seems a particularly dangerous piece of equipment. It can take sizable branches and reduce them to sawdust in a moment.

 Here's a look at the cloud of sawdust exiting the machine. There's just a loud "buzz" as the machine tears into a limb.

... and here's a look at the powered saw on the end of a pole. It makes reaching high branches manageable (though I think still not easy). In most cases, as a branch came free, this guy had to move quickly out of the way. At least he didn't have to climb the tree or need a bucket truck as they did last summer.

 Most of the lower limbs are gone now and one of the main uprights is down.

 The next time I looked the tree was reduced to rubble.

 This work creates quite a mess but both men finished with rakes and left the lawn in great shape. There was no more than patches of sawdust remaining when they left.

 So now we have quite an open view to the west. It's a bit shocking actually.

 When they were nearing the end of their work, one of the men pulled the chipper/shredder onto our south lawn. It sat there until they had finished.

 By 6 pm, the view west looked a bit bare. This time I didn't pay extra to have the trunks removed. Seeing as how they are at the very rear of our property, they won't be spoiling the view too badly. I'll just have to continue mowing around them until they eventually rot. That, I doubt, will be in my lifetime.

... and once last look, this time facing east towards the house.

 Am I finished with tree removal? Hardly. Lots of pines are either dead or dying so there's plenty of work in the years ahead. I think the rest that will need to be taken down are small enough that Bob, Tom and I will be able to do it. But I'm giving each a chance this summer, see whether the early spring green results in still-living trees or whether each is just a cruel tease.

 In any case, the rest of the work will probably be ours.

Walking the Roebling Bridge

 Five dollar parking fees in downtown Cincinnati - more common than not - were the impetus for Tom and I to park on the Covington, Kentucky side of the Ohio River (for free) and walk north across the John A Roebling Suspension Bridge.

 It was something we both wanted to do anyway, to see the bridge up close and personal and watch the Ohio River, far underfoot, flow languidly west.

 The above view is from the Kentucky side of the bridge facing Cincinnati to the north. Upkeep of the bridge appears good - at least from this vantage point. The iron girders and suspension cables are all painted a blue-gray without any sign of rust or deterioration.

 That's The Great American Ballpark on the right side of this frame.

 South of the bridge is a marina of sorts where sightseeing paddlewheelers gather.

 This one - the River Queen - was approaching us from the west so we stood in one spot while it passed about 100 feet beneath us. The bridge offers a minimum of 100' clearance for boats of this sort.

 The river was slow-flowing and the boat, too. For sight-seeing, the laid-back speed is an advantage.

 This is the spot where the bridge's suspension cables nearly reach the deck. Can you imagine building this monstrosity in the mid-1800's? The first pedestrians to cross the bridge made the trip on December 1, 1866, a century and a half before Tom and I. That anniversary arrives in just six months.

 As we neared the Cincinnati end of the bridge we saw a fisherman down below enjoying the cloudy, warm afternoon. Tom said, "Even if I caught a fish there, I wouldn't eat it!". Especially on the south side of the river, billows of brown sediment cloud the water.

 Here's a close-up of one of the towers.

 Cincinnati's waterfront is highlighted by Smale Park (also Riverfront Park and perhaps others).

 This water feature is part of Riverfront Park.

 And now, from the Cincinnati side, looking towards Covington. The main span of the bridge is 1057 feet (a fifth of a mile). When the bridge was built (1856-1867), this was the longest suspension bridge in the world. More details can be found in the Wikipedia entry by clicking here.