Owal Rescue

Friday July 13, 2012, was both lucky and unlucky for a young Great Horned Owl. The very bad luck was being hit by a car sometime in the night. Better luck was sitting in the road about 9:30am when a group of cyclists from Tallahassee came along.

The immobile, but erect, clump of feathers was in the middle of the oncoming (westbound) lane of the Climax-Whigham road (aka GA Bike Route 10). Riding about 4th wheel in a steady paceline heading east, I saw and immediately recognized him as an owl. One of my buddies, Ron Ray, followed me as I made a careful exit from the paceline and U-turned back to the bird. He (the bird, not Ron) looked awful: Wet and rumpled feathers, covered with sandy muddy road spray, and a dazed stare. Ron exclaimed at how old the bird looked. He really was pathetic, looking like a wet chicken in mid-molt.

About the same time a pickup came along. I'm sorry I don't have the drivers name, he did good. I asked if he could take the owl to a vet, and he agreed. I asked if he had a towel in the truck - he only had his T shirt to offer. That, I knew, would not be enough. I shed my long-sleeve day-glow yellow polyester jersey. I got the owl to look at the big patch of color and dropped it over him, wrapping him up in it. Then we tied the T shirt around as a kind of makeshift cradle. The driver then drove the bird away, holding the cradle with one hand. The talons grasping the cloth were, ahem, impressive. Yikes. You'd lose a hand if that got on your wrist.

Ron and I road into Whigham, where we determined that the vet destination was all the way down US 84 to Cairo. So we road on back to the start of our ride and our vehicles in Calvary. The rest of our erstwhile paceline was there loading up to go back to real life. I drove back north to Cairo and the vet - to check on the bird and, if convenient, retrieve my jersey. (Note: Thank the stars I was wearing bib shorts so that riding without the jersey didn't gross people out too much. I did pick up some sun in places unused to it.) I got to the vet in Cairo. The folks there were very nice. They didn't have a clue about wildlife, though. I asked if they had my jersey, and found that the bird was still wrapped up in it. They extracted both shirts, and I asked them to hold the T for the pickup guy. They told me that the "wildlife rescue" lady was already on the way to get the owl, so I left feeling that I had helped him as much as I could.

Sidebar. Animals are hurt by our technology: roads, vehicles, powerlines, towers, fences, dams, boats. Vehicles, in particular, are far and away the top predator in North America. 


That night I called the wildlife rescue lady, one Lorraine Conklin. She told me the owl had never been delivered ... huh? A big misunderstanding, apparently the Cairo vet was expected to take the bird to a wildlife savvy vet in Thomsaville, but they had understood the opposite. Bad news for the owl, who was destined to spend the night without treatment or water in the cage in Cairo. I could hardly sleep.

I was at the Cairo vet when they opened this morning. I brought my welding gloves (BBQ cook's equipment), a heavy towel, and a box. I tried to sound officious stating I was there to pick up the owl. They were all relieved, and my equipment made me look like I knew what I was doing, so they brought me back to the cage. On the door was a paper sign stating: "Owal". (Well, hey, it IS a 2-syllable word in south GA, right?) Someone had supplied a plastic file crate for him, and he was perched on top of it, a good sign. His feathers were dry and fluffed. He looked every inch the "top gun" that he should be. I donned the welding/BBQ gloves, reached in "as if", grasped him and got him into the crate and closed the bifold lid. Away we went to Thomasville.

The rest of the day went great. The Thomasville vet:

Clanton-Malphus-Hodges Veterinary Hospital
2134 East Pinetree Blvd
Thomasville, GA 31792
229-226-1914

had been expecting the owl since yesterday, and they immediately took charge. I heard again from Ms Conklin, who had by then picked him up and brought him to her Nepenthic Society refuge for sick and injured wildlife in Thomasville. She confirmed that the owl was an immature (not fully grown, but old enough to be on his own) male Great Horned Owl. He seems to have had a concussion, and his eyes are not yet working well enough to hunt, but there were no broken wings or legs. Right now his prognosis is good for re-release in several days.

The Nepanthic Society
167 Home Park Farm Rd
Thomasville, GA 31757
229-228-9298


Ms Conklin is French. Today is July 14. I wished her happy Bastille Day.

PS The vet in Cairo was really nice. I know I made a little fun at their expense, but they had good in their hearts, and I feel sure they are a wonderful and caring place to take Fido and Kitty. Just not the coyotes, bobcats, and owals.

Mo2W Q1 Report

Yesterday was the 12th Meals on 2Wheels delivery (13, if you count the beta test on 1/25). We have not missed a Wed morning since the start on Feb 1, 2012. We had a couple of mornings when rain threatened, including yesterday (4/18) when we actually got sprinkled on. The upside of those weather-threatening days is, we set speed records for completing the delivery. The downside is, we don't spend any chit/chat time with the clients, but they know us now and definitely "get" that we need to hurry due to weather. Here are some more details on things we have learned and accomplished over the first three months of Mo2W.

Client List Evolution
Our "clients" are the folks we actually deliver meals to. This is what Mo2W is all about. Our list has evolved, and the data for that exposes the human story of aging in America. We added two clients during this quarter, one who moved into our "service area" and another who returned from a stay in a rehab facility. When our lady moved back from rehab, she was so happy to be back in her home and is clearly worried that she might not be able to stay there. Home, no matter how modest, is infinitely preferable to a "facility". Everybody knows this. Most of us have learned this through some personal experiences with family or friends or neighbors.  The rest of  us will learn it that way sometime in the future.

We also lost two clients. Reverend Bishop J B B, age 99, passed on March 21, 2012. He and his wife were both clients. Ms B is still in mourning, but hanging in there physically.
Caleb H, Jr, 95, left us for Hospice in late March and passed away on April 4, 2012. Mr H had been blind since I knew him.
It is sad to have these senior citizens leave us. It is poignant to realize that Meals on (2 or 4) Wheels helped allow these kind, good-hearted people to remain in their homes while they were alive.

Logo by artist Bill Otersen
We are extremely grateful to Bill Otersen for designing our Mo2W logo. The Biking Chef is cool. He is showing the world that you can use bikes for utilitarian purposes and enjoy the journey while maintaining your health and being a part of your environment instead of observing from inside a rolling terrarium. Thank you so much, Bill. I hope the logo catches on in other places around the country.

Who Dat
Here are the people who have participated in Mo2W so far:
Alvin Farrar
Chris Lacher [dat's me]
Mike Redig
Marv Rubenstein
Dave Stotts
Josh Valentine

Al Farrar is the only person besides myself to have made every single delivery during Mo2W's brief existence. Al is a trooper. Marv Rubenstein and Mike Redig have made quite a few deliveries as well. Dave Stotts rode with us in preparation for his column on Mo2W - more on that below. Josh Valentine joined us for the first time on 4/18. He is a member of the FSU cycling team and an avid all-round cyclists, also informally associated with Bicycle House Tallahassee, a non-profit community bike shop. Josh will be in Spain this summer, but is planning on starting up a Mo2W route supported by FSU Cycling.

Dave Stotts Column
Dave is our Tallahassee Democrat Bicycle Sports columnist. He rode with Mo2W and devoted a good portion of his April 6, 2012, column to Mo2W. I would like to post a link to this column, but it doesn't seem feasible. If you are a Democrat subscriber, you can find it in the Friday April 6 edition. This column was a surprise. Dave normally writes about racing. He took that day off of racing for a human interest column. Thanks Dave!

FSU Cycling
We made a brief presentation to FSU Cycling on March 29, at the invitation of president Greg Buker. Our basic pitch to them is that Mo2W would be a great way for them to integrate public service with cycling. Public service is a big deal at FSU, and is one of the components many students use to earn their Garnet & Gold Honor Society honors at graduation. Josh Valentine was there and is enthusiastic about the prospects.

Immediate Future
We will be starting an every-other-Thursday delivery on 4/26, just in time for Bike Month. Karen Loewen has been eager to join us but is tied up on Wednesdays at work. Karen will help inaugurate the Thursday run and will likely become the ride leader for that route. A second trailer that can be dedicated to this group has been donated by Krank It Up, a community bicycle project.

Standing Invitation
All members of Capital City Cyclists are invited to join Mo2W. If you can commit to one morning per month riding as a public servant, please sign up. Drop me an email. If you are not a member of CCC, please consider joining, but also note that Mo2W needs volunteer riders in any case. "Call Me."

MO2W update

The Meals on 2 Wheels group is working well. We delivered 16 meals on 2/8 and only 14 on 2/15, sadly two of our clients were in hospital. We hope they will be back this week.

Two points of interest:

1. Bill Otersen has designed us a logo!
2. We will meet at Brueggers West this week and until further notice, just for a meet-up location closer to ECS.

Meals on 2 Wheels Debut SUCCESS!

This morning four of us made the first Meals on 2 Wheels delivery by bicycle.

Al Farrar, Mike Redig, Marv Rubenstein and I met at Black Dog Cafe this morning at 9:00am. I was worried about the weather - really did not want the first try to be a mess - but we were fortunate.

There is not whole lot to say, really, except to review what we did, because everything went well and according to plan. This will probably be typical:

Meet at Black Dog 9:00am. Get new attendees signed up and oriented. Chit chat. Depart about 9:30, taking 7th Ave to Old Bainbridge to Alabama to Colorado, and from there pick up the advertised route to ECS: Continental, San Luis Park, San Luis Drive, Solano, White, Tennessee. We had a nice visit at ECS - the hot meals were a few minutes late getting out, so we took some time to see the facilities and all the hard working people making it happen. Loaded up about 10:20, reversed the route into Frenchtown, delivered 13 meals, and went separate ways since it looked like the predicted rain was about to come true.

My very hearty thank you to Marv, Mike & Al for participating. We're on again for next week, same time, same place. Bring a bike!

Meals on 2 Wheels - beta test

I've been working on a system to do "Meals on Wheels" on 2 wheels - by bicycle.

I had the idea while doing the 4-wheel version with my wife Kathy. We have a route that is urban and compact. In a car there is a lot of idling, U-turning, stop 'n go kind of stuff. It was clear that the delivery portion of the route would be much more efficient, and fun, on a bike.

I worked out two systems. The first uses a small bike trailer, converted over from one we had to take the grandkids behind a bike when they were babies. The trailer is hauled by a "trucker" and escorted by several "runners" on bikes. The runners deliver the meals to the door - and chat up the client, make sure they are doing OK, etc. The trucker stays with the bike/trailer and also does the navigation for the route, checking things off and making sure of the next client's home. (I'll describe the second system in a later post.)

The one unknown - and solved with some good luck - was finding a good bike route from Elder Care Services [ECS] into the neighborhood where the meals are delivered. ECS is on W Tennessee St west of White Drive.

I found an unmapped bike trail (old and wrinkled, but still, ahem, serviceable) that runs East/West through San Luis Park. It connects from San Luis Drive on the west to Continental Ave on the East. This is a missing link that connects ECS to the urban area of Frenchtown.

Sunday I ground-proofed the route. Today I did the whole delivery thing myself as a beta test, using the trailer. It was slow going, without any help I was both trucker and runner. But it worked! I left ECS with a full load of 15 meals at 10:15AM and had them all delivered by 11:30. (See links to maps below.)

A week from today, Wed Feb 1, will be the first official delivery by the Meals on 2 Wheels group. I'll post again after that's done.

In case you are interested, here are two maps that show the ECS-San Luis Park route and the Continental Drive - Delivery route. The two connect across the unmapped area of San Luis Park.

ECS Access Route

Delivery Route