{"id":2510,"date":"2026-06-11T19:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=2510"},"modified":"2026-06-11T19:47:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T00:47:19","slug":"on-your-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=2510","title":{"rendered":"“On your left”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My mother, God rest her soul, never had much of anything, and she left practically nothing material to anyone after her death. But I did inherit her legacy \u2013 Hay Fever!<\/p>\n

It crept up on me. I didn\u2019t notice it when I was younger, but now I can barely walk outside without a handkerchief or tissue paper. It doesn\u2019t stop me from a daily two-mile walk, and I\u2019m getting to enjoy the walk more every day, even if I have to stop occasionally to blow my nose.<\/p>\n

The Trestle-to-trestle Trail<\/a> at the end of our block offers a variety of pleasant and not-so-pleasant amenities depending upon whether you go north, or south. The Tai Dam Village<\/a> (Vietnamese Boat People) bought the property north of us because it reminded them of their home in northwestern Vietnam. Walking the trail past the village you can see the beauty of the overgrowth, the brilliant green foliage, and the numerous yellow, white, and purple wildflowers that many misidentify as weeds. Also, there is a former clay pit used to make bricks: its surface is a brilliant color that is beyond description. \u00a0It\u2019s gorgeous.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a dark side to the north route. The woods are full of homeless camps. Most residents are docile, but you can hear yelling bordering on violence; there has been a death or two; and some along the way look shady, creepy, and look like they came straight off of police wanted posters.<\/p>\n

The southern route is boring for the first half mile. Then, it turns dark as you walk under the General Marcellus M. Crocker Bridge. It\u2019s known better as the Euclid Avenue Bridge. Every time a person creates their homestead underneath the bridge it\u2019s a discombobulated engineering wonder of any material that has been pilfered from a local retailer, including cardboard boxes, steel crates, grocery carts, and odds and ends that are so odd they are difficult to describe. Within a few days or weeks, the city or county cleans it up and evicts the person from the public property. Within a day, a new home is constructed under the bridge. The scenery beyond the bridge is similar to the north route, but is much cooler because it has more overgrowth than the other route. Again, there are elements of questionable characters. But I have no fear and take it all in. Occasionally, a vicious-looking homeless person will greet me with a smile. It\u2019s the urban bicycle rider that I fear most.<\/p>\n

As much as I try to stay as far right as possible, there are times when a couple of bikers are cycling together and decline to ride in a single file as they pass me. Often, I can feel a slight draft of air as they pass too close. But at least I know they\u2019re coming up behind me because they\u2019re usually talking to each other. Then, there is the biker who thinks he\u2019s on the Tour de France. He dresses the part, with the racing uniform and every accessory offered for sale at Bike America. But what bothers me the most is the inconsiderate cyclist with the music blasting so loud you can hear them from a half-mile away. It is my opinion that they scare away the wildlife that we once saw along the trails: wild turkeys; deer; rabbits; fox snakes; and turtles. And all bicycle riders cannot stop for the sunning snake, the baby snapping turtle, or the small frog. We see far too many of them on the trail that have been squished to death.<\/p>\n

The nine-year-olds riding their E-motos or regular e-bikes (there is a difference<\/a>) are a nuisance, but they make no noise. On the other hand, the occasional crotch rocket is not only illegal to have the path, but the most dangerous. City and county trucks driving down the trail conducting maintenance and inspections could be dangerous, but the drivers are the most courteous humans out there.<\/p>\n

Recently, I have seen the barn swallows come back to the General Marcellus M. Crocker Bridge. It\u2019s a sight to see them fly out from the bridge railings, swoop over the river collecting its prey and fly back to the mud-built home, only to head back out to hunt more lunch. \u201cSome experts suggest that one barn swallow can gobble up to 850 bugs a day.\u201d And some of those bugs include \u201clarger insects like flies, beetles and wasps.\u201d But in Des Moines, the barn swallow\u2019s meal must be mostly mosquitoes. Stephanie and I noticed the swallows had been missing for a few years while Des Moines was spraying to get rid of the mosquitoes. This year, Des Moines stopped spraying and the wonder of barn swallows has returned.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, ahhhhh-chooooo! I don\u2019t mind the allergies, as long as I\u2019m alone or with Stephanie.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Please help Fawkes-Lee & Ryan maintain this website<\/strong><\/p>\n

by donating $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, or more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Donate<\/a><\/p>\n

Or, you may send a check to the address below<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your support is appreciated.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Subscribe (It\u2019s FREE): Email\u00a0mrtyryn@gmail.com\u00a0with \u201cSubscribe\u201d in the Subject Line.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fawkes-Lee & Ryan<\/strong><\/p>\n

2516 Lynner Dr.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Des Moines, IA 50310<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright (c) 2026. Fawkes-Lee & Ryan. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

FL & R does not share or sell email addresses with anyone.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mother, God rest her soul, never had much of anything, and she left practically nothing material to anyone after her death. But I did inherit her legacy \u2013 Hay Fever! It crept up on me. I didn\u2019t notice it … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1402,1401,1400,1399,1187,1312],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-e-bikes","tag-e-motos","tag-general-marcellus-m-crocker-bridge","tag-hay-fever","tag-tai-dam-village","tag-trestle-to-trestle-trail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2512,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510\/revisions\/2512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}