Month: March 2020

One park in Dublin has a neatly laid-out grid of 6-foot-tall ears of corn, cast in cement. I visited on a very snowy Saturday in March.

This will be a hard one for future archaeologists to explain.

The robins were out in hordes. Is that a CR-V in the background?

I have just one month left at Honda. The first time I walked through the factory, the size and complexity took my breath away, and I wondered how I would ever find my way around. Now it doesn’t feel quite as vast. The sounds and smells are more familiar. I’ve gotten used to donning safety glasses when I leave my office, and tapping the horn whenever pulling out of a parking space (something I’d like to see adopted in parking lots everywhere).

With this familiarity, I’ve gained a lot of independence. And that’s the fun part. Running all over the two factories to track down cars for quality checks; disassembling prototype cars to update their software; designing circuit boards and scribbling code for a side project; driving laps on a track to test adaptive cruise control; all with minimal oversight. I get to feel like a real engineer – until an associate whom I’ve never met tells me I look like I’m 12 years old.

This past weekend I ventured southeast to the Hocking Hills area of Ohio. Conkle’s Hollow is a gorge in Hocking Hills with a 2-mile trail around its rim, and a half-mile wheelchair-accessible trail into the gorge itself. I took both.

I went on a sunny day with temperatures in the forties, but there was still snow on the valley floor, and icicles dangled from every cliff. As the rocks warmed, every few minutes I heard a group of icicles break loose and crash into the valley. Once, I saw this happen from below. The geology of the area creates amazing undercut cliffs and caves.

There were lots of warning signs, I think geared toward locals who had never been high enough to see over a tree. After a short, steep climb, the rim trail was mostly flat, with many scenic overlooks.

I realized this weekend that the highest point in Ohio is about fifteen minutes from my work. Look for some mountaineering photos soon!