540. Random Thoughts

1. Joe Wilson won his 2008 congressional race 54-46. He is being challenged a second time by Rob Miller, a Marine veteran. His fifteen seconds of fame has raised his national profile, and thus his fundraising, by huge margins. It appears that Joe's "spontaneous outburst" was a well-planned event, designed to do exactly what it is doing, which is to raise funds for what may be a difficult re-run in South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District.

2. In my previous piece, I called upon Mitch McConnell to respond to the "spontaneous outburst" and to his credit, he did. He was very clear in his comments the next morning in the Herald-Leader that Congressman Wilson was wrong, and that the president was deserving of respect, irrespective of how you felt about his politics. Kudos to Senator McConnell for his comments.

3. I've looked at my map of Kentucky counties and it has occurred to be I am woefully behind on my average number of counties visited in a given year. The current count stands at 32. I avergage 50 to 60 in a year. Not going to Fancy Farm eliminated several that are regularly visited. I did add one last night, Scott.

4. Last night I attended a wonderful event under the stars in rural Fayette County at the Kentucky Horse Park. Just Fund Kentucky is a Fairness-centered organization in Lexington begun several years ago by Ernesto Scorsone. Last night, they had an open-air dinner on a remote part of the Horse Park, a natural amphitheater. Attendees gathered with their own food and drink - and there was lots of both - along with a band - Superfecta - and a marching troupe which reminded one of festivities at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. At our table, sponsored by Morgan Ransdell and Kevin Hickey, were besides them and me eight other people, about 1/2 from Louisville and 1/2 from Lexington. Our group included Fayette District Judge Maria Ransdell and former Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac. We had a great time and it was good to see friends from central Kentucky at such an event. There were between 800 and 1000 people out for the night. The weather could not have been nicer.

*****

To get there, although I was running late, I left I-64 at the second Frankfort exit, and headed in a northerly direction on westbound US 60 toward Frankfort. At the big intersection, where Versailles Road turns into the Thorn Hill By-Pass, and one would turn left to go into town down the hill past Kentucky State University on the right and the Human Resources Building (commonly known in Frankfort as the Health Department) on the left, I instead turned right onto E. Main Street, which is eastbound US60. This road leads past the Elkhorn Middle School, Franklin County High School, and Franklin County's Lakeview Park. Further out, where the four lanes are reduced to two, one passes a Jim Beam Distillery on the left, then continuing, through the community called Forks of Elkhorn, or simply, the Forks. This is where Elkhorn Creek divides into the North and South Forks. Canoe enthusiasts know the area as a launching point for CanoeKentucky. The old and new Buck Creek Baptist churches are on either side of the road, which unfortunately, is scheduled at some point to be widened out to four lanes, thus destroying the bucolic feel of this area. On the east side of Elkhorn Creek, the road rises into the lush lands of central Kentucky into the horse farm area of the Bluegrass. US460 is a fairly straight due-eastward road headed toward Georgetown in Scott County. The last Franklin County area is called Woodlake, which is more of an intersection than a neighborhood. Not too far into Scott County is the turnoff just ahead of the White Surphur community onto Iron Works Pike, known as KY1973.

I wish I knew the history of Iron Works Pike but I don't. It is one of the longest runs of straight two-lane highways, bearing no curves, anywhere in Kentucky, running a course of about 24 miles from its start at White Sulphur in Scott County, across the northern and eastern tier of Fayette, ending at the Paris Pike in northeastern Fayette County. The Kentucky Horse Park, where the roads has been widened and where a slight curve allows a square intersection at US25, is about halfway along this route through the magnificent horse country for which Kentucky is well known. So, by taking this route, I got to add one county to my list of visits. I need to do some travelling to keep my average up.

Have a good week. We have nine more days of this very-bearable summer left.