Squareodds
Posted on by Debbie

Interesting shapes along the rail trail for #SquareOdds

A morning ride leads to some introspection

It seems I am obsessed to some extent.

Once I get something in my mind I have trouble stopping the thoughts.

Take this morning for instance – the mathematician and I decided to go for a bike ride before it became too hot. Nothing unusual there.

But between our family Word of the Week photo challenge having anything starting with W for the theme this week, and Becky’s theme of #SquareOdds, all I could think about was finding photo opportunities for either of these challenges!

The cutting of white gum trees we rode through – oh white starts with W – stop and take a photo of that – the shapes of the old mile markers seem a bit odd – oh that fits in with Becky’s #squareodds theme – stop and take some photos!

Do you get what I mean about obsessed??

Or is my brain just working the way it should, I’m staying curious, I’m engaging with others, I’m thinking creatively and I’m out doing something interesting – there’s different ways of looking at it!

Anyway that leads me into some interesting, and maybe odd, shapes of mile markers along the Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail, a project we’ve been very involved in over the years. And yes we do ride it – a lot!

rail trail sign and bike
Tumbarumba rail trail sign and bike

Markers

Let’s talk about markers.

As Australia uses the metric system, our rail trail is a total of 21km from start to finish each way. I stopped at the odd numbered 19km marker and took this photo for today’s post.

R is for Rosewood and these blue markers are placed at every kilometre along the trail, together with the latitude, for making it easy for emergency service personnel to find you if needed.

19km marker on rail trail
19km marker on rail trail

In this photo the T is for Tumbarumba as we started from Rosewood.

Rosewood - rail trail marker
Rosewood to Tumbarumba -21km marker

When the rail trail was constructed it was important to leave some historical infrastructure in situ, and so it was the ‘mile marker pegs’, measuring the distance from Sydney were left in place. Some were refurbished and others are in their natural state. In those days Australia used the imperial system so miles it was.

The odd shapes of these markers took my fancy and apparently they were standard across the NSW rail system.

quarter mile marker on rail trail
quarter mile marker
half mile marker on rail trail
half mile marker
three quarter mile marker on rail trail
three quarter mile marker
399 mile marker on rail trail
refurbished 399 mile marker – 399 miles from Sydney

It’s interesting to note that opponents of the rail trail use the loss of history as an argument against rail trails. But to my mind this is preserving the history, as without the rail trail being built, these signs would be covered under weeds and blackberries and wouldn’t have seen the light of day ever again!

Anyway I hope you’ve enjoyed these odd shapes and numbers today 🙂

Square Odds

Becky has her Squares challenge running for the month of February, where we can share any photo as long as it’s square, on the theme of ODD – #SquareOdds – I won’t be joining in every day, but when I have something odd to share, I’ll be sure to post about it. Becky does say on her blog that squares can become addictive!

Odd can be interpreted lots of ways and like beauty it can be in the eye of the beholder. What I may find odd, you may think is completely normal!

You can see Becky’s Day 7 post here – And up popped this odd fellow

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into our area (and my mind).

I’m enjoying keeping an eye out for some odd squares and refuse to believe I’m obsessed!

Deb 🙂

squares logo
Becky’s squares logo

Also linking up with Natalie for #weekendcoffeeshare – there’s always a lot of great posts to read!

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Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

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22 Replies to “Interesting shapes along the rail trail for #SquareOdds”

  1. I think your mind is working perfectly…I need to think that way more. Sometimes I get that “tunnel vision” and forget to look around. Forget the prompts to Sunday stills or whatever and probably. miss many opportunities. This is a great reminder for me to take more time. Even if I leave 15 minutes earlier to slow down and stop and take a photo. I did do that yesterday when I was babysitting. The theme for next weeks Sunday stills is pets and since my hubby and I don’t have any I took some of my daughters dog.

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    1. Thanks Kirstin, I love how my brain works at times :). Good on you for being prepared ahead of time for Terri’s Sunday Stills with photos of your daughter’s dog. Life is fun isn’t it?

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  3. Pingback: Mile markers are a piece of history – Tumbarumba to Rosewood Rail Trail

  5. Nothing odd about your brain at all Deb! I love how it works! Anyhoo, that’s the magic of Challenges, isn’t it? that it gets us thinking in all sorts of directions and notice things we might have missed otherwise?

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  6. Debbie, I love your explanation of the markers and how you met the photo challenges. Being curious and creative keeps us engaged with life. I love cycling as it combines fitness and fun. Keep on cycling. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  8. I know what you mean Debbie, my mind goes into overdrive when we are out about what photos go with what challenge, trouble is I end up being too late for the challenge! My dear hubby is also on the lookout for me too!
    You’ve put yours together nicely

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  9. hee hee well there is a warning on my challenge page that it is addictive!!!

    Loved joining you on this bike ride, learnt lots and had fun 🙂 probably didn’t exercise quite as much as you though 😉

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  10. I love this Deb and yes I get obsessed as well. I remember in my accounting days my friend would say I was like a dog with a bone when I was trying to reconcile an account. I don’t think there is anything wrong with your type of obsession where you are bringing joy and creativity to others through your posts and photographs. Keep obsessing! xx

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