Memorial Day

I spent Memorial Day in Canada, where it wasn't Memorial Day, and I missed it.  I was busy socializing, so I didn't catch the annual video clip on TV of the President laying the wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns, which to me, more than anything symbolizes Memorial Day.  I didn't see the roaring Thunder Birds Washington flyover, which to me, more than anything symbolizes American military superiority.  In the GNC, the many small towns produce parades on their Main Streets, led by Veterans stuffed into their decades old uniforms, followed by high school marching bands, which to me, more than anything, symbolizes the sacrifices made by individual families. Some veterans have given up trying to make their uniform's span their torsos -- they just wear their civvies and military hats -- but they are no less proud of their service, and the townspeople (including me) are no less proud of them.  Because I was in Montreal on Memorial Day, I didn't spectate the parade in my town which I have done every year since coming to the GNC in 2004. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed watching that parade with all the other local folk 'til I missed one.

Before I left for Canada, I hung my American flag over the deck rail so that everyone driving by would remember and reflect, if only for a moment.  When I returned from Canada this morning, I noticed the wind had blown the flag onto the deck where no one could see it.   It was as if my being in a foreign country was an insult and it wasn't going to display itself in my absence.  Appropriate, I thought, as I scooped it up, folded it with proper respect and vacuum-packed it in a Space Bag until July 4th. 

For lunch just ended,  I fired up the grill, ate corn-on-the-cob and apple pie.  It was good, but if I had eaten it on Memorial Day in the GNC, it would have tasted much better.

My mobile weather apps...

...were all over last night's Rolling Thunder performance.  They issued an alert to take the blue folding chairs off the front deck, showed the storm track in pretty, dynamic colors, pointed out that I had left the weed-whacker outside, and provided other technical information in case I wanted to go fishing as the storm peaked.  With map app, I zoomed in and out on the intensity bands and then added layers of landmarks.  Radar app showed a line of rough phenomena roughly from Phoenicia to West Kill, eight miles or so West of Hunter.  Bug app predicted the storm to pass over Rt 214 at 11:09p.  It was 11:09p (according to clock app) when it did.  The frequent lightening introduced more theatrics, metrics and statistics - the app reported the number of lightening strikes in real-time.  I was so busy, I didn't check the Earthquake app!


This is not an endorsement of smartphone technology, though I must say,  the same device was my flashlight during the short power outage, and I listened Beethoven on it  as the storm rattled and echoed through Stony Clove.  I realized this morning, when the atmosphere is more hospitable, that probably I shouldn't have been using it outdoors, twirling my key chain and listening to No.5 through wireless headphones.




PS - Happy Birthday to my brother Larry!

Survived 1400 psi power wash.

Weather Permitting

Who you are are determines what it means in the GNC.  If you have appointments, but the weather clears up and its perfect for fly fishing in the Schohaire, then weather didn't permit keeping those appointments.  Depending on who your'e talking to, weather permitting means plans are cancelled if its a hot day, cold day, clear day, cloudy day, overcast day, windy day, powder day or pollen day. 


I have learned to like this approach.  I decided to mow the lawn on Tuesday, weather permitting.  It didn't. Today, weather permitted power-washing off the deck all the pollen that has collected on everything on the deck. Tomorrow, weather might permit me to mow the lawn which weather hasn't permitted me to mow for the past ten rainy days.


Tonight, the air in the GNC is cool, fresh and calm. Weather will permit a good night's sleep.

Oil Spill!

A nearby house, built in 1900, sprang an oil leak from its fuel tank in the basement; the dripping oil was transported via a water-filled trench from the basement to the backyard where it bubbled to the surface, which slopes directly to the Schoharie.  Since the Schoharie is protected better than the Queen Mother's virtue, a dozen state and local agencies sprang into action, even though it was the middle of a raw, rainy night. 


The DEP must have a love-hate relationship with oil incidents: it hates them because spills and leaks threaten the waterway it is pledged to preserve; and yet it must love them in some way, because all the knowledge and training provided at taxpayer expense to its deputies, and its raison d'etre, becomes valuable, urgent and justified.


Such was the case I witnessed: hazmat repsonse teams, DEP patrols, containment units, and many others who didn't wear identification or uniform, criss-crossed the two acre parcel on the banks of the Schohaire for two days. Now, a week later, there are still booms in the backyard absorbing what they can, oil barrels ringing the circumference of the yard, yellow "crime scene" tape surrounding the fenced-off perimeter and regular visits from those cute little hybrid green-and-white sedans.


I'm afraid to discard the leftover olive oil from tonight's dinner.

Seen in church basement near huge, illuminated bingo sign:

Gambling problem?  Call 1-800-BINGO

Names have been changed to protect the exposer and exposee

On May 14, 2011 the Catskill Police Department charged so-and-so, 46 of Catskill with "exposure of a person". 

On May 14, 2011 the Catskill Police Department charged so-and-so, 41 of Albany, N.Y. with "exposure of a person".

So, what I want to know is: what is "exposure of a person" and did they do this together?  Is it a case of double exposure?

Water Under The Bridge

Becker Hollow,  just past the footbridge, after four days of rain.

* Mine are Vixen 7 x 35, 341 ft at 1,000 yards

I'm not a "birder" by any stretch.  Nevertheless, from the front deck facing the Schoharie and and back deck facing Becker Hollow, within sight and sound there are:



thrushes(several varieties),
swifts, warblers, robins (found 3 nests of these),
jays, cardinals, finches, hawks, owl,
(in the swamp off Route 214) heron and other fowl
woodpeckers, is that maybe a Tanager?
don't know what that one is - over there -
pretty throat markings though,
not to mention crow.


I'm guessing an experienced birder with good optics* could sight fifty or more species without having to go too deep into the forest, if it would only stop raining.  

No, not Buddha...

... Rippa

Many Moods of the Schoharie

This morning the Schoharie is swollen with the rains of the previous four days.  It appears angry and preoccupied as it carries run-off West toward the reservoir.  Today, the color of rust.  Tomorrow, too, given the volume of water and sediment it is carrying.  Soon it will be clearer and calmer and satisfied.  I have seen it black with rage, blue with ice, white-capped, green-tinged, brown bloated and yellow as a dry bone.   Exposed in winter; hidden in summer, in spring it sprouts tadpoles, beaver dams and fishermen.

With all those DEP patrols, it doesn't sprout as many budweisers as it used to.

Magic Shoelaces!

My shoelaces are magic because no matter how I tie them, they come undone.  Even if I double-knot them, they come undone in no time.


Upon close examination, I discovered they are magic! They are "gimmicked" as a prop for a magician's trick. You know the trick where Pronto cuts a string in half and it magically reunites itself?


Now we know how Pronto does it.

Things to love about GNC:

At the local bank, the tellers know your account numbers by heart.
At the local diner, the waitress knows your order by heart.
At the local hardware store, the clerk knows your house paint color by heart


...and that is just today.

Better start building a following...

The novel is now called The FPQ - the third title change, and this one seems to be sticking.  It's mysterious without being obscure, it's explained rather early in the book, but the theme carries through to the last page.  The reader will be rewarded for wondering and being patient...

Should it be F.P.Q.?  Damn! I thought I was done fiddling with that!

The feedback from the few readers who have seen sample chapters is positive.  I am encouraged to keep writing.  

The genre?  Easier to say what its not: not a romance, not a comedy, not a thriller, not a horror, not a documentary, not a crime story.  Harder to say what it is... I've never read anything quite like it; what genre is Cider House Rules?