Kathryn and Eric returned from Rochester last night with a puppy in the car – an all black, female, Golden Retriever/Newfoundland cross that is yet un-named. Trey remains skeptical and slept most of the night outside on the deck rather than sharing room with the newcomer.
Today was a planned work day – lots of home projects to be done – but it was made even more so by Eric being invited to Trevor’s for the day. We did house cleaning, laundry, mowed the lawn, cut our peonies, picked the last of the tomatoes, moved deck furniture into the barn loft, moved dirt and leveled the new fill. We got in a 45 minute walk before picking up one tired kid at 7pm.
Friday Kathryn was volunteering at pre-school when they visited a pumpkin farm. The class rode a hay wagon out to the fields where each student got a free pumpkin (whatever they could carry) and Indian Corn.
Later they went through a hay bale maze the farmer had set up.
The class poses for a group shot.
A good time was had by all.
Many of my friends know that a ‘life list’ goal of mine is to spot a moose in the Adirondack back country while canoeing. Like many tourists, I have seen moose in Yellowstone National Park. I have seen moose while backpacking in the Teton Mtns. Last year we saw one sleeping in the shade while hiking in Nova Scotia. But these don’t count. Seeing one from the car doesn’t count.
News this week has me encouraged. According to DEC officials the NYS moose population totals roughly 500 moose, all of them in northern New York. This is up from an estimated 50-100 a decade earlier. In the 1980s, there were only a handful of sporadic sightings. I can remember tromping around the woods near Remsen with Dave Parker in the mid-80s hoping to make a spotting of an early immigrant moose – with no luck. Much of the recent growth is attributed to reproduction, not just migration. I remember a conversation with a DEC ranger a few years ago who had just returned from a conference in Vermont (a state which went through the same moose re-population process). The ranger had been told a population of ~200 creates a healthy breeding population – versus the bachelor males which comprise the early immigrants.
I know, this is scary, like having to watch home movies of someone’s vacation, but I promise I won’t do every game. It is just a lot of fun watching these kids learn to play an organized sport. In the beginning they don’t know how to kick the ball and gradually they get the concept. This week Eric actually kicked the ball a few times and his buddy Trevor took two shots on goal and just missed.
Below Trevor, Eric and Emily size up the opposing team as Coach Roxanne moves to officiate from the other side of the field. Emily has older brothers who play soccer and she knows what to do with the ball. Emily scored all but one of the team’s goals.
Below Eric receives instruction on his throw-in and launches.
Eric practices his defensive stance as the opposing Coyotes are grouped elsewhere. Both teams line up for the post game hand slap/good game ritual.
Kathryn and I cashed in one of our babysitter chits and went to Cranberry Lake this weekend. It is the 3rd largest lake within the Park, covering 11 square miles and nearly three quarters of the 70 miles shoreline is bordered by Forest Preserve, which helps to provide a genuine wilderness experience. Cranberry Lake has been a favorite late fall destination for many years; it gets color early, it really clears out in September and usually the Canada geese have start migrating. In years past we sponsored ‘OFAC’ trips every fall with co-workers: Joe, Tom, Dan, Josh, Michael and Adam.
Kathryn and I paddled in on Friday under threatening skies with thunderstorms predicted for the night. We saw an eagle as we paddled in. As we left Wanakena and arrived out on the main lake the wind was gusting to 25 mph raising large rolling waves and white caps. We opted to stay at Flat Iron Point and set up camp. It was too windy to have a fire so we dined on sloppy joes and fruit. In the evening we sat on the rocks, read, felt the wind and watched the waves roll in.
The weather forecast called for thunderstorms after midnight and at 12:28am we received a short but intense rainfall (.5″), but everything stayed dry thanks to pitching extra rainflys. The next morning it was cool and we enjoyed hot tea and oatmeal and hung around camp reading before returning home late afternoon.
On our return trip we drove into the village of Cranberry Lake and checked out the state campground: 170+ primitive sites and open from May – Oct.
Eric had his 1st soccer practice and game this week. He was dubious about attending since his buddy Trevor had already attended a practice and game and reported that the rest of the team was “all girls”. However, he agreed to give it a try and enjoyed it. He was especially enthused by receiving his uniform. All teams have purple and gold jerseys so that players can be swapped around if a team is short players as well as carrying over from year to year. Ed and Billie Jo started AYSO soccer playing on large teams, now Eric plays on a team of 3 and they don’t keep score. Here Eric lines up with his team mates and gets some instruction from the coach.
His coach focused on having him play defense and get in front of the ball. He got pretty good at running to a position in front of the goal, but has not yet grasped the idea of kicking the ball away from an opponent. I am sure that will come in time. Most of the running is accompanied by arm swinging and skipping as he is having a good time as demonstrated in the movie. 100_0696.MOV
Mom sold her house, has moved to an apartment and planned on participating in the village wide garage sale held in Schoharie this past weekend. Friday I picked up Eric after his pre-school and we drove down to help with pricing and set up. My sister-in-law Linda has a lot of experience with these things and provided expert guidance. Although the sale was set to begin at 9am on Saturday several shoppers were pawing though items on Friday afternoon as we were setting up.
Saturday night Mom, Eric and I went out for pizza and then Eric and I retired to sleep on the living room floor of the now vacated house – at least Eric slept. Saturday morning shoppers started showing up before 8am. With Mom, Linda, Carolyn, Barbara and Jeanne all minding the store Eric and I decided to shop around at other garage sales. Eric wanted three things: Light Sabers, Swords and Power Rangers-preferably the blue one. Although we didn’t find anyone selling their out grown Light Saber we did find one Power Ranger, the blue one in fact. Eric also scored a Rock-em Sock-em game, GI Joe on a motorcycle, and a stuffed Buzz LightYear Teddy Bear (?!). In addition, I found jeans for Eric and Dakota ($.25 each) and a nice 6 speed bike for Eric. Although I was buying the bike more for next year, Eric has been riding it with some balance assistance.
My sister Barbara gave Eric an aircraft carrier with planes and used roller skates that her grand children had outgrown so he made out pretty good over the weekend. The trauma came when he had to decide what toys he was giving away so the new ones could come into the house.
Sunday Kathryn brought Billie Jo and Dakota to Schoharie for a Muller/Tryon reunion held at Marie’s house.
I stopped by ACE Hardware to buy a bolt for my brush hog. $2.79 for a case hardened 3/4 by 2″ bolt. I lost one mowing over the weekend. Kathryn helped me re-fasten the bolts. Afterwards we went across the road and cut and split one face cord of wood – mainly ash. Eric and Kathryn helped stack the wood. I drove my tractor/brush hog to my neighbor Jeff who is said he would weld a patch. Afterwards, Kathryn, Eric and I had a milkshake and cooled off.
Kathryn and I went to see our alma mater (University of Washington) play vs Syracuse in their opening game of the season. Both programs are in year 3 of a rebuilding program. I wore my UW t-shirt while Kathryn decided to go neutral. I felt safe when we got to walk up University Avenue as the UW Band came out of the Sheraton and walked to the Carrier Dome – lots of purple there! There were a surprising number of UW fans at the fame and the % increased through out the game as the SU folks bailed enroute to a 42-12 loss. The game started at 8pm and went late into the night, but it also wasn’t pretty if you were an SU fan. SU had their new orange on orange uniforms – which look ugly to me. SU only got 8 yards rushing the whole game and gave up 302 yards rushing. The SU QB got sacked 7 times. It was clear from the start that UW had a MUCH bigger offensive line and a LOT more team speed in the backfield. I think Rankin, the UW running back got 147 yards playing in 3 quarters and the UW freshman QB ran for 70 yards. I saw one girl with a UW t-shirt an SU ball cap – that was a good compromise. But I decided to bite the bullet and commit to UW.