NBNC>SYRNY: July 23 2014

Nine hundred and fifty eight motor home miles+seven campsites at four campgrounds=sixty days on the road. This sub-total brings us to this fourth Wednesday of July. Add to this 31 more days at this campsite in Sylvan Beach and we will begin our return to NBNC. We have extended this trip to not only continue with elder care of Dave’s parents but also to be able to see our daughter, Carol, and our son-in-law, Eric, when they visit for a week to central New York for Carol’s high school class reunion.

These past sixty days we have watched a tornado gain its strength as it blustered by and then touched down about ten miles from us, where sadly four people lost their lives; temperatures have fluctuated from the mid-50s to the high-80s; and we continue to enjoy haddock and steamed clams at various restaurants; being industrial at Dave’s parents and setting aside a few days for us to not only reminisce places we grew up around but also finding new places to bookmark in our memory manuscripts.



Sailing on Cazenovia Lake

Highlighted these past few weeks are a few road trips that led us through the tranquil valleys of Madison county to the 221-year old village of Cazenovia, where we picnicked at Cazenovia Lake. Cazenovia is an affluent community and the mc-mansions that line the roughly 8 miles of lakeside indeed causes the chin to drop and gape at the prosperousness of the owner.

 

Wind turbines in Fenner

During our journeys to Dave’s childhood home we have seen on clear days wind turbines on the mini-mountains in the distance. On the day we went to Caz we aimed for these windmills and found ourselves following rustic farm roads tunneled with wide green leaves of field corn, which led us to the township of Fenner, where we wandered near the windmill farm and were in awe of these gigantic machines that are about 215 feet high and each blade is 113 feet long. These windmills are huge! The towers are almost 14 feet in diameter at its base and the sweep of the blades creates a diameter of 231 feet. The weight of the whole assembly is 190 tons and the turbine starts producing electricity

when the wind speed reaches seven mph. We wondered what happens when the winter winds howl across the countryside and learned that the blades are feathered to allow the wind to pass by without turning the rotor. Over 6 thousand tons of ceee-ment was used to put the foundations in place at just this location where these twenty-two massive turbines bully the air currents.

Another day trip was made northeast bound towards the foothills of the Adirondacks where we circled the town of Boonville, settled in 1796, and now seems to be a declining rural town. On our way northbound on route 46 we passed through Rome (no, we did not take a wrong turn and end up in Italy!) where construction began in 1817 on the Erie Canal.

 

Pixley Falls

The canal was labored on the shoulders of immigrants from northern Ireland, where they felled trees to clear paths through virgin forests and crudely excavated earth using teams of oxen and mules. While driving through Rome we saw the reconstructed Fort Stanwix, which has been in place since the mid-1770s. It was kind of like driving past “The Alamo,” unless you saw the signage you would not have known it was there.

Pixley Falls

But we did find a Subway and got lunch for a picnic somewhere on the roadside. This led us to Pixley Falls State Park, after following the Mohawk and Black Rivers crossing through the Adirondack foothills.  After subbing at this picturesque park we followed a trail that meandered through the forest to get some Kodak-moments of the falls, but recent rains muddied our nature walk and we were resigned to listen for the surge of water tumbling over the limestone falls. On our return to camp we passed through several hamlets including Ava, which was formed in 1797, when the population began with 9 people, as of 2000, there were 725 people in this wide-place in the road. Imagine everyone knows when everyone sneezes!  

As we crossed over hill and over dale through this asphalt trail (no, we did not see any cassons, but go ahead and keep humming) we see clothes lines hung with various sized solid-colored dresses and white aprons fluttering in the gentle wind and a horse-drawn buggy clip-clopping down the road with plainly dressed children, the girls with white bonnets and the boys in broad-brimmed straw hats. More than likely they were on their way to visit a neighbor. The Amish have found rural property in this region to be more affordable than the Amish sects of Pennsylvania and Ohio. The serene image of this pastoral Kodak-moment gave us the impression of life being lived at its most simplest.

NBNC>SYRNY: July 6 2014

July 4 2014

This week America displayed its patriotic colors from sea-to-shining sea, from its northern border to its southern border, and throughout the week pyrotechnics from sparklers to firecrackers to fireworks showing off in the darkened skies, voiced the pride of being an American and the heritage of our freedoms.

We all learned in grade school about the beginning of the Revolutionary War with shots being fired at Lexington and Concord and July 4th became the day to remember those whose determination of a new country, free of the burdens of British control. The signers of the Declaration were seen as betrayers and liable for treason; their names were kept anonymous for nearly a year to protect them and their families.

Actually, the fourth of July was not really

acknowledged by the colonies for the first twenty or so years but gained momentum after the War of 1812 and the coincidental deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, within hours of each other, on July 4, 1826, may have helped to encourage the idea of July 4 as an important date to be celebrated.  Celebrations of the Fourth of July became more common as the years went on and in 1870, almost a hundred years after the Declaration was written that Congress declared July 4 to be a national holiday.

We have picnicked over the past week with family and friends, fixing a few dozen deviled eggs and several pounds of potato salad and coleslaw to share.

NBNC>SYRNY: July 1 2014

July 1 2014

With the sun sharing its brilliant rays on this first day of July, we decided today is the day to travel to the back roads of our memories along the Seaway trail, which parallels Lake Ontario, to Oswego, where we spent our first day of July in 1971 together. Oswego is found in the northern part of New York State at the southeast extremity of Lake Ontario. 

Uncle Lloyd's Piggies ca 1950s

There are reminders, as we follow the gently rolling hills, of the picturesque sceneries of rural life and history. We pass through many hamlets, including Scriba and Lansing, where my father’s paternal ancestors lived and worked since 1875. The general store, built by my great-grandfather, still stands, where he was not only a cheesemaker, but was the post master for this area. And his son’s farm, my Uncle Lloyd’s, remains nearby, but minus the barns. Seeing Uncle Lloyd’s house gave me the shivers of memories of his “two-seater” outhouse. EWWWWWW!

Clark Farm est. 1816

Oswego area is not only historical in the formation of America, but also in the formation of my family. On the eastern edges of the Town of Oswego is Scriba and on the western line is the hamlet of Fruit Valley, known also as Union Village. Grants of land after the Revolutionary War were given in this area of wooded forest which would be cleared to be able to plant crops of corn, wheat, rye, oats and hay, to support the dairying. In 1816 my great grandfathers/uncles, Abram and Selden Clark, from Connecticut, paid $10 an acre, for their land, which they would eventually own 350 acres of this loamy soil. The original home still stands and has been renovated through the years but retains its original character.

Lake Ontario at Rudy's in winter

Lake Ontaria at Rudy's in summer

We drooled our way to Rudy’s, located on the shore of Lake Ontario, just beyond Oswego College. Rudy’s is near and dear to our hearts because this was where we went on our first date. Rudy’s has served their menu of fried haddock, salt potatoes, and coneys, for 69 seasons; they are in their 4th generation of being family owned and operated. Rudy’s is not a fast-food-processed food. They serve the best; meat is fresh from the same local butcher for the past six decades and their fish comes in daily and is prepared by hand in their kitchens. We enjoyed the best steamed clams and haddock sandwiches as we sat at a picnic table watching the waves roll in from Canada. There were the usual white-feathered rats (seagulls), cawking from overhead, but they were not as annoying as in years past.

Ontario Orchards

Ontario Orchards Fare

After looking at the emptied clams shells and dabs of tartar sauce on our plates we headed westbound toward Southwest Oswego to shop at our favorite farm market of the area, Ontario Orchards.  For nearly forty-eight years this once-small farm stand has become more than a vegetable stand. They sell homemade baked goods, local maple syrups, and delicious apple cider made from their own orchards.  We browsed the displays of apples, potatoes and fresh green peas and got some of each. 

Then we continued on our way to Hannibal, along the Old State Road. 

 This familiar road and its homes and farms along the way have aged. And as we neared my parents’ farm near Sterling it was hard not to become reminiscent of the hours of hard work and chores. Taking a few steps onto this land brought mistiness to my eyes. I miss the beauty of the valleyed farm, the perfume of freshly mown hay, the expanse of the blue skies. 

Valley View Farm from Nine-Mile Creek

 We kept on our way into Hannibal; some places very deteriorated and sad to see, and went by my high school (which gave me shivers just thinking of my English and biology teachers). 

Grand Uncle Middleton

Great Grandfather Middleton

We returned to Oswego on route 104A and the same road that we followed earlier today. On the way through Scriba, again, we stopped at the Pease Cemetery, where we found my previously mentioned grand uncle and wife’s graves, as well as that of great grandfather and gg mother.

Today was another memory maker for us as we near our 41st wedding anniversary and remember, through these pathways, the many years of places, people, and happenings.