Happy Thanksgiving!

The house is cleaned, the pies are baked, the turkey is soaking in the brine, and we are awaiting arrival of our Thanksgiving company.

We'll be enjoying a great day and I hope you and yours will also have a great day.

Happy Thanksgiving, to you all.

2011

Happy New Year to all.

May you enjoy a healthy, happy and prosperous 2011.

Aarrrgh!

Avast there matey!

It nearly slipped my noggin completely as tho I'd been gulpin' from my mug of rum too oft. Why, 'tis Talk Like A Pirate Day, don't cha know!

Twas reminded of the day's import whilst looking 'pon the posts of one Glenn Reynolds known as Instapundit.

"Have I lived this many years, and a son of a rum puncheon cock his hat athwart my hawse at the latter end of it?" As ole' Long John once said to a rabble of upstarts led by Tom Morgan.

(You can see the entire account in the text of Treasure Island.)

Welcome Back

March 15th is a momentous day in Hinckley, Ohio. After months of winter spent in parts to the south, the most famous residents return--The Buzzards.

Traditionally, the Buzzards (or Turkey Vultures if you prefer) appear annually at Hinckley on March 15th. No one knows exactly why but some say that they gather in remembrance of the Great Hunt of 1818.

Various hunts were organized as residents came in sufficient numbers. One known as the Great Hinckley Hunt was organized at the home of Mrs. Seth Paine in December, 1818. The roundup was in Hinckley Township, Medina County. At the meeting to organize the hunt, Carey Oakes was appointed captain for Brecksville, John Ferris for Royalton, Judge John Newton for Richfield, and 'Squire FYeyer for Brunswick. This day has become historical, the day of the great hunt. The posse of men under strict discipline, surrounded the township of Hinckley and gradually drew in the line until every animal either was killed or escaped through the firing line. The net result of the hunt amounted to the following in animals killed: Deer, 365 ; bear, 17; wolves, 5.

(From A History of Cuyahoga County and the City of Cleveland, by William R. Coates, Volume I, pg 51. Published by The American Historical Society, Chicago and New York, 1924 (pdf file HERE. Caution: It's huge!)

One heck of a deer drive, guys!

Certainly with that many animals downed even the entrails would provide a most memorable feast for carrion feeders such as the Turkey Vulture. I mean seriously, I count 387 gut piles! Good thing it was December or the place would have reeked!

Anyway. March 15th is the day the Buzzards are supposed to arrive back in Hinckley and they make a big stink out of that, too.

(Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So sometimes the Buzzards are early and sometimes they are late. But you know what? THe folks in Hinckley don't really give a... hoot. After all those weeks of winter they want to PAR-TAY!)

Aerie Report, November 25, 2009

Company from Chicago and New Jersey are here at the Aerie for Thanksgiving. Brian and Vicki flew into Newark, NJ, picked up the Mother-in-Law and drove out to PA yesterday. Brian's coming back from a six week stint in Calcutta, India where he was training some folks to do the night shift duties of his company. He actually came in from Germany to celebrate Thanksgiving here. Vicky, Brian's girlfriend and roommate, flew in from Chicago (their home).

While Brian and Vicky have come east, Rick and Sandy (son and daughter-in-law), who live in Portland, OR, drove down to the San Francisco area to have Thanksgiving with Brian's parents and family. From sea to shining sea--and beyond!

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Today we drove up to Corning to visit the Glass Museum and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art.

Posting will be, therefore, somewhat on the light side.

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Coming back from our trip to Corning we took a swing up the mountain to look at the windmill/gas well/gas pipeline construction. The road up was slick as ice with the wet clay. (It's been raining off and on for two days.) We were in the Jeep Compass and there were spots where things got a bit dicey. Then we reached the top of the hill to see a vehicle (another Jeep) off the side of the road, nosedived ass end over grill in the ditch. The vehicle lay on its roof with one rear tire sitting against a tree 10 yards away. The engine block was slightly warm but the muffler was cold to the touch. I don't recall seeing any footprints in the mud. But there didn't appear to be anyone inside.

Brian called 911 to report our findings to the State Troopers and we looked again and again to assure ourselves that no one was inside. Having so assured ourselves, and having informed the authorities, we went on our way trying to figure out how a jeep (with Ontario plates, BTW) could flip over like that, have not a piece of glass broken, have the air bags still intact, and the doors either locked or jammed closed.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the driver/passengers of this mystery vehicle. And we are thankful that it was not us.

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The Hunter In Chief at the Northview Dairy has performed his duties having bagged both a doe and a buck during the last two days. Congratulations to Alan. Looks like the crew on the farm will be enjoying lots of venison. Threecollie has also posted some great photos of the Adirondacks on the same post and a previous one about Hoss' at Long Lake. Happy Thanksgiving to the folks at Northview. (And, yeah, I'm a bit jealous about those deer.)

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The "climatologists" pushing AGW from the UK have run into a bit of trouble lately, in case you haven't heard. Bullying publishers of scientific papers, fudging data to fit their theories, and, well, promoting lie, after lie. All in the name of hiding the actual decline of world temperatures. "Climategate" or "climaquiddick" are the names attached to the unfolding debacle.

All this broke late last week when a packet of information (mostly emails) was leaked (or hacked) to the internet.

On the lighter side of this scientific debacle, we have had the NY Times saying it would not publish materials evidently not meant to be seen by the general public. Heelllloooo? Pentagon Papers anyone? That alone is comedy gold. Is it any wonder that the circulation is nose diving.

Then there is this piece which takes advantage of the "hide the decline" line.



With luck, this should put an end to the hoax AGW has become. It's definitely time to investigate the goings on of the charlatans pushing CO2 restrictions, carbon credits, and the like. Those in the center of the scams should be sharing jail space with Bernie Maddoff.

So long 2008! Hello 2009!

Wishing you and yours a very Happy, Prosperous and Safe New Year!

I've grown indifferent to the hoopla associated with the whole New Year's Eve thing. I stopped staying up solely to view the dropping of the lighted ball at Times Square about 20 years ago. (I did stay up to watch the clock tick over to the year 2000. Partly because of the world-wide celebrations that were televised at that time.)

I was never a party person. Large crowds give me a stomach full of butterflies. Mildly phobic? Perhaps. I just feel uncomfortable when there are lots of people around. Even a visit to the mall can be problematic unless I focus only upon my immediate surroundings. Go to the movies? HA! I can manage a sporting even where I'm focusing upon the field or the court and just a few of the fans around me but going to the concession stand will have me in a sweat.

Small picnic parties outdoors, a couple or two over for dinner, affairs where I can isolate myself with a few good friends...those are the types of parties I enjoy. (Although a couple of beers/ales will help me get through the trials of meeting new people in tight quarters.)

So I'll sit here and watch my football bowl games and turn in well before the midnight hour arrives. May you have a safe and enjoyable evening.

Happy Birthday to Me!

(Well almost...)

I'll be celebrating my 59th Anniversary of my Birthday tomorrow. I have no special plans. Terry wants to go to dinner.

As for gifts.... Well, there are plenty of toys I would like, but I've probably used up my quota for birthdays and Christmases for many, many years to come.

Easter Morning

I woke up this morning before sunrise to a big, beautiful moon shining in the bedroom window. I would have hustled downstairs to get the camera and take some pictures, but, hey, it was only 6 AM! (Besides, if I had gotten out of bed, I would have had to feed the cats before I could do anything.)

Yesterday's clipper of a storm--the one that left 6 inches of snow around Chicago and points west--passed well to the south of us along I-80 and things cleared around noon and have remained that way. Lovely sunshine yesterday afternoon, glorious starlight and moonlight last night, and fantastic sunshine again this morning. Even though the daytime highs remain nearly 10 degrees below the average, I could get used to this sunny stuff. Unfortunately, it won't last according to the weather.com folks. Starting on Tuesday we're in for mostly cloudy with showers for a week or so. (That's when the 10-day forecast cuts off.) At least they aren't talking anything serious or snow.

The only hitch in the whole thing is the darn night raiding raccoons. Three of the masked rascals made a mess out of the feeders again last night and ventured up on the porch to knock one of the flower boxes off the deck rail. Luckily nothing was damaged and I had only to refill the feeders and upright the flower box. (No flowers in it yet anyhow.) Worst thing is I set out one of my game cameras in homes of catching the varmints in action and the durn flash didn't fire. So I replaced that camera with another this morning and hope to get some shots of the turkeys (who are out there now) and the coons when they return tonight.

Terry took off for Easter Mass this morning leaving me to enjoy the weather and critters outside. She cooked up a nice ham with homemade scalloped potatoes and broccoli yesterday and has a couple of lamb chops for dinner today. Is it any wonder that I'm wearing my "fat" pants again? Since the construction phase of the Aerie ended, I've put on nearly 30 pounds. Sure hope she's not fattening me up for anything.

Well, that's about all for now.

February 5, 2008

Tomorrow is Tuesday, February 5, 2008 and we all know what that means don’t we? No, it is not just Super Tuesday, damn it!

It’s Pancake Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday (officially known as Mardi Gras). It’s the day marks the beginning of the Lenten Season which starts on Ash Wednesday. It’s the last day of Carnival. The final chance to blow off steam, eat drink and be merry.

Now I’m not much of one for all that partying to excess of Carnival, but I do like me some pancakes. Nothing like a nice stack with melting butter and real maple syrup or strawberry preserves and a cold glass of milk. MMM-mm good!

Lent starts with Ash Wednesday and we’ll be forswearing meat on that day and every Friday through Easter as per Terry’s Catholic upbringing. (I was brought up in the Protestant Dutch Reformed Church where it was okay to eat meat…but hey, she’s the cook. And a damn fine one I might add.) We’ve already got some salmon in the freezer and Terry’s talking up Friday’s Church dinner for their fish plate. Cod, Haddock and Shrimp will be on the menu sometime during the next forty days. I think I can survive that even if there're no planks around for the salmon to be done outside on the grill. (I’ve also got to get the propane tank refilled.)

Ground Hog's Day, 2008

Last year around this time I wrote a rather benign piece about Candlemas and Ground Hog’s Day.

I’m not feeling that pleasantly disposed about the whole thing this year. It’s been cold. My truck is still in the shop. And my kids have dispersed to the ends of the continent. (One has gone off to Eugene, Oregon while the other has returned to Grandma’s house in Linden, New Jersey.) I got a look at all the W2 forms and realized how much, even in retirement, we have had deducted from our income by Uncle Sam's hoods at the IRS. Capone would have been proud. Besides, have you looked at our presidential choices?
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Tomorrow is the first of February and we all know what that means. Saturday morning, February 2nd, west of here in the wilds of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania thousands will gather around a faux stump atop the inauspiciously named Gobbler’s Knob to watch a group of elderly gentlemen in top hats and tails perform a mystic rite that has been repeated annually since 1886. It's time to wake up Punxsutawney Phil and ask when winter will end.

One of the Inner Circle will reach into the stump and pull a sleepy little rodent, Punxsutawney Phil (we’ll just call him Phil from now on, ‘kay?) out of his winter’s burrow. They will hold the poor sod up for the admiring throngs and place him on a flat surface as the time the sun break is supposed to rise.

Everyone will hold their breath while this Groundhog, Phil, (also known as a Woodchuck and nothing more than a chubby little rodent) gets its bearings and opens one lazy eye. He’s been asleep since last October, you see, and wants nothing more than to return to the Land of Nod until sometime in late April or early May when the new grasses will have emerged and there's something to eat available. Yet, these hundreds—nay, thousands—of people are waiting for him to make a prediction.

Another of the Inner Circle leans forward quite gingerly (a sleepy groundhog may awaken in a foul mood!) to extract the desired information from Phil (plus one or two pertinent comments).

The major domo who has received the vital information (in the form of a scroll? Who knew Groundhogs could write!) will stand and proclaim the result of Phil’s careful deliberations between himself and his shadow. Will we have six more weeks of winter, or is spring right around the corner? Whatever Phil predicts, he’s going back to sleep when all is over. Yea, to sleep, perchance to dream of sweet, tender grass shoots and female Groundhogs named Phyllis.

The humans in the crowd will go their merry way and wait for the Spring Solstice on March 20, almost exactly six weeks in the future, to mark the true coming of Spring.

If you can’t be in Punxsutawney for the molestation of Phil, you can watch it all by going to The Official Website of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club where the Prediction will be made live. Broadcast festivities start at 7 AM EST. (With any luck Phil might wake up enough to bite his Handler or the reader of the Prognostication.)

Despite the dire predictions...

...it would appear folks had a much easier time traveling this holiday than expected.

Thanksgiving travelers face little delay

But of course! After a week of hearing how bad things were going to be people either cancelled their plans (but only a few appear to have done this) or built in the extra time needed to clear security before their flights departed. Oh, there were a few weather delays but the vast majority of travelers seem to have gotten where they want to go with little difficulty. (Except for that one guy they found at the end of the article who was upset about having to wait an extra 12 hours for a flight from Atlanta to San Jose because he missed the check in time by 1 minute. )

Groan.

The nephew (Brian), his girlfriend (Vicky) and my Mother-in-Law are on their way back to NJ after a very filling Thanksgiving dinner. I sincerely hope they have an uneventful drive. I'm too stuffed to do much except watch some football on TV and maybe take a nap. They plan to drive down to Atlantic City tomorrow for a view of the boardwalk and a visit to the casinos. Vicky is from Tempe and, while she has lived in Charleston, SC, she has never experienced the Jersey Shore. (Not that Atlantic City is representative of the Jersey Shore or anything.) I would take her to Long Beach Island or maybe Wildwood. But, Brian and my Mother-in-Law have an established history of going to AC for a little gambling on Black Friday and they want to continue in this vein.

This morning there were clouds and showers sweeping through the area and early in the day we spotted a full rainbow to the northwest of the cabin as the sun rose behind the Aerie.

I took them everyone on a little road tour of northern Tioga County as Terry prepared our feast showing them the town of Wellsboro and then going up to Ive's Run on Hammond Lake, and the overlook at the Hammond/Tioga connector. We saw Bald Eagles at both spots. For Vicky, this was the first time she had ever seen an Eagle in the wild. I had just mentioned to them that there were eagles nesting in the area when I spotted the first one on a tree limb overhanging Crooked Creek at Ive's Run. The other two were soaring over the waters of Tioga Lake and we spotted them from the overlook.

below us in the channel between the lakes was a huge raft of mergansers. When I looked down, they spooked and all of them churned up the water and beat their wings in quick retreat out of the deep canyon like channel into Hammond Lake. A very impressive display as there must have been a hundred or more birds down there.

Weather today was -- changeable. The day started with a scattered shower or two but lots of blue sky peeking through the clouds. Then the wind started increasing. We had some showers around two PM but if you didn't like the weather you only had to wait a few minutes. A cold front was moving through and that accounted for the changes. The temperatures that reached as high as 57 degrees at noon had dropped to 38 degrees by 3:30 and are forecast to drop into the low 20s tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you all a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving.

Here at the Aerie we are looking forward to turkey and venison with yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn and carrots, cranberry sauce, cole slaw, and rye bread. Dessert will be apple, pumpkin and pecan pies toped with whipped cream and/or ice cream. Wine and champagne will be drunk with diner. Glenlivet for afterwards.

National Relaxation Day

I am informed by GuyK of CHARMING, JUST CHARMING, that today is National Relaxation Day. After the hard labor I performed earlier this week, I'm not even going to question his accuracy. Rather, I'm taking the rest of the bloody week off. My back and knees need to recuperate from the heavy lifting of blocks and bending over to stain that I put them through. Tomorrow morning is birding time and then my sister and her husband will be here for a couple of days starting Thursday evening.

One more Sousa

Semper Fedelis

Happy Fourth of July!

Stars and Stripes Forever.

John Philip Sousa knew how to write marches! One of the greatest disappointments in the seven(!) years that my two kids played tuba in their high school's marching band was listening to all the non-marches that were deemed necessary for competition. I would have much rather listened to week after week of Sousa. (Although John Williams writes some pretty mean marches, too.)



JPS's Liberty Bell March