Power and Peril

    I always enjoy a visit to Empire Farm Days the first week in August each year. I plan my visit so I can walk up each street of this exhibition and stop at any venue that sparks my interest.  By noon I will have seen about half of the displays and by mid afternoon I will complete my rounds.   Then it will be time to watch some of the field demonstrations.
     As an engineer, I am always examining the mechanisms of the various machines and speculating on the manufacturing processes.   Obviously there are a multitude of processes that include  welding, forging, casting, milling and so on.   One can always ask the question,  How do they do that?
    What struck me this year was the consistently enormous size of many of the machines on display.  The monster sizes tend to be the tractors, combines, and forage harvesters.    Also added to that list would be a specialized liquid manure spreader and large square and round hay balers.    With all the power available, there is a need for tools of equally gigantic size.   That means one will find 6 or more bottom plows and 24 foot or more tillers and rollers.   A far cry from my days on the farm in the 1940's and 50's.
    So we have seen a huge growth in the size of the machinery and the power units associated with them.  Change that has made farming more of a corporate activity than a way of life.  Although some small equipment is still made, it is difficult for a small farmer to compete with large land holdings and dairy herds.    Beyond the power issue, What do the small and large holdings have in common?   Now I get to the issue of peril.
   Farming is a hazardous occupation.   Tractors roll over,  machinery operators can be caught up in the machines and often children are inadvertently injured by their proximity to hazards and their curiosity.   Unfortunately even at the Empire Farm Days the peril of agriculture was tragically emphasized this year when a youngster was injured in a hoof trimming machine.   It is heartening at this time that although his injuries were sever, he seems to be in recovery.  We all hope and pray his recovery will be complete.
    One may ask if there is progress in making farming a safer occupation.  The answer in my opinion is a qualified yes.   All the machines I examined during this years visit had excellent shielding of gears, belts, sprockets and shafts.   All tractors had rollover protective structures.   Panic bars and emergency stops were prominent.  However, with all the mechanical elements for safety in place there are still hazards that related to operator error and bystander peril.   Also, although new machines adhere to higher standards of safe design, there are still thousands of agricultural tractors still in service without roll over protective structures.   Thankfully there is a program to retrofit these tractors supported by the State of New York and operated by the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health out of the Mary Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, NY.  Each year I make it a point to stop by their display to get the latest stats on retrofitting.  
    In conclusion, I consider myself fortunate to have survived the hazards of farming as a lad and to have reached geezer status.

Making Firewood the Easy Way

Liquid Manure Applicator- Nozzles Front, Rear and Sides

Forage Harvester

Six Bottom Plow

Round Bale Wrapping Machine

470 Horsepower - Probably $500,000 

An Alaska Cruise

   Only a few days back from an Alaska Cruise.  Still adjusting to time change and in de-tox from massive amounts of food.  Our first cruise and it was a dandy.  First class all the way except for the air flights.   However, even the flights were all on time and hassle free.  A relatively small ship of 685 passengers with a crew of over 400.  
   The food was outstanding, the company was delightful and on board entertainment was first class with a new show every night with a live band.
Upon arrival at Seattle we were transported to the ship by a witty tour bus operator and soon settle into our state room.  Cozy but quite functional with a substantial window view of the surroundings.   After an almost immediate safety drill we were free to fully explore the ship.   Several first class restaurants and cafe and other food service locations were available.   Eleven decks gave us a plethora of viewing sites.  Pool, hot tub, putting green, ping pong and shuffle board for diversions.   And a magnificent library stocked with the latest bestsellers.   Afternoon tea the order of the day a 4:00PM.
   From Seattle we sailed to Ketchikan, Alaska our first port.   Ketchikan is an island with about 10,000 residents near the Tongass National Forest.   Fishing and lumbering dominate the economy along with tourism.  Our tour in Ketchikan included a Lumberjack Show on the pier and a native culture visit to a long house and totem pole park.   Learned about the indigenous culture of the Tclingit peoples.  Nancy even got to dance with them in a ceremonial dance with a native costume.   The visit also included a demonstration by the totem pole master carvers.
     From Ketchikan we sailed up into the Tracy Arm and on up to the Sawyer Glacier.   The Arm is a relatively narrow channel with the water near the glacier colored by the glacial melt.  Steep mountains bracketed the channel with awesome views of streams and valleys reaching to the waters edge.  (On board ship we had a lecture each day pertinent to the our sighting of whales, the fisheries and geology of the area.  Superb quality for the presentations.)
    After the glacier we head south to Wrangell, Alaska as the second port of call.  During the sailings we enjoyed socializing at the dinners and lunches.  Many of the cruisers were members of university alumni groups as we were included in the forty or so Cornell Alumni hosted by Terry Hahn of the Cornell Alumni support organization.  Terry and Cornell provided a wonderful evening reception with champagne, goodies and pictures.   We also had a group dinner one evening with singing of Evening Song and the Cornell Alma Mater.     During our Wrangell visit on an island with about 2000 residents we walked the town a bit and visited further indigenous sites and a museum.  More totem poles and visit to a beach with petroglyphs from 2000 to 10,000 years old.
     From Wrangell, Alaska we cruised further south in the inner channel to Prince Rupert, British Columbia for our visit to Canada.  Prince Rupert is a beautiful city on an island as well.  We were greeted as we left the ship by the Mayor flanked by two lovely Canadian Mountie women in splendid dress red.  Our Prince Rupert stop included another indigenous culture museum visit and a stroll through a beautiful seaside memorial park.

Pilot Boat Leaving Ship After Transfer

Lumberjack Show -Ketchikan, Alaska

Nancy, Raven Dancer

Sawyer Glacier in Tracy Arm, Alaska

Cornell Flag, Center

Totem Park, Prince Rupert, B.C.

Mayor, Mounties and Friends, Prince Rupert. B.C.

Regatta Ship in Background of Memorial Park, Prince Rupert, B.C.

    With an evening departure from Prince Rupert we moved into the outer channel out to sea fro our run to Seattle.  On the open sea for the first time we encountered enough of a sea to have significant motion of the ship.   Both an up and down and rolling motion.   Need to have some sea legs.  After a night day and night of sailing we arrive in Seattle to disembark from a glorious journey.
  In retrospect, it is hard to capture all the feelings and experiences of the journey in a narrative.   For us it was wonderful first cruise experience.  Who knows we might do something like this again.   Of course it will have to be during the off ski season!

Philanthopy

   I recently finish a biography of Ezra Cornell in preparation for a presentation I will be making  in September 2014 at the Central New York Living History Museum in Homer, New York.   Although I knew much of the story of Ezra Cornell before, I was incredibly impressed in learning about his generosity in supporting educational, social and agricultural communities.  In fact at his death he had essentially given away almost all of his fortune gained through his development of the telegraph.   He left only a small legacy in land and support for his widow plus questionably valued railroad stock.   However, he has left an extraordinary legacy in the success of Cornell University and also the Tompkins County Library he started in the mid 1800's and still exists today.
   I immensely admire those who have gained so much in their lifetime who are committed to giving it away for worthy causes.   Although we have a plethora of plutocrats who cling to their wealth, we do have people of both modest wealth and extraordinary wealth who are committed to distributing that wealth to worthy causes in their lifetime.   Admittedly, some are holding onto half of their billions.  Not so with Ezra Cornell.
   For those of us with lesser wealth, there is also an opportunity to be generous.   Our philanthropy may not be so noticeable, but we still can support causes without seriously hurting our standard of living.   Once we have assured the comfort our spouse and/or our children of need we are left with other opportunities.,
   Further on the recognition of local philanthropy, I am impressed with the generosity of Peter Grimm whose significant support has enable the success of the Central New York Living History Museum.   Clearly a man of means but not likely a billionaire.
  For many who have started out as impoverished individuals and have accumulated great wealth, I admire their courage to distribute that wealth to worthy causes.  Be that it may that society will generate more of that kind.  Hopefully, our media outlets will ballyhoo those people to encourage more to participate in philanthropy.

Geezer Friendly Ski Areas

   I have been thinking about an App that might be useful to geezer skiers.  (Even though it is the middle of July).  An App that could be on your smart phone, iPad or the like.    Last summer my wife and I used a tennis court finder App while we were traveling across the USA to find a public court where we would stay the night.  It was a great App since it gave the conditions of the court and either an address or GPS coordinates so we could navigate to the court.  Is there a need for a comparable App for ski areas?
     Perhaps we ought be able to offer to the geezer skier an App that would define and rate ski areas for geezer friendliness.   The 70+ Ski Club already publishes data on the ski areas that give us a financial break.   However, there is no information that defines the geezer friendliness of the area.
   So how would one define the geezer friendliness of a ski area?  What criteria would we use?   Here are a few suggestions.
1.  Is there a break on the lift ticket cost?
2.  Special parking for the senior skier?
3.  Discount for food and beverage for the senior skier?
4.  Lift access without a long trek with your gear?
5.  Automatic entrance and exit doors?
6.  Convenient changing areas?
7.  Elevators for multi level lodges?
8.  Hosts and hostesses as volunteer guides?
9.  Periodic complimentary instruction?
10.  Large print ski area maps?
11.  Patience of the service and lift operator staff with the sometimes slower geezer skier?
12.  Significant amount of groomed intermediate trails?
     I am running dry on ideas so readers, let me know if you can think of other criteria one might use.
     If one were to accomplish creating the GeezerSki App it would require assembling data through the cooperation of volunteer geezers across the United States at least.  Through a central clearing house we could assemble the data base and then write the App that one could pull up on their smart phone or computer and based on you location find the most geezer friendly ski area.
      Maybe we could get some young computer hot shot to take this on.  And who knows it could go viral!
     Dear Readers - feedback is welcomed!

Hitchhiking

  I recently heard an interview of the author of the new book, Carsick on NPR.   A story by John Waters describing a recent cross country hitch hike by the 60 something author.  Apparently the book has three parts.  What happened, the worst that could have happened fiction and the best that could happen fiction.   The interview revived memories of my hitchhiking days in the early to mid 1950's.     My experience with hitchhiking was a mixed bag of good, average and down right terrifying.  In those days, it was common for college students to hitch rides.  Few of us we able to own cars and transportation to home from college was was not very convenient via public transportation.   (Although after a few bad hitchhiking experiences, I did resort to train and bus rides).    For the most part I had rides with cordial, friendly and helpful drivers.  Often they would go out of their way to get me to a new intersection for the next leg of my journey.   However, there  were the terrifying experiences of being picked up by deviants. ( I will not go into detail to describe).  Fortunately I was able to escape those encounters when there was a stop light or stop sign halt.  In some cases it was wise to travel with a friend, even though it was not as easy for two to get a ride.
    In another one of my experiences I learned that not is all what it seems to be and I was too hasty in fearing for my safety.   For the last leg of my journey home to Lyons, New York from Geneva, New York I was offered a ride by a near car full group of Spanish speaking migrant workers.  The driver seemed to know only two ways to drive.  Full brake or full throttle.  As we were tearing down the road at breakneck speed he suddenly said something to his front seat companion.   After the reply from his companion he suddenly slammed on the brakes and jumped out the car, came over to my side rear door and yanked it open.   I immediately thought that I was going to be mugged.  However, much to my amazement, he thought the door had not been fully closed, and he simply slammed it a few times, jumped back in the driver's seat and tore off down the road again.  I guess my heart rate dropped quickly.   Actually I was grateful to get to my destination with such a jovial group.
   Jumping to 2014, I am reminded that hitchhiking seems to be a lost art and probably a good thing.   The interstates likely have significantly reduced the opportunity to hitchhike.   Also, we seem to be living in a more violent world than that of the 1950's.  Maybe, hitchhiking exists in some places in the USA, but during the over 6000 miles Nancy and I traveled over the USA last summer on many secondary roads, we never saw a hitchhiker.
   Ah, well, I do wonder what it would be like to be a geezer hitchhiker today.   Maybe the best thing I can do is to read the book Carsick rather than conduct a field experiment.

Finding Ones Place

    It has been a while since I have written a blog.  For some time I have been waiting for an inspiration to reflect on an issue or theme.  Not necessarily a writer's block but more a matter of having something worthy to put down on paper.   An e-mail today from friend Pat has shaken me out of my slumber.  Not having seen a blog for a considerable time he was concerned that something was wrong.   Fortunately, nothing is wrong other than perhaps a bit of laziness.
   With the above as a preface let me venture into some thoughts spurred by may participation in tennis at the New York State Senior Games in Cortland, New York last week.   I had been signed up both for singles in my age group and mixed doubles in my considerably younger wife's age group.  Playing down as they say for us oldsters when we join the younger set.   In our mixed doubles group it was our misfortune not have any opponents other than us.   Since my wife couldn't make the time for a pickup game of mixed doubles because of a prior commitment, I showed up to participate with anyone that might appear.   I ended up picking up a partner Thoney from Brooklyn and we played a husband and wife team of Roger and Barbara from Ithaca, New York.  (Ages 87 and 86 respectively).   To the delight of Roger and Barbara, they ended up beating us in a set of 8-6.   That put me in my place as the youngster of the group.
   The next day I played my singles matches in my 75-79 age group.  My opening match was a blowout with a win at 6-0, 6-0.   My opponent is a much better player than the score shows but tennis is both a physical an mental game where things can go quickly awry when your opponent gets a fast start.   Over the many years I have been playing in the Senior Games I have played against the same people many times.   So in the semi finals I was bound to encounter my nemesis who has been the champion for more times than I can remember.  We have played both recreationally and competitively for dozens of times.   To be brief, he is an exceptional player and proceeded to show his skills by beating me 6-0, 6-1.   Thank God for getting one game to avoid the humiliation of a double bagel.   Although I was soundly defeated, I had the personal satisfaction of playing up to the level of my ability.   So here is where I get to reflecting on finding ones place.
    In the game of life I would observe we all have to wrestle with finding our place.   Each of us has both a level and type of contribution that represents our character and skills.    It is not to say we will fail to strive to succeed and be better.  We do need higher goals.   However, in the broader scheme of things we may end up being the foils for those who go on to higher levels of achievement.  As I look at pro tennis players, it is the rare few that reach number 1 and stay there for any amount of time.   But without the journeyman tennis players who make up the bulk of the pro population there would be no tournaments or dollars to support the top players.
    I have become  satisfied with my place in hierarchy of my contemporaries in senior singles  tennis.  Third or fourth place seems to be my slot.   Perhaps the greatest satisfaction of place now is that I am still in the game and almost every day my wife and I can play an hour or so of enjoyable tennis.
As to other aspects of my life, I find myself to be in a very good "place" at this stage in my life.  Good health, good friends,  a wonderful marriage,  a faith community, meaningful volunteer opportunities and intellectual stimulation from my Cornell colleagues.   It is nice to have found my place and at the same time have the enthusiasm to seek other places as well.

Geezer Skier and Nancy - July 2013 in Iowa.

 

Plow Day - Americana

      What else would a geezer skier do on an April Saturday morning but go to a local Plow Day sponsored by the East Homer United Methodist Church?   Held at East Homer, NY this was not a typical display of  the latest tillage tools.   Rather it was a revival of vintage plows and tractors perambulating up and down the field driven by the proud owners of restored and/or original older tractors.   Although the day was grey and cold by normal spring standards, everyone was enjoying the performance.
    Several makes of tractors were on display although the International and John Deere brands dominated.   The unique sound of the two cylinder John Deere's brought back fond childhood and teenage memories of my days on the farm with my parents and brother.   We bought a John Deere B just before WWII.  It was the first "modern" tractor we had on our farm following a steel wheeled Fordson of 1930's vintage.  I learned to operate that tractor and plowed with a trailing two bottom plow.
   It was a pleasure to see several generations of farmers represented at the plow day.   All of them seemed to enjoy observing first hand  a part of our agricultural heritage.   These are durable machines built to last.   A bit of Americana being preserved for future generations.   For anyone wanting to observe vintage tractors, you can visit the Living History Museum of Central New York in Homer, New York.  Over 20 tractors are on display and the display changes yearly to exhibit the entire range of restored vintage tractors.
   Meanwhile, back at the plow day a barbecue, pancake breakfast, bake sale and craft display were a part of the festivities.  The church hopes to raise enough funds to support a softball field in the community.  A visit to the bake sale netted a fresh homemade blueberry muffin and to the delight of my wife, a coconut macaroon pie that was an epitome of the culinary arts.
 

John Deere 720

Smoking Diesel 

John Deere Model G

New Series John Deere -Four Cylinder

Three Generations -Another Farmer to Be?

Farmall Model M

Plowing Down Corn Stubble

  So there we are,  tough old geezers hobnobbing with tough old geezer tractors.  Still chugging along.  Plow on everyone!