Pre Season - Skier Fellowship

   Thanks to the leadership of Frank Bonamie our senior skier group had a great lunch at the Acorn Grill at Greek Peak today.   As Frank said, "I was ready for a few laughs".   And  we did laugh and lunch and and the eight of us had a great time catching up on our summer activities and reminiscing about the past ski season.   Frank was a generous host for the lunch too!!  We owe you one Frank!
   During the off season we all have found activities to keep us fit and to prepare for another season.  Frank may well be ahead of us with his new Skier's Edge machine.  He even can wear his ski boots on this new version of the Skier's Edge.
The rest of us have fitness workouts with tennis, walking, swimming and golf.  
    In a couple of months we all hope that Greek Peak will be open for business.  For some of us we anticipate trying out new gear.   Others of us will settle in with the tried and true equipment that has served us well in the past.  We all are looking forward to both the skiing and the fellowship.   Good health to all and sorry that many missed our lunch get together today.  Here are a few pictures to remind you all of what you missed ( Note - Dick got away before I could get him in the picture).

Andy, John, Gerry, Alan, Pat and Frank

Andy, John, Midge, Gerry, Alan, Pat, and Frank

View From the Hotel Entrance

When Less is More

    No doubt I am a minimalist.  In comparison to my senior generation, I think I am an anomaly.  I tend to want to minimize  things on my desk and be satisfied with lack of clutter in my basement, my tool bench and in general my surroundings.   To me having less is more satisfying.  In some ways that is strange since I grew up in a family with limited resources and often felt left out from  having things.  Perhaps this is maturing and really understanding that having things can also be a burden.
   The minimalist nature seems to play out in all things in my life.   A recent  home example is some landscaping rehabilitation at our home.   Over the period of 15 years or so since our home was built some of the landscaping grew in size to fully occupy the front of the house and even spill out onto the sidewalk.   Also some of the arborvitae required a ladder to access the tops for trimming.   After recognizing the problem it was obvious that many of the trees had to go.  See below for the before and after views.  Removal is now complete opening up the area and a modest amount of replanting is done.  Hopefully the careful selection of the new plantings will control the size.  And space will be available for annual flowers to add some color during the growing season.   To our eyes less will be more attractive.
   In the vein of less is more I can apply the same thought to skiing.  Carving a good turn is probably accomplished better with more subtle movements.   Finesse is likely better than trying to muscle your way down the mountain.
   Also another example of less is more.   For the the last two years we have owned a hybrid car - a Toyota Prius.   I like driving it in the "Eco" mode.   This means that I focus on gradual acceleration to the legal speed limit and try to anticipate red lights to minimize the amount of braking force needed.  This minimalist approach has produced an average 50 miles per gallon in 28,000 miles of driving.
    Although I am a minimalist advocate, maybe one can take it too far.   Probably some of the drivers around me are annoyed by my gradual acceleration when the light changes.  Maybe, the less or more that I need to work on in those situations is to be less annoying.  I guess the conclusion is that taking the minimalist notion to the extreme can be as bad as being a hoarder.
   And finally, I've written enough on this topic!

Before

After

Before

 

On Being a Character

    I am convinced that everyone has the desire to be an actor in one way or another.   Children for instance love to perform and often take on roles that amuse their family and anyone that will watch and hear them.   As we mature many of us shy away from performing as we become self-conscious or have criticisms of our behavior.  Yet I think that even the senior citizen enjoys playing a part once in a while.
   This past Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of portraying the life of Ezra Cornell at the Living History Museum of Central New York at Homer, NY.   My presentation was a part of the Tractors of Yesteryear celebration.   After reading three biographies of Ezra Cornell and writing a 50 page script and practicing several times I felt I had a sense of who Ezra Cornell was.   My goal in preparation was to absorb the essence of Ezra Cornell's psyche.  In doing so I expected that I could do a first person presentation with reasonable credibility.   To convince the audience of my authenticity as Ezra Cornell, I rented a 1860's period costume.   I think the visual impact on the audience was significant.   The costume also made me feel credible as well.
   For over an hour I imagined that I was Ezra Cornell telling my life story from the perspective of my last days on earth.  It was fun to stay in that character and I think my audience was at least informed if not entertained.   After all the work I put into this presentation, I almost wish I could get another gig to do it again.  Wouldn't that be appropriate?  Especially since it is the Sesquicentennial Celebration for the founding of Cornell University.   Yes, I guess I am a character and a ham!

Ezra and a Prop in Front

Costumed and Ready

Simple Wholesome Pleasures

   After a tennis work out today and a shower, I grabbed a fresh tee shirt from the drawer.  For some unknown reason the smell of fresh laundry struck me as special wholesome pleasure.   So that triggered further thought about simple pleasures life can bring.  Perhaps it comes under the heading of stopping to smell the roses.
     Here are a few wholesome pleasures that I find myself enjoying by trying to be more in the moment.
1.  The smell of baking bread.  I occasionally make bread in a bread machine.  The smell fills the house and stimulates the gastric juices.   (So tempting, my wife makes me do the baking in the basement)
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2.  Wood smoke wafting on an autumn breeze.  Visions of a cozy fire and a tasty beverage of your choice.
3.  The aroma of freshly ground coffee beans.   I routinely grind my own bean to make coffee and truly enjoy the process.
4.  The surprise of a beautiful sunset.   Gorgeous colors painting the sky.   Probably the same thing happens in the morning but I prefer to sleep in.
5.  The neatness of a newly mowed lawn.  
6.  The purity of dew on the grass.
7.  Fresh sweet corn on the cob.
8.  The smile of a baby.

Recent Sunset -Photo Taken From our Patio

     Readers, now it is your turn to savor the simple wholesome pleasures you can experience.

      In a few weeks the leaves will turn and we will be saturated with the brilliant colors of autumn.  I'll remind myself to store up those visions in anticipation of the grayness until the snow falls.  But as a geezer skier, I can anticipate the beauty of the snow that will clothe the earth in new beauty.

   

Rain on My Parade- Spouse to the Rescue

   I am convinced that minimizing the effects of aging entails daily exercise.  If my wife and I don't play tennis on a given day, some other activity has to be included at least for a half hour or more.   Gardening and other chores can substitute for athletics as long as I get up a good sweat.   This Labor Day weekend did not lack for exercise.  For two days I was repairing and maintaining my snow blower.   Each of those two days required about six hours of wrestling with the parts of the snow blower that had to be disassembled and then put together.  I must have sweat a gallon in the process.   We also threw in a couple of sessions of tennis as well.   Lost weight in the process but did vegetate one day to let the old body recuperate.

Disassembled Blower - My Wrestling Partner

   Now to the title of this post.  My day was taken up with morning chores and an afternoon guiding at the local museum.  No chance for vigorous exercise.  Post dinner this evening,  after a  brief rain shower, I decided to walk the neighborhood which normally takes about fifty minutes.  Several miles to work up a good sweat.  No rain when I left the house.   However, about 30 minutes into the walk the rain started and became a downpour.   In a few moments I was soaked and concerned about my smart phone getting wet.   Gritting my teeth and shivering a bit at the same time I was prepared to tough it out.   However, to my delight this geezer in distress sighted my wife's red Camry tooling down the street and Nancy coming to my rescue.   Great reversal in roles;  rescue of a geezer in distress rather than a damsel in distress.  Blessings to my lovely wife!
  As I write this I also hear a television warning regarding the weather.  Good thing I am under shelter.   Surviving to parade another day.

Golf Course Sight on My Walk for a Sunny Day

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!