Mom's Groundhog

Well, I've been staying a bit later at Mom's, especially on the cloudy days, to try and get the foundation dwelling groundhog.  Unfortunately, only certain shooting angles are safe and I've not gotten a shot even though I've seen him a couple of times.  Need to get him out of there.  Might try flooding or smoking him out.  Sigh. 

Dad, Baseball and Cooperstown, New York

My father, Donald F. Parslow, loved baseball.  I don't know when he started playing but I know he played high school ball for Cooperstown's Central High School.  Dad graduated at age 16 from high school.  This was in 1942 and World War II was raging.  Dad couldn't enlist because he was too young at the time AND because he was farm labor, a critical resource at that time.  So, apparently, he played ball for the Cooperstown team.  I think but I'm not sure that this was a semi-pro team.  Maybe somebody can give me some more info. 

Anyway, I know that I once found an Cooperstown Town Crier article that referenced "Parslow" as shortstop for the team in 1943.  Yesterday, going through Dad's family photos I finally found a photo of the team which I think was taken in 1943.  The photographer was Peter L. Hollis of Cooperstown.  Dad is fourth from the left, back row.  No names are noted on the photograph.  If you see anyone you recognize, let me know.  Click on the photo to get the original size and download if you wish. 

Dad loved baseball a lot.  I remember him umpiring Little League games when we lived in Elkins, WV the first time in 1959 or so.  Even though I was 5 it was great fun to run around the park and sometimes go get the foul balls that went back over the box into the field behind home plate.  Dad would listen to games on the car radio and watch them on TV whenever they came on.  When he had to be gone to fight fires or something, I'd watch the games myself so that I could tell him about them.  He tried his best to teach me the game and while I understand it, I just never had the love for it that he had.  When he finally got a satellite dish for TV, he thought the best thing about it was that he could watch the raw feeds without the commentary and only the noise of the park over the actual game.  That was as close as he could get to being there.

I remember once-upon-a-time when —

12 year olds were expected to baby-sit younger kids. Since I was 12 and the oldest of this particular assemblage of kids, I was entrusted with their care AND because there was a big old deer that came out in an adjoining field, a 1903A3 as issued and a box (not just a mag full but a BOX!) of .30-06 ammunition. The home in which this rifle resided (and I hope it still does) was that of a WV game biologist. Now that is the good old days for me.

No, the deer never came out and yes, all the kids survived my dictatorship.



The U.S. Model 1903 Springfield Rifle replaced the Krag-Jorgensen and was the primary U.S. battle rifle until 1936, when it was replaced as the primary battle U.S. battle rifle by the M1 Garand. In 1942 Remington Arms redesigned the 1903 rifle using some stamped parts and that model was designated as the U.S. Model 1903A3.

My Comeuppance

I haven't been recording much here and thought perhaps I should catch up a bit. So this first story in catch-up phase is about my comeuppance. But to have a comeuppance you must first have pride and this I had, in spades.

You see for years I've been telling everyone how "immune" I am to poison ivy. Yeah, I've been "immune" since I was a child. My first experience was exploring the banks of the Tygart River which ran behind our house. I wasn't supposed to be back there, wasn't supposed to be fishing but I was with some older boys (heck, I was only 5) and since I could go one city block away to the store for my mom, I guess she thought I'd be fine. Well on that exploration we came across some poison ivy, at least that's what the oldest boy said the waxy 3-leafed plant was and he was loathe to touch it. Of course he'd mentioned it because I'd just about gotten it all over my body wading through it. However, there were no ill effects and my life's journey of immunity stories had begun.

Now, you have to understand that in my childhood in West Virginia, Kentucky and western Virginia kids went everywhere and did everything from dawn to dusk, year round with breaks inside only due to extreme cold, thunderstorms, or police intervention. Many was the time that our "gang" of kids would come home from a day of running amok only to have some show up the next day virtual walking ghosts because of a head-to-toe coating of calamine lotion (the preferred remedy for the burning and itching of poison ivy). I never had such problems and my legend grew.

Then I went into the U.S. Army. Most of you know that almost all the training posts are in the southern United States. Poison ivy is endemic there and so are the demands by Drill Sergeants for low crawling, pushups and other down in the dirt exercises for mind and body. In one instance our whole company was brought to an assembly area and, in the dark, ordered to lay down in column and get some sleep. We all did so, many in a bed of poison ivy. Yours truly was one of the few who was not affected. Yes, the legend (at least in my own mind) grew!

Then, about 5 days ago, I realized that I had to do some "weed eating" using a motorized string trimmer, at Mom's place. Particularly bad was the area along side her two stairways from the garage to the house level. I was in a hurry, it was hot and so I took off my long sleeve shirt. Fortunately, I always wear long pants when "weed eating". Now this trimmer throws a bunch of stuff everywhere when it trims. My legs (in pants) are covered with plant material when I finish. This is especially true with fresh, succulent spring growth such as I was trimming. I did the chore put away the trimmer and went inside to clean up and fix Mom some lunch. Fortunately, I'm a clean guy and thinking that my arms felt a bit odd, took extra time and water to get them as clean as possible. They didn't bother me at the time but later...

My left arm started to itch. Then I noticed a rash. At first I was puzzled, you see I am sensitive to spruce sap and I'd been trimming a spruce tree with the chain saw but had my shirt on most of the time. I was careful, and couldn't understand how the "spruce sap" had gotten on my arms. Then I recalled just where I'd trimmed and went back for a closer look. There was the poison ivy.

As you can see the rash was pretty good. I had a few blisters, a real rash and yes, I scratched. Application of Cortisone cream only made the rash "weep". That's something the wife did not want to see! What had happened is that the trimmer's little whip cord had chopped the poison ivy leaves and stems into a fine puree which it then sprayed on my exposed upper arm. If I truly had immunity, this is about the best one could do to overcome that immunity. It worked and I did it to myself. I don't think I'll consider myself exempt from the poison ivy curse any longer.

Now treated with Roundup©, the poison ivy plants look as though they might be dying. However, I think a second treatment is in order. Also in order is a little more care with the trimmer and I think I'll also nix any further descriptions of the "legendary" immunity to poison ivy. I've been humbled.

Shooting as a family tradition...

I've been searching out shooting photos from the family. It seems that our families aren't/weren't too much into documenting their firearms prowess. Some weren't too big on photography of any kind!

I have found a photo of my Great-Grandfather Orrin L. Brodie at what appears to be ROTC camp (as can be seen in another photo). When, I've not quite figured out. Whether he was attending or instructing I don't know. However, I know that he served in WWI and he did retire from the National Guard as a Captain in 1943 and I have copies of both of his draft cards. He also was a road engineer in Mussel Shoals, AL, worked for NYC's board of water supply and co-wrote a book on Masonry Dam construction. A very interesting fellow!

Not all our experiences with firearms were good. Several of family members served in the military and during wartime (as did Grandpa Orrin). One died at Centerville, VA in 1862 of typhoid, another at Andersonville and two of my great-grandfathers were maimed for life. Unfortunately, even the civilians weren't exempt from bad experiences with firearms with one brother of a 4X great-grandfather being killed by the "accidental discharge" of a musket. Perhaps somebody should have been made familiar with the 4 Rules back in 1815!

More recent is this 1957-58 (?) photo of yours truly with his first pair of matching sixguns. Ok, so that might have been my last pair, too! Maybe I'll just wish to duplicate these in the future. That I got these is probably my dad's doing. I don't know that I would bug my parents for anything. I might have said that I liked something but I'm one of those who pretty much went with the flow. Mom, due to her upbringing, would not likely have gotten these for me.

I don't know why, but Mom's family, particularly the maternal side (even including Grandpa Orrin), seems to have been very anti-gun. While her dad owned guns, as I've previously mentioned, it appears that on her Mom's side NOBODY (including Grandpa Orrin) owned guns, hunted or could understand why anyone would. Oh, they had the cabin, Pine Lodge, just south of Sabbath Day Point on Lake George but they were water people, not woods people. When I last saw her, my Great-Aunt Lovie had to give me the spiel on why guns were bad. Now this is from people who were pretty vehemently supportive of the death penalty and the military. Not a one was a vegetarian either, on the contrary, they loved their red meat! It was a dichotomy of thought that always puzzled me.

I have another photo showing Dad with a shotgun which I need to scan before I can post it here. He's riding a float in the Elkins, WV Forest Festival parade in 1960 (I think). I remember this parade as I sat with a "neighbor lady" on the curb near the Episcopal Church. She was so nice, she bought me a box of Cracker Jacks. I hated peanuts (and still do) but I dug the prize right out! I think I politely held onto the box until custody of me was transfered back to my parents. Life sure was good back then!

Honoring our Ancestors

No, today is not the anniversary of the murder of innocent children at Waco, TX or the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building and murder of more children in Oklahoma City. Today is the day in 1775 that was fired the shot heard 'round the world. Today is the day we made our move to become a nation (although we hardly knew it at the time).

Yes, 233 years ago today, brave men answered the call and responded to the church bells and drums. They marched in their militia units to the vicinity of Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts and along the road from there to Boston and gave their erstwhile ruler's armed forces a bloody nose.

I am thankful and proud to say that many of my ancestors and their brothers stood to arms to resist the tyrant then and in the years since. This post in no way can do them the honor they deserve. Only my own years of service might in some small way redeem my debt to them. But I hope by this post you might know their service and call to mind your own ancestors and their sacrifices... and maybe say a prayer of thanks.

Concord Hymn
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled;
Here once the embattled farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream that seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone,
That memory may their deeds redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

O Thou who made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free, --
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raised to them and Thee.

Our thanks to you...

Private Pelitiah Thayer
General Freegift Patchin
Captain George Richtmeyer
Private Henry Parslow*
Quartermaster Sergeant Henry Parslow
First Lieutenant Barney Alonzo Parslow
First Lieutenant Theodore Sedgewick Van Cott
First Lieutenant William Hathaway Van Cott
Second Lieutenant Leonard Boole Van Cott*
Captain Orrin Lawrence Brodie
Private First Class Gano H. Jewell*
Sergeant Donald Fancher Parslow
Private Lawrence Broderick

* - died in service

An Interesting Morning

I had an interesting morning this morning. I say that in a purely sarcastic way as I'd rather it have been the usual mundane workday morning.

At about 0630 I awoke but wasn't quite sure why. It seemed as though I could hear, through the bed, somebody slamming doors or beating on something. Of course my wife was already up and I could see the light from the bathroom. I just assumed (you can see "it" coming, can't you?) that she was in a hurry and POed and just slamming the cabinet doors searching for something. The dog was unconcerned just as she usually is until my wife goes downstairs.

I rolled over on my stomach to try to catch a couple more winks. Then the wife came into the room and turned on the light, picked up something and left. I could hear her go down the stairs and the usual moan from the dutch door to the breakfast room. The dog didn't have time to get up and do her usual shake and whine to be uncrated to go see "Mom" before my wife was back up the stairs "whispering" that somebody was at the back door. Nobody should have been at the back door and the source of the pounding was immediately clear to me. I picked up my handgun and moved downstairs as fast as I could. I had to push back my wife. She didn't do as she should and stay upstairs with the shotgun.

When I got to the backdoor I could see a man standing there and hear him talking to himself. He was talking as though he was talking to somebody in the house but of course he wasn't talking to me. He hadn't seen me yet. As I approached the door my wife grabbed the phone and went into the den. The man started to beat on the door again. I turned on the back porch light which startled him. Then I told him to leave. He said something that I couldn't understand and I again told him to leave. My wife was calling 911 for the first time as I did this. It seemed that he was trying to tell me that we had business and I told him that he was at the wrong house, that we didn't have any business, that I didn't know him and that he should leave now. He seemed to apologize and walked away but instead of going down the walk to the driveway he walked around the other side of the house through yard and garden. I went to look out the window on that side of the house and could hear him talking. I couldn't see anyone and moved to the front of the house.

I then saw that he was standing at the foot of the front steps talking and gesturing. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying but it seemed that he was explaining something. He then left but instead of walking down the walk to the sidewalk cut across the yard and crawled through a short section of rail fence I have at the corner of the property. He then went up the walk towards _______ _________ School. I went to a side window to see if he would continue up the street which it seemed that he did.

I then called 911 to tell them that he had left my property and in which direction he was headed. I gave them a brief description as well. Then two police cars arrived and turned around in the park across the street from the house and went back up the street in the man's direction of travel. Then my wife and I got dressed and my wife got her things together and I walked her out to her vehicle and saw her off. I then went back to the house and took the dog out to do her business. We went back in and I started my breakfast.

The dog then had to go back out. I put her on the leash and we went out the door. She stopped right in the middle of it to alert on somebody in the driveway side of the house. We both immediately went back into the house. I let the dog off the leash and she immediately went to the front door and started barking. The man was back at the front door. I then called 911 again (the third call) and reported that he was back. I gave a more complete description (but got his approximate age wrong I think he looked much younger when I could see his face in full light). I went to the door and turned on the porch lights to mark the house. He tried the door and talking to me and I again told him to leave. He was getting more agitated. This was about 0735 or so and he'd been at this quite a while. he left the porch and went to the back door, pounded on it again and I again told him to leave. He tried to argue with me again but I couldn't really understand what he was saying. I saw him walk over to my next door neighbor's house and I called them to let them know he was there. My neighbor said he'd heard something but hadn't answered the door. I had to hang up because this person was again pounding on my front door.

I went to the front door just as Officer ______________ was approaching him. Officer ___________ ordered him off the porch and started talking to him. I stood in full view in the door (we have a glass door) but didn't interfere or interrupt. Finally I saw that the man wasn't answering the questions put to him and Officer _____ saw me standing there. Because I thought that the man wasn't answering and the officer might be uncomfortable with me where I was I went outside. Officer ________ asked me if I was the homeowner and then asked if I had ordered him off. I said "yes, at least three times." Officer ___________ then told the man that we was under arrest and the man resisted so Officer _________ took him to the ground in the attempt to control him. He then cuffed him and took him to his cruiser telling me to wait for him which I did. I then gave the officer my name. As I was doing that my other next door neighbor came to the house to see what was going on and report that the same fellow had been at his back door and attempted to gain entry.

Observations (not necessarily news to me but it might be to you):

1. As always, you dance with the one what brung you and I had only my usual carry gun (for coyotes and such at Mom's), the Ruger New Vaquero in .45 Colt.
2. The police can never respond as quickly as you'd like them to. Until they arrive you are on your own.
3. The wife was panicky and did not do as she should have done, i.e. putting me between her and the threat and moving back to the safe room before calling 911 and taking other steps. Practice would help this. Still some people can't get over this feeling that simply overwhelms them. Prepare for that as well.
4. At no time did I display or announce that I had a gun. I feel that this could have escalated the situation and/or been threatening to the officer and/or forced me into using it at my disadvantage. By keeping the gun in hand but hidden I retained some measure of control over the situation.
5. I did not come into physical contact with the individual. This was good as when challenged he did become agitated and physical. If I was un-armed he could have been too much for me with my arthritic shoulder.
6. I mis-estimated his age. I thought he was about 40-something but in full light it was clear that he was 30 or younger. I was correct about most other details.

Sidebars:
1 - I'm the youngest and only armed person among my neighbors. It is perhaps best for them that he fixated on my house. I think I'm the one who would have most likely survived if this had gone to crap.
2 - I stopped on the way to work for some lunch stuff and my change was $6.66. Does it mean anything? I sure hope not!

Update:
The individual has a reputation for public drunkedness and "odd" behavior in his home town but hasn't been prosecuted for more than 2 DUIs.

Son's Birthday

Today is my son's birthday. He's 30 this year. Sure do wish he was going to be here for Thanksgiving. This photo is of us in June 2006. Happy Birthday David.

Son-in-law Scores

My son-in-law got a 5 point deer weighing about 130 pounds field dressed. Shot at about 7:15 AM the opening day of muzzleloader season (yesterday). He uses a Knight in-line and the Red-Hot 250 gr. saboted bullets. You should see the damage those did on this deer.Got to see his deer and where he hunts. Had a good walk but didn't see any coyotes. His dad shot at one but apparently didn't connect. More reports to follow.

Youngest Daughter's Birthday

Today is my youngest daughter's birthday. She's 28 this year and the mother of our grandson and grandaughter. She's a great "kid" and we love her dearly. Happy Birthday Margaret.

Groundhog Hit Squad

Well, it is just me. Mom has a groundhog (aka woodchuck, aka Marmota monax) which has moved in hard by her house foundation. The basement wall is in fact a wall for his burrow. I had no idea he was in residence until I saw him skedaddle across the front yard and followed on foot with my .45 New Vaquero in one hand.

Unfortunately, I couldn't end the problem then and there as he peered at me from the den entrance with his head hard against the foundation wall. I'd rather not put a hole in the wall and couldn't get an advantageous angle. So I backed off without further disturbance. Tomorrow I'll construct a fake tunnel from his den entrance with a Havahart and some black plastic garbage bags. Most whistlepigs will trundle right into such a set up and he'll be there Thursday morning for the "resolution".

Our Family at Lake George

In the 1880s Americans began to be settled enough that the more affluent actually began to have second or vacation homes in what had been rather remote areas. Not all were referred to as such but might have been referred to as "hunting camps". My great-great-grandfather William Hathaway Van Cott Jr. (his father was Judge William H. Van Cott) was successful enough that he bought a small plot of rocky land on the shore of Lake George in New York and built a small "camp" there.

That original building, which had windows, was about the size of a good sized shed and was the building in which they lived while building the rest of the "facilities". In keeping with the times, the family named this building the "Windigo house". This was 1884 and access to the camp was by boat. The Windigo house was up the rather steep hill behind the building in the center.



Later, these buildings took over as the main living quarters with the Windigo house used as a bunk house for the children. I don't remember a name for the main cottage which housed a separate bedroom for the lord of the manor, kitchen, dining and "living room" with fireplace (the ONLY fireplace, this was not a winter cabin). The Dovecote (the building on the left of the photo) had two bedrooms, each with a separate door fronting the lake and was used for married couples. The camp was rebuilt about 1950.

This photo is from early in the 1960s, maybe 1961, and a new front porch is being constructed for the Dovecote. Likely it is family members doing the work and this was often the case as these folks found it interesting and fun to do.

The property passed from Eleanor Van Cott Brodie to four daughters (Janet, Agnes, Margaret and Eleanor) to whom the cabin passed at his death. Only Eleanor is still living (in Glens Falls near her daughter Agnes).

When the girls were children living in Staten Island, their mother, Eleanor, would pack trunks with canned food and clothing for the summer. After the school year had ended, they would take their trunks to Grand Central Station and board the train to the terminal at or nearest to Lake George Village. There they would board a steamer to Sabbath Day Point (the cottage is just south of the point). From Sabbath Day Point they would move their things in one of the two pulling (rowing) boats.

Here is my Grandmother Janet in Winona, one of the two boats built by Bartlett which they used, in 1962 or 1963 on Lake George. She's out in the bay in front of the cottage and you are looking south down the lake.



Water came directly from the lake with a handpump in the kitchen and an intake about 50 feet out into the lake. Of course the pump had to be primed and sometimes it was just as easy to throw a bucket off the porch into the water and haul in 5 gallons that way! Great chore for a young boy, let me tell you!

These boats (Winona is shown above) were built about 1904 by George (?) Bartlett of Sabbath Day Point to replace earlier boats. Why those boats needed replacement I can't say. The other of the pair must have suffered some damage and I never saw that one but I have seen photos (for which I'm searching). My grandfather re-built this one, Winona, and the boat now resides in the Mystic Seaport Museum. Plans for the boat can be purchased from the museum.

These boats were rowed, sailed (with leeboards) and motored with an old Evinrude outboard. Winona has been all over Lake George, on Lake Champlain, and even on Barnegat Bay. I should know, that's me with Grandma Janet. I'm all of 5 years old.



Of course, every generation had their own stories about the place and these were sometimes great fun for us to hear as we sat around the fireplace roasting marshmallows or enjoying Grandpa's coffee-ice cream-and-root beer floats.

This place is my major connection to the Adirondacks. All my Adirondack experiences revolve about going to, leaving from or day trips around this cottage. As I gather more photographs I'll be continuing my stories of Pine Lodge, aka Brodie Cottage. This might be difficult as the family sold the cottage in 1994 and gave the accumulated photo history to the new owners! A wonderful thing but copies of those photos apparently weren't made.



This photo shows an aerial view of the cottage as it is now. The Windigo House is gone as is the outhouse (yes, we used an outhouse through 1978). The Dovecote and main cottage have been joined by a wooden walk way. We had to go down stairs from the main cabin and walk across to the Dovecote on a stone and dirt path, mostly in bare feet. It was wonderful in the dark when you had to make a late night run to the toilet which was up the hill behind the main cottage. I don't see the dock either but this is probably a fall-2006 photo and the dock is pulled up for winter and stored under the main cottage.

Sold in 1994 to Mr. and Mrs. Stuart M. Lazarus this inconsequential "camp" is no longer ours but well remembered.

In Memoriam - Virginia Dawn Parslow Partridge

I'd like to take a moment to say a few words about my aunt, Virginia Dawn Parslow Partridge.

Aunt Gigi was a wonderful aunt. It was she who took us to Frontier Town, bought us books like "Wood Craft" by George W. Sears. For years she was docent and more at the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown, NY. It was ALWAYS fun to go visit her at work there or at the Fenimore House. She was the "fun" aunt. The one who cracked jokes, liked her beef rare, drove her Plymouth Roadrunner fast, and generally was a good time for all of the nieces and nephews, male and female, good or bad. I've never seen enough of her all my adult life. Family, military, time, space, and poor letter writing habits I think we shared all conspired to mostly keep us apart since I left home for the Army in 1973. I think in all that time we only saw each other 2 or 3 times.

Gigi was the genealogist of the family (before me and more so). She was the first person (or first woman?) to get a Fulbright Scholarship sans college education. This to go to England and study early textile methods. I think this was about 1935 or 1936. While in England she took advantage of the circumstances and did quite a bit of genealogic research. Gigi collaborated on "Made in New York State : handwoven coverlets, 1820-1860 : a traveling exhibition", "Transcript of the 1830 and 1840 federal census of Schoharie County, New York", "Weaving and dyeing processes in early New York with a description of spinning fibers", "The story of flax" and obviously was a well known expert on dying and weaving techniques making many presentations at seminars on the subjects. I hope I haven't forgotten anything.

It wasn't until fairly late in her life that she married Edward L. Partridge who was a fine person, as I remember it. They bought and began renovations on a house in Mount Vision, NY but it was never finished as Uncle Ed died of lung cancer within a year or two. I'm not sure of the dates...

She was a shooter, too, killing groundhogs who dared to enter her or her neighbors' gardens. She used a Marlin .22 Mag bolt gun and in the village of Mount Vision. Of course, back then we thought nothing of it. Of course she was safe. She loved gardening and she and Uncle Ed had extensive lighting put in to sprout seeds for the incoming garden season (no, not those kinds of seeds!). In later years she concentrated on orchids and built a sunroom/greenhouse on the side of her home in Lansdale to house them.

Born September 3, 1917 she was getting on in years and had chronic lymphocytic leukemia and some sort of senility (who knows if it was Alzheimers or something else) and last year she fell and broke her hip. She made 90 years and a day before she died the evening of 4 September 2007. She is survived by her son, John Hatch, his wife Sue and two grandchildren, Beth and Zack as well everyone in the family who knew and loved her. I know I did and I am very thankful for all the wonderful things she did for me and all the knowledge to which she exposed me.

Photo: This photo is from one of Aunt Gigi's books, the first I believe, published in 1949.

Anniversary

Been married 22 years and happily! OOOOOOOO rah...

Trip to Reedville and Tangier Island

I'm back from a trip to Reedville, VA and Tangier Island which the wife and I took 7-12 Aug 2007. I don't publicize my departures for obvious reasons but sure did miss being home. I did, however, get to eat plenty of seafood, went to Tangier Island, visited the Reedville Fishermen's Museum and did some boating. Had an interesting time driving Missus Hobie (who returns to school today). This photo shows a typical Tangier Island crab shack and working boat. You can't see the dwelling portion of Tangier Island in the photo as it looks out away from "town" and the wharf.

Tangier Island is an interesting place. Discovered by John Smith, there are now 600 year-round residents, it now gets it's water from 5 artesian wells, electricity from the mainland, everything else by boat. The policeman (one) is a retired Marine who just moved to the island to take the job. There are a couple of places for sale and you too can move there. Watch for flooding in September but not too bad a place. Folks are friendly. There is an airfield but no shooting range...

One goes about on foot, bicycle, golf-cart, moped or Kawasaki Mule type vehicles. We saw TWO (2) actual vehicles. One was a compact truck and the other was a compact car that was the Police car. The streets are just two golf-carts wide and there really isn't anywhere to go but the heavier vehicles are used to move loads of soft drinks and such to the restaurants.

The food was excellent! I think that some of the ladies spend quite a bit of time cooking. There are several choices for the tourist. The restuarants are likely open mostly when the tour boats are in port. Tour boats run out of Crisweld, MD and Reedville (Fairport), VA. Arrival times are staggered to aid management of the tourists on the island. There is also a "mail" boat that carried passengers out of Crisweld, MD.

There is a school on the island with 8 students per teacher. A new medical facility is planned and will soon be built. Air evacuation, if required, is provided free to residents. As I said before, there is police presence and we saw a Coast Guard helicopter at the air field. So, if you want to move there, there are facilities and it is great for boats (drawing less than 6'). I told you the streets weren't wide so if you like you can do without a car on the island and do as the other residents do maintaining a car on the mainland.

Reedville was also a fun place, if you like relatively slow paced life! We ate at the Cockrell Creek Deli and Crazy Crab are two places with a slightly different take on presentation of the same excellent seafood. We certainly ate our fill. Scallops, crab, oysters, and flounder were all devoured with gusto. We also ate at Lee's Restaurant in Kilmarnock and it was another great meal.

Ok, so I've talked a lot about the food. The weather was just so hot, heat index was 112 degrees a couple of days, that we just didn't go outside more than necessary. But the short story is that we'd like to go back and we were looking at properties there. That might be a done deal if I win the raffle of a boat from the Fishermen's Museum!

Lack of Posts, an Explanation

Y'all might have wondered what happened to my normally blistering schedule of posting. Not even a book review or photos of rabbits in a field. Well, I've just completed the April-July Bathroom Renovation Hell Test of Marriage. You see, my wife (who hates the "Hobie" moniker by the way) decided to have our upstairs bathroom remodeled/renovated. I suppose it needed it. The vanity, that cabinet that holds up the sinks (bowls) and hides the plumbing was about 30 years old and had suffered the indignities of 5 children growing up with it. It wasn't an expensive unit when new and the doors were starting to fall off the hinges. There was no storage either. Also the toilet was even older and seldom flushed with any sort of confidence inspiring regularity. The only good thing about it was the 5 gal tank which, when it worked, managed to get just about any load all 120 feet to the sewer at the street. The wall paper was peeling, the ceiling fan was dead, there was no electric outlet and the room was lit by a single 60W bulb. The old tile was covered with 20+ year old carpet (hint, don't put carpet where it can repeatedly get wet) and coming up off the floor. I guess the bathroom was due a face lift.

Anyway, my dear wife got a contractor who came in and ripped everything out only to not come back for two whole weeks AND not replace/install the toilet flange. Add to this numerous hair-pulling discussions on cabinetry vs. plumbing of which the resulting decisions, absolutely agonizing as they were, were still incorrect AND damaged and delayed shipping of the vanity, etc and you will see that a pattern rapidly developed by which our only bath with a shower was out of order for a loooooong time! Oh, we had the shower for all but a week of that time. Yes, we took showers elsewhere.

All I can add is that as one gets older, the availability of a bathroom, specifically the toilet, in the middle of the night, becomes more and more important. Aging as rapidly as we did during the project, bathroom availability was approaching desperation levels. And then... the plumber arrived. 5 hours later he'd managed to fix our 1926 incorrectly renovated oddity and bless with a working crapper and sinks! Joy of joys! Now I only have to get one drawer in the vanity shortened so that it will work around the drain (eyes rolling here) and all will be well. I hope.

Now the wife wants (and it needs it) to refurbish the back porch, replace the hot water heater, replace some sash cords, install central air and redo the kitchen. I'm thinking that it would be cheaper to move (as well as less stressful).

Bathroom renovations continue...

Yep, the renovations continue... to get my goat! What a royal pain! I no sooner get the old big mirror cut to new dimensions than the electricians put the GFI outlet in the wrong place which requires I take the mirror back to be shortened. I love my wife but she's right, we don't speak the same language. My language is the language/jargon of the trades and hers is the language of her "vision" (the single best word that describes what she imagines). I speak in specifics and she in generalities which she thinks I must understand. She has a vision, the general parameters of which she can communicate to one and all. But the devil is in the details. I simply can not always understand what she means. Much hair pulling, were my hair longer, results from this. It should be very nice once we get it done. After all, she has very nice visions!

New Grand-Daughter!

Born today at 10:03 AM was my Grand-Daughter Madeleine Grace Swisher. She weighed 8 lbs 2-1/2 oz and was 20" tall/long has blue eyes and black hair. Both mother and daughter are doing fine.

Grandson's Birthday

Today is my oldest grandson's birthday. Kirk is 3 this year.

Thanks Grandfather

My 10X great grandfather who was here and to whom, along with other of my grandfathers, I owe a debt of gratitude for making it possible for me to live in this country these past 52 years.

You Can't Go Back

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Project will cater to weekly rentals
By KELLY BRUNI Staff Writer

FLY CREEK - A final site plan review for a special permit may be presented to the Otsego town planning board next month for a motel/hotel complex that could accommodate 140-200 Dreams Park visitors.

The Donney Brook Bungalows are to be located between Rte. 80 and Parslow Rd. in Oaksville. The property is owned by Ken Stabler and the site plan designs have been created by Beardsley Design Associates.

"We've been working on this project close to a year," said Tom Cormier, business manager for the project. "We've worked hard on it. I think it will fit in with this whole area."

The project consists of nine bungalows, each containing four, two-bedroom units, and a recreational center/rental facility. The recreational center would be open to the public as well as guests at the complex for different uses such as weddings or conferences, he said.

The bungalows are geared towards daily to weekly renters.

"It's built for a family," he said. They anticipate placing volleyball courts and horseshoe pits on the property.

Although they are looking to attract the Dreams Park visitors, Cormier also stated that they hope to attract people year-round. He proposed that businesses or organizations may consider the complex as a retreat.

A portion of property to the right of the complex is commercially zoned and designated for future projects, said Cormier.

"Our primary concern is the bungalows," he said.

They hope to begin construction this spring.

During previous discussions, Cormier said they had considered moving Parslow Road, however, because of a potential for public opposition, they have abandoned the idea.

More proof that you can't go back. You see, this spot between Parslow Road and route 80 was once a part of my grandfather's farm. Come summer we'd hunt groundhogs and once upon a time I speared one there, right where they are going to build bungalows. Nobody will know, nobody will care, and nobody will ever know the land in that way again.


You can't see it here but Parslow Road runs just north east of 80 and 28 and parallel to the two roads up to the intersection. We used to come in on 80 from the west and look for the US flag he always flew as we topped the hill.

I've no idea what became of the old house built in the early 1800s that was the Parslow family home for about 40 years. The last time I was there there were already houses down the road towards Cattown and the man who owned the property then had put a new basement under the old building. He has since died as well. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. I couldn't afford the taxes and couldn't stand the gun laws up there.

High Time in the Old Town Last Night...

Well, I got home from work yesterday to find an ongoing drama involving a young man who'd escaped from police custody during one of those traffic stops gone complicated. To summarize my impressions from Mrs. Hobie's excited telling of the tale...

Apparently, the Staunton PD made a traffic stop and discovered some marijuana in the car. They went to arrest the two occupants and the passenger twisted away from the officer and ran right down the street over my back fence and through my backyard past my wife and into the front yard. He then doubled back and hid on my front porch as the cops went into the park across the street looking for him. All the neighbors were out but the one on that side of the house saw him crouching on the front porch behind a rocking chair and thought we'd hired painters! Jeez. Anyway, the other neighbors and my wife were also looking but didn't see him up there. He then hopped the railing into my garden and ran back through the backyard, back over the fence and up the street stopping to hide under a trailer where another person saw him but didn't report him.

Meanwhile, my wife found a cartridge he'd dropped on the front porch (which the police took as evidence) leading to speculation that he'd had a gun to go with that cartridge but we've not found the gun (by "we" I mean both us and the police).

Now, this fellow is known by name to the cops and of course his friend/the driver dropped the dime on him. It appears that he knew the penalty for drugs+gun and that is why he ran. Worse yet (?) he's a local high school football player.

This is the third incident we've had in our yard or the street in front of the house in two years. The first was a young (?) man peeping (?) looking for entry and the second was the drive-by shooting (actually shooting into the park but while driving in front of the house). I don't like how this is going. This is not the community it was 20 years ago when we moved here.

Eldest Daughter's Birthday Today

Eldest daughter turns 31 today. She might be a STEP-daughter but that isn't how I feel about her. Great "kid" and I'm very proud of her. She'll be down next weekend for the March birthdays celebration.

The whole family gets together for spring celebration sometime around this time in March as she and I have our birthdays on the 17th and 23rd respectively. Cuts down on the cake and pounds...

We'll likely do a fall celebration as younger daughter, son-in-law, wife and mother all have their birthdays in a 30 day period. Of course the grand kids will each get their own celebration.

Long Gone but...

As I've been to Houston and Pensacola on family business I've not been posting for the past week. However, I did manage to score a Ruger Old Army and 9 boxes of .25-35 factory ammo for $65. Good times.

Got to see my son. He should lay off the fast food but it sure was good to see him.

I've just returned from a jaunt to visit my brother-in-law (together with my lovely wife) in Green Cove Springs, FL. Because he had just built and was still finishing a new home we intended to help WORK but all we did is play.

Ok, so I helped get his drag racer ready for this weekend. Well, that was PLAY. And I did help get his boat ready for floundering, MORE PLAY. And I did help him on a shakedown floundering trip. EVEN MORE PLAY!!!

The truth is that all I did was play. We ate at a crab shack, local pizzeria, and home (fresh fried flounder!). We played on the race car and boat, fished (gigging flounder is nothing BUT fun!). My wife talked and shopped and ate and slept. We had a great time!

Gigging flounder is great fun. My brother-in-law works for the Navy managing maintenance/rebuilding of fleet aircraft. He travels a lot and enjoys hands on projects. His boat and floundering are two things, aside from drag racing, that he really enjoys. You should see his eyes light up and I guess mine do, too! Anyway, he has a 14' flat-bottomed aluminum boat (like the 1440D in the link) with a 25hp Honda 4 stroke (now that is a quiet motor) and no center seat. He has mounted a bank of 6, 500 watt halogen work lights on the bow and powers them with a 3KW Honda generator. Depending on which bank he's working and which side of the boat needs to be lit he uses the center 2 lights and 2 lights on the shore side of the boat (not all 6 at once). It is pretty cool as you pole down the coast in 4-8" of water, following the tide and spearing the fish as you spot them on the bottom waiting for their dinner. Of course, this can only be done at night so no couch potatoes and no direct sunlight! He knows his stuff and we got our limits both nights (10 each or 20 total each night) or 40 fish all together. At more than 1½ lbs each (we got several whoppers as well as several 14" fish), we had many lbs of good eating in the freezer (3 gallons of meat ready for the frier). He figures that those fish would have cost us $400 in the store.

It is great fun and sort of combines hunting with boating and staying out all night. One doesn't need to invest a lot to participate but of course some folks do. I'd forgotten how much fun it was to be out on the water after dark and to navigate by the navigational markers. Technique and timing count for a lot and I can see how some folks wouldn't be as successful as others. At first I couldn't see the fish until they were pointed out to me, by the end of the second night I was seeing fish my brother-in-law didn't see or before he saw them. Of course you get to see lots of other fish as well, such as needle-nose gar, rays, small sharks, sheepshead, mullet (the principle prey here), redfish, and crabs. That alone is interesting and exciting. You certainly don't, and can't, see all that during the day.

Now, if I can just get him to take me shrimping...


Hobie (left) and Brother-in-law (right) in front of boat with one night's catch. The small boat is easy to handle with a single pole even in a tide that brings in 4 ft of water in 3 hours.