wandering the tug

It is really amazing to me, as a born and bred Tugger, how much the Tug Hill has changed over the years. Not just the windfarm, though that is probably the biggest change, but the whole face of the area. For better or worse? Who can say. But it is different.
When I was a boy, there were still a number of active farms in the area, although none were especially prosperous. As the old-timers died off and their kids left for the cities to get rich, those farms disappeared too. I can recall roaming the back roads and meeting almost no one-maybe a farmer from the valley checking on his heifers in summer pasture; maybe neighbor Amby Williams looking for his feral hog herd; maybe old Adam, the "Mayor of Rector Corners", visiting his Christmas tree crop, or harvesting some "tug hill weathersticks". It was quiet and peaceful. Even in the '80s, staying at our camp on the Pitcher Road, sometimes it would be 2-3 days without a truck coming by.
Today the back roads are alive with snowmobiles in winter and ATV's in summer. Not 1 or 2, they travel in packs of 5 to 100. Camps are springing up everywhere on former farmland, and, of course, the windmills bring the construction workers and the curious tourists. I recall when we were kids how we would all rush to the windows when we heard a car or saw the headlights, wondering who was coming to visit. Now there is almost a constant stream of traffic on all the back roads. Progress? Maybe. Certainly the end of an era.

wandering the tug

Happy Trails To You:
This has nothing to do with Tug Hill, but just with life in general, I guess. We just took a trip to Albany on I-90, and on the way home stopped at one of those rest areas, Pattersonville, I believe, as it was past dinner hour. I won't name the fast food place, as they may sue me, and I don't have much, but it was named for my favorite cowboy hero when I was growing up. He stood up for all that was good and right.
In all my 66 years, this was the absolute worst meal I can remember being served. Well, actually, it was self service, but you know what I mean. And that includes army C-rations and SOS, which were actually quite good.
We should have known, as the rest stop was very busy, but there were only about 3 other people in this large dining area, and none of them looked very happy. We opted for the usual burgers and fries, and they were virtually inedible. If you have ever had a backyard cookout with burgers and hot dogs, then just turned off the gas grill and left the extras on the grill overnight, well, you get the picture. Like maybe they had been dehydrated and you needed to add water and reconstitute them, but there were no directions. I would guess they had been made for maybe 3-4 days, and the heat lamp was not keeping anything warm. Maybe they had just had a power outage?
It is hard to believe that intelligent people could actually convert good meat and potatos and serve up trash like this, charge money for it, and actually call it "food". Or that people like you and I are stupid enough to buy it. I was going to complain and get my $10 back, but it was late, we were tired and far from home, and there appeared to be no adult supervision for the help there anyway. You really can't blame the kids who work there-cold overcooked fries and sawdust burgers are all they know, all they have ever known. If ol' Roy were still around, I know he would say: "Pardner, you can't serve up trash like that to my buckaroos and put my name on it!" Now, DRAW!"
On second thought, maybe it would be good if they did sue me. I could just bring in a bag of ROY ROGERS burgers for the judge and jury to sample. Case closed! Denny Crane would love it.
What are they thinking? Of course, these folks are not into serving gourmet meals to family diners, expecting them back on a regular basis. Dump a quick snack, call it something they recognize-like "hamburger", on an unsuspecting traveler who probably will never be back this way again. If he does come by again, he will stop at the rest stop 40 miles up the road and receive something near as bad. But not quite as bad. No Happy Trails here, buckaroos.

I just read a blog from a Syracuse area crosscountry skiier who was wondering where Tug Hill is! Someone told her that the skiing was great there, but she had never heard of Tug Hill. Can you imagine? If she knew which direction north is, she could see it on a clear day! Obviously she never watches TV, reads a paper, or listens to the radio. They discuss Tug Hill and lake effect snow daily, especially in winter.