Baldwinsville Neighbors

Here it is June already, and time for our annual worst tv commercial survey. There are so many to choose from, but mostly the commercials are better fare than the programming. Here's my choice.

Around central new york, the hands-down most obnoxious commercial is anything from Billy HUGE, so we will disqualify him from the start. For my nomination, there is a testimonial for a local comical law firm called A&C (for ambulance chasers?) with a young girl who admits that she was standing in the back of a moving pickup truck, somehow fell out and broke her collarbone, and the boys at A&C got her the huge $$$ she so deserved. Picture that. If she was stupid enough to ride standing in the back of a pickup, a large sum of money is NOT what she deserved. I once saw a young girl in ICU who did the same thing, only she landed on her head. I'm sure she would have settled for a broken collarbone if she could have walked out of the hospital. Of course, if she had survived, she probably would have gone for a large cash settlement too. The laws do not make allowances for foolishness.

The latest word from Washington on the illegal immigrant problem is that we are going to build a 300 mile fence on the 3000 mile Mexican border to keep "those people" where they belong. The same Washington group that has set our country back about 100 years so far, and is headed for the Dark Ages. One would think a Texas rancher would know those fence numbers won't work. And of course such a fence built by the fed will cost about $10 million a mile. But no doubt our old friend Halliburton has a fence-constructing branch in Texas, and, oh yes, well they do employ illegal aliens, but...
I read one quote that this fence is different from the infamous Berlin Wall, as that one was built to keep people IN, and this will be to keep people OUT! Try and explain that to a Mexican: "You understand, Juan, this fence is just to keep you out of the US, not to keep you in Mexico? Si, senor. I will work very hard for you, you see."
I was in Europe fighting the Cold War, and the Germans certainly didn't understand about their wall. And of course now our neighbors to the north, Canada, will want a fence too. Where will that end?
My solution to the immigrant problem is to let them come in. Just require them to serve 2 or 3 years in the US Army before becoming US citizens. That would give them a job to support their families, allow them time to learn to speak our language, and give us a fresh supply of fighting men for our empire building programs. And any army recruiter could tell them about learning a trade and getting a college education and seeing the world. Maybe we could follow the popular trend today, "Outsourcing", and build an all-immigrant army, ready to invade anyplace, anytime. Maybe call it a UN Peacekeeping force. I mean, there is Iran, and Libya, and what about Venezuela? And of course North Korea. We will need the manpower to... Oh, sorry, no oil in North Korea. And then there are many countries in Africa we need to tend. Maybe a fence on all our borders? I am very tired.

Back in March, I took a few pictures of a gray fox in our back yard, near Syracuse, NY, and posted them up on flickr. Now I hear from a college professor in Oklahoma who is writing a book on foxes and wants to feature one of my photos. So now I will be published. Here is what it looks like, in case you see the book some day.

wandering the tug

This is closer to home, but I wander here a lot too. Byrne Dairy plans to build a super gas/dairy/cigarette/beer emporium in our rural residential neighborhood, as a "neighborhood convenience', though the neighbors all oppose it. This was published in the Syracuse papers:

Mightyfine

The exciting news that our far-seeing Lysander Town Planners have rewarded our residential neighborhood with a big shiny new “neighborhood convenience” store has been somewhat clouded by the recent rash of armed robberies of these stores in the Syracuse area. Two in one day. It seems these stores are a “convenience” in more ways than one.

Neighbors in this quiet residential area can hardly wait until the new Byrne Dairy Store opens just down the road. I guess we just have to start locking our doors and keeping the shotgun handy. I would suggest that our town planners plan on doing the same.

What I fail to understand in this deal is that when developers plan stores, malls, or gas stations in other rural areas, such as route 31 in Clay, planners can and do require them to include wider roads, curbing, turn lanes, crosswalks, lowered speed limits, and even traffic signals as part of the construction. On route 370 in Lysander, nothing. What are they thinking? What is wrong with anticipating problems and preventing them? Isn't that what planning is all about?

Anyway, welcome, Byrne Dairy, to the neighborhood. We probably will not be regular customers, but we will wave as we sit in traffic outside your store, waiting to get to route 370.

John Northrup

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.

I just read, in the Syracuse Post Standard, the interesting and enlightening article on the Maple Ridge Wind Farm on Tug Hill. We who have ties to the area hope that this project will bring some much-needed revenues to the Tug Hill area, while helping to produce clean energy for America.
It was amusing to read bar-owner Gordon Yancey's assessment that the wind towers "desecrated" the beautiful Tug Hill. This from someone who makes his living selling firewater and finger-foods to the thousands of snowmobilers and ATV riders who invade the Tug winter and summer. With their noise pollution, air pollution, beer-can littering, and constant destruction of roads, trails, streams, forests, and fields, these visitors are the real sources of desecration to this remote and beautiful area. Perhaps if Mr.Yancey is looking for desecrators, he should look across his bar instead of out his windows. Perhaps Mr Yancey should devote some time and energy to educating his customers, and just enjoy his view of the windmills. Already, Lewis County is working to close it's roads to ATVs.
Fortunately, most of us appreciate the beauty and majesty of these awesome windmills, and feel that they only add to the beauty and majesty of this unique area.

Tourists and windmills: The Tug Hill Windmill Farms of Upstate New York.
We just spent a weekend at the Winteridge Farm on Tug Hill. Beautiful weather. Did some deer hunting, although I find my enthusiasm for deer hunting is waning.
There are now over 100 windmills in place, almost ready to start spinning power. They are awesome to see! There are 3 in place on the farm, with 1 to be completed as soon as the last tower comes in.
The windmills are beginning to attract lots of tourists, driving up and down the roads, walking the fields, taking photos, etc. One lady stopped by and tried to start an argument about the bad aspects of the windmills, but we just wished her a good day. This would be a great opportunity to cash in on all the traffic and interest. Maybe sell t-shirts and hats on the roadside, or give guided tours. If only I lived closer, so I could be there every day. $40.00 worth of gas to commute-that is a lot of t-shirts.

The Pitts!
I just caught a few minutes of GMA with the latest hourly bulletin from Jennifer on her trauma-ridden breakup with Brad. Question: Other than the news media, does anyone over 12 really care about Jennifer's addled personal life. Wait. Don't answer that. But if your answer is yes, or even if you hesitate, here is a piece of advice. You need to get a life of your own.

Blowin' In The Wind...
The Tug Hill Wind Farm. Windmill activity is really beginning to pick up on the Tug Hill, with about 100 windmills completed and another 100 to come next year. Almost ready to hook up the power and start generating.
Although you do hear some negative comments about them, I think most folks think they are beautiful and majestic and an addition to the landscape. Surely an addition to an economy that had not much of anything before. It is exciting for one who knows the Tug and has seen all this grow.
I grew up on the Tug many years ago, part of a large family on a small dairy farm. Like most people, I got out as soon as it seemed polite to do so. Nothing there unless you wanted to work on a farm or your family owned a farm-related business. But the call of the Tug has persisted over the past 50 years, and we keep going back. Folks in Lowville considered themselves just a bit more sophisticated than us hicks on The Hill, so they looked down upon us from the valley. Now they resent those who are getting the windmills, even though they stand to benefit too. I guess that is human nature.
Even thought the Tug is a beautiful and unique area, the climate is harsh, growing season is short, and the snow and wind are...hard to imagine. The weather is not ideal for dairy farming, to say the least. Over the centuries, a number of hardy immigrants have tried their luck, including the Irish, Polish, Hungarians, Dutch, and Amish. I guess some were successful to some extent, as they were able to make a living and raise a family over a lifetime of 20-50-80 years, but I don't recall any of my neighbors getting rich. And now the small dairy farm is pretty much a thing of the past. Those who still owned the family farmland got to pay increasing taxes for few services on their dirt roads, and spent time trying to keep the alders and weeds from taking over the fields. Snowmobilers, campers, and ATVers discovered it as a playground, but didn't add much, except for the bar owners and nickel-can collectors.
And then along came these folks who said: Let us harness all this wind that is blowing over your land. We will use a small part of your land to build some towers and access roads. We will improve your roads and bridges. We will pay you $25-50000 each year for the next 25 years, and you get to keep and enjoy the land, and don't have to do anything. Sounds like a no-brainer! The only ones I know of getting a deal like that are the retired state employees. Except the windmill landlords don't have guaranteed health insurance.
And so the windmills have arrived. I think they are awesome and majestic. Somehow, they look as if they belong to the Tug. The Tug Hill Windmill Farms. The Future Is Blowing In The Wind!