What's new is old...

I just bought a new computer and was going through some files to see what I wanted to transfer to the new one. The following is a short piece I wrote back in Sept. of '03. The more things change, (you know the rest).

"9/18/03 Over the last 24 hours a confluence of events has made me wonder about what American culture really values. One of the hats I wear is that of family genealogist and I spent a large part of yesterday in the county offices looking for missing details about my ancestors. I know from past experience that birth, death and marriage records are rare to non-existent in the town offices for the 1st 50 to 60 years that this area was settled and spotty for another 70-80 years after that. The stock response is that the records burned and/or that they weren't terribly concerned about keeping records in the early years. Yet when I checked the records of deeds and mortgages for the same periods I found that every inch of land and every dollar exchanged for land has been dutifully accounted for since the county was incorporated."

"This morning I heard a story on NPR about a veteran who despite having been returned from Iraq in a coma and still suffering from her illness had to do battle with the VA for care and she and her daughter spent 2 months homeless waiting to get subsidized housing. A congressman had to step in to get her moved up on the waiting list or she'd still be homeless. According to the report, only 9% of the US population are veterans but 28% of the homeless are veterans."

"Another story in the broadcast was not news to me. I had heard it before. The Bush administration, as part of their budget, is seeking to cut funding for veterans' health care. This is an already badly under-funded system. Appointments take months to get. Appeals of decisions by the VA bureaucracy take 2-3 years."

"We say that the difference between the US and many other countries is that we value human life more than in other cultures. So why is it that we keep strict track of land and money, but not the birth and death of our people? Why is it that we treat our veterans as a disposable commodity? If actions speak louder than words, it appears that land and money are what we value most highly, not our fellow man."

Now back to today: Needless to say I was not surprised at the recent "revelation" of conditions at Walter Reed or the reports that the VA health system is overwhelmed. Nor can I say I was surprised by Bush's hypocracy when he made a speech about how unacceptable the conditions in veteran health care are despite their being so in large part because of his own budget priorities. Several top military officers have been 'fired' over the situation but I suspect they were probably just doing the best they could with the resources the administration had given them and their crime was failing to spin the situation to the administration's satisfaction when they talked to media. Unfortunately the guy who should have been fired is still in the Oval Office tonight.

What does amaze me is that it took so long for the situation to register in the public consciousness. Similar stories have been around for years as evidenced by my essay from 2003 but somehow the public at large was too focused on trivia to notice. Sadly I have to conclude, as I did in Sept. of '03, that the American people do not value the individual nearly as highly as we claim.

More VanHoevenberg...

As I said yesterday, the light was flat and not particularly photogenic. This was shot with an 11mm lens on my Canon 10D and shows the view across the valley South of Mt. VanHoevenberg. Along the horizon (distance exaggerated by the wide-angle lens) from left to right are Mt. Marcy, Gray Peak, Redfield, Colden, Avalanche Mt., Algonquin, Wallface, McNaughton, Santanoni, Street and Nye. Click on the photo for a larger image. All the photos in this blog are available in larger size by clicking on the small one.

Mt. VanHoevenberg is a 4.4 mile round trip in summer from the South Meadow road trailhead. The South Meadow road is not maintained in winter so that adds roughly another ¼ mile to the round trip. It involves only about 500 feet of ascent so it is a very easy day hike.

Awesome Day

I went snowshoeing to an old haunt, VanHoevenburg Mt. I had never done it in winter but a friend was interested in doing it with me and off we went. Driving through Santa Clara the sky was totally overcast and it looked dubious that we would get any views from the summit but by the time we reached Saranac Lake it had cleared.

I saw something new on the way up the mountain. There were tiny black flecks on the snow and I asked Ron what he thought they were. "Snow fleas" he said. They were there in hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions, all up the side of the mountain. They looked like tiny seeds but as we watched, every so often one would jump. I'd never seen a snow flea before. Now I've seen them beyond count.

The light was not the greatest for photography because we were there at mid-day and the mountain faces South but I shot a few anyway. Perhaps I'll post one or two summit views tomorrow. The photo today is for eArThworm who has climbed this mountain with me in summer. She should compare this shot with the one she took of me at the same location and note how much 'shorter' the register box is in winter. A mild winter at that.

News? What gets Covered

This morning my clock radio awoke me with yet another recap of Jet Blue's problems resulting from the Valentine's day blizzard. That makes 8 days in a row that Jet Blue has been a top story for the national media. Last Sunday Peter Pan peanut butter made the news in a salmonella scare but that story lasted in the national media only 2 days and has all but disappeared from attention.

So why is a story of inconvenience that was caused by weather and compounded by poor management by an airline worthy of 8 days of intensive coverage but a story that is potentially a life and death issue only 2 days? To hear the media coverage one would get the impression that Jet Blue was the only airline that experienced any problems, delays or flight cancellations due to the snow storm. How many other airlines were disrupted? We weren't told. As for the peanut butter, how did they settle on Peter Pan peanut butter as the "strongly suspected" source? Have they tested any of the peanut butter to confirm their suspicions? If it isn't confirmed is the source possibly still out there?

As you flip from station-to-station, whether TV or radio, they are all covering exactly the same stories. Who decides what gets covered? They must all be using the same formula for deciding. One bright spot on the cable is BBC America. I turn there and yes, there really are stories out there beyond the US media's "formula news".

Snowshoeing Again

It was -20° last night and the forecast was for a high around 10° with wind chills of -24° so I hesitated about going snowshoeing again but I bundled up and braved it. There was virtually no wind in the woods and it was actually milder than my last outing. Snowmobilers have found the ski trails and tore up the entry trail down to the river. The St. Regis river is still not completely frozen. I walked along the shore for a bit and shot some photos of the open sections. Someone had snowshoed all the way from town up the river to the State Forest. I walked back up the hill and through the woods (above) to where my truck was parked. The tracks in the picture are mine from a couple of days ago before the last light snowfall. No one had been through this particular trail since then.

Weather

Yesterday I went snowshoeing again after shoveling the driveway. After beginning as one of the mildest winters I've experienced (62 of them) the last month has been more "normal" for NNY. In the last 3 weeks I've shoveled more snow than in either of the 2 prior winters. I broke trail for the second time in 3 days but only 2-3 inches this time instead of 5-6 inches. I should have taken my camera. The woods were beautiful. I told myself I would take it today but the temperature this morning was -20°F and it is only supposed to get up to 10°F with wind chills of -24° so I may get my exercise on the treadmill today.

Frosty Morning

This morning Diane called me from work to tell me that the trees along the Racquette River were covered with hoarfrost. It was about -11° so I bundled up and set out for Ives Park in Potsdam to shoot some photos of the frost. The frost was already being blown from the trees by a light breeze. I only spent about 15-20 minutes shooting but even with lined mittens my hands got so cold I had difficulty unlocking my truck when I returned to it.

Snowshoeing

The forecast was for temperatures in the mid-20s today but it barely broke into double digits with a high of 11°. I was looking forward to a long walk in moderately mild temperatures but 11° with a stiff breeze is not moderate. On my usual route I go by a large farmer's field that leaves me wide open to the wind so I decided to try a snowshoe in the nearby State forest. I figured at least I would be out of the wind and it turned out to be a good choice. The snow wasn't deep but there was enough to justify the snowshoes and it was a good workout. I think I'll continue that in place of my walks as long as the snow holds out and next time I'll take a camera.

COOOLD!

This morning it was COLD. Minus 17° to be precise. I waited until about 10 to go out but it was still several degrees below zero. I drove the quarter mile to the Post Office rather than walk as I usually would. When I got to the bottom of the hill I noticed that all the trees along the river were coated with frost so after getting my mail I dashed home to get my camera.

After spending 15-20 minutes taking a dozen photos in the frigid air, trying to keep my fingers warm enough to work the camera I decided that my photo fixation must be a form of lust. I hate getting cold and can't imagine anything other than lust for beautiful photos that would get me to stand around in sub-zero weather.

Strange Christmas Revisited

Last night I took the Christmas tree down. In a normal year I would take it out and stick it upright in the snow near our bird feeders to give the birds a place to roost out of the wind while eating the seed we put out for them. This year there is no snow. Not even one flake.

In fact I put up and took down our outside holiday lights in weather more characteristic or late March/early April than Dec/Jan. I remember one other mild Christmas in my life time. It was 1957. I remember it well because that was the year I got a new sled for Christmas and had to wait several weeks for enough snow to use it. Fortunately I also got two books I had seen in a catalog and wanted badly. They were make-it-yourself projects for boys. Those books went to shop class with me several times and quite a few of the projects from them were built that winter.

So is this Global Warming? Even those scientists who are warning of the prospects of Global Warming are saying that this warm winter in the Northeast has more to do with El'Nino than Global Warming and a few are saying that we may have weather like this all winter. One thing I know it isn't... It isn't much like what I think of as Christmas. I don't suppose the birds will mind not having the tree near the feeder for shelter though.

It's a Strange Christmas

It's a strange Christmas. The temperature is in the high 40s and there isn't a flake of snow to be seen. That may not seem strange to folks in more Southern climes but here in Northern NY about 20 miles from the Quebec border, green Christmases are a rarity. Plus there seems to be a dearth of Christmas Joy. I noticed driving around the last few days that only about 1 in 5 homes have holiday lights up, perhaps as many as 1 in 4 if you count non-lighted displays and people I meet don't seem to have that infectious happiness I associate with the season in the past.

Perhaps it is the world situation. In this morning's paper there was a story about a Christmas tree seller in Baghdad. He is a 77 year old Moslem who lives in a mixed neighborhood and has been selling Christmas trees for the past 10 years. Normally the street where he is selling trees would have tree sellers all along it but this year he is alone because Christians are a target for insurgents and he is risking his life to sell trees to those who are willing to risk their lives to buy one.

Two other stories that caught my eye were the one about the huge bonuses on Wall Street this year (average of $300K for Goldman Sacks employees) with an accompanying upsurge in sales of high end cars and other luxury items and a story about how thrift stores are doing a booming business selling used items for Christmas gifts because people are having trouble making ends meet. They were weren't in the same section of the paper but I was struck by the contrast between the two stories none the less. It is a strange Christmas.

For my part I've found it a bit difficult to get into the mood but I did put out some Christmas lights in attempt to cheer things in my neighborhood. As you can see in the photo I had the help of my loyal buddy who supervises all my outdoor chores. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Long time, no post

I've been busy. Too busy even to do much Christmas decorating although I have finished wrapping, shipping & card sending.

I thought (briefly) that I might have a PT job to fund my lust for new & better photo equipment but it didn't pan out. A stock photographer wanted someone to manage his database of images part time and I thought that would be right up my alley but he wanted someone to work as an independent contractor for $7/hr. and estimated the work would take 20 hrs/week. Since I have signed up for Social Security I can't work in self-employment over 45 hours a month without losing my Social Security. Combine that with him wanting to pay less than minimum wage ($7.15 as of 1/1/07) and it was a no brainer to nix the deal. I think the insistence on a substandard wage was the breaking point for me. From there it just went down hill. The level of skill he was asking is worth at least $10/hr. Initially I was willing to do it for less than that but when he insisted on $7/hr. I was insulted and got my hackles up.

I do not understand these business people who think that because you have a pension and/or Social Security that you should be willing to work for peanuts. I worked all my life for those benefits. They are mine. Why should I give someone else the benefit my pension by working for less than what I'm worth so they can make more?

Aging

I have a big birthday next Saturday, the 62nd. I start getting Social Security in January. It is a cliche but I really don't feel any older than I did 20 years ago. In fact I feel better than I did just 4-5 years ago. Three and a half years of retirement plus losing 75 pounds in the last year has left me feeling really good.

There was a photo in the Sunday paper of a 105 YO veteran of WWI who attended a Veteran's Day ceremony in Virginia. He is one of the only 13 known remaining WWI veterans and is quoted as saying maybe he'll attend next year too (the last time he went to one was 30 years ago). I think I'll shoot for 105. I'm enjoying life so why not?

Ethics?

I see in the news that a staffer for Republican Senate Lincoln Chaffee has been suspended without pay for using a Senate computer to send emails criticizing the senator's opponent. The news item notes that while not illegal, such use of a Senate computer violates ethical rules.

So what about the president devoting 8-10 days to running around the country campaigning for congressional candidates while being paid by taxpayers to run the country? What about the use of Air Force 1, numerous Secret Service personnel and presidential staffers? That is a vastly larger expense to the taxpayer than sending any number of campaign emails yet no one is suggesting it is unethical use of taxpayer money for partisan advantage. Perhaps we are not supposed to notice.