Foster: An Introduction

This has nothing to do with towns or trails or the Adirondacks. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise if you’re at all familiar with this little corner of Towns and Trails. After all, there’s an unspoken agreement around here that Dave is responsible for posting anything that’s actually useful to our readers. Turns out useful isn’t really my thing. And it’s Friday.

So today, in a noble effort to honor our unspoken agreement, I’m going to tell you about our cat.

His name is Foster and he’s the best cat in the world. The end.

The Driveway of Doom

It looks innocent now, vulnerable and exposed, its tough gravel skin gone after months of snow plow abuse. But throw on a dusting of snow, sub-zero temperatures, and a non-AWD vehicle and that thing becomes lethal. Lethal, I tell you.

It has a reputation around here. I’ve even heard it called “the worst driveway in town.” Makes me proud.

Giving Up A Good Thing

I’m the first to admit that I’m kind of a Pollyanna when it comes to our new Adirondack life. Kind of, you ask? Ok, fine, the rose-colored glasses are just about welded to my face.

But that’s not to say that I don’t have occasional thoughts – you know, those thoughts. Anxiety-inducing “what if” thoughts.

What if I start to get bored? What if small town life, now charming and idyllic, becomes cloying and isolating? Or more to the point, what if we unintentionally piss off a neighbor and become total outcasts, giving us no choice but to sell our house and run back to the anonymous city with our tails between our legs? Well, now, there’s a dark thought. Pollyanna who?

Spring? Is that you?

The weather this week has been stunning. Sunny and low-40s during the day; crisp, clear nights. Beautiful. Makes me think spring just might be on her way. And, of course, it gets my mind buzzing about all of the projects I need to start researching and obsessing over. Lots of projects. Fun, dirty, sun-filled projects that make things beautiful and edible around here.

Composting
This is tops on my list. And I know this is something I should have been doing all along, but… ok, I’ll spare you the long list of excuses. Bottom line is that I’m late to the game on this and need to fix that ASAP. I figure if I get going now, there’s hope I’ll have some usable, nutrient-rich compost for this year’s garden. I’ve got the perfect spot picked out and the Christmas tree is all chopped up and ready to go to work, now I just need someone to build me a nice, strong bin. Dave, are you reading this?

Just Call Me Julia

Mancuso, not Child.

I have a new obsession. This happens frequently. Last week it was mangoes. This week it’s skiing. Bad timing, I know, since it’s March 8 and 45 degrees outside. But I have a feeling this will be a longterm obsession. At least 3 weeks, maybe even a whole year.

In a fit of “oh-my-god-our-first-Adirondack-winter-is-almost-over-and-we-haven’t-gone-skiing-yet,” last Friday we decided to take a trip to Titus Mountain for an afternoon of downhill fun. I had my doubts, since I have some pretty scarring memories from skiing as a kid. But Dave really, really wanted to go, so like a good life partner, I agreed.

Sunday Afternoon

Shhhh. Please be very quiet as you make your way through this post.

We’re enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet around here.

Hurricane Mountain, an Adirondack Winter Hike

When the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released a report calling for the removal of the fire tower on Hurricane Mountain, Jess and I just happened to be sitting around trying to figure out what to do with our day. Trail heads to this peak are about a 5 minute drive from our home and neither of us have ever seen an Adirondack fire tower up close… and it was a beautiful, mild winter day with gorgeous blue skies.

It was obvious what we needed to do.

Going Skiing!

We are going downhill skiing! This should be an adventure. Neither of us have been on the slopes since high school, which, despite us posting photos of ourselves that make us look young, was a very long time ago.

There is no shortage of mountains around here, but we were shocked at how expensive the lift tickets are at the “big boys.” Has it always been this expensive to go skiing? I’ll have to ask my folks, pretty sure they were the ones footing the bill back in the day. But we quickly ruled out the big mountains when we saw that Whiteface is $70+ and Gore is $60+. Tack on ski rentals and lunch and we would be looking at a couple hundred dollars just to spend an afternoon snowplowing down the bunny hill. No thanks.

Updated: Hornbeck Nomination Rejected (or was it?)

Update 3/5/10: The Press-Republican, in its eagerness to see Hornbeck’s nomination denied, appears to have jumped the gun with yesterday’s article. Official denial of the appointment has not come yet. WNBZ is reporting today that while support for Hornbeck appears to be sinking, the nomination is still undergoing an in-depth review process. And John Warren, from the Adirondack Almanack, wrote a piece today questioning the journalism behind these reports: Commentary: Some Local Media Perpetuates Lies

A few days after a Press-Republican editorial denounced the nomination of Peter Hornbeck to serve as an APA commissioner, the paper got its wish and is reporting that the nomination was denied.

Although this news is disappointing to us here at Towns and Trails, it’s not unexpected. Opposition to Hornbeck seemed to be reaching fevered levels within certain circles, and when news of Governor Paterson’s problems broke we wondered if a weakened Governor’s nomination could withstand the heat. There were even reports of some out of the ordinary pressure coming down from the Governor’s office to move along the nomination, which we didn’t take as a good sign for Hornbeck’s chances.

Infested

Lest you think our new life in the Adirondacks is all hiking, snowshoeing, skiing, wood stoves, comfy chairs and a cozy log cabin (ok, most of the time it is), I have a little confession for you. Our house is INFESTED and WE CAN’T TAKE IT ANY LONGER.

I posted a while back about our little ant problem. Thankfully, with a bit of determination the ants packed up and moved out. Or we killed them all. Whatever. But what I haven’t told you is that we have a fly problem, and a ladybug problem, and an occasional big, disgusting, grasshopper-like-thingy problem. It’s so gross.