It takes just about an hour to drive from Waterville to Woodgate and cross the "Blue Line." There isn't really a blue line, anywhere, but when the Adirondack Park was established its boundaries were drawn on a map by someone using a blue pencil.
We didn't have train robbery in mind, but when we heard the whistle of what could only have been the Adirondack Scenic RR engine, off in the woods, we set up chase and made a quick right turn in to "downtown" McKeever and the old depot - now a private residence.
Just a glimpse of the engine as is passed through McKeever and then slowed before crossing the bridge over the Moose River.
That gave us a minute or two head start up the road to Thendara, where we pulled in to the depot parking lot just ahead of the train's arrival. Three engines, one baggage car and seven passsenger cars --- and it looked full!
The Main Street of Old Forge was full, too - Tourist Season at its best!
There are at least half-a-dozen crosswalks in the shopping district and between them stand these signs: they seem to work!
We had another goal in mind other than chasing trains - catching pictures, at least, of the Fringed Gentians that grow north of Eagle Bay. But first - lunch with a view at Jim Helmes' excellent eatery, "Slickers," and then another quick stop in Eagle Bay at The DOUGHNUT Shop: not because we were hungry, but because they're the best doughnuts in the world and who needs a better excuse than that!
Fringed Gentians are extremely rare, some eastern states having only one or two known habitats, but this roadside area between Eagle Bay and the Rocky Point trailhead parking area grows larger and larger each year. It was started by a now-retired naturalist and Forest Ranger named Gary Lee, who found either a plant or two or some seeds, about twenty years ago, and just plunked them in a moist ditch where, miraculously, they have thrived! There are hundreds of foot-tall clumps like this one, each having a dozen to three-dozen blossoms. The color is, of course, what people find most attractive, and more than one poem - this by William Cullen Bryant - has been written about it.
The blossoms only open in bright sunlight. We were lucky - by mid-afternoon clouds were moving in and we headed homeward just as the rain began.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
"The Ride up North" continued
Sunday morning
There's a nice article in this morning's Utica Observer-Dispatch about the Clifford J. Fulmer Post 92's American Legion Riders and the benefit that they sponsored, yesterday, for Army Pvt. Steven Smith of Brookfield.
It's about 53 degrees, this morning, and drippy again! (Yes! We have had ALOT of rain, it seems, but how much better than a drought: all of the new grass along Route 12 looks so good!)
Not knowing what sort of weather we would have for our regular Sunday "Ride in the Country," we set out in a Northward direction fairly early yesterday morning. We began to see brilliant patches of red and gold maples a bit North of Remsen and during the rest of the ride I took about 100 pictures. But how many red maple trees can you really call uniquely stupendous? Not that many, and so I've been culling out alot of the less-spectacular. Here are some of the "keepers."
(As always, remember to click to enlarge.)
South Shore Road, Old Forge.
"Pixie cup" lichen.
More maples.
Moose River between McKeever and Boonville.
View from the bridge at Thendara.
Ostrich Fern 
Polypody Fern - my favorite - evergreen; almost alwaysgrowing on rocks and usually only 6" tall.
(Continued in a little while!)
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Saturday
In re: old-fashioned weather forecasting --- Mrs. Aldridge of Madison Street has observed (with pleasure!) that the bees that have bothered her throughout the Summer seem to have either left or holed-up early.
An all-brown woolly-bear caterpillar was sighted on the Sanger Avenue sidewalk. Does that prove anything? Only that brown woolly-bear caterpillars are not extinct!
Hundreds - or, perhaps, thousands - of geese have been circling in the skies over Waterville for the past few days. Some gaggles aim North; some set out toward the East or West. Very few head South.
No: hazelnuts - used for flavoring coffee and simply eaten whole - don't come from Witch Hazel. (I wasn't sure, so I "googled" hazelnut and found lots more than I ever wanted to know about them!)
On Madison Street
On Putnam StreetIt'll be a nice day to decorate. Send me a picture of YOUR front door!
Email the Writer
Friday, September 29, 2006
Friday afternoon
After months (or years?) of "discussions," Waterville has won, and the tilting pole next to the Bank buildiung has been replaced with one that stands perfectly straight!!
And after years and years of wondering how to keep the drainage ditch next to the Buell Avenue sidewalk from getting clogged, it appears that the solution is, simply, to keep Kevin digging!
Paul Evans, the D.O.T. Landscape Designer, has been in town "planting" a dozen or so brightly-flagged stakes on E. Main Street and in Monument Park.
We are given to understand that living trees will be planted starting next Tuesday.
The blogger will be taking the weekly "Ride in the Country" tomorrow instead of Sunday: taking pictures in the rain gets to be frustrating and the forecast for Sunday is "wet." This afternoon we took a quick run to the countryside to see if the Witch Hazel was in bloom: Yes!
I've "Photoshopped" this picture of the Cleary Homestead. The leaves on the big maple tree are just beginning to turn, but if you go back sometime over the weekend it might look like this!
Add Bright to your life: remember the Garden Club's great Rummage, Bake and "Mum" Sale
tomorrow from 10:00 - 4:00 at the Methodist Church on Terry Place.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Friday
It's 48 degrees and soggy, again. 
This morning's Utica Observer-Dispatch contains the obituary of Alton Hinman of Deansboro, whose paintings of local scenery had made him famous throughout this area.
Remember that time, over a year ago, when we all wondered if the Harringtons were ever going to have a reasonable driveway, again?
They have. And it's GRAND!
For all these years we've enjoyed and taken for granted the magnificent view from the Hanover Cemetery. Well, some lucky people have gone one better; they're building a house atop the hill across from the cemetery, and can call the expanse their own.
Down the hill, just to the East of the Hanover-Sally crossroads, another foundation is being poured.
Although the actual Village Lmits have not changed, it seems that Waterville is spreading out, more and more!
Thursday afternoon
Stripes EVERYWHERE! More white paint on Main Street than we've ever seen before. (Actually, it's not paint, but adhesive-backed cutouts, I'm told, however the effect is the same.)
There are new "STOP" lines and plenty of arrows, but the best thing that we've spotted, so far, is.....
a pedestrian Crosswalk on West Main Street from "Stinkers" to the Medical Center. It isn't handicap accessible (nor should one infer that the location indicates a precise need!) but it is at least a place where we - and any chickens who want to - can cross the highway legally.
This morning landscapers arrived at the Library to plant the circle, install more turf and plant grass seed.
The weather may be gray, but decorations on more and more houses - like this one on Berrill Avenue -- brighten the village as much as Mary Whalley and Mother Nature touch up the countryside.
Thursday - Garbage Day
It's 54 degrees and still DARK at 5:50 A.M.
Jazz-lovers will brighten up: it's John Liebing at Michael's, this evening from 7 - 10.
I don't know about the weather in Boston, but the mood is DARK: the Sox lost badly - 0-11 - in last night's game against Tampa Bay. They'll be in Baltimore over the weekend. In New York, however, everything's SUNNY and BRIGHT!
Check the New York Yankees website for more reasons why!
The WCS Boys Varsity Soccer team will meet Adirondack Central at 7:00 this evening at Brothertown Stadium and Varsity Football will play Hamilton Central at Hamilton on Friday at 7:00. Keep track of ALL WCS Sports at the "Sports Zone!"
The more culturally-inclined will be in the "stands" at the Stanley Theater in Utica, tomorrow night, cheering for The 5 Browns
Irresistible Champions of the Piano.
"Charming, articulate and brilliant, this youthful quintet of brothers and sisters, all virtuosic concert pianists, reawaken the lively tradition of multi-piano performances that flourished in the Romantic age. Each of the Browns – Desirae, Deondra, Gregory, Melody and Ryan – possesses a distinctive and discriminating keyboard talent, honed at New York’s Juilliard School. Through a variety of ensemble, duet, and solo pieces, including Flight of the Bumblebee and selections from West Side Story, The 5 Browns exhibit a musical understanding that verges on telepathy, while their elegant and expressive interpretations leave audiences worldwide 'whipped into a polite frenzy.' ”
More Down-to-Earth Matters continue to be questions the answers to which whould give us indications of future weather:
"Why are we not seeing 'woolly-bear' caterpillars of any brown/black combinations?"
"Aren't the deer turning dark early?"
"Have you noticed the huge number of pinecones on red cedars, this year? - Or all of the 'helicopters' on maple trees?"
Perhaps readers will be willing to share their opinions? Email the Writer
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Wednesday wrap-up
Sorry for the delay. The writer's "Mac" went to The Connecting Point in New Hartford, today, to have its memory increased. Now why can't I get the same service for MY brain?
A correction has been made to the curbing in front of the Hotel: the angles are less acute - perhaps that makes it less dangerous. But that's only ONE of several such "bulb-outs" that remain sharp and threatening - beware, especially, of the one in front of "Mac's"!
And finally - after parents of school children have been begging for crosswalks - those at the corner of Babbott and Main have been painted; chalk-line indications show where they will be at the intersection of Routes 12 and 315. Perhaps, by week's end, the most important crossing of all --- at Madison Street and Sanger ---bold white lines will have been applied. 
Something's going on here on Tower Street: perhaps a new drain? or curbing? It's hard to tell.
This morning we gave you a sampling of the Writer's weekly column that runs in the Waterville Times.
"Ex-WCS Teacher Charged" with sexual misconduct.
"New Field Opens With 4 - 0 Run" recap of the WCS Varsity Football Team's win over Sauquoit, last week, on the artificial turf of Brothertown field.
"Augusta Wants One-Year Lease" Town officials ask for space in Oriskany Falls Village Hall.
Marshall Township Veterans of Foreign Wars Plaque deadline October 10.
And where else but in Waterville could a piece of United States Postal Service Mail addressed only to "Aunt Irene and Uncle Bill" get properly delivered? Or - yesterday - a post card addressed to "Rhoda and the Children" reached the correct recipients - members of the Historical Society's SRO Loomis Family Players!
Wednesday Morning
41.7 degrees: not shiney, but not soggy, either!
"Social Notes" excerpted from the writer's weekly column - In Timely Manner - in today's issue of the Waterville Times:
We had a delightful telephone call from our special friend, Marjorie Barnes, who - a longtime reader of the Waterville Times - wanted to know all about the changes along Route 12, on Madison Street and also at the new Library. A packet of photographs will soon be in the mail to the Barnes at their home in Virginia.
Carol and Steve Aldridge, accompanied by Mrs. A.’s son John Platz, of Barneveld, attended the Rochester wedding of her nephew, Dr. Eric Socha, the son of Paul and Joanie Socha of Whitesboro. Mrs. Aldridge’s mother, Edith Socha who lives in Deansboro, attended the wedding in the company of her son Gary and his wife Nancy from Dan Diego, California, who have been guests at the Aldridges’ in Waterville. Carol writes, “Steve, John and I stayed the night in Rochester and got up Sunday morning and drove to Buffalo to visit my other son Aaron Platz, his wife Annie, and 2 granddaughters, Samantha who is 5 and Leto who is 8 months old. Gary & Nancy have been wined & dined by family members including Paul & Joanie, Rip & Judy Elliott, Dorothy & Fred Moon, and myself. We even enjoyed a fish fry at Michael's on Friday the fifteenth. They took Mom for a drive up to Old Forge on Monday the 18th. Poor Nancy is freezing. She is not used to this cold weather!” They returned to California last Saturday.
The Philip Persons of Putnam Street have just returned from a trip to Kalispel, Montana, visiting their son, Bill Burback and family, Terry and Kayli. Each day proved to be a new experience. With Bill as their tour guide, Mrs. Person writes, they saw first hand, the beauty of the countryside and surrounding majestic mountains -- “the "Big" skies of Montana --just unreal!! The high point was a trip to Glacier National Park, driving the scenic route to the very top, where we found freshly fallen snow,then crossing the Continental Divide. What a magnificent view!! What we actually needed, was MORE time, perhaps on our next trip.”
The William O’Dowds of Stafford Avenue North took their annual trip to Milbridge, Maine, to visit their daughter Mary Margaret and her husband Tom Potter. The weather was beautiful. They went to Calais and visited a lovely museum which is going to close due to lack of funds. “It had a lot of data about the Indians and early settlers among the other displays and,” wrote Peg, “it was sad to think that this place will close. We visited Saint Croix Island where the first French settlers came in 1604 -1605. The first winter took 35 lives so in the spring they moved to Port Royal. Mary Margaret makes a great tour guide." On the way back to Waterville they stopped at John O'Dowd 's home in Amherst, New Hampshire, where Bill inspected John's new work on the house and gave his approval. Their grandson Dylan was there but John's wife Yim, a flight attendant, was on a flight to San Francisco and not to return ‘til the next day.
We wish a speedy recovery to Mr. T. Snyder of West Bacon Street who is back in Waterville after a bit of a stay in the hospital. He is currently undergoing rehabilitational treatment at the Harding Nursing Home. We note that Miss Marion Barnes has recently taken up residence at Hardings'.
Wow!
