Generations

 It's hard to put into words how much this means to me. All the people in this picture have a common ancestor in my father, Ray. He is, of course, my dad. He is Susanne's (wearing visor) grandfather. The lady in the black dress is Erin who is the daughter of Susanne's brother Ricky, so Ray is her great-grandfather. The girls are her twins Elisabeth in yellow and Ellery in blue, so Ray is their great-great-grandfather. Although I "found" Erin and the twins a few years ago, this is the first time I've gotten to meet them. I was hoping to get to know them before they were taller than I am, but Liz beat me.

Here is Erin's family. Her husband is Tom, with Liz and Ellery, and the dog Belle.

Erin and Tom fixed a fantastic dinner for us- shishkabobs, mostly on the grill until it started pouring, and then the cooking was finished inside.

I really should already be on my way home, but I HAD to stay long enough to come here today. The girls are passionate about dramatics, and they are both in a summer children's theater production of Sponge Bob Square Pants the musical. I couldn't miss that. Liz was Patchy the Pirate as well as being in the chorus. Pictures during the show were not allowed, but I caught this one ahead of time. Ellery was in the chorus, and both girls were in a tap dance number.

Got a better angle on a picture of Ellery and Erin. The girls are twelve.

Liz has declared tomorrow National Hug Day. Guess I came at the right time! We did a video call with Jojo (Susanne's sister) this evening. This visit is way too short, but I've promised to come back.

See Niece Susanne

Niece Susanne, at Long Last

 Just a little farther east, and I am finally re-meeting my other half-niece Susanne. You may remember I saw her sister Jojo in January. The link below has the photo from the last time we saw each other and an explanation. It was either 1962 or 1963. We are 9 years apart in age, so at the time, she was almost a non-entity to me, I'm sorry to say. But we have hit it off as well as Jojo and I did. It almost makes me believe in that "blood is thicker..." thing.

Her dog is Toula. You know I'm a dog magnet.

We went and had dinner with her son and his father. Her daughter and grandchildren were going to come but the little girl got sick, so that didn't work. I may get to meet them tomorrow. Susanne made a delicious spaghetti sauce with meatballs and turkey sausage, and a mixed berry cobbler that was really spectacular.

It's so good to learn more about this portion of my extended family. Even though they are half-relatives, I think they are the closest blood relatives I have. We do have enough shared history, knowing different pieces of the family story, that it's like connecting dots.

Meanwhile, this morning, Marie and I put the final trim board on her deck. If you squint, I think you can just see it against the far wall at the base. It really made that side look finished.

We sure aren't looking younger, but our friendship stays strong. We feel like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that just fit together.

Tomorrow, even more family coming up!

See Neice Jojo

Almost Done Times Three

  We awoke to a wet deck from rain in the night. The reflections gave me a picture in my polka dots and stripes category. From my left brain: notice how nicely the stain is repelling water.

After the rain dried, we put the second coat of stain on the floor.

But I can only say it's ALMOST done, because we decided it needs one more trim piece along the other wall edge. Back to the hardware store! Of course it needed a custom fit on one end, but that went pretty well. That piece is drying in the garage and we'll install it in the morning.

One other thing that's almost done is this pair of pants I brought for the deck job. It doesn't owe me anything. I'm pretty sure these pants were first used on the NCT hike that I finished in 2010. They continued as hiking pants, then were downgraded to work pants (see NCT blue on them?), and finally just plain painting pants. I think they are staying here in a trash can. There is also a hole in the butt.

Sadly, the other thing that's almost done is my time with Marie. I will leave tomorrow. The nice part is that we'll see each other again in just a few weeks since she's coming to the NCT Celebration.

This was supposed to be a rest day, and it mostly was. Just a couple of hours on the deck and fixing dinner.

See I Think We'll Make It See Polka Dots and Stripes

George Washington Slept Here

 Literally. This is his and Martha's room in the house he used for military headquarters for 16 months, the longest he maintained HQ in any one place. (If you have spent much time in the East, you know that one of the standard jokes is that every old building claims that "George Washington slept here.)

The room is in the home of Elsie Hasbrouk and her son Jonathan. The oldest part of the house was built in 1750, with additions in 1760 and 1770. Because, by then, it had 7 rooms, it was a large house for the time period, which is a big part of the reason Washington asked to use it. It's also located on the Hudson, the primary transportation route of the time.

This is Washington's study. From this very room came many of the orders of the last year of the Revolutionary war. Note that in the bedroom above is an English-style fireplace. This was added by Washington. The fireplace in the study is the traditional Dutch style which is basically a hearth with a huge open flue above it.

There were six aides working for Washington while he was here. They all slept in 3 of these beds in one room. Yes, the beds are as small as they look.

This is the Victory Tower, built in 1887. It has statues around the outside, and a statue of Washington inside that is supposed to be an excellent likeness, but it was temporarily removed for renovation.

This building was built in 1910 to house the museum. The Hasbrouk House was the first national Historic Site to be created, and through donations was collecting a lot of items that needed to be displayed. It's a handsome structure.

I'm just too tired to show you more of the cool things that we saw. Here's the absolute best. I did not even know there was any of this that had survived. One of the things the Colonial army did to try to prevent the British from taking West Point was to string chains with logs attached crosswise across the Hudson River. It was thought they could stop the Royal Navy from getting far enough upstream. The chain weighed 75 tons. A portion of it is on display at West Point. But this is the only known section of the booms (logs) to survive.

It was a wonderful day, packed to the gills. I'm just too tired to blog more tonight. We went to church, we did two hikes for a total of 4.5 miles, we did the museum, and we worked on the deck. See you tomorrow.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 359.1.

Greenline Trail, East Kingston NY 1.5 miles, Walk Across the Hudson Bridge at Poughkeepsie and back 3.0 miles

See George Washington Trail

I Think We'll Make It!

 There was dew this morning, so there wasn't much early work time before the sun starting hitting the deck, but I have to tell you that we found a solution to painting the cracks between the boards that is the cat's pajamas! This is a painting pad that is supposed to fit some kind of handle.

The handle didn't matter. We cut off one edge of the fitting that is designed to fit into the tool. The cracks between the deck boards are a little narrower than I think they should be, but the real issue is that it was going to be a challenge to get stain in there. But this little pad did the trick to perfection.

I worked on the cracks until the full deck was in sun and then after lunch we made a long shopping run with many stops for groceries (yes, the women are expected to produce dinner as well as do DIY projects) and a few more little supplies for the deck job. The stain is not supposed to be applied in full sun because it will dry before it soaks in. We like that instruction just fine because, frankly, we are not willing to be out painting in 86 degree heat.

After supper (BLTs!) we worked on the deck until dark. Ed wanted the doorsill to be black (don't ask... we just went and got black paint), and we needed to try to match the siding color to do some touchup where the old deck had been a different height. We didn't get a perfect match, but it's OK. It looks better than the scraped up board.

Here I am doing the board beside the blue wall (the blue had to be done first).

We didn't quite get the first coat on the floor, but the second coat on the railings is very nearly done.

We are pretty much beat. We added 7 person-hours to this job today for a total so far of 20 hours of work (not counting making decisions and getting supplies at stores).

Tomorrow we have something much more fun planned (although working with a friend is always fun). Stay tuned for seeing something besides "terra cotta" stain.

If it doesn't rain, we should easily finish this on Monday.

See Staining Progress

Staining Progress

 We did two things today. We worked on the deck and we slept. This is what four hours work looks like for me.

Neither of us slept well last night, so after a round of work in the morning where I worked on the steps and Marie gave the rest of the railing a second coat, we took naps. You are not getting away with only one view of that much work.

We decided the vertical surfaces under the steps should be done, so that was my job to go underneath and play contortionist.

If I am ever involved in a deck construction project in my future, I plan for the first coat of stain to be put on before the deck is assembled. It's impossible to get this into all the spaces. Also, I've decided that, personally, I don't like the solid deck stains. They really look like paint. Supposedly this is soaking in rather than sitting on the surface of the wood, but I'm not convinced. However, it's Marie's deck and she is liking it.

A total of 8 hours work between the two of us. We're getting there, but we are beat. We did walk around the block to get some kinks out and fixed dinner (and of course had to clean up), but that's the entire day.

See Starting the Deck

Sojourner Truth, and, and, and...

 This morning we went to Sojourner Truth State Park. It's quite a new park that was put on the site of a former brickyard and cement factory. There isn't a lot there yet, but we saw most of it. Sojourner Truth grew up in this county, Ulster County. Born in 1797, she was slave to a Dutch family. But she walked away with her infant son and sought refuge with an anti-slavery family. They bought her freedom for $20. She then sued her former owner for the freedom of her son and won! She was the first black woman to win a lawsuit against a white man in New York.

She became known as a speaker, abolitionist, and suffragette. She actually attempted to vote in 1872, although she was turned away.

There is supposedly a nice dock at river level, but we chose to take the hike to the other good destination at the park, an overlook of the Hudson River. The elevation of the surface of the Hudson here is only 16.4 feet above sea level, yet it's a 2-hour drive from here to New York City. No wonder the tides have an effect here. The elevation from this overlook was 160 feet.

There are several interpretive signs about the former industries. Clay at the base of the cliffs was used to make the bricks, and the cliffs were mined for limestone for the cement kilns. This small lake is a former quarry.

I also learned more about that really bad plant Trapa natans. I'm going to not use the common name "Water Chestnut" as that makes it sound like the Chinese vegetable (although the seeds of this are eaten in cultures where it is native). It's also called Water Caltrop. This is a mat of it on the Hudson River. Maybe we should be harvesting it and trying to eat it out of existence.

Here's a closer look. The mats are pretty dense. That has to be impacting the ecosystem.

There were also a lot of nice wildflowers at this park. I think they must have been mass planted to be so prolific and concentrated in a former industrial area. It's a mix of Bee Balm (Monarda), one of the wild sunflowers, and a coneflower. They do look great.

We also visited a preserve called Falling Waters (not the Frank Lloyd Wright one- that's in Pennsylvania). This has a nice loop trail and a little waterfall.

More grocery shopping, a little work time, and then this evening we were finally able to start the project that Marie would like to get done. We started staining her new deck. Hopefully we'll be able to finish while I'm still here. We got one coat on most of the railing.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 354.6.

Overlook trail at Sojourner Truth State park, 1.7 miles. Falling Waters Preserve loop trail, 1.8 miles

See Saugerties Lighthouse

Saugerties Lighthouse

  There are 8 remaining lighthouses along the Hudson River. More than 24 were built from 1826 to 1921, coinciding with the rise in night use of passenger steamboats. This is Saugerties Lighthouse, built in 1869 to replace an earlier light at this location from 1835.

This is looking down the Hudson River toward New York. I'm not sure I've ever taken a hike before where you had to check the tide table before setting out. The Hudson River is actually a tidal estuary, affected by the tides as far north as Albany. At the trailhead to this short walk, the tide table is posted with the days and times that the trail is underwater!

There are two items of note here. First is the bouy with something on top. It's an osprey nest. If you look closely, you'll see a baby's head.

Squint even harder, and you'll see a bridge just to the right of center. That's the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge that Marie and I walked across in March 2023.

I learned a new plant, but it's a bad one. This is Water Chestnut, Trapa natans. It was brought to the US in 1884 by a plant collector. Of course it escaped into the Hudson River. It forms large mats that clog waterways. Animals do eat the large seed pods.

This is a fun plant, but I haven't seen it for a while. It's Dodder, Cuscuta sp., a parasitic plant that looks like someone draped orange silly string over other plants. It has to tap into the vasuclar system of another plant for nourishment. It will sometimes bloom, and I have pictures of that from back when my pix were 35mm.

Also, we saw what appeared to be an ordinary squirrel. However, on closer inspection it appears to have been crosed with a lemur. Just kidding, but I don't think I've ever seen one with stripes on its legs like this.

In other news: We sent for our FLT 50 and FLT Branch Trail patches. We bought paint. If it ever stops raining (not constant, but enough to keep things wet), we have a DIY project to do.

The reason I'm blogging late is that one of Ed and Marie's very shy kitties (two rescue cats) decided to sit on my lap for a long time. Previously, (like for several years previously) she has not even let me touch her. The other cat won't let anyone touch him. I mean, when a shy cat parks on your lap, you just can't get up and blog.

Miles hiked so far in 2024: 351.1.

Trail to Saugerties (NY) Lighthouse and back, 1 mile

See Sort of a Foodie Day