250- Kind of a Big Deal!

I am aware that some folks are having a hard time celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the USA with all the tension in the political climate. However, I think it's a big deal. And I can say with a great deal of certainty that I won't be around for the 300th, so I'm making an effort to be a bit more celebratory than I often am on holidays.

The church that's near us had a fireworks display on Wednesday night. I'm not a big fan of fireworks. But I went out and watched some of theirs.

Today, White Pine Village had a day that was free to the public. This is a local living history musuem that has all buildings of local historical significance that have been moved to the site. It's really well done, with quite a lot of buildings now, but I hadn't seen it in a long time because it's also a bit pricey.

The entire village is built around this house, which is the first frame house built in the county in 1849. And it was in this location. All the other buildings were moved to join it. This was also used as the county's first courthouse, jail and general store.

I spent a bit over two hours there. A lot has been added since my last visit, and it was excellent. They were also giving away free ice cream! West Shore Bank, locally owned, sponsored the free day, and House of Flavors donated the ice cream.

I didn't show you any pix from the Patriotic Concert on Sunday, but I'll show you one now (that was taken Sunday) because the choir was also at the village today and sang their selections.

This is a lady dipping candles. The wiggly ones on the right are recently begun, and the ones on the left and the one she is dipping are nearly done.

I managed to catch one of the sawmill demonstrations. Of course, a huge part of the local history is tied up with logging and mills.

One of the local industries that operated into the last part of the 20th Century was Star Watch Case. And here is where I learned something new. I already knew what a pantograph is, and you probably do too if you've done any wood routing, or perhaps even some experimental kinds of art. It's basically a jointed quadrilateral frame that you can use to trace a design from one surface to another and make it a different size.

So, I did not know that this is how they made those detailed and fancy engravings on gold watch cases. The large flat disk on the left is a metal plate which has the design cut into it. Of course, it is large enough that you can see the lines. The watch case is at the other side of the pantograph. When the design is traced on the big disk, it is reproduced on the scale of the case at the other side. It's sort of like how micro-robotic hands work-- where you move your own hand a couple of inches, and the robot hand moves only a tiny increment.

And to end the day, David came to visit. Yes, the David that lives in Philadelphia. As a reminder, his wife is originally from Grand Rapids, so he tries to pop up here when they make the trip to Michigan. And the summer trip is even closer, since they all stay in a cottage only about 35 minutes from me!

The day started with a Zoom call, but it mostly improved after that. It was a good meeting, but I just am not a fan of virtual meetings. I'm glad I made the effort to get over to White Pine Village (and I saw a LOT of people I know). David helped me fix a computer thing, and also to clean the vacuum filter. I don't expect him to work when he shows up here, but it just sort of happened. And if someone mentions a computer problem around Dave he can hardly keep from fixing it! Then he showed me pictures from a recent trip he and Rachel took to London.

My tomorrow guests will not be here till evening, so I still have a little time to do the last bit of cleaning that is going to happen.

See Big Boy

Mason & Oceana Railroad Tour

The Mason County Historical Society put on a great event today. I certainly didn't think I would get to go; it cost more than I can afford. But someone kindly paid for my ticket!

This was an historical tour of Mason County with the primary emphasis on the Mason & Oceana Railroad. We began by traveling in buses to visit several places along the line that ran from Buttersville to a bit past Walkerville. The first stop was at Buttersville where I've showed you a bit of the old grade before. But today we heard much more about the village and the mill, and salt mines, and railroad yards.

This is some of the old grade as it approached the mill- it's the brown stripe near the water. I've shown you some of this before at Conservation Park.

We were visted by several historical figures. Horace Butters told us how he started the mill and what a busy place Buttersville was at that period of history.

Then we went to Pleiness Lake. There we were visted by John and Eleanor Pleiness who owned a blacksmith shop on the shore of the lake.

The railroad didn't have a regular stop there, but the line was about a half a field away. It followed that line of trees you can see.

Then we went even farther southeast to the former village of Fern. This is what's left of the school.

And George Yoke told us how he was injured working on the trains, and how he eventually died as a result of the injury. He also told us several other tragic tales. All that land you can see behind him was once the village of Fern. The railroad ran through the town.

We made one other stop, then returned to White Pine Village where we were served quite a nice dinner and saw some additional media about the railroad and the mills it served.

And that's enough for one day!

Hot Cross Buns!

I modified the healthier recipe that I used at Christmas for cinnamon rolls and made hot cross buns for Easter.

Rolls like these have been associated with the Christian tradition of Easter at least since the 12th Century. They are basically just a sweet roll recipe with spices and usually fruit included with a cross of icing on the top. The symbolism of the cross is obvious. The spices are to represent the spices associated with Jesus' burial. The rolls were a treat associated with breaking the fast of Lent.

This time, I included currants and a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.

The nursery rhyme: "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns" has, like most folk rhymes, had many other words added over the centuries.

One really unusual fact is that under the reigns of both Elizabeth I and James I of England it was illegal to sell hot cross buns except at Easter, Christmas, or for funerals. The penalty was that the breads were seized and given to the poor! Consequently, the treats were usually made in domestic kitchens.

They are a nice treat! We each had one tonight and will have our other two each tomorrow along with a ham.

I've made them in the past, but not for a while. We always made them at Easter when I was growing up.

It was pretty nasty outside. I edited a lot and did watch a movie in the afternoon.

See Christmas 2025

Rooted- Who Got it Right?

Tonight, I'm going to rant a little bit about the interpretation of the Philadelphia Flower Show theme for this year. As a reminder, it was "Rooted: Origins of Gardening in America." Basically, one exhibit got it right and a couple were marginal. Several talked a bit about the roots of culture, a few more did decorative things with roots or root-like shapes (the entrance garden). Most totally ignored it.

So, Mercer County Community College Horticulture and Plant Science Program nailed it, but the exhibit didn't get a lot of attention because it wasn't particularly showy. Basically, Mercer highlighted the contribuitions of three people/entities to gardening in the New World.

The plants in this picture are: spicebush, sycamore, winterberry, aromatic sumac, and pin oak- all nice native ornamentals, so I would guess they were used by one or more of these horticulturists, or maybe the school. but there wasn't enough interpretation.

The three historical figures are Peter Henderson, 1822-1890. He pioneered the use of greenhouses and developed varieties of plants to grow in the North American climate. Bush Lima Beans and Pink Ponderosa tomatoes are still being grown today.

William Roberts, 1932-2020, of Rutgers University; in 1964 he invented the double-layer polyethylene greenhouse which dramatically reduced the costs associated with glass greenhouses.

Princeton Nurseries and three generations of the Flemer family, 1913-2010, ran one of the most successful plant nurseries ever operated in the United States. They developed the Snow Queen hydrangea, Princeton Sentry Ginkgo, and Greenspire Linden.

As part of this display these white peonies were blooming, but I don't know if they were a variety one of these people developed, although that would be my guess.

This is the Princeton Sentry Ginkgo, so that's cool. Ginkgo is one of the oldest still-viable trees on the planet.

At the corner of the display they did have a colorful produce stand.

Overall the exhibitors get an F from me for development of the assigned theme. There wasn't a single one that talked in any but the most superficial way about what roots do for the plant, or different kinds of roots, or the relationships with fungi. There wasn't anyone who mentioned parasitic plants that live on roots. There was only one passing mention of the "three sisters" of native tribes contributing to American gardening. I can think of a display from 2023 that fit the theme better than most this year!

That is not to say there is not a lot of beauty to share. Stay tuned for more colorful things and I promise not to rant much more.

I had a fairly laid-back day. We did a pile of Marie's errands, so she (not I) had the stress of that which included shopping (not a favorite of either of us). We walked in the mall, we visited Selma (who isn't doing so well), we cooked dinner and played our game.

Miles walked in 2026: 64.2

Indoor mall walking- 3 miles.

See Rooted

Railroad Pieces

The other fun thing I did on Saturday was drive a bit more of the road called Railroad Avenue in Oceana County. This is the dirt road on which the Pentwater Pathway trailhead is located.

The Chicago and West Michigan Railroad owned various lines at various times. One of them angled northeast from near Muskegon, and that is the part shown in the link below.

But one of their lines ran from New Buffalo (southwest corner of Michigan) to Pentwater. Now portions of that rail bed are roads, including a 5.3-mile stretch between Mears (where I was Saturday) and "sort of" Pentwater. The railroad ran to a settlement on the west side of Pentwater Lake called Frenchtown.

The parts I drove Saturday are roughly inside the red circle.

The access to Pentwater Pathway is almost at the north end of the line. There the road is dirt.

A little south of there the rail bed has been paved and is a road.

Right beside that section is this house. Can't you just imagine that when the rail line was operating (about 1869-1881) this was quite the beautiful place?

And this brings me to mention a category of blog posts that I never really started, but have thought about. Title: "Houses I'd Like to Save." The problem is that often I just see them while driving by and don't have the opportunity to stop and get a picture. I've only done one other post with this tag so far, but I see a lot of houses that would fit the category.

And this is frustrating. I have been in the house that was the station in Frenchtown. I've taken pictures of the railroad berm, and I was really sure I blogged about it. But I sure can't find the post-- on this blog or any other blog of mine! If I ever find the pictures, I'll have to do one.

A good day in terms of getting things done, although I did get off to a slow start.

See Chicago and West Michigan Railway

The Staircase

  I gave myself another rest day. Of course there are things to do, but nothing super pressing.

I did watch a made-for-TV movie from 1998 that I've always liked. It fictionalizes the story of the staircase at the Sisters of Loretto chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was built in 1880-1881 by a man who appeared rather mysteriously, and left without being paid after it was completed. Barbara Hershey and William Petersen. You can see the entire thing free here. Only warning is the quality of the video is pretty bad. It may be available with better resolution somewhere for a fee.

See The Staircase

I went in search of more info on the true story. I did find it, and it sort of blunts the mystery, but I'm glad to know it anyway. Actually, until the early 2000s no one had any idea of the carpenter. Of course, words like "miracle" and "Saint Joesph" appeared often in the stories. The backstory in the movie is pretty much fabricated, except for the fact that a staircase was not built in the original construction



The second video is Jimmy Akin's Mysterious World which gives a good overview of the myths and what facts have actually been learned. In any case, the staircase itself is still considered a marvel of construction by modern carpenters.

See Sun and Shadows

The Rest of Yesterday

 After yesterday's hike, a lot of people went to a restaurant in Baldwin for food. No pictures there, sorry.

But then Bill and Bob wanted to go to the Lake County Museum. On the hike, I had talked about the defunct MacDougall Lodge which is very near that section of trail on the Pere Marquette River. Mac Road, which can be found intermittently throughout Lake County is named for the family. Grant MacDougall designed a boat in the mid-1900s specifically for taking groups on river trips from the lodge. Just that morning, Bill and Bob had visited the site of the old lodge.

So we went to look at the MacDougall boat the museum has. You can see more of this story at Explore NCT.

Also in the boat room, there is a very nice Chris Craft, and some funny bathing suits.

The museum has a lot of permanent displays including this one about local logging history, but they also have three rooms where they change out the exhibits a few times a year.

We stayed until they closed. Right across the street is the art installation celebrating the Brown Trout which was first released in the US here in Baldwin. I've been meaning to get a picture of it for a long time. Finally remembered to do it.

Today was just as I said. I edited, and edited, got a load of laundry washed and dry before it rained, wrote my LDN column, and wrote chapter 30 of Vacation from DMS (882 words). I'm about worded out for one day.

See November SPW hike

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

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