The Streak

“Forty-one years. Ninety-seven straight losses. Generations of players, coaches, boosters, friends and family who never experienced the pleasure of beating cross-town rival Corning East in a boys’ (varsity) lacrosse game can finally rejoice. In case the raucous celebration, symphony of car horns or the metaphysical glow hanging over the western horizon of Corning around 9 p.m. Monday night (May 21) didn't tip you off, Corning West's boys lacrosse team ended years of futility and frustration at Memorial Stadium, finally beating perennial state power and natural rival Corning East, 9-8 in overtime.” (From the Corning Leader)

I was there! Wow! West won! The game was well played, toughly contested, fairly refereed. East has an excellent team this year. And this was not a fluke win.

One must wonder how it is possible in the same town for one school to have been so dominant for so many years. West had many good teams. Some that came close. However, the “Streak” almost became an entity unto itself. It WAS the talk of the town. It became bigger than the game. It became, well, mystical. The odds are simply just mind boggling. Throw in an ounce of sports psychology about false limitations or some such theory, and voila, the Streak endured. Forty-one years. Ninety-seven straight losses.

As a not so casual observer, I saw the beginning of the end. Several years ago, a group of coaches, parents, former players, and community members got together and became deliberate about their efforts to improve the standard of lacrosse for West High School to an even higher level, put an end to the Streak, and well, build strong minds and bodies and all that other usually important stuff that had almost became superfluous to the Streak. But the concept was sound. End the Streak, and the rest will follow. Families like the Ruoccos, Tammaros, Fiorillos took the lead. Coaches like Hogue and Treusdell increased practice intensity . Off season leagues were formed to improve and maintain skill levels. Team camps were organized. Individual skills camps were attended. Team building activities were held.

And the efforts began to pay dividends. More wins, improved records. Last year, the West JV team beat East for the first time in seventeen years. And now, at the varsity level, the official death of the Streak. No, this was not a fluke win.

Living in a lacrosse home, with two lacrosse players and a die-hard lacrosse Mom, I can attest to the significance that the Streak played on the mind. Nary a family meal would go by without a mention of the rivalry. IT had become the focus. Now, IT can be supplanted by the reward of success brought about by diligence and determination and hard work and yes, it does take a village.

Jeff was honored to be called up to the Varsity team for the post season. And the team was honored in Monday’s Memorial Day parade, riding on a float (See Jeff in picture). Tonight, they opened their Sectional Play by beating Seton Catholic 15-9. Jeff made his first appearance on the field as a varsity player. Good luck, West.

The Floyd and Clarice Morehouse Place

When Grandpa and Grandma Morehouse retired from farming, they fixed up a nice little house down the road and set up a neat little farmstead. They had some beef cattle, a nice barn, wood shop, and the home was warm and welcoming. The pictures above were taken on September 28, 1968.

I helped Grandpa and Grandma plant the tall hybrid poplars surrounding the farmstead seen in this picture. Also the pine trees at the very top of the hill, where we ate a picnic lunch that Grandma had prepared when we finished planting the pine trees.

Today, the property is owned by an absentee landowner, the house is vacant and has been stripped, preparing for demolition. The barn and tool shed have fallen down, and the trailer that Hi Walker used for years as a hunting camp has been scrapped for recycling, along with the old bus that had been used as a hunting camp. It’s certainly a sad transition. The present owner, Troy Retherford told me he wanted to subdivide the acreage and sell it off in 5 to 10 acre lots. More recently, he indicated he has received offers but is not yet ready to sell the property.

Border Patrol

Flower bed border that is. I went to the woods and cut some new white birch poles. Successful, but I learned that I need a new chain saw bar, or maybe just a new chain saw. This Homelite 240 is only about 17 years old....

Jann has since planted a couple of flowers.

But the big news for yesterday, unfortunately sans pictures or video, was the first ceremonial skipping of the stones across the pond.

The peeper video (more like a sound track since it was night) was apparently not working for some. Try it again. I think I might have fixed it.

Visitors!

I miss the Memorial Day weekends of yore, when the family and friends would gather here in the valley. Several of the camps have their families here for the weekend and it only serves to remind me more of the good times. This afternoon, Nick stopped down to borrow some tools and work on his truck. Then a while later to my great surprise, Pat, Butch, and Amanda stopped in for a half hour visit! After they had been gone for awhile, Dave Davis stopped in; probably stayed for an hour or so. It was great to see them all. They also all wondered where you were; hoping to see you here.


Tonight’s wildlife sightings on my trip around the valley included two doe with fawns.

First Fawn

Dateline: Biscuit Hollow

The pollen count must be off the charts here in the valley, with all the Autumn Olive and Honeysuckle shrubs in bloom. Maybe that explains the fit of sneezing I endured this morning. At one point today, I was in the garage and looked out and saw a large cloud across the road, what appeared to be smoke. Alarmed that it might be a grass fire, I ran out to investigate. It turned out to be wind blown pollen from the scotch pine trees around the old pond.

It has been very dry here the last couple of weeks. Rainfall for the growing season is 1-2 inches below normal. I gave the newly planted Christmas trees a drink again this weekend. They all appear to be doing okay, some having experienced bud burst and beginning new growth.

I saw my first fawn of the year today. Memorial Day weekend and the first week of June is generally when most deer have their fawns. This one was in the small field above the pond, in the gully near the stone pile. I scared it out of its bed with the tractor while I was going up by the larch to water the newly planted trees. It ran into Bill Resue’s woods before I could get my camera ready. I saw what I assume was its mom up on the hill where she had been keeping a watchful eye on her hidden and camouflaged offspring. She was heading down to take care of her baby.

On tonight’s jaunt around the valley, I saw a number of deer, but the highlight was a nice buck down by the beaver meadows. Its horns are just beginning to grow, not yet above it’s ears. But the bulbous, velvety mass with multiple buds and the size of the deer suggests I would definitely like to see him on October 15 when bow season starts.

Peepers?

Spring isn’t spring without the nocturnal love song of the peepers. The male's beckoning call is a long, dreamlike, musical trill, dominating the sounds of the night at this time of year. One of my favorite sounds of spring. Each male in a chorus sings at a slightly different pitch, with males alternating and overlapping their calls in a most pleasing manner. I took a walk over by the pond tonight to capture their sound. I actually found a small group in a pool in the creek nearby. Let’s listen. And yes, you can even hear the water splash as they move around.



I thought them to be Spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer). A little research surprised me, showing them to be American Toads (Bufo americanus). Maybe the actual Spring peepers were out earlier. Here’s a couple of pictures of old blue eyes.


And here’s a picture of him crooning. Notice his throat filled with air as he sings, while his girlfriend watches (bottom right).

To give you an idea of the size, here’s one next to my foot.

And finally, for adult eye’s only.

It's a Frog's Life

Dateline: Biscuit Hollow

The air is so thick with the perfume of Autumn Olive and Honeysuckle shrubs, it seems you should be able to bottle it and send it to you all. They are in full bloom and the valley is filled with their essence.

Jann and I walked over to the pond tonight and this is what we saw.



It’s fascinating to watch the pond come to life. I was investigating the types of fish to stock it with and a fisheries specialist told me that because it was a new pond, I wouldn’t have to worry about providing any fathead minnows or bluegills as food fish for the largemouth bass I intend to stock it with. I was surprised by this, thinking it would take awhile for aquatic life to become established. But as you can see, thousands of tadpoles already have made it home. I have seen lots of aquatic insects, frogs and toads. The blue heron are visiting, along with the occasional ducks and Canada geese. The waters are still murky and I am afraid it will remain so until the contractor can come back, do the finish grading, and I can get a seeding established on the disturbed areas.

Jackhammer

A jack hammer is easier to operate than I anticipated. I wouldn’t want to do it all day, the shape I am in. But you’ll note that brains help; that is, get Andrew and Nick to do all the hard work for you. Anyways, the last of the concrete is broken up. Now I just need to haul it away and begin reconstruction.

Another project this weekend was to finish making a water barrel, marking all the Christmas trees with a tree topper (surveyor’s tape) so I don’t accidentally mow them down, and giving them all a drink of water. Note the old fenceline has been torn down also.

Wild Weekend

This weekend’s exciting wildlife sighting was a pair of Baltimore Orioles on Bonnie and Bill’s property. They are so colorful. If you remember, I posted this picture of a Baltimore Orioles distinctive nest last Father’s Day for you to identify. The nest was in a poplar tree overhanging the road down by our grandparent’s mailbox.

Of course there was the usual deer in the yard sightings. Ho-hum….I see they still have their dull brown winter coats but there are signs they will be losing it soon.

The apple blossoms were at their peak. This was a tree across the road from the house.

Working Stiffs

Andrew Morehouse is the new Technical Director for The Paramount Center, a performing arts center in Bristol, Tennesee. He starts May 29th. http://www.theparamountcenter.com/index.html

Andrew Sienkiewicz has been hired for a summer job at Corning Inc.

Wildfires

The wildfires in Florida sure are making the news a lot lately. Mom says that some days, it’s hard to go outside with all the smoke and some people have to wear masks.

It reminded me about wildfires here in Biscuit Hollow. Every year about this time, Grandpa Morehouse felt that along with the spring chores of fixing fence, cleaning roadside ditches, spreading the manure pile from a winter’s worth of wheelbarrow loads, he needed to burn something. He liked to burn off the old grass and brush and liked the way things greened up so nicely afterwards. And every couple of years, the fire would get away from him, out of control, and burn areas that he didn’t intend to be burned. The call would go out for help and we all would grab our brooms and old burlap bags soaked in water and try to beat out the flames before they got any worse.

I remember when I was 12-14 years old, a fire spread into the woods in what we call the ravine. It was the lower end, not too far from their retirement home, still on our property. Lynn and I had raced back to the stream to a pool of water to re-wet our burlap bags and brooms, right about where this pool is. As I bent close over the stream, there was a large splash, soaking me and hitting me in the face. I yelled at Lynn to stop throwing stones, the act of which of course he denied. I bent over again and was once again hit in the face with a splash of water. I jumped back, preparing to trounce my younger brother for his discourteous manner, but clearly saw he was innocent, pointing mouth agape at the water. Looking back to the stream where I had been kneeling, I saw a beaver, just as he slapped his tail, splashing us again. Apparently this was a yearling male beaver, kicked out of his hooch and on his search for a new family and love interest as the beaver family’s method of gene dispersal requires them to do, so it is written.

It was the first time I recall seeing a beaver in the wild and it would be many years before the beavers established themselves along the creek not too far away.

Maybe there’s a little pyromania in me, because I have to admit I enjoyed the excitement of the grass fires. And I agreed with Grandpa that things sure did green up nicely after a fire. Several years ago, a small fire escaped the control of our hunting camp neighbor on the hill and the fire department was actually called. It was brought under control before it spread too far, but it did burn through the apple orchard and into the field on top of the hill. I learned from that experience that if a fire spreads off your own land, spreading on to Tim’s land in this case, penalties are levied. I guess I’ve lost some of the adventuresome spirit of youth, long before my Grandpa Morehouse. I’ll err to the side of caution and burn my brush piles when I am certain it will be safe. I hope.

Greening of the Valley

The wildlife highlight of the weekend visit to Biscuit Hollow was the sighting of an indigo bunting. It's amazing what a difference two weeks can make. The last time I was in Biscuit Hollow, there were only the beginning signs of spring growth. This weekend, everything was green.
The apple and cherry trees were in bloom and wildflowers were at their peak. I saw some beautiful "Bird-on-the-Wing" which I had not seen in many years. Along with the usual trillium, barren and wild strawberries, violets, etc.
I got a lot of work done, including finishing the Ford tractor and pulling a stump or two.

Mystery Utensil Solved

Remember this mystery utensil from the April 18th post? Loren guessed right. It's a removable pot handle. But unique and with a history. Here's the story from Mom.

And here's what it all looks like put together.

East vs. West

Here's Jeff (22) in action. The second big lacrosse game of the year against our cross-town rivals Corning East ended the same as the first one. We lost. 8 - 7. In overtime. All the same. Jeff had an excellent game with four goals. We'll get'em next time.

Andrew is Home!

Signs of summer; Andrew is home from college. It's good to have you home. Anyone have a job for a poor college student?

Kylie

One of the special highlights of our trip to Michigan was to see Bonnie, Bill, Tristin, and especially the newest member of our family, our niece Kylie. It was great visiting, catching up, watching the Red Wings play and win, but Kylie stole the show. I can personally attest that she is every bit as cute, happy, adorable and funloving as Grandma Bonnie has portrayed her. I like the above picture the best because it reveals a different glimpse of her personality as Grandma and Granddaughter share an adoring glance. We were real disappointed we didn't get to see Aaren but she had to work and that we had very little time to spend with them. Tristan says her softball season is about to start. Maybe we'll get some updates. Thanks again to Tristin for changing her plans and hanging around boring grownups on a Saturday afternoon. We are so grateful that you were around. Congratulations and love go out to Aaren. You have a beautiful daughter.

Andrew P Morehouse, MFA

We traveled to Detroit this weekend to honor Andy as a candidate for a Masters of Fine Arts degree, technical theater, lighting design. I guess technically, the Theater Arts MFA candidates still haven't completed their degree work so officially haven't been awarded their sheepskin. He has several more weeks of work to do. But it was graduation weekend for Wayne State University so in conjunction, the Theater Arts Department held their Graduate Showcase and Appreciation night and presented awards. Andy decided not to walk in the University's formal graduation ceremony, so the above picture hanging in the lobby of Hilberry Theatre with the paper mortarboard is the closest we'll come to seeing him in graduation attire for now.

And he got his name in lights on the theatre marquis.

In the lobby, he had a display of his impressive portfolio of various works. Then on Saturday night, we watched the preformance of Translations, a play that Andy had done the lighting design for.

It has been a long three years filled with a lot of hard work and sacrifice. We sure are proud of what he has accomplished.

Tracks

I discovered these tracks in the soft dirt along the road in front of the house in Biscuit Hollow. Whatever the creature was, I tracked it along the road for a quarter mile. It looked like a dog track but it was so big and nobody near there owns a dog. So with all the wildlife we see around there, we were naturally very curious. I very carefully took a number of pictures, with the tape measure, and if I had any plaster of paris, I would have made a cast of the track. Once back at home, I referred to "Mammal Tracks and Sign of the Northeast". After some study, we ruled out Coyote (Canis latrans) and Bobcat (Lynx rufus). I know it wasn't a bear. So that left either

Canis lupus or Canis familiaris. I am quite certain it was the latter. How boring....

Tractor Project

Another day this past weekend was spent installing the new gas tank in the Ford. Everything is almost back together and it even started!

Tree Planting

This past weekend included a day of planting Christmas trees. About 80 Douglas Firs were planted by the pond, 20 Fraser Firs and 25 Concolor Firs were planted by the stand of Larch that grandpa Morehouse and I planted when I was in 4th grade. It seemed a lot easier back then.