Older than the Trees

My kids think that I am older than dirt. It has been said, even older than oxygen itself. But the truth is, I am older than this tree. My grandfather and I planted this tree in Biscuit Hollow at their "castle", or retirement homestead.

FCA Lacrosse

All the recent Winter Olympic excitement reminded me I still had a story to tell from last summer at the home of the best winter Olympics ever held, Lake Placid, New York.

As I mentioned before (http://biscuithollow.blogspot.com/2009/06/summer-lacrosse.html) , Jeff was a member of several Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) lacrosse teams last summer. The U18 team of Central NY lax players traveled to Toronto to play in a tournament and nearly won, besting the National FCA team in the process. The Gold team of all stars did well on the season, playing in 4 tournaments throughout the Northeast, culminating with the tournament in Lake Placid, which they won.

At the base of Whiteface Mountain, Jeff (black shorts, #19), scores.
Dieter Truesdell, #3, the only other local player on the Gold team, tries to "stuff" the goalie.
The FCA team prayed before every game, had special team "huddles" (devotions) at night, and a strict code of conduct.


This tournament was very competitive with all star and club teams from up and down the East Coast. It was a real honor for these kids to win the tournament.
And we really enjoyed spending time with our good friends, Claude, Michelle, and Dieter Truesdell.
We also were able to enjoy some of the beautiful other sights of the Adirondacks while the kids got in some swimming.
A special thank you to the Madison, Indiana chapter of the FCA for a generous scholarship that enabled Jeff to enjoy this experience.

Wile E.

I went down to Biscuit Hollow Saturday afternoon to do some yard work, take some soil samples from the food plots, and pick up the lawn mower for home. Near the end of the valley, I saw a coyote crossing the road. I had only seen a coyote in the valley once before, though they are often heard at night. They are quite elusive by nature and mostly nocturnal. I was quite surprised to spot such a treasure. By the time I got my camera out, the coyote was 200 yards away. Note the dark area in the upper right corner of the picture. It is possible that this may be a den.
Here's another picture of the "den". This is about 100 yards past where I originally saw the first coyote. There is a second coyote in front of this dark area and it's motion caught my eye in time for me to take a picture before it too fled the scene.

Where Eagles Fly

I had never seen a Bald Eagle in the wild. I thought maybe once in Florida a few years back. Maybe once in Salamanca, NY on the Allegheny River where a friend often spotted them and I wanted to believe. Never for sure. And due to their once endangered, but now only threatened species status, it’s not surprising.

For the last several years, I have watched an osprey nest on a platform atop an electric pole in Bath on the Conhocton River as I drove by each day on the way to work. I have watched them fledge their young each year and feed on the fish in the river below their nest. Ospreys are often mistaken for bald eagles because of their white feathered heads. Many folks have reported seeing eagles there but I always supposed they were seeing the ospreys. And there have been reports of sightings near Coopers Plains and several active nests near the Tioga-Hammond Dams just south of us in Pennsylvania.

Well I have seen them now. In New York. In Bath. On the Conhocton River near the osprey nest. Four or five times since the first of this year! AND AGAIN THIS MORNING! What a treat. I hadn’t seen any in a month or so and was afraid they had migrated back North after the ice had thawed in their feeding areas.

I still have not photographed an eagle in the wild. The above photo was taken at Homosassa Springs State Park in Florida this winter. But maybe soon.

Incidentally, The NYS Department of Conservation reports that the eagle population may be at an all time high since repopulation efforts began 30 years ago. For more on the story of the eagles resurgent population, go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/63160.html

Below is a stock photo of an osprey for comparison.

Post Script

As luck would have it, I saw an eagle again on the way home tonight. So I slammed on the brakes, threw on the fourways, and took pictures with 70 mph traffic racing by. No doubt, oblivious to the beautiful sights of nature. No doubt, cursing the truck pulled off on the expressway. Here's what I saw.

The eagle is calmly sitting on it's perch over the Conhocton River about 100 yards away. The bird above it is a crow in the act of dive-bombing the eagle. The crow would do this and then perch above the eagle for a few seconds, before dive bombing the eagle again.

So, there's the physical, visual, pictures say a thousand words, proof that there are eagles in Bath, NY. Click on this picture and blow it up. It really is an amazing moment, especially up close.

Florida 2010

Boring title, I know. But this year’s trip to visit Mom in Florida was certainly eventful and the chilling temperatures were offset by the warmth of visits with family. Jeff chose to spend the week in Massachusetts with his Dad’s family, so Jann and I headed off alone. We stopped in Abingdon, VA to visit Andy, picked up a surprise package for Mom, and traveled through the Smokies on our way South.
Andy moved to Abingdon in January where he is the master electrician at the Barter Theatre.
Arriving Sunday night, we delivered the surprise package, Bonnie and Tristin, to Mom’s great delight. Her reaction was worth all of our secretive actions, though we were worried for a moment when she had to take a chair to recover from the shock.
Mom enjoyed the surprise and wanted to share the excitement, so we hurried over to sister Pat’s to reenact the surprise arrival. After the initial screams of delight, we had a great visit at Pat and Butch’s new home, just around the corner from Mom’s.
On Monday, another highlight of the trip was experienced as we met Adam, Rachel, and granddaughter Elena on the West coast of FL at the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.

This was Mom’s first opportunity to meet her 10th great grandchild.

It was also great to have Grandma Michelle and her parents Bob and Sherl Stephan there and we enjoyed some catch-up visiting with them through the day.

The wildlife park hosted some beautiful sights of Florida wildlife including manitees,

alligators,

egrets,

flamingos,

Oh, My!

Elena was quite curious about this huge alligator.

And evidently not afraid.

Not even afraid of this old crocodile, much to my delight.

Jann and I were delighted to hear Elena saying some of her first words, like “Hi, bear” to the black bear. And “G-pa” upon a gentle coax from… G-pa. At dinner that night, we were tickled to watch her hold hands during grace and bow her head, forehead to tabletop (we peaked). Maybe she was being especially earnest in fear of the gator bites I had just ordered to share with everyone (tasted like chicken?). Then she kept looking at me, touching her elbow and rubbing her chest. Jann had to explain to me she was signing, “cracker please”. How cute.

The remainder of our visit included a trip to the DeLeon Springs where purportedly Ponce discovered the Fountain of Youth. There we also had a make-your-own pancake meal at the old sugar mill.

And a visit to Daytona Beach. Way to cold, but we had fun as usual. Thanks Mom for letting us stay, crowd your home, and eat all your baked goods.

Thanks Bonnie and Tristin for going with us. We had a blast.