Wood is perhaps mankind’s oldest source for fuel used to provide heat for warmth and cooking. For millions of people throughout the world it still is the only fuel available to meet their needs. The developed countries have eliminated nearly all of their need for wood for cooking but still have large segments of the population depending on it for heat. At present with the energy crisis the percentage of those who will rely once again on wood is likely to increase dramatically.
This is good ...
One of the signs of real old age is recalling trivial things that happened in the far distant past and remarking on them. I first became aware of the tendency for people to do so by interacting with my father in his late years. Suddenly he began to mention happenstances and inconsequential events I had never heard him mention before. I have heard it said if you look in a mirror you will see either your mother or father and I believe it’s true. I see more and more of my father in me the old ...
Today was the coldest day of the New Year and on my way to town to get the paper I began to reminisce about what I would probably have been doing on such a day in the late fifties, early sixties. There would be every likelihood that I would have been afield. Both my professional work and recreational pursuits were centered on the outdoors. If it was a workday it might be checking on a softwood logging job to check to see that top lopping regulations were being followed. State law dictates that a ...
There is an old saying, time flies when you’re having fun. If it’s true I had the time of my life last year. It literally flew by for me and I have to admit I did have a lot of fun. The start of every New Year provokes a lot of thoughts, regardless of ones age or status. I have always looked forward to the coming year. I am always full of resolutions determined to at last put my life and affairs in order. This year is no different from the last fifty. My resolutions have not changed ...
The end of the big game season signals the start of three other traditional winter season activities in this area. They are rabbit hunting, snowmobiling and skiing. Of the three rabbit hunting is the oldest sport, but today it trails the other two in popularity. Rabbit hunters are a breed of their own. The quarry is not the ultimate thrill or inducement to participate in the practice, the dogs are.
Hunting, it goes without saying, is the oldest and most basic form of human activity. Dogs became ...
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a baby around the house. We have one now two days a week. We have been baby-sitting our newest great-grandchild while the parents work. Now that may not sound like much and it probably would not be if we were not so old. It has been going on for about three months now and it has been a real eye opener for me.
We had three youngsters of our own and raised the mother of this latest tad from the time she was two. One would think that we should know what ...
The Christmas season means many things to many people. I have found that my feelings toward the holiday have changed with age. At first I was totally absorbed with the thought of presents for myself. Then my focus changed to gifts for our children and grandchildren. That era has lasted longer than any others I may have encountered along the way.
I well remember my most memorable. It was the first year I was away from home. I was a teenager and in Japan as part of the occupation forces. I gave a ...
Everybody needs a hobby. A hobby can be many things for many people. I have had several over my lifetime and, if I include my work, my life has been one continuous hobby. Many of my friends have led the same existence.
Work is perhaps what many consider an affliction. Work meant something they did only because they had too to live. It was truer years ago than today because government has made it an awful lot easier to get by without working. I have had many friends who when asked how’s it ...
As you read this the regular northern zone deer season will have been over for two days. Hundreds of thousands of housewives and deer will be thankful and happy to lead normal lives again. For me it is a dramatic turning point in my life. I once lived for deer and grouse hunting but that has to change. Physically I am no longer able to be at the top of my game and if I ever hunt deer again it will have to be in a different mode than I ever did in the past. I knew that time was near but have put ...
In last week’s column I expounded on the institution of deer camps. They have been a ritual for as long as anyone can remember here in America. Deer are the most numerous big game animals in nearly all of the eastern states. In many areas they are becoming nuisances. The sport of hunting them is not nearly as popular as it once was and the state at least here in NY is encouraging youngsters to hunt them.
In fact there has been a concerted effort in many states to ease age requirements for ...
We learn everyday of our lives, even, at times, up to the last day. We do not always remember everything or benefit from it. History has proven that. It sometimes takes time to learn the really important things in life.
One thing I have learned is it takes time, patience and experience to fully appreciate the essential things in life. It’s a process that one has to learn through hard work and patience.
The most important thing I have learned in life is that a good wife is a man&rsq ...
Many hunters today are carrying on a tradition that is as old as humankind. Hunting is the second oldest profession, no pun intended. Hunting camps are a part of that folklore.
Hunting camps come in all shapes and sizes. They range from posh luxury lodges to the most rudimentary tents and campers. Here in the Adirondacks and the southern tier of New York deer camps are the order of the day at this time of year.
Adirondack deer camps differ in some respects from their southern tier counterparts. ...
November 11th ranks right up there with all of the other significant dates of the calendar year for me. It is now known as Veterans Day but in my youth was called Armistice Day. It was the day WWI ended and an armistice, or truce, was signed between the Americans, their allies, and Germany. The day became a national holiday and was known by that name until 1954, when it officially became Veterans Day.
Our family has an added reason for celebrating the day because on that date in 1953 our oldest ...
I saw a partridge fly across the road in front of my vehicle today—not a mile from home—and land in some cover where one might expect a reasonable shot with a flush. My first thought was get the dogs and go after it. I would really enjoy working the dogs up on it. I wanted to relive the excitement and sport of out maneuvering it on its home turf. Assessing the situation a little further I asked myself if I really wanted to. The answer was a reluctant no. It is an answer I find myself ...
I am from a family that has always had dogs. They were dogs of all manner of breeds but mostly sporting breeds that were used for hunting. They all were individuals that had traits similar in some respects but not in others. My or I should say our—because she was a family dog first and foremost—was an English setter named Penny. She is without question one of the most unforgettable of all of the many dogs I have been associated with. I must confess I started to say she was the most u ...
These are dark days in America. The reasons vary and everyone has their own opinions why. I am not going to dwell on that theme because I am sick of listening to the blame game in the media. One thing I do know is that it was not caused by honest hard working people. Notice I said honest because no matter how ambitious people are unless they are honest, their work does not benefit society as a whole. Honesty is perhaps the best of the several virtues men wish to be known by. In my humble opinion ...
How many remember Earl Pitts? For those of you who don’t he was a satirist. He carried on about things that make him mad on our own country music and news station WBRV the Moose. He began his dialogue with; you know what makes me mad. I think of him often the older I get. Perhaps it’s because most of his views coincided with mine. Basically we both believed that a decline in our culture over the years is responsible for many of our problems today.
Everyday in every way I see example ...
Everyone likes to eat. It is one of the greatest pleasures in life. I was reminded of it yesterday while watching Mike Rowe; of the Dirty Jobs Show narrate ways various people gather their food. I am sure some of you reading this saw it as well. The thing that struck me is how incredibly blessed everyone living in this country is.
All of the segments were from third world countries and about indigenous peoples who actually have to go out every day and gather their food from the wild. Food that ...
Forest fires have been epidemic across much of the western and southern United States for the past several years. High winds and drought conditions team up to turn trees, brush and grassland into tinderboxes. They cause extensive damage to property, human and animal life. Damage to the environment although as serious is not emphasized as much as the aforementioned injuries but in my opinion it should be.
Two main things determine the severity of wild fires; they are fuel and wind conditions. The ...
The spring of 1959 was the start of the wild fire season in New York. I had spent the previous five months as a forest ranger learning my district and getting general training from the older rangers and specialized training on how to combat forest fires. I was not looking forward to testing my newly acquired duties in that field knowing full well that I would be on my own in instituting the necessary actions.
Before launching into the details of the first fire I should lay the groundwork preced ...
On Dec. 4, 1958, the dream of a lifetime came true for me. I was one of the first eight men ever appointed as a New York State Forest Ranger from an open competitive examination. The icing on the cake was that I could make my headquarters in Old Forge, Thendara or Mckeever. What a great quandary to be in. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Our first stop when looking for a home was in Mckeever which I would have been happy to call home but it was not to be. My better half—after the t ...
Are most people living vicariously? I never gave it much thought before. Now that my physical state no longer allows me to do the things I once did I recognize that I am living vicariously. I just began to realize that most of us devote a big percentage of our time experiencing the lives and actions of others. I have been doing so my entire life and did not realize it head on until I started getting involved in my grandchildren’s lives and actions. I am living my life over again through th ...
After finishing a series of columns comparing my post high school years of the forties with today’s graduates I suddenly realized to make the sequence complete I should perhaps go one step further. My immediate post high school days were spent in the military service which in that period was obligatory if you were a physically and mentally sound male. It meant that any plans you had formulated for yourself had to be put on hold until after your military service was over.
In short after di ...
Remember those prophetic words that were spoken by Ross Perot in his unsuccessful bid for President of the U.S. in 1992 and 1996? “The great sucking sound you will hear will be your jobs leaving the country,” h e said. What have we been hearing ever since from the politicians and political pundits? “I will bring back American jobs.” Who was right to begin with?
Well as the old saying goes, hindsight is always better than foresight, and the saying is true because nobody ev ...
This will be the last of the series of articles chronicling my experiences as a teenage soldier serving in the occupation of Japan. Seeing a picture of the Town of Webb 2011 high school class reminded me of my own graduation in 1946. It prompted me to reflect on the immediate futures of the present class and mine when I was in their place. The point being that the forties male graduate had no choice; he was slated for military duty. I am thankful that they have other choices.
At the end of the l ...
This is the fourth chapter in a journey from Phoenix, N.Y. to Yamagata, Japan. It begins in 1946, the war was over and allied troops were being stationed there to insure an orderly transition from an ancient feudal system to democracy.
The original intent of this treatise was to compare the status of male high school graduates of the forties with those of today. Basically pointing out that youths of the earlier era had little choice of what their immediate future would hold as the draft was stil ...
