The Hudson and "The Hollow"

Yesterday I had quite an interesting time. Early in the morning me and a couple friends decided to go down to Tarrytown and try crabbing and fishing. The ride to the spot on the Hudson took about an hour and 20 minutes. There was a lot of traffic so it took a little longer than normal. Before we arrived at the river we stopped at a small baitshop in town to buy some bloodworms and sinkers. When I went inside I was stunned to see that it was incredibly empty, it appeared to be going out of business, but I don't think it was. I find it hard to believe that the store actually makes enough money. Originally we planned on buying a few other items, but when I asked if there were any I was given the response of "we're out". Talk about a horrible baitshop.

When we finally arrived at the river which was about 9:30, everything was quickly set up and the day began. The spot that I often choose to try my luck at is in a small park that's only a few hundred yards north of the Tappan Zee bridge. It's surrounded by a boat club and a restaurant. Sometimes it gets very noisy with all the traffic from the bridge and boats, but it offers spectacular views of the surrounding hills and above all it is an excellent location for both Blue Claw crabs and a vast variety of fish.

My two friends had never gone crabbing before so I had to show them how, which wasn't a problem. From home I brought 5 crab nets and the bait necessary to catch the critters. What I generally use for bait is chicken wings, it may sound strange but it works very well. The skin is tough so they're not easily torn apart, one wing will usually last all day. The trap basically consists of a box with doors that open when submerged. The bait is tied down in the center. Once on the bottom, the crabs are free to crawl in and get an easy meal. The trap is left in the water for about 15 minutes, after this time period it's hauled in using the rope that's attached. As it is lifted off the bottom the doors close and any crabs in it are unable to escape. When they're brought to the surface you take the catch out and throw the nets back into the water. The process is then repeated.

After we first set up the nets we started fishing. Our choice of bait was bloodworms, they work well but the price for a dozen is outrageous... over $10. We caught the tide just right, by the time we arrived it was coming in. High tide is the best for catching things, for the creatures in the water are brought in with it. They pretty much ride it like a rollercoaster...seriously. When the water is going out at low tide, so do the fish.

Over the course of the day, even with favorable conditions only a few fish were taken out of the water. I caught two White Perch, but that was it. And my friends both caught one apiece. It was highly unusual, generally a lot more fish bite. And most of the time other things are caught besides Perch. During past trips I've taken catfish, eels, sea robins, blue fish, bluegills, and bass out. But not this time. And to add to our disappointment not a single crab was brought up with a trap! I attribute this to the weather and time of the year. It's only the very beginning of the crabbing season. Since the crabs migrate into and out of the river each year, the cool and rainy weather probably slowed them down. So I wasn't all that surprised when we didn't get any, but I was still very disappointed. Within 2 or 3 weeks I expect them to be at the location in sufficient numbers to catch.

Even though we didn't catch a whole lot it was still nice being on the river, just visiting the shores in my opinion is a good treat. As we were heading home I came up with the idea of stopping at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary. You may be asking yourself why I would want to stop at a cemetary, well here's why: first of all Washington Irving is buried within it's walls. Yes, he does reside in the actual setting of his most famous story. So, I thought it would be cool to check it out. And secondly, the place is surprisingly beautiful... in a creepy kind of way. All over the premises are century old trees surrounded by winding carriage roads. And the place is loaded with a large number of graves dating back to the 18th century or earlier. It's interesting to read the epitaphs and get a sense of what life was like back then. As we found Irving's plot we were struck with an awesome sight. Only a few yards away from the grave a huge oak that had to be a minimum of 200 years old stood like a massive sentinel. The towering tree's limbs overhead blanketed the area in a dense shade that made the day appear like night. In the surrounding area, graves and mausoleums showed the wear of time. Many headstones were difficult to read and some had ferns growing out of the cracks. It was a very interesting experience. After paying our respects we checked out some other sights such as the Headless Horseman bridge and the Old Dutch Church. We wanted to look at more but we ran out of time. Other famous people who are buried there include the following: Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Whitelaw Reid, war generals, artists, writers, and philanthropists... it's hard to remember them all since they're so numerous. I also found out that tours are given there every so often... it would be cool to go back near Halloween. That's a possibilty considering it's 20 minutes away from the college.

Fireworks

I had quite an eventful trip yesterday. In the early morning I decided to go buy some fireworks in Pennsylania. Just about every year I do this right before the 4th of July. And since you can't buy fireworks in New York I'm forced to go out of state. I could go the much easier route and just go over the Connecticut border which is 15 minutes away. They are legal there, but businesses are only allowed to sell only certain ones, most of which are the small pathetic variety. So instead I go to Milford PA, it's about 5 minutes away from Port Jervis. Once the border is crossed 3 huge billboards can be seen all advertising fireworks... it's pretty funny. The signs appear to be taunting New Yorkers... lol. But yeah, there's tons of stores over there that sell them. And a few are the size of supermarkets and that's all they sell.

When you get inside you pick up either a cart or basket and begin the process of choosing from the enormous selection. The strangest part about this is that only people from out of state are allowed to go in and purchase fireworks. When you first arrive someone checks your driver's license. PA residents can't even step inside the main area that's full of all the good stuff. Like CT they're only allowed to buy small fireworks. I feel bad for people that live there, they can't buy the things that they're allowed to sell. It doesn't make much sense. They sure do have a monopoly though, at the stores you see people from NY, CT, and NJ... a lot of money is made this way. It's in a great spot too, Milford is at the junction of NY, NJ, and PA. All three states converge on one small area near the Delaware river.

The place I go to is a relatively small store, but it has everything I like. By the time I left I had gotten Roman candles, bottle rockets, firecrakers, helicopters, small mortars, and a few other things. The drive to and from the store was absolutely terrible, it was raining nonstop the entire way. If this rain keeps up everything will flood, including the river adjacent to my street which seems to over flow its banks every year now. It's quite a sight to see boats floating over the road. I won't discuss that now, I'll save it for another entry...

Mountain Glen

Well, I did a little exploring today. In the late morning after it had warmed up I checked out a newly acquired piece of club property. This is by far the smallest piece of land that we own, it's comprised of only about 100 acres, yet it's the most stunning and mysterious. Basically the entire property is a deep mountain glen that's surrounded by towering mountains and covered with hemlocks that block out the sun. Once I made it down to the stream it was incredibly dark in most places, and as a result there wasn't much plant growth beneath the canopy. I brought my fishing pole with me to see if I could catch any native trout which I hear inhabit the waters. To my surprise I found the stream to be loaded with relatively deep holes, usually a stream this small doesn't have any like these. After trying a good amount of spots with no luck I gave up for the day. Next time I'll have to try worms instead of a lure... Nevertheless, I still stayed and examined the area some more. Until today I've never been in an spot quite like this, it's so isolated and wild I thought I was in the middle of the Adirondack's. I mean it's pretty easy to access from a road, but once you lose sight of it you step back in time.

When I got to the bottom of the small valley it had to drop at least 10 degrees. With no sun and the cool water flowing rapidly by my feet I'm surprised it wasn't colder. I'll definitely have to come back on a hot summer day, it's way better than AC. The only disappointment was the discovery of a couple of old corroded car frames in the water along with some other trash. Why do people feel the need to throw their garbage in such a spot? It utterly amazes me.

Almost every rock near the water is covered in a thick mat of moss, I had to be careful not to slip. I had a one close call, but luckily I saved myself. I'm glad I did for I really didn't feel like going swimming today. Although... in the future I may try it on account of one deep hole that's the size of a small pool.

It's a nice piece of property, good thing I checked it out. I've wanted to for the past few months but just never got around to it. Next time we have a hot day I'll be back...

Fall Schedule

Here's my schedule for the fall semester:

Monday:
Endangered Earth 12:10-1:25

Tuesday:
Environmental Geography 9:20-10:35
Principles of Chemistry I 10:45-12:00
Critical Research & Composition 3:00-4:15

Wednesday:
Library Research for Composition 3:00-4:15

Thursday:
Endangered Earth 12:10-1:25
Principles of Chemistry I Lab 1:35-2:35

Friday:
Environmental Geography 9:20-10:35
Principles of Chemistry I 10:45-12:00
Critical Research & Composition 3:00-4:15

Time

Looking back at everything now, it has come to my attention that I have the longest summer break this year since I've been either 4 or 5. College is so much different from high school, my last day was on May 7th, and I don't go back until Aug. 31st. That's 3 and a half months off, it's nice but I'm just not used to it. I can tell already that by the time August comes around I'm probably going to be bored and won't be able to wait until I get to go back to Mville.

As of now I don't have all that much planned for the summer, maybe just a few day trips. But inbetween I'm sure I'll be doing some fishing and hiking. And one day next week I'll be going down to Tarrytown to do some crabbing. There's a very good spot near a boat club I know about, and it's only a few hundred yards away from the Tappan Zee bridge. Over the years, I've caught bushels full of blue claw crabs. They're actually quite good, and to many people's surprise they're clean as well. Since companies have stopped polluting the river, it's gone back to it's natural state pretty rapidly. I mean you do techincally still have to worry about some residual effects of the PCB's, but as long as you don't make a daily habit of eating something from the river there's no problem.

Not too far away from the spot I go crabbing is the town of Sleepy Hollow. And yes it is real, it's not just a completely fictional story. The town is rather peaceful and yet it's also busy. There's tons of stores in the midtown section which makes it a frequent stop for visitors and residents. I have some family living in the area so I visit at least a few times a year. A bizzare event occurred a couple years back. During a strong and tumultous thunderstorm a tornado formed over the river and eventually made it to land. It then proceeded to up Main street, and was for the most part directly in the center of it. Over the tornado's destructive path it took out a police car, tons of trees, and some stained glass from a church. Talk about weird, what's NY becoming Kansas? But yeah, the town is really nice, and all throughout is the reminder that you're in a historic place. Signs, sculptures, and restaurants all depict "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".

Getting back to the main topic, I think the summer will go rather smoothly. A month and a half has already passed by which in itself has been a well deserved break from the stress of college life.
With these activities, events, and work I'm sure I'll spend my vast and also limited time wisely. Because come August my Sophomore year begins!

Principle

Looking at the news and current events recently I've noticed that people of principle are becoming less common and hypocrites are on the rise. I'm not going to give a specific example, but it seems as though the majority of people have no strong beliefs that they firmly take hold of. They don't formulate ideas of their own and staunchly defend them, instead they drift along as obsequious slaves. All they want is personal gain and they don't care how they get it, even if it is contrary to the half held beliefs they possess. The easy way out is for them.

In contrast, people who do have principles will hold onto them and will stick up for their beliefs even when they have something to lose. The main difference between the two is sacrifice. Those who have principles will sacrifice for their ideas even if it means a considerable loss. This is the right and honorable way to live by. It utterly amazes me that a large part of society won't stick up for hard held beliefs and they criticize those who have the audacity to firmly believe in something and unwaver in their stance. Compromise doesn't work well with principles.

And another thing, if you actually do believe in something do not under any circumstance become hypocritical. If you make a promise, don't break it. Don't say one thing and do another. Say what you mean, and mean what you say... is it that difficult? Also, what good is profit if you've done nothing to earn it. Is sitting on the fence the way you want to live by? It's better to lose with honor than to win by hypocrisy. I'm sure everyone has seen this... what do you think of people who live this way? Are they trustworthy?... can you depend on them?... I don't think so. If you've gotten anything out of reading this do me one thing: gain some principles and stick by them!

"The superior man always thinks of virtue; the common man thinks of comfort."- Confucious

Hiking

I just realized that I haven't done any hiking recently. I'm going to have to fix this by setting something up shortly. The last major one I've done occurred a couple months back when I visited Storm King Mountain. I knew it was going to be very good on account of things I heard, but it exceeded my expectations dramatically. Anyone who does any hiking has to go there at least once, you'll regret it if you don't. Surprisingly, the entrance to the trail is extremely easy to access. It's right off a major highway; there's a small parking area which you go to and this by itself offers breathtaking views. Once started, the trail ascends rather steeply for the first mile or so. But once the summit is reached it flattens out a bit. When I arrived at the north slope I was greeted with panoramic views of the Hudson River and surrounding highlands. It's almost indescribable. Gazing down on the river below makes you feel like your on top of the world. Luckily I went on a clear spring day, so I was able to see for miles around. Towards the west the Catskills and Shawangunks were visible, not to mention an unobstructed view of the entire city of Newburgh and surrounding locales. Having the chance to hike the 1,400 foot mountain showed me exactly why it's the most revered peak along the Hudson. And it's hard to imagine that it was almost destroyed by a power plant a couple decades back. General Electric planned on building an enormous plant on the most visible face, this surely would have put an end to it's scenic properties. But a group of people opposed it and after a 17 year legal battle, it was determined that it would remain forever wild. And in fact most of the land along the banks of the river in the highlands is parkland now, nothing will ever be built. These sections still look the same way they did four centuries ago when the river was first sailed upon by the Henry Hudson and his crew. And I find that amazing.

I feel as though "progress" shouldn't always be about changing and building, sometimes it has to be about conserving and saving. For when we destroy natural wonders around us we're not improving anything, instead all that is getting done is the elimination of our heritage. Once enough damage arises there's no reversing it, we must think wisely about the future. What would you rather do: hike up a mountain to experience the sublime or stroll through a power plant? It's your choice...

Possible upcoming hikes include the follwing: Sam's Point and Lake Minnewaska in the Shawangunks, Mt. Beacon in the Highlands, and Slide Mountain in the Catskills. I'm always looking for some company, so if you feel like going on an adventure I'm sure we can set something up.

The Castle

Mville

Not all that long ago I received the bill for next year's tuition at Manhattanville. It's not exactly cheap, each year costs 46K. But luckily I have some scholarships that reduce it to 30K, nonetheless, that's still a lot. It's ridiculous that they charge that much, but they do get it. I mean the college is great but I don't think it's worth that excessive price.

In my senior year of high school when I was applying to colleges Mville wasn't very high on my list, the school I really wanted to go to was Marist. But due to unfortunate circumstances I wasn't accepted so I started to look at the other ones which I did get into. I believe I was accepted to 5, and I visited almost every one. The final one I looked at was Mville; as soon as I got onto the campus I was sold. The college had absolutely beautiful grounds and for me it was just the right size. Out of all the colleges I had seen, this was by far the smallest. I didn't want to attend a large school, in my opinion they're too impersonal. Most of my classes this year were the same size as the ones I had in high school. You won't find any with 100+ students.

I'm planning on majoring in Environmental Studies, it interests me and I'm almost assured to find a job quickly. So called "green jobs" are in high demand now and will most likely continue to increase. Within the past couple of years the college built an environmental park/classroom, this means I'll be able to get some hands on experience. This was a major reason I looked into the college in the first place, considering most degrees given out are in the liberal arts area. I only know a couple of people who want to major in Env. Studies. Others who are interested in science tend to go for biology, but that doesn't appeal to me as much. I'm not sure yet if I will minor in anything, but if I do it will be in history- American history. I wouldn't want to major in it for the simple reason of not wanting to teach. There's not much besides teaching that you can do with it. I also don't understand why people actually want to major in something that they can't do anything with, in my opinion it's a waste of both time and money. A couple obscure degrees that Mville has is Irish and Holocaust studies, I mean they may be interesting, but really what can you do with them? You spend 46K a year and by the time graduation comes good luck with finding a decent job. If you're going to take the initiative of going to college think of the future!

Mville has a lot of history attached with it. The college itself is over a 100 years old and it is on an estate once owned by a news paper tycoon and ambassador to England. The main building called the Castle or Reid Hall is a huge gothic mansion that literally appers to be a medieval castle, it's absolutely stunning. It's hard to believe it was actually someone's house. And supposedly it's haunted.... who knows. In the past presidents have visited; other notable visitors include the Kennedy's, senators, movie stars, Hillary Clinton, and just last week Sarah Palin stopped by for an event. Also, a few movies and T.V. shows have been filmed on the campus, I don't know them off the top of my head but you can look them up online. If the grounds don't impress you (which they definitely will) the people who come to it will make for an out of the ordinary discussion.

At this point I'm not completely sure what of what I want to do in 3 years, but a good possiblity is working for the DEC. Next year there are 2 internships that I'm going to apply for, and they both deal with conservation and research. Luckily, they're located in the Hudson Valley, so if I get one I'll be in familiar territory. Currently I have 43 credits. This is 13 above the average, due in part to AP classes and a little extra work each semester. This gives me a few benefits, I get to register for classes earlier, I can possibly graduate a semester early (which I probably won't end up doing), and it makes my schedule more flexible. Enough said on this topic, but I'm happy with Mville, I highly recommend it.

Freshtown events

I just got back from work a short while ago, and I had quite a crazy night. For some reason the store was incredibly busy, I have no idea why. Usually the worst time is Sunday. For the past year and a half I've been working at Freshtown (or more commonly known as Foodtown). I can't keep up with the names, it seems every few months the store gets a new identity. Most of the time things go well there, generally there aren't any problems. I have a floor position which means I do a variety of tasks. My general routine consists of stocking, blocking the shelves, emptying bottle machines, helping customers locate items, and collecting carts. I'm not on register, which makes me very happy. I find my job to be much more relaxing and less stressful. The best part of being on the floor is being able to go at your own pace, there aren't any mad rushes you have to deal with. The worst part for me is having to empty the bottle machines, I absolutely loathe it. It's very dirty and I constantly have to worry about getting cut by broken glass.
Every so often I come into contact with some very interesting characters. For example, the other night I had this lady come up to me and she wanted me to help her find something. So I did, no problem there, but just as I was about to go do something else she starts telling me her life story as if I'm her best friend... oh boy, took me quite awhile to finally get away. And then 5 minutes later I saw her in another aisle and she picked up where she left off. Some of the other oddities I come across are people who carry on conversations with themselves when I'm only a couple feet away, I guess they don't care if people see them talking to themselves or they don't realize it.... I don't even try to comprehend thier rationale anymore. Then I have to deal with shop lifters who constantly try and steal beer and other drinks. One night this guy came into the store a picked up a case of beer, and for 20 minutes he walked up and down every single aisle in the store, basically going in circles and looking paranoid. At this point me and the assistant manager watched him very closely, shortly thereafter he headed towards the door and was about to leave but he quickly changed his mind and went in the opposite direction. A short while later he left the store without the beer. And later that night the case was found in the hot dog shelf...
The most memorable thing a customer has asked me is "What's fat free milk?" I basically just stared and thought to myself "are you freakin' serious!?!" This was no joke, the woman had no clue what fat free milk was. She had to live under a rock, for the name says it all. Fat free milk has NO FAT! I couldn't believe it. These are the sort of things I deal with on a daily basis. Nothing amazes me anymore. I'll bring you updates.

Long day

Here's a summary of my day:
In the morning, not too long after I woke up my dad and I headed up to the rod and gun club that we belong to. As you already probably know I'm in to almost all things outdoors, be it fishing, hunting, hiking.. etc. Well, today wasn't exactly fun (no fishing), instead it was filled with work. In addition to paying annual dues every member is required to perform 10 hours of work a year. And unfortunately previous to this day, I accomplished nothing. So I had a full 10 hours to shave off. The work detail that the club president gave us was to weed wack around the boats and LAKE. If you haven't seen this lake before, you have no idea how large it is. I'd say the two of us got a third of the weeds cut, which I guess isn' t too bad. But I'll be up there very soon again. I can' t wait!!! I really shouldn't complain though on account of how often I actually use the property. If you want to see some pics of the club, check my album out on Facebook.

Later on in the day, I opened the pool up. By this I mean taking the cover off, getting the filter in order, and adding the necessary chemicals. Luckily this was accomplished before the rain started. One thing I would have to say I love to do in the summer is go cool off in it. But it doesn't look like I'll be going in it any time soon, the water's freezing...

The latter part of the day consisted of me going to the dentist. There was nothing wrong with my teeth, thank god!, just a semiannual cleaning. Surprisingly, within 10 minutes it was done... not too bad. The drive to Hopewell Junction, (that's where it's loacted) was actually quite nice despite the weather. Saw some interesting sights, including a fog drenched Windgdale Mountain... eerie yet fascinating. I've realized that every so often you have to look at things in a different manner to get the real view. And that definitely occurred today, it was a nice change.

First Entry

Well, let me just say that this is a first for me. I've never really been into the whole blog thing, but I thought I might give it a try. First of all, I figured that by making this I might actually find something interesting to write about and ease my boredom at times. Just so you know I'm quite bored right now... nothing to do but listen to the rain fall outside. Wow, I'm absolutely tired of this miserable weather. For the past week I've been in the middle of a monsoon, it feels more like Seattle than Dover. Getting back to the main topic, I also realize that by posting on this blog I will give YOU something to read. And if for some bizzare reason you learn nothing about me at least it will ease your boredom as will it mine.
Enjoy.