The Gas Bag strategies for defusing hydrofracking opposition

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - A website called Energy in Depth started popping up in my emails about hydrofracking recently. Usually the emails were because someone was commenting about some outrageous opinion columns printed on the site purporting to be news.

I won't provide the link here because the people that run it likely use the number of hits to show their bosses how much traffic they generate as they ask for more money.

A new way to heat homes - light the faucets on fire

EID is a gas industry mouthpiece which pretends that it is presenting the news and facts about natural gas exploration and drilling but in fact spends most of its time ridiculing anyone who criticizes any aspect of the gas industry.

EID is supported by the oil industry, too. They are all sleeping the same rather rumpled, toxic bed.

The stories/columns are quite sophomoric and make wild claims about the wonderfulness of natural gas, dismissing any assertions that there have been toxic spills or water pollution or nasty incidents of any kind.

But in the past few days, I allowed myself to get sucked into reading some of the posts and responding a few times.

Then I realized that is a major part of the EID strategy: Get concerned citizens busy replying to stories posted by the morons who write for the website. (My apologies to morons everywhere for that crack. These people aren't stupid, just mean-spirited.) If the fracking opponents are spending time  posting on the website, responding to some snotty, inaccurate or lie-filled post, they are not writing letters to legislators, researching the ongoing chemical spills or talking to their neighbors about the dangers of hydrofracking.

Tom Shepstone, gas industry flack

Tom Shepstone, the man in charge of the public relations site (and other efforts to discredit anyone asking questions) is a gas industry consultant and told me - in a comment on the EID website - that my assertion that they were trying to suck off activists' time was ludicrous.

I don't think so. I think Shepstone and his klan of gas baggers is all about trying to get the opponents of hydrofracking from focusing on fighting in ways that matter such as trying to stop the gas companies from continuing to buy politicians while they blithely pollute the groundwater.

So, adios EID. Rest in peace, preferably near a concrete hydrofracking pad or adjacent to one of those naturally occurring methane puddles which are growing in such great numbers where hydrofracking is taking place.

Out of California and into the winter-world of upstate New York

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - And just like that, we hopped on a Jet Blue plane Thursday night and Friday arrived in Syracuse, NY where a Hyunda Sonata (no Nissan Cubes this trip) waited as our chariot to take us home.

For me it was slightly more than a 41-year absence. It was August 1970 when I left in a blue VW van, landing in Napa in mid-October after hitting more than 10 states in an odyssey, looking for who-knows-what, even now.

But the trip home was quicker. Our two California vehicles (my vintage Nissan pickup truck) and our Mexico-veteran Isuzu Trooper were loaded onto a car carrier Wednesday afternoon, a car carrier driven by two Russian guys with accents (and haircuts) right out of central casting. They arrived here in Watkins Glen at noon, with six more deliveries here on the East Coast.

The black car is our rental, the other three our NY fleet

Landing here also is the first time since the turn of the 21st Century that Admiral Fox and I have owned a home with virtually everything we own in one place. I say virtually, because the Pink Flamingo in Arroyo Seco still has some of our 'stuff' but not much.

When Dustin and Sylvia drove the Trooper (aka Troupey) out of Mexico last spring, they brought a carload of items, now resting either with Dustin in tony Connecticut or here at North Glen.

Duplicates - make that triplicates - of sooooo many things are popping up.

And at Brother Dan's shop in Big Flats, we have two palettes of boxes and assorted household stuff yet to bring here to look at.

Perhaps we'll bring it all to the house for Christmas to open the boxes then.

Sasha with friend

Last night - barely awake after very little sleep on the plane the night before - we went out for dinner to Maria's, a local joint where I go to talk politics sometimes. There we had a great fish dinner with amigos Gary and Sue and their son Jeff. Then we traveled over to visit amiga Amanda at her house. (Ok, we went there to visit Sasha the dog, too.)

It was a nice entree back to the community. And, not to let any snow accumulate under our boots, tonight we head up to the increasingly famous Hector Wine company (in Hector, of course) for a glass or seven of wine and to listen to the band 'Buford.'

No, that's not a typo... and I hear the group is quite good.

We awoke this morning to a light dusting of snow and all day have watched the flakes coming down. Very little is sticking, so at this point, it's picturesque and not pain-in-the-ass. We're set though - I found all my winter gear and my boots have been waterproofed!

Here's a winter view of the lake from our deck and our winter-covered hot tub which might get pressed into service.

And at the bottom is a short video of this morning's snow... Set to music, of course.

Whirlwind trip to upstate New York leaves many tales to tell

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - The trip to upstate New York was planned to be fast and relatively fun-filled.

It was fast, there was some fun, and it was filled. Really filled.

After careening across the United States Monday night, I arrived at the Syracuse NY airport (after a plane change at JFK) Tuesday noon, tired, more than a little grumpy but ready to charge into the Department of Environmental Conservation's hearing on a proposal to build a huge propane and natural gas storage depot three miles from my house.

With Cousin Roger and The Cube

I felt like a foreign correspondent, parachuting in to cover a story, at least until the rental car agency told me the only car they had available for me to take was the one pictured to the right.

The Nissan Cube is not exactly what Robert Redford was driving in the 2001 film, Spy Game, in which he starred with Brad Pitt. But I've lost my claims to bearing any resemblance to either of those guys so I suppose I should be happy that I could bomb around Watkins without much fear of getting a ticket in that blue roller skate.

The propane and natural gas storage project is about as bad an idea as I have heard in years, right on a par with when some bright light got the idea in the 1970s that it would be a good idea to store spent nuclear reactor fuel rods in the same salt caverns.

Jaysus.

Sometimes, I do believe the world is run by greedy idiots.

Here's a link to a video with all the testimony: DEC public hearing in Watkins Glen, NY 

The hearing went well (for opponents, not so much for the company) and formed the basis for my Finger Lakes Times column Friday. Writing Wednesday morning, I fell asleep at the keyboard once, revived only by several cups of Earl Grey tea, each brewed with three tea bags.

I was up until about 2 a.m. Wednesday night, of course. Despite two glasses of wine with amiga Amanda at dinner and a hefty double slug of Grey Goose about midnight while writing some screed, I still had the energy of an adolescent.

Inergy's gas man

Perhaps the most interesting thing in the hearing was that it wasn't just that the people who spoke against the project were articulate (most were), prepared (ditto) and passionate (all were). They clearly are beginning to form ideas about what they want to see the area become, not just be in opposition to this disaster-in-waiting.

More than one person made it clear: we don't need or want more smokestack industries.

The balance of the trip - two days and some change - was taken up with domestic chores like running to the bank, dealing with an impressive stack of mail and lots of conversations with the folks who are opposing this project.

Oct. 10 is the last day to comment and there is a flurry of activity going on to ensure that the DEC hears from everyone about the flaws in the environmental impact report filed by the company, Inergy Midstream from Kansas City, Missouri.

Among the many flaws are issues related to earthquakes, lack of a plan for emergencies and the idea of building a 91-million gallon salt water pond with plastic liners (think industrial swimming pool liners). The pond will be perched on a hillside, just  2,500 feet above decidely freshwater Seneca Lake, and very close to the water intakes for the Watkins Glen Village water supply.

That pond, by the way, will contain water up to 12 times saltier than normal sea water, plus, it will likely have a few surprise chemicals lurking it in from being pumped in and out of the salt caverns as part of the propane storage method.

I suppose if the project is approved and the pond is built, when it has a catastrophic breach and the 91 million gallons goes cascading down the hillside to the lake, we could plant some marlin and other saltwater sports fish in the lake and see if they survived. And Watkins Glen homes? Well, perhaps the village can get a federal grant for a desalinization plant - run on propane, of course.

In the meantime, while the follicle-impaired president of Inergy Midstream (above) licks his wounds in Kansas City, Missouri, (after having his testimony contradicted by experts), he is likely remembering that when he testified, nearly 800 people in the audience suggested (some politely, some not so) that he could take his propane tanks, trucks, railroad cars and everything else he has planned for the 576-acre site and return it to, well, just about anyplace but the Town of Reading.

LINKS to stories about hearing:
Elmira Star-Gazette
The Observer newspaper

Away all boats (on trailers, anyway) time to head to California

VALOIS, New York, USA - The last few days have been a flurry of activity, all aimed at closing down the waterfront at the Valois Point Yacht Club, closing up the cottage, and readying our Watkins Glen house for four months of non-residency.

This shutdown comes right as the whole Valois-Hector-Watkins scene is in the middle of the end-of-summer parties and other rituals.

Sign is up, but season is over

Today, for example, is the Peachy Dandy Party and Sailboat Regatta, an annual event on Hazlitt Beach. Two years ago we sailed the Red Rocket and the race was called for lack of wind. Last year there was soooo much wind, the race was called because it was too dangerous to be out on the water.

And although the VPYC has two sailboats in its fleet this season, both are safely stored already and won't be participating today.

Next year, next year!

But even though I won't be sailing, the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft will be pressed into service as a 'crash boat' to help anyone who gets into trouble. I'll also be taking along the big video camera. There could be a rockumentary in all this today.

Even with the shutdowns, close ups and assorted packing for our sojourn to California, we've been having a lot of fun.

Thursday, I closed up the dockside bar at the VPYC, but not before Joseph and Yvonne sailed up for one last bit of time there, a few beers, and to enjoy the still-warm water to swim in.

And no doubt there will be at least one more trip to Garcia's the new Mexican restaurant that just opened its doors in Watkins Glen. In very Mexican tradition - because they don't have a liquor license yet - the owners said it's fine to bring in beer and wine to have with meals there. There's a move afoot to expand that to include margaritas, pre-mixed to pour over ice.

!Arriba!

 

Sailing in to the VPYC

 Here's a short video (made up of stills) from the 2009 Peachy Dandy race:

Countdown to shutdown: Closing up the VPYC and away all boats

VALOIS, New York, USA - Adm. Fox and I have slightly over a week left before we hop a US Airways jet from Elmira, NY to California, back for a our final foray into teaching at California State University, Sacramento.

On the trailer this week

And that flight means starting in on the house shut-down list: put boats on trailers, store solar lights, drain hot tub, put away garden tools, arrange for mail forwarding... The list is two pages single-spaced, so naturally I am writing this piece.

This season we have two houses to consider, the lake cottage and our casa in Watkins Glen. The cottage we have closed down for years now and it's almost routine.

Almost.

We have a few quirks with the new house, especially now that will be our official permanent residence when we fly back in December 15.

Fly back in December? Yup, that's right, we will be coming back to Watkins Glen right as the winter cranks up to full cold & snow. What few possessions we have in storage in Calif. will be shipped east, along with my red Nissan truck (something I could have used here a dozen times this summer hauling cement, lumber...).

Shutting down the Watkins casa is pretty easy: turn the theromstat to 55 degrees, close the storm windows and make sure the lawn furniture is put away under cover. And we will have a new amiga staying in our attached apartment for the winter, so she will ensure the utilities are taken care of, etc.

When we get back in December, all we have to do (I hope) is turn up the thermostat and check the wine cellar to make sure the wine didn't freeze. (It shouldn't, the boiler for the heater system in the basement and seems to be a steady temperature year round.)

Sen. Schumer with Jim Hazlitt

The writing gig with the Finger Lakes Times newspaper will continue however, with my Friday column. I'll be reading the FLT electronic edition and getting the hard copy in the mail, just as I do now in Watkins Glen.

I'll miss some of the news story writing, though. Last week I covered a talk by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and got to chat with half of the politicians and assorted mucky-mucks from the county. Some of those folks expressed interest in having me do some videos for them, too.

Woo-hoo.

But the time will fly in California.

Within a few days of arriving we will be getting together with cruising buddies Dan and Lorraine Olsen, trips are planned to Yosemite and other California landmarks, and, of course, we have granddaughters Samantha and Kami - and their mom Anne - to visit as much as possible. Perhaps even the elusive Dylan Fox will come leave the city limits of Berkeley for a visit - or we will head there.

And teaching?

Oh yes, teaching! We have our final semester of teaching set up. I have my usual four classes, which include a section each of magazine writing and column writing. I am still considering giving only one of two grades for all students: A or F.

They either get it, or don't get it.

But that decision can wait a couple of more weeks.

Time to take down the yacht club sign

The hot tub is in, the lake is warming up, a Father's Day sail maybe?

VALOIS, New York, USA - Eric and Tina Hazlitt's sailboat was launched Wednesday a sure sign that summer is here. The Red Rocket might make a splash this week, if the weather gods permit.

One of last year's boats

And then Saturday there will be the annual Cardboard Boat Race in the Village Marina Harbor. No entry this year from *subject2change media but perhaps next year we will get up the courage to get some cardboard and a half-dozen rolls of duct tape and make a vessel.
 
 But I will be there filming, for sure. And it is always a great time.

After two years of putting it off, I finally build a real deck for the Valois house hot tub. Three years running, I used a combination of plywood, shale and wood chips as the base.

Hot tub atop its new home

The combination was hard to keep level (READ: impossible). Plus, spiders, ants, and a variety of insects of totally indeterminate genus and specie would somehow find their way under the cover and be found doing the backstroke when Adm. Fox and I would uncover the softub for use.

During the day, it was just annoying. At night, it was occasionally a stinging experience.

The deck is made of a pressure treated wood that is supposed to last, well, for a long time. All I know is the tub is a good six inches off the ground and while spiders, ants, and that variety of insects of totally indeterminate genus and specie might still want to see the soothing warm waters of the hot tub, they will have to work a little harder to do so.

Here's a video of last year's cardboard boat races in Watkins Glen.

Awash in the news business - but the boats are launched for summer

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - Admiral Fox and I arrived home safely from our Erie Canal jaunt, leaving the 72-foot motoryacht Ziggy in son Dustin and amiga Elizabeth's good hands at the port of Oswego, right at the outlet of the canal/river into the chilly waters of Lake Ontario.

That dynamic duo, plus a new captain hired by the boat's owner, took Ziggy the rest of the way to Michigan where the ship nows rests with its happy owner.

Almost the minute we returned, I had to complete a number of writing/video assignments for local newspapers, including a one-hour video shoot (and print version) about U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's (D-NY) visit to a local middle school to check on how well the federal dollars are being spent on a project to help children get access to wireless devices.

You might think the feds would be offering incentives to get kids off digital media, but that's another issue.

Here's the video:



I've also been chasing a local political/environmental struggle. A major propane supply and transit company, Inergy (of Kansas City, MO) wants to store 2 million gallons of liquid propane gas in salt caverns a few miles north of town. The critics of the project have a litany of potential safety and economic issues they believe disqualify Inergy from moving forward, even an inch.

Inergy is hanging tough and fighting back - it's a very lucrative deal/project if they can get past the state Department of Environmental Conservation (which deals with environmental issues) and the Town of Reading Planning Board, the ruling authority.

But here's the bummer. A pivotal meeting about the topic - by the very Town of Reading Planning Board - is the same night as a major brewfest here. And the brewfest is being held to raise money for the legal fund for the people fighting against the project. So, Brewfest or a community meeting?

Gawd.

Here's a link to the group opposing the project: GasFreeSeneca website.

 The best news off all is that the Spirit of Louise pontoon craft is in the water and is sitting at the Valois Point Yacht Club ready for service. The blue rowboat/launch is on shore and ready, too. The Red Rocket sailboat should hit the water this week, in plenty of time for my boat-partner Jennifer Fitch's arrival in a couple of weeks.

After launching the Spirit of Louise last week at Village Marina, we motored from Watkins Glen to the VPYC, taking a couple of hours to do so and making two stops along the shoreline: Mike & Karen Schamel's and Eric & Tina Hazlitt's. It was long, hot trip (temperatures in the 90s) but thanks to plenty of hydrating fluids (largely Labatt's Blue) we made the trip in fine shape.

I even jumped in the lake at the VPYC dock that day to celebrate the beginning of summer. Water temperature - 64 degrees, according to Eric Hazlitt.

It felt a little colder, but still, ahhhh.

That size lighthouse would look great on the shore at the VPYC

With all the rain, comes near-record lake levels - hoo-boy!!!!

SENECA LAKE, New York, USA - The sun finally came out yesterday, but the creeks are still sending water into Seneca Lake at alarming levels.

And all the neighboring lakes and rivers are filled to overflowing, too.

But maybe it means we will have a better boating season.

Maybe.

Here's a short video with pix of the high water around Hector and in Watkins Glen.

In 15 minutes, expect a dramatic weather change, unless it's earlier...

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - The old joke (which isn't really a joke at all) is that if you don't like the weather around here, just wait 15 minutes for it to change.

Fifteen minutes might be an understatement.

Saturday, the day started with torrential downpours on and off for the entire morning, then cleared off with gusty 25-knot southerly winds by 1 p.m., and at about 3 p.m. the wind dropped to zero and the temperatures shot up to the mid 70s. By sunset we had rain again, of course.

Unwelcome Easter guest

Despite the wacky weather shifts (at least wacky from a California and Mexican perspective) the living is great here and spring is everywhere. I can almost hear the grass growing outside the window.

The other sign of spring has been the return of the songbirds, who are soooo cute, I put out several bird feeders to draw them closer to the casa. Or at least I thought I was putting out bird feeders. They apparently double as squirrel feeders, too, though I have started mounting an offense to keep the feeders for the birds and not lunch counters for rodents.

At the lake house in Valois, we stopped feeding the squirrels corn last summer. The little buggers started coming up on porch and attempted to chew their way through the screens into the house to get at the corn I had stored there.

Squirrel stew, anyone?

Jason Hazlitt

That almost-in-jest comment would not have been particularly welcome at the Humane Society benefit Adm. Fox and I attended two nights ago at The Hector Wine Company, owned by Jason Hazlitt (LINK: Hector Wine Company website). The winery opened its doors for a huge party that filled the new winery to overflowing.

Cousin Brett Beardslee, just back from a long winter's vacation wrestling alligators in Florida, provided the musical entertainment and ended up calling the numbers for raffle winners. He was sporting a skin color that is pretty rare around this part of New York in April, unless people frequent the tanning salons around town.

A lot of excellent Hector Wine Company wine was consumed that night by a lively crowd during a four-hour event that raised about $3,000.

Here's a short video of the benefit:



The church bells have been ringing here all morning, signaling the start of Easter services at the many churches just down the hill from our house on North Glen Avenue.

Many of our neighbors could be seen hustling out the door and into their cars today, obvious from their attire that they were heading for some religious services somewhere. Adm. Fox and I didn't go to any formal services today - my late mother's comments about 'Christmas and Easter Catholics' ringing through my head quite loudly from when I was a teenager. The only time our Catholic Church in Lakewood, New York was filled were those two holy days.

Mary Sullivan Crouch's resting place

But Adm. Fox and I did take a fairly major hike from our new house, up alongside the creek known as 'Watkins Glen' to St. Mary's Cemetery near the top of the ridge. Our late friend Mary Sullivan Crouch was buried there last August. Two years ago Mary took us up to the cemetery to show us the plot where she would be buried. She and I were distantly related (my maternal grandmother was a Sullivan from Geneva) and Mary suggested that I might want to start looking into getting a plot near the family.

I thought about that today, as I was standing in front of her tombstone. I just got my AARP card in the mail, though. Let's not rush things.

Adm. Fox and I are actually living in the house where Mary resided the last few years of her life. It was owned by her brother Bill (who passed away two years before Mary). When Mary died last summer, the estate put it up for sale and after some deliberations this fall, we decided to make the house (and Watkins Glen) our new home base.

It has a one-bedroom apartment attached where Mary lived, which has been taken over by Adm. Fox as an office and music room. When Adm. Fox heads to her office/music room, she says, "I'm going to Mary's."

It made sense to buy the house, plus, I had already bought Mary's 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis from her when she gave up driving a few months before she passed away.

Casa Fitz/Fox in Watkins Glen, New York

We affectionately refer to the car as The Merc which, the other day, I got going just a little over 110 mph on a back country road, trying to blow the carbon out of the exhaust system.

That's my story, officer, and I'm sticking to it.

Oh, and yes, I was playing 'Hot Rod Lincoln' by Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen on the radio when I 'hit top end...'

LINK: Hot Rod Lincoln video

Back in the USSA; getting ready for summer at Seneca Lake

WATKINS GLEN, NY, USA - It was a shorter-than-normal season in Mexico this year, prompted in part by the domestic situation of son Dustin, but also because Admiral Fox and I in December purchased a home here, just a few blocks from Seneca Lake and within walking distance of town.

The pier at Watkins Glen on Seneca Lake

Watkins Glen - yes, that Watkins Glen with the NASCAR race track - has grown up in the last decade and has excellent restaurants, a nice marina and waterfront area, good shopping, all kinds of medical services and several good bars.

Several.

And, perhaps as a sign the place has come of age, this July there will be a Phish concert held at the racetrack that has the entire area buzzing, mostly about the commercial possibilities brought into town by the arrival of probably 75,000 people.

Go Phish, right?

The house has a good view of Seneca Lake

Our new house is a rock-solid brick place with one of those huge, East Coast basements that is as large as the rest of the house.

Adm. Fox has already claimed part of the basement for a music studio. I'm lobbying for making it into a den for videos, too. There's enough space for both and to build a bar in one portion.

A bar? Hmmmm....

I already commandeered one of the bedrooms for an office, where I am decorating it in early 'Chuck' decor (LINK: TV Series Chuck). Does anyone know where I can get an original poster of the movie TRON?

I arrived a few days before Adm. Fox and had a chance to equip the house. It came fully furnished (gracias Dios!) but without normal accoutrements like dishes and linens and all the other items you need to live in a house.

One of the flock

I discovered that nearby Montour Falls (home of the Harvest Cafe, another great place to eat LINK: Harvest Cafe) has a Dollar Store ensconced on the edge of town where the prices put the Watkins' WalMart to shame.

Oh! And no pink flamingos came with the house either. I remedied that immediately and we now have a growing flock. Whether the birds will go south with us next winter when we return to Arroyo Seco in Mexico is in question.

The early arrival here in the north means that, well, we are freezing are butts off (it was 85 degrees when I left Mexico, 35 when I arrived at the Syracuse, NY airport). But more importantly, we will be able to open up the lake house in Valois earlier and do projects that are best completed before the growing season.

I have at least a half dozen trees that need to be trimmed, the path to the lake needs to be rebuilt (again...) and the raspberry vines need to be trimmed back to near the ground .

Most summers, by the time we have arrived, everything has been growing for months and we are confronted with a jungle of new growth, high grass and, of course, poison ivy creeping around.

LINK: The Coasters sing 'Poison Ivy...'

The lake house in Valois - sans foliage

This fall we will return to California for our last semester of teaching at California State University, Sacramento.  It's been a great run in California, but after December, perhaps, we will be splitting our time between Seneca Lake (and Watkins Glen) and Arroyo Seco.

Or some other place, I suppose. We are subject-to-change, after all.

But for today (so far), I am holed up in my office (dubbed a 'man cave' by amiga Tina Hazlitt), organizing the place, searching online for Tron posters, and cruising Craigslist for a skiboat so we can zip from here up the lake to Valois quickly.

Summer is just around the corner after all. Really...

Warm weather returns to Arroyo Seco - and we buy a house

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - With amigos Karen and Mike Schamel from Hector, NY in tow, we arrived in Arroyo Seco Sunday, greeted by much warmer days and the normal Mexican winter that brings us south.

Mike and Karen are ensconced at the hotel on the beach, an 11-room manse where Adm. Fox and I have rented a room for a couple of months so we have a beach place when we leave the Pink Flamingo. It's opulence, Mexican style.

While we were gone for just a week, our neighbors Chena and Chon - along with most of their extended family - opened a beach restaurant just 200 yards from the hotel. We had dinner there last night - a celebratory event for finally closing on our new house.

Mike, Karen, Adm. Fox and el capitan

Um, new house?

Yes, Adm. Fox and I just purchased a three-bedroom, two-bath casa in beautiful Watkins Glen, New York.

Watkins Glen, NY?

Yup.

The house became available at the end of last summer and after some machinations this fall, we flew into Watkins in December, checked it out, and decided that when we fully retire (Dec. 10 of this year), it would be our base camp. We will have a two-way split that way - Seneca Lake and Mexico, instead of the Seneca Lake-California-Mexico trifecta we have done for four years.

We will wait out the upstate New York winter before flying in to take possession this spring. Given the severity of this year's weather there, it's very had to predict when we will see our new house on North Glen Avenue.

But while we wait, our Mexican adventures remain steady at warp 10. Each day takes us to the beach for a long walk (a video of surfers is at the bottom of this entry).

And this afternoon I will go to Tenacatita Bay to hop aboard the sailing vessel Di's Dream to help Captain Roger Frizzelle pilot the ship to Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta. It probably means a bus ride back to Arroyo Seco in a few days after a an 18-24 hour voyage.

That means I can get motion sickness in both directions.

Hoo-boy!

Back in the air, heading back to Sacramento from snow country

NEW YORK, New York, USA - The Admiral and I are sitting in JFK International Airport, getting ready for the third leg of our travels today, a cross-country Jet Blue flight that will get us home to Sacramento late this evening - and to our warm casa with Pam and Steve.

The day started with swirling snow in Ithaca, New York where we stayed overnight with brother David's special amiga, Caren. I was a little groggy as we departed after a great dinner party the night before, but not so groggy that I didn't notice it was snowing pretty hard while David drove us to the Syracuse Airport, an hour and a half from Ithaca.

In Ithaca, NY, Dec. 5, 2010 - brrrrrrrrrrr

We breezed in without issue, however, until the Admiral got held up at the security gate and was given the choice of either one of those new TSA pat downs, or taking some other form of transit to Sacramento.

The Admiral was not amused and will likely vent her wrath on how ludicrousness of what passes for security when she writes in her own blog.

The overall trip was a success, however, on several levels (pat downs aside).

And among the things accomplished was getting some video broadcast on WENY, Elmira, New York. I braved the cold and shot the Christmas parade for the station, which used some clips in their evening newscast the same night.

More on what the other levels of success were will show up in another blog.

Below are two videos.

One is of our trip to Syracuse, and the airport snowplows busy at work. The second is a TSA ukulele video. It's pretty fun, but for now, I am not sharing it with the Admiral.

A party weekend - with a fundraiser for a teen cancer victim

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - After a long week of working outside - and getting the property ready for summer (should it arrive...), Admiral Fox and I went to social events Saturday and Sunday.

The Saturday night soiree was a social get together at a local winery where we swapped tales about winter and the upcoming summer. The group/event is held twice a year, an outgrowth of the former Seneca Lake Sailing Association (which is no longer active).

The Sunday afternoon event was to raise money to help a local teenager who has cancer.

Fifteen-year-old Devon Shaw, is a freshman at Watkins Glen High School. He had cancer discovered in his leg months ago. And doctors now say he has cancer in one lung and  faces surgery in June. He is already having several rounds of chemotherapy.


Devon Shaw

But this young soccer player is a real gamer, by all accounts.

While several bands played Sunday at an outdoor benefit to help cover his incredible medical costs (and show support for him), Devon hopped on a tour boat with several hundred of his high school classmates for a Seneca Lake tour and teen party in his honor.


Teens head up Seneca Lake

The community effort has been incredible, a not-uncommon occurrence in this part of rural upstate New York. The event had a chicken dinner, t-shirt sales, raffles and something called a 50-50 drawing. The bar inside did a brisk business, too, selling beer in red plastic cups. The cold beer didn't help with the cold temperatures, but it still tasted good, and for a good cause.

In many ways, the event reminded me of the way people in Arroyo Seco rally around when someone is sick or in need. Whenever someone in that village has trouble, people also come through with food or help of some kind.

The local newspapers here have been full of news about Devon, his plight, and efforts to raise money - and spirits.

Here's a short video of some of the music and dancing...

Watkins Glen turns out for a NASCAR night

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - It was NASCAR weekend in Watkins Glen and Friday night and the village closed down many of the side streets and filled the place with music.

And some of music was provided by our amigo Brad Phillips, owner of Arnold the Wonder Dog who has been staying with us on and off all summer. Brad's band, Ragged Sole, rocked the downtown area for more than three hours Friday night with a mix of music that had people out dancing.


Brad shouts it out



Besides the music, there were NASCAR and food vendors everywhere and the state open-container law - the one that says you can't wander around with a beer in your hand - appeared to be suspended for downtown. I rarely saw a person without a Budweiser, Miller or Pabst cup in their hand. And the bars were serving people beer outside - a lot of people and a lot of beer.

Unfortunately, most of the customers also had a lit cigarette in their other mitt, which they puffed on mightily before tossing the butts on the ground. I think I inhaled more second-hand smoke in the hour or so we were downtown than I had in the last two weeks.


Sylvia says hello to one of town horses


Checking out some wines downtown

Adm. Fox and amiga Laura and I wandered the Watkins Glen streets for about an hour, then headed up the lake to the Stone Cat cafe for a late dinner/snack/glass of wine with amigos Eric and Tina Hazlitt. We talked about plans for Mexico travels, the upcoming Peachy Dandy sailboat race - and a vintage ski boat I have my eye on to add to our armada of vessels.

The ski boat is a Glaspar G-3, a boat manufactured in the early 1960s and a dream boat of mine ever since that time. A friend had one in the mid 60s with a 75 horsepower Evinrude on the transom that could almost catapult the boat out of the water when you floored it. Another had an 80 hp Mercury on his boat and could do more than 50 mph on flat water.

I found a used G-3 - with an old 60 hp Johnson outboard on the transom - for sale at a neighboring lake. If we were to buy it, the first modification would be to put Mercury outboard on it to replace the Johnson. Given the weight of a 1960, 60 hp Johnson, I could probably put a 2009 90 hp Mercury - and have less weight on the transom.

A 90 hp on that boat?

Vrooooommmmmmm...


How fast will it go?

A Sunday sailing expedition - a reminder of Mexico's water

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - We were having a late lunch at the Village Marina and Bar (owned by amigos Karen and Michael Schamel) when we spied Eric and Tina Hazlitt and their cousin Doug headed out the dock to climb aboard Doug's 40-foot C&C sailboat for a trip from the marina to the mooring in front of his house.

Before you can say Magic Hat beer, the Admiral went out and chatted with the crew, coming back with an invite for us to travel up the lake - a three-hour tour, more or less.

Adm. Fox demurred from taking the trip, opting instead to get the car back to Valois.

But our amiga Laura - our resident Spanish teacher here and in Arroyo Seco - and I hopped on board for a great ride up the lake, all downwind.

Even though the water was cold, the wind was not and it was sooooo reminiscent of downwind runs along the Mexico coast in our former sailing vessel, Sabbatical.

It was the first sail of the season for Doug - and the boat - and everything worked just fine.

What's up with that?


Getting the furler working


Eric at the helm


Captain at the wheel


Captain and Laura


Coming in to the Hazlitt dock

Taking a break to attend the wine festival - and the race track

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - The weeks since our last national holiday (July 10) have flown by, with all the usual great lake stuff and this past week a sojourn to a huge wine festival, held at the Watkins Glen race track, better known for its NASCAR racing events.

But it transformed nicely for the wine event.

The great lake stuff included more sailing with my sailboat partner/co-owner Jennifer, who sadly had to leave Seneca Lake with her family to go back to Arizona and work after only one week here in Valois. :-(

She reached her goal - and very quickly. She wanted to learn the basics of sailing which she picked up in just a couple of days with a little direction from me. By the time she left, she was watching the wind on the water all the time - and then (like a good sailor) racing to take advantage of the weather window to get some sailing time in.

She did not miss many weather windows in her short time here.


Jennifer solos for the first time


Jennifer with her first passenger

Admiral Fox and I took out the Red Rocket for a sail a few days after Jennifer left, covering about five miles in a very short time. With some practice, we should be ready for this summer's Peachy Dandy sailboat race in the August. The annual race is part rum, part pureed peaches and lots of wind, most years. The past two years I have crewed for cousin Roger Beardslee on his boat. But this year it is time to strike out alone to see what the Red Rocket can do - unless we have 25 knots of wind that day, in which case I will see if I can jump on Roger's vessel (a stout 25-foot rig) again.

Here's last year's report on the Peachy Dandy events and race:

Peachy Dandy Race - 2008

The other regular summer event around the house has been evening barbecues. After years of struggling with those $20 tiny portable units (the ones that last one summer and then turn to rust), the Admiral and I bought a full-size barbecue and have been cooking everything but scrambled eggs on it. (The eggs seem to fall between the grill bars... I must be doing something wrong.)

And a favorite - in addition to the normal burgers, steaks, chicken and sausages - is to barbecue vegetables.


Veggie night at the Fitz/Fox house

Last weekend, though - when we went to the race track to attend the wine festival (our first time attending) we were not disappointed.

Ironically (for me), we went up early in the day (10 a.m.) and though I came home with bags full of goodies by early afternoon, I never touched a drop of wine - though it all was tempting. We saw many familiar faces, including amigo Brad, marketing director for Hazlitt Winery, who showed us one of the Hazlitt offerings, a four-pack of one-serving bottles of Red Cat wine. Red Cat is the signature wine of the company and attracting a lot of national attention.

In the photo below, I am wearing one of my purchases - a hat made of genuine sea grass while attempting to mooch some vino from Brad. Sea grass? Ok, that's what the vendor said it was. It could be ragweed for all I know.

But it fits, dammit, it fits. And it is soooo comfortable.


Brad shows me the Red Cat four-pak, but my glass stays empty!


Sign of the Red Cat

Hazlitt's had their own large tent and display area set up at the race track, but most of the area's winery's clustered in other large tents, making for great people watching, even if it was a little crowded.

We stopped by the Pompous Ass Winery booth - not to sample the wine (which is supposed to be good), but to pick up some souvenir T-shirts.

Are the shirts obnoxious? Absolutely... And that's the point.


Pompous Ass Winery

The capper to the day at the wine festival, however, was hopping a ride in a pace car.

I have driven at speeds in excess of what the pace car did (100 mph) but never taken sharp curves at that speed!

When I got in the car - a Toyota Camry hybrid - I asked the driver if I really needed a seat belt.

I think he drove even faster than he normally would have, though the video below seems almost sedate compared to what it felt like riding in the car.

A lakeside benefit gets the dancers out on the floor

WATKINS GLEN, New York, USA - Saturdays are always pretty wild around Watkins in the summer. Yesterday, in addition to the usual boating madness, a benefit for a local youth - who is recovering from multiple organ failure - had several hundred people tapping their toes to music, munching down barbecued chicken and, of course, drinking draft beer.

A lot of draft beer.

The benefit was held outside at the Village Marina, owned by the Schamel family, who in addition to running their usual restaurant crowd through the place, also handled the barbecue - and there were a lot of chickens who sacrificed their lives.

We arrived at the benefit in style - via Cousin Roger's ski boat which got us down the lake much faster than the Spirit of Louise would have.

At one point early in the benefit, one of the organizers told me that they had already taken in more than $700 - just on the raffle. And given that the draft beers were $3, with $1 of that going to the family, well, the benefit took in a lot of money. Cousin Roger and I contributed quite heavily to all components.

Roger's son Brett Beardslee was front and center, playing his own set of songs and also jamming with other local musicians. Dancing started, early, too and went on well into the night.

And the weather? Perfect end of August temperatures.


Even the canines enjoyed the music


Enjoying the sun and afternoon


Roger, Nancy and nephew Nate

On the quest for gold nuggets - in the creek by the house

VALOIS, New York, USA - The Admiral and I took our annual walk up 'Breakneck Creek' Tuesday, a walk that turned out to be a little early in season. The slippery, moss-covered rocks proved, well, too slippery and moss-covered to get very far up the creek right behind the house, but we did find a swimming hole deep enough to take a dip.

It was close to 90 degrees at 4 p.m. and the humidity was probably 90 percent. It felt like 100 and 100.

The creek has great historical significance to the whole family. At one time the entire clan used to climb these same rocks and hike the same trails. At different points, the Admiral shows where her brothers would encourage her to climb up slippery waterfalls first. The stream bed looks pretty much like it did then.

Last summer we went up for a climb quite late, accompanied by Arnold the Wonder Dog, but the mossy rocks were a menace then, too. If we ever get four five days of no rain, we'll make another attempt to get to the really big swimming hole, about a mile up the ravine where we spent a couple of hours in the sun two years ago.


Waterfall near the house




Normally we are the only people hiking in the creek bed, so we were surprised when we stumbled upon a gold prospector - yup, a real prospector out digging in the crevices of the creek bed, pulling up clay and mud that had tiny flecks of gold in it.

I do mean tiny flecks of gold. But he showed us that he had actually pulled out a few nuggets (mostly last summer) and Tuesday he had found a handful of tiny flecks in the crevice where we found him industriously digging.

He retired after 32 years at the U.S. Army Depot north of Valois and said he decided that being outdoors - and searching for gold - was a pretty nice hobby and reward.

Apparently there are a number of hobbyists out searching for gold in all the creeks, where they find not only tiny flecks of gold, but also some gemstones (like garnet), a lot of lead shot (from hunters) and enough arrowheads and fossils to fill a museum.

I think I might add spending some time panning for gold to the 'bucket list' I've been putting together, ever since seeking the film by the same name with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.

Catching lake trout off the end of our dock hasn't been much of a success so far.

In search of a Red Cat at the Watkins Glen Race Track

WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL RACE TRACK, Watkins Glen, NY, USA - Most of the people at the race track over the July 4th weekend were totally in tune with the IndyCar Series. Every conversation seemed peppered with remarks about fuel tank capacity, tire durability and sometimes whether a particular driver was up to the task of driving for hours on end.

And the Admiral and I were impressed with the roar of the cars (and the speed!) and even took a few peeks at the races from several vantage points around the big raceway grounds.

But we went to the track mostly to see what the fuss was all about, do some people watching, and to stop by the Hazlitt Winery tent where our amigo Brad Phillips (director of marketing for the winery) was running the show, making sure the winery's sponsorship of various events (including a concert by Gavin DeGraw) was all going smoothly.

It was, as was the wine tasting going on inside the tent with Hazlitt's and a half dozen other local wineries dispensing tastings while the cars roared on the track as occasional background noise.


Admiral and Brad by the stage


One of the Hazlitt servers - with the mark of the Red Cat

Red Cat is the name of a Hazlitt wine that has taken off wildly in the past couple of years, becoming nationally known and basically absorbing Brad's life during the season. Red Cat is also the reason that we are the proud foster parents again this summer of Brad's dog Arnold. During the summer, Brad's marketing duties keep him, well, at his marketing duty station and so rather than leave Arnold at home, Arnold comes over and stays with us. Kind of like doggie day camp, except most nights he gets to stay over.

He is snoring on the couch behind me as I write this. Yes, snoring. Yes, on the couch. (Don't say it. I know!)

Before you assume we spent all afternoon in the wine tent, (we were there for awhile) we did march about the race track and shot photos of everything, a small representation is below. We also got a golf cart tour around the pit area from Scotty Welliver, a local business owner and a racer himself who was camped out for the weekend at the track. Scotty saw us wandering around lost (the race track area is huge) and after a ceremonial beer with him, he took us through the pits on the way to Hazlitt's. At Hazlitt's tent, we each had a ceremonial glass of wine to celebrate our trip. A local custom, I understand.


One of many pace cars


Not your average panel truck


Quick & Easy Towing Service


Souvenir heaven

A mini-tour, the wine tent and our amigo, Brad