Summer Vacation List: The Natural and Un-Natural

Posted by Cynthia Menard on Thursday, July 19, 2012 · 6 Comments

I already miss being in the mountains… for Thursday 13, here’s a list of (some of) my accomplishments during our week and 1/2 of vacation in New York (upstate and down):

1. Learned to properly throw a baseball right-handed (I’m a lefty; and there’s more to throwing a baseball than I thought).

2. Waded in a mountain stream.

3. Hiked up a mountain at dawn to search for an endangered bird species (didn’t hear any evidence of them – looking for Swainson’s Thrushes).

4. Wrote a lot; journaled, wrote blog articles, journaled some more. And then wrote more blog articles. [I don't think journaling or journaled are real words - I can't find usage of journal as a verb, but I'm at a loss for what else to call it. Isn't writing in your journal, journaling??]

5. Learned about the Iroquois Nation and its tribes at the Iroquois Indian Museum. A really fantastic place.

6. Made new friends that we met at the museum; got together with them the following day.

7. Read On Writing by Stephen King in its entirety. I highly recommend it to writers in any field.

8. Watched a red fox that took up residence under the barn at our place in the Catskills.
9. Visited with my very best friend down in lower NY; went out for dinner and drinks, and got our families together the following day.

10. Visited the 9-11 Memorial in NYC.

11. Despite being a New Yorker for 26 years, I visited the New York Public Library for the first time and had my picture taken with Patience (or Fortitude).

12. Rode the A-Train.

13. Got up close and personal with a very large spider for an hour and 1/2 (kept a stout pane of glass between us). I really don’t think that would make anyone else’s vacation list except mine, and perhaps a few of my geekier nature-friends (Kate??).

Category: Catskills, family, Thursday 13 · Tags: Family, vacation

Comments

6 Responses to “Summer Vacation List: The Natural and Un-Natural”

Carolyn H. says:

July 19, 2012 at 8:44 am

Where did you go for Swainson’s thrush? I always had them easily around Inlet NY. I remember hearing them call at dusk around that lake just north of town. It’s the Bicknell’s thrush I’ve had trouble finding
- Withywindle Nature says:
  
  July 19, 2012 at 5:20 pm
  
  My goof – it was the Bicknell’s we were on the hunt for. I’ve had Swainson’s on my mind for a while (don’t ask). I had a friend in graduate school who did her master’s thesis on the Bicknell’s Thrush. She spent quite a bit of time in the Catskills, hiking mountains and listening for their call on various peaks. I haven’t gone over her – or anyone else’s – research to find out which peaks they’ve been located on in the past. I just knew that they have been heard not far from the mountain – North Dome – that our cabin is on.
  
  It was a pretty long shot, at best. It’s a bit late in the season, and I had no real reason to believe they might be nesting on North Dome. It was as much an excuse to hike up there as anything else. Have you had any evidence of Bicknell’s in your area in the past few years?
Rambling Woods says:

July 19, 2012 at 11:10 pm

Sounds like it was a great vacation…love the photo….too cute…
- Withywindle Nature says:
  
  July 20, 2012 at 9:13 am
  
  Thanks, Michelle. It was a lovely vacation. I could have easily spent the whole time up in the mountains, but am really glad I got to see my friend.
another jennifer says:

July 20, 2012 at 9:41 am

Love it. Except for the throwing a baseball right-handed. Stick with the left side. We’re much more valuable in baseball than righties!
- Withywindle Nature says:
  
  July 20, 2012 at 3:15 pm
  
  I have no doubt! It was fun to try, though. I don’t have a lefty glove, which is why I was trying right-handed….