The Many Waterfalls of Watkins Glen

Our planet is truly amazing.  The way the forces of nature act on each other.  The way terrain changes over hundreds of thousands of years. Earlier this summer, I wrote about the Shawangunk Mountains that were formed by a massive glacier during an ice age. I recently visited another part of New York impacted by glaciers and 10,000 years of rivers and creeks flowing towards the Finger Lakes of New York. 

Watkins Glen State Park features a 2-mile gorge formed when the last ice age glaciers receded. ‘Glen’ is a Greek word meaning “small, narrow, secluded valley.” The Glen Creek continued to cut away at the sandstone eroding the layers of sandstone and shale that formed 380 million years ago. A series of waterfalls and round flume holes formed amidst the rocks. Beginning in 1863, this secluded valley was opened to the public and started receiving tourist visitors. In 1906 it became New York State property.  During the 1930s, a stone walkway & walls were built by Civilian Conservation Corps. The 1.5 mile Gorge Trail explores nature’s beauty by sending hikers past 19 waterfalls. The highest waterfall, the Central Cascade, plunges more than 60 feet.

We reached Watkins Glen just as Mother Nature called up a thunderstorm dumping huge amounts of rainwater. We stayed in the car for a while and visited the gift shop to let the worst of the storm pass by. Prior to our trip, my parents advised us to “Shuttle up, Hike down.” So glad we had this advice. The upper elevation is 1,000 feet and the trail descends 520 feet to the lower entrance. Once the thunderstorm let up, we headed for the shuttle. As we hiked down, we could see the progression of the water’s erosion (take note of the early pictures compared to the later pictures.) The walls of the gorge were covered in shade-loving lush, green ferns. Water trickled down from the sides of the top of the gorge creating a few extra waterfalls, one of which we had to walk behind as we continued on the trail. The paving stones were wet from the rain, but it is important to note that the trail is normally wet from the falls and mist. Make sure to wear proper footwear.

When visiting, also note that there is a fee per car of $10.  The shuttle is run by a separate company that charges $5 per person, but the fee is worth it!

*All photos taken and owned by me with the exception of the park map

Summer Reading Book Blog - Part 2

Summer break is coming to an end. I recently heard on the House of Ed Tech podcast that August is one long Sunday night for teachers. I tend to feel torn between the excitement of a new school year (as I write this in early August, I have already looked at my rosters for the new year) and longing for more quiet time to relax and read. So I tried my best to focus on my most anticipated reads in my TBR pile. 

I finally finished War & Peace!  Continues to be more about the war than about the peace.  The final, and fourth, Volume of the book reads like non-fiction. Tolstoy is philosophizing on the decisions made during the Patriotic War of 1812 (as it is known in Russia) and the outcomes of those decisions.  He goes on about how victory is not based on the generals’ decisions, but on the morale of the military.  He reasons that Napoleon suffered defeat in Moscow due to the disorganization of the thousands of soldiers (pillaging the homes of Moscow even after many were burned to prevent just that.) Tolstoy then goes on to discuss Enlightenment theory on the free will of men as well as how power is earned. It reminds me of Machiavelli’s writing in The Prince. Tolstoy does not write as much about the characters in the second half of the book as opposed to the first half (Volumes 1 & 2.)  While the Epilogue finishes up the stories of some of our main character families, there are still several characters whose stories are left unfinished.  (What happened to Madame Bourianne? She just kinda disappeared.) As a reader, I was disappointed because I liked the characters & Tolstoy’s prose style. 

The three books being reviewed in this blog illustrate my diverse interests in reading.  The first novel is by one of my favorite humor writers and his series that spoofs Shakespeare. I continued to include Black authors in my reading list.  The second book is an Afrofantasy novel.  The third book is a historical fiction novel taking place in the United States during the Civil War Era. (Click on cover images for Goodreads links.)

Fiction/Satire - Christopher Moore’s writing is hysterical.  I was introduced to him by a friend who lent me “Island of the Sequined Love Nun.”  Shakespear for Squirrels was published in 2020 (at the beginning of the pandemic.)  I kept waiting for my library to get it in, but they never did.  Maybe it was too bawdy? There is quite a bit of ‘frolicking’ and snogging.  But bawdiness aside, it is a humorous take on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Nights Dream (one of my favorite plays by the Bard.)  Pocket of Dog Snogging, Moore’s protagonist from Fool (King Lear) & The Serpent of Venice (The Merchant of Venice), returns in full motley with his puppet Jones, his apprentice Drool, and his monkey Jeff to take on Athens.

Pocket of Dog Snogging washes up on the sun-bleached shores of Greece and into deep trouble. He encounters a pair of runaway lovers defying the Duke and his minister. Meanwhile, the rascal fairy Puck is murdered. When Pocket is found with the body, he is arrested as the suspect and faces certain death. Queen Hippolyta, set to marry the Duke in three days, offers Pocket his freedom if he can find out who killed Puck. Pocket receives help from fairies on his quest to find the truth, save his neck, and ensure that all ends well. 

Fantasy - Kingdom of Souls is Book #1 in the new trilogy by Rena Barron. I heard about this book from BookTuber Elliot Brooks, who included this title in a list of buddy reads for 2021. Like myself, Elliot Brooks is an avid Fantasy reader. This recommendation led me to explore the Afrofantasy genre as I continue to support Black authors. Not to be confused with Afrofuturism (ex: Octavia Butler and NK Jemisin) Afrofantasy includes myth, lore, and magic used to make up a world inspired by African cultures and the Black experience (Casira Copes, 2020.) Rena Barron did just that in a gripping Young Adult story about coming of age in a world with magic, demons, and personified gods. There are two primary themes 1) the desire to please one’s parents while also pursuing a destined quest, and 2) teen romance between rival households. It was difficult to put this book down! Arrah is a remarkable protagonist. I look forward to reading Book #2.

Heir to two lines of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah has yet to show their gifts. Under the disapproving eye of her mother, the Kingdom’s most powerful priestess, she fears she may never be good enough. But when the Kingdom’s children begin to vanish, she turns desperately to a forbidden ritual: trading away years of her own life for the power to find them. Arrah’s borrowed magic reveals a nightmarish betrayal. Now she must unravel her own mother’s twisted ambitions before the fight costs more than she can afford. 

Historical Fiction - I only recently learned about Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley in an article I assigned to my students for Women’s History Month this past March. As I was browsing books at a local library books sale, my eye was caught by the title Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker. This book by Jennifer Chiaverini is told from the perspective of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley who was First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s personal dressmaker.

I must admit, I was very disappointed by this book. For the majority of the book, Keckley is an observer telling the stories around her instead of telling her own story. Additionally, the story reads more like non-fiction than historical fiction. There was not enough character development and perspective, for example, little was said about the harsh treatment she received as a save. For the entire second half of the book, I became angrier and angrier at Mary Todd Lincoln. Though Elizabeth was a free woman, Mrs. Lincoln used manipulation to enslave Elizabeth to her. Mrs. Lincoln did not expect this from her white family and friends. To summarize my thoughts on this book, here is a quote from an article by Linda Thompson of NPR on the HBO show The White Lotus: “Hiring someone whose profession is in the realm of ...domestic work and then transforming that bond into a personal one when it suits you is a pattern that has haunted relationships between rich white women and women of color for decades and centuries.”

In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed some of the most momentous events in American History, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley was born a slave. A gifted seamstress, he earned her freedom by the skill of her needle and won the friendship of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. This sweeping historical novel illustrates the extraordinary relationship the two women shared, beginning in the hallowed halls of the White House during the trials of the Civil War and enduring almost to the end of Mrs. Lincoln’s days. 

*Pictures owned by me except book covers via goodreads.com.

Yosemite National Park Hikes

In 2000, I visited Yosemite National Park nestled in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.  The park was the destination of a drive across the United States. I spent three days there, camping in a tent overnight, exploring the park’s beauty. The magnitude of Yosemite’s natural beauty left an impression that still exists twenty years later. 

The National Park Service was established to oversee federal land set apart and dedicated “as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." Though the first National Park was established in 1872, it was the Organic Act of 1916 that created a unified National Park System. The Yosemite valley became a popular tourist destination during the California Gold Rush. President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, placing it under the protection of California in 1864. Yosemite became a National Park in 1890. 

Yosemite National Park includes nearly 1,200 square miles of mountainous scenery, waterfalls, and mighty sequoia trees. I approached the park from the west, having stayed in the Pacific Ocean the night before, drive into the valley following the Merced River. The first landmark I saw was El Capitan rising up to my left. It was a truly amazing sight! I could not believe how high, and steep, it was! A climber looked so tiny in comparison. I then drove to the other end of the valley to get a spectacular view of the famous Half Dome rock formation. To hike up Half Dome requires a special permit and 10 to 12 hours of time to hike round trip. I was told the hike begins at 6 am. As exciting as this sounded, I knew I was not up for this challenge. Instead, I took a variety of shorter hikes throughout the park to see its beautiful sites.

El Capitan

Half Dome

The hike that stands out in my memories of Yosemite is that of Sentinel Dome. This granite dome rises to 8,122 feet above sea level. The hike itself is only a 1-mile from the parking area, but the trail has a steep incline with switch-backs working around and up the dome. When I got to the top, I held on to a large boulder while the wind billowed around me in this moment of Zen. I was 3,500 feet above the valley with a bird’s-eye-view. Sentinel rock was off to my right. I could see half-dome from across the valley. 

Yosemite Valley 

Sentinal Rock

This hike is not for those with a fear of heights, and specific hiking shoes are strongly recommended. But the view is magnificent! My photos don’t do it justice. I wish I had taken more photos, but this was before digital photography and I was limited by the number of rolls of film with only 24 photos each.

*Pictures owned by me except the National Parks Service logo.

Hiking in the Sky at Minnewaska

In September 2012, I traveled up to Burlington, Vermont to see Magic Hat and Ben & Jerry’s.  While there I did quite a bit of hiking, which I chronicled in my post Hiking Burlington VT, published in September 2017.  On the way back home, I made a few stops in Massachusetts and New York.  A friend and avid hiker recommended I stop in the Shawangunk Mountains, also known as “The Gunks.”  After doing some research, I decided to visit the Minnewaska State Park Preserve located on a ridge of “The Gunks.”  I am so glad I made that stop.

                         

I parked my car in the Upper Parking Area (see park map below) right on Lake Minnewaska, a sky lake with pristine, clear water.  “The Gunks” were formed during an ice age that lasted from about 110,000 to 12,000 years ago. Glaciers had moved down from Canada, gouging out softer rock along the way.  The rocky outcroppings left behind are made of "quartz and more quartz" conglomerates and sandstones.

I decided to take the hike out to Gertrude’s Nose. Hikers can follow a looping trail that is about 7.5 miles in length.  The trail starts off sharing the Lake Minnewaska and Millbrook Mountain carriage roads.  The Gertrude’s Nose trail breaks off as a footpath about a quarter-mile from Patterson's Pellet, a large boulder left by a receding glacier. 

        

I experienced a difficult section where I climbed down a rocky crevasse, then back up the other side. After reaching Gertrude's Nose, I chose to hike back the same way I came, which was about 6 miles total.

With the sun shining on my face, I hiked along the cliff's edge, 1200 feet high overlooking Palmaghatt Ravine and Palmaghatt Kill. The rush of being on the edge was amazing. As I looked out over the surrounding mountain range and valleys, I felt close to heaven. When I reached Gertrude's Nose, I sat on a boulder, ate my granola bar, and meditated on the amazingness of nature, creation, & our part in it.

  

I definitely recommend this hike to anyone traveling in Southern New York State. Minnewaska State Park Preserve opens daily at 9:00 am year-round. Closing hours are posted at the Park Preserve entrance and are adjusted seasonally. There is a small fee of $10 per car.

*All photos taken and owned by me with the exception of the Park Preserve map

'What I’m Listening To' Update

A few years back, I wrote a blog post answering a question posed by the Etsy Success Team: “What music do you listen to while you make?”  At the time I wasn’t really into listening to music while I work, but primarily listened to podcasts.  Beginning in March, I found myself working and teaching in my home office. Throughout the first half of this school year, I've been either working from home or working from an empty classroom while my students meet with me remotely.  Every now and again, I need silence while I work, but most of the time I need something in the background. As the 2020-21 school year proceeds (in its own unique ways) into the second half, I thought this would be a good time to take another look at what I’m listening to.

            

Listening while I work falls into two categories, while lesson planning and while commuting home. Most of the time, my ‘listen while I work’ go-to is still Podcasts, though the ones I prefer have changed.  While lesson planning, I tend to listen to interviews or history podcasts. On my commute to and from work, which is about 45 minutes each way, it's time for trivia as well as books on CD.  Though this technically isn’t ‘while I work’ it is my decompress from work time and I like having my focus redirected. Lastly, I recently busted out my old boombox and cassette tapes. I took it into my classroom where I listen to 90s grunge rock while I work.

So what are the podcasts I'm listening to these days?  When I want to connect to my interest in history I listen to Miss Information or The History Chicks. When looking for something cheery, I like Dear Hank & John featuring the Green brothers of Crash Course fame.  My trivia podcast of choice is Triviality. When I need something calming, I turn to LeVar Burton Reads or Overdue.  

  

What are you listening to while you work?

2020 Goodreads Challenge Wrap-up

I finished the 2020 Goodreads Challenge with 51 books read!  That’s 11 more books than my goal of 40 and 6 more books than I read in 2019.  Part of that growth can be attributed to the pandemic this year, but I think part is also creating more time for self-care.  Immersing myself in fictional worlds is one of the best ways to remove my daily stresses.  For the 2021 Goodreads Challenge, I decided to stick with 40 books. 

At the end of 2020, my bag of books in the closet was almost empty.  My bag of books contains used books purchased at the public library &/or local non-profit used book sales.  I usually attend two or three of these events each year and leave with a canvas grocery bag full of books.  It’s thrilling walking along the rows & rows of tables filled with books scanning spines for particular authors and interesting titles.  It’s like a scavenger hunt!  But due to the pandemic, these were canceled in 2020.  To restock, I’ve purchased a few new reads from the independent bookstore, Nowhere Bookstore, and borrowed books via curbside-pick-up from my public library.  I’ve already begun one of my new books, “Rage of Dragons” by fantasy author, Eric Winter (nice last name.)    

My favorite genre to read is fantasy.  My first book feature for this post is actually the first two books in my new favorite trilogy, N K Jemisin.  The New York Times’ honors Jemisin with this statement: “the most celebrated science fiction and fantasy writer of her generation.”   My next recommendation is a contemporary fiction novel that was made into a movie in 2019.  Lastly, I thought I would have a ‘cozy’ mystery recommendation, but the ones I picked up during the last couple of months of 2020 turned out to be just ok with three-star ratings.  So my mystery recommendation actually goes back to earlier in the year when I read a series of twelve Sherlock Holmes stories.  (Click book covers for Goodreads links.)

Fantasy - I first heard about N K Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy from The Overdue Podcast.  They did an episode on Book 1, The Fifth Season.  Jemisin creates a unique world called the Stillness that experiences disastrous seasons that last generations.  The magic system called Orogeny allows Orogenes to feel, or ‘sess,’ and control the earth’s movements.  As much as I tried to savor these books, I devoured both books 1 & 2.  Book 3 is on my shelf waiting to be read.  

In a single day, Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter.  Meanwhile, a great red rift has been torn into the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years.  Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land.

Fiction - Where’d You Go, Bernadette is one of those books that everyone was reading.  It had a resurgence in popularity in 2019 when the movie was released.  I finally got around to reading it in 2020 and I’m glad I did.  Is it realistic, no.  Is it over-the-top, yes.  Did I love it anyway, yes.  This book was so hard to put down, which in part is attributed to the various points-of-view of these fantastic characters.

When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown.     

Mystery - I read The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in ebook format via iBooks.  These stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were much shorter than I expected.  After watching the BBC tv series’ 90-minute episodes, I was expecting each story to be novel-length or at least novella length.  Instead, each story is about 30 pages long.  These twelve stories are told from Dr. Watson’s point of view (and yes I pictured Martin Freeman in my head the entire time.)  This collection starts with “A Scandal in Bohemia'' and includes favorites like “The Five Orange Pips” and “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.”  It is clear that Conan Doyle’s style has served as the model for contemporary mystery writing. His clever writing kept me engaged and paying attention to each detail as I tried to solve the mysteries along with Sherlock & Watson.

*Pictures owned by me except Goodreads logo & book covers via goodreads.com & iBooks.

A Hike Along Lake Redman

Pennsylvania is a beautiful state.  That beauty is often overlooked.  When people think of PA, they think of its many pro-sports teams, the city of Philly and the Liberty Bell, and the Amish.  Pennsylvania has over 100 State Parks making it one of the Top 10 States With the Most State Parks.  York County alone has 11 county parks.  One of those county parks, William H Kain County Park, surrounds the local reservoirs: Lake Redman and Lake Williams. 

       

This park has been there since 1976, two years before my parents and I moved to Pennsylvania.  It is one of those places that has always been there.  The property is part of a lease agreement between York County and The York Water Company.  The two lakes are divided by the Lake Williams/York Water Company Dam along South George Street, also known as the Old Trail, the Susquehanna Trail, or Rt 111.  This is the old highway that connects Baltimore, MD and Harrisburg, PA.  

        

Seven different labeled hiking trails surround both reservoirs.  The trails are also open to bicycling and horseback riding.  During fishing season, the lakes are surrounded by local fishermen.  I went for a hike the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, and the lake shores will filling up with people of all generations casting out their fishing line. There is also a boat launch as well as rentals available (although rentals were not available in 2020 due to COVID.)  Lastly, there are picnic tables at each parking area, so feel free to pack something to eat while you relax after the hike.  

        

The trailhead for the hike I’m featuring is at the Lake Redman Activity Area off of Hess Farm Rd.  According to the map, it is 1.4 miles with some small hills.  It is an out and back again type trail that turns around near the dam.  The views of Lake Redman are excellent, with parts of Interstate-83 visible.  While hiking this, you pass under the iconic Lake Redman sign visible from the highway. It is both dog & kid-friendly, though you’ll want to remember to use bug spray depending on the time of year.  The trail is mostly shaded by a variety of deciduous trees. The terrain is a mix of mown grass and gravely dirt. At one point, there is a small wooden bridge (more like a boardwalk) over a natural stream. On the way back, my dog stepped in for a little drink.

       

Minor cautions: Goose and deer hunting are allowed at certain times. I always recommend wearing a bright color when hiking, no matter what time of year. When hiking during the summer, be aware of poison ivy, which loves this mid-Atlantic state. I also recommend checking for ticks after your outing.

*All photos taken and owned by me. Map source: yorkcountypa.gov.