Summer's End

All right, it's actually Autumn. But today is the day the Liz and I finally begin withdrawing from our summer place and returning to the Big Apple. Yesterday we took our last canoe ride and put the canoe in the garage for the winter. Yesterday I briefly stood in the lake while I took the steps off the dock. Now that's all over.

We're not completely closing up yet -- we'll be back briefly tqwo r three times in the next couple of weeks. Partly it will depend on how much I can get in the car -- pratly on the weather. Our first return will be sometime next week -- I hope on Monday, since that is supposed to be warm and sunny, but perhaps later in the week. On that visit, I'll drain the water and bring in the outside furniture.

Oh, I forgot to mention that on Sunday we took a 6 and 1/2 mile hike that was actually 8 and 1/2 because of the walk from the car to the beginning of the loop and then became 10 and 1/2 because we tokk a wrong turn and had to retrace our steps. It was grueling and scary because we got pretty close to sunset, but since it turned out ok we were fairly happy and relieved at the end.

This summer I zeroed in on my family history project and I am planning to continue it over the winter -- which involves taking a lot of papers home that I don't really have room for in my study. So making room will be part of my New York activities.

My attention to what we are calling "my project" has had some side effects: I am less involved at Morningside Gardens than I might otherwise have been; I have not been following Episcopal Church developments as assiduously as I was before; I have not been blogging about things either.

For example, I have not mentioned meeting Canon Alan Perry in Allentown on September 24 -- that put me back in touch with my thoughts on the Anglican Covenant. In fact, I have not mentioned the meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists at all. Although I am only a hanger-on, I find these meetings stimulating and thought provoking and this one was exceptionally good.

One week ago today, we were going to come back to Heart Lake from New York, but we delayed our return by a day so we could join the march from Foley Square to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) site. We were near the front of the gathering in Foley Square, which was union led. As we entered the square we were offered caps -- by chance they were UFT caps and I was happy to wear one. It was good to see the unions in solidarity with OWS. It is just possible that this will develop into a real populist movement on the left. It remains to be seem whether the kind of real structural change we (the American people and the entire human race) need will begin to happen. Can the 99% actually bring about change? In truth, the 1% are supported by a cadre -- at least 9% and probably more -- so the 99% is really 90% or less -- and how many of those have the consciousness to realize that the game is rigged and to (at least) sympathize with OWS?

Postscript: I wrote the above before breakfast. Now it's almost suppertime and we are in New York.

Update on September 11, 2011

Today is 9/11.  I have to admit that I don't feel particularly moved by this anniversary.  This year that's partly because I am at last actually working on publishing my family history cum genealogy, and have already put some of it on the web. (at allenandliz.com.)  

A month ago our famiy was here -- Jane, Scott, Amanda and Juliana.  They arrive Thursday, August 11, and left Sunday, August 14.  It seems such a long time ago now.  The day after they left, I drove to New York for a meeting.  After I came back, for a week and a half I worked fairly steadily on my family history project and on a sermon I was scheduled to give at the Heart Lake Church on August 28th.  Meanwhile, Liz worked on a proposal for a grant related to a new boiler at St. Mary's.  On Tuesday, August 23, we felt the cottage shaking -- it was the earthquake in Virginia.  Then on Sunday August 28, Hurricane Irene broguht large amounts of rain to our area.  We had lost power hear in the middle of the night, so we had no power when we woke up Sunday.  Church at Heart Lake was cancelled, so I didn't get to deliver my sermon.  For about four hours on Sunday, starting around 10:30 AM the winds off the lake was strong and drove large amounts of rain straight at us.  Water came in around the glazing in our porch windows and under the door.  Without power, Liz was unable to work on the proposal.  We had planned to drive to New York on Sunday afternoon, but we rescheduled for Monday.  When we left, the power was still off.  Our drive on Monday was uneventful until we hit the intersection of Rte 17 and the Thruway (I-87).  Both the Thruway and Rte 17 were closed and everyone was trying to cross Long Mountain on Rte. 6 and take the Palisades Parkway. A trooper told us that the parkway was a parking lot and advised waiting a  few hours, which we did in a park in Monroe.  When we finally left Monroe about 4 in the afternoon, it was slow but steady going over the mountain, but on the parkway itself we moved pretty steadily. 

The remains of Irene did a lot of damage north of us -- in the Catskills and in Vermont.  Where Jane and Scott are in North Middlesex was spared the worst, but there was a lot of flooding not far from them. 

After mailing off the proposal, we returned to Heart Lake on Wednesday, August 31.  Along with our cousin Tim, we hosted our by now regular Labor Day Sunday family gathering.  My mother's two surving siblings were there with spouses, as well as other representatives of each of the four families of my grandparent's children.  There was also one family of second cousins.   The threatened rain held off, and it was a vey pleasant gathering.

Then on Monday afternoon the rain started.  The rain was light the rest of Monday and on Tuesday, but got heavier on Wednesday and serious flooding began on Thursday not very far from here.  Finally the rain stopped Friday afternoon.  The remnants of tropical storm Lee raised our lake as high as I have ever seen it.   We are near the top of a hill.  Down in the valleys, the flooding was devastating.  Binghamton, my home town and just forty minutes from here, was flooded and in the surrounding area lots of homes were inundated.  20,000 people were evacuated.  The Susquehanna River in this area isn't expected to subside below flood level until late tomorrow. 

Tomorrow, I go to New York for evening meetings both Monday and Tuesday.  Liz will stay here at Heart Lake and I expect to be back Wednesday afternoon -- I hope fairly early.  In addition to the laundry, I'm taking home the first load of genalogical materials to aid me in writing through the fall and winter.

Another month gone by

Another month has passed, and the current week is certainly eventful.  On Tuesday we were sitting on our porch here at Heart Lake in Northesatern Pennsylvania and we felt the cottage shaking.  Of course it was the earthquake, but for a moment we thought it was a big animal.

Now there's a hurricane bearing down on us.  We had planned to drive to New York Sunday afternoon, but now we realize that would be foolish -- we'll wait until Monday.  There's no telling what conditions will be if New York City takes a direct hit, or even a very near miss. Here at Heart Lake we're certain to get a lot of rain and maybe wind, but so far the projected path of the eye is well to the east of us.

Meanwhile, I have been working steadily at my family history, found at allenandliz.com, or rather, that's the introductory page to the site.  I have posted the bulk of my TMG data, some of which is really not yet ready for publication, and am working on text pages to accompany it. Some of the commentary is already there.  I will be posting details about the current state of the work on my genealogy blog.

Oh, What a Week!!

Last Monday evening I had an insect sting or bite that I didn't even notice until my arm began to swell.  On Tuesday, I began taking benadryl for the swelling and I was heartened that it was contained -- it didn't spread.  But it didn't go away either and I knew I had to see a doctor.  We were planning to drive back to New York on Wednesday morning, so I decided not to see a local doctor here in Pennsylvania, but to wait until I was home --  a decision I shouldn't have made, but in fact there were no bad consequences.

On our way home Wednesday, after we had been gone an hour, we realized we had forgotten to bring a very important flash drive, so we turned around, went back to the cottage, got the flash drive, and proceeded to drive home, arriving two hours later than we had expected.  And arriving into a very hot New York City, with record breaking 100 degree temperatures.

I got to the doctor on Thursday and he prescribed a powerful antibiotic and  told me to come back in a week for blood tests.  Also, if there was no improvement, he wanted me to come back Monday (that is, yesterday.)  I noticed a small improvement on Friday, and by Sunday it was clear that the antibiotic was dramatically reducing the effects of the infection.

One of the things on our schedule in New York last week was to have work done on our car -- it needed a new power steering pump and and oil pan gasket.  So we took the car to our mechanic Thursday morning.  We also had an important joint meeting of the finance, property, and stewardship committees at St. Mary's.  Liz is working on putting together a grant proposal for some of the money we need for a new boiler at St. Mary's.

But our major preoccupation while we were in New York was working towards a resolution of a family situation involving some property in Vermont.  That took up almost all of Liz's time and good deal of my time on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Since my arm didn't need attention, on Monday morning we began loading the car for our return to Heart Lake.  Thin coming weekend sees a trip to Vermont for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, a return to New York on Sunday so I can attend a meeting at Morningside Gardens on Monday, and then a return to Heart Lake next Tuesday, a week from today.  So our packing took that upcoming schedule into consideration.

We got off shortly before ten in the morning, not good, but not too bad considering the things that had been occupying us on Sunday (I haven't yet mentioned the Vestry meeting and a farewell party for our interns, both on Sunday afternoon.)

After about 35 miles, at the top of the Palisades Parkway, I discovered that there was too much play in the brake.  I was cautious with the brake as I went over Long Mountain on Route 6, and drove more slowly than usual on Route 17 to our favorite stop at Stewarts in Goshen.  I began to notice a little stiffness in the steering, and thought, oh gee, I'll have to take it back to the garage to have that looked at.  But as I pulled into Stewarts, I found that the power steering had failed completely.   Manually steering a modern Buick is a lot different from manually steering a car was in the 1950's.  A kind woman in the Stewarts directed us to a good garage in Goshen who sent us on to the local GM dealer.  It turns out that we had sprung a leak in the brake line to one of the rear wheels, so we lost brake fluid.  About the same time, the new (rebuilt) power steering pump failed.  It was a message -- it's time to stop putting money into this car.

So we looked at cars in our price range that the dealer had, and narrowed the choices down to two, one five and one six years old -- a Buick LaCrosse and a Chevy Malibu.  The Chevy is very like an updated version of the Vega we were driving when we first began going back and forth to Heart Lake -- it's very practical for carrying stuff, but not as comfortable as the Buick.  The Buick has a very roomy trunk like our present Buick, and will suit our needs very well.  So I think we'll go with the Buick.  Both cars had to be prepped, so we got  a loaner Malibu, and after the 2 hour drive to Heart Lake from Goshen, I am strongly leaning to the Buick.

Soon we face a four hour drive to pick up the car and come bake to the lake.

Publishing my Family History and Genealogy

Finally my genealogy is back online at my new website.  I'm starting small -- so far I have information up only on people descended from my 2nd great grandfather, Manzer Judson Goodrich.  Manzer's oldest son, my great grandfather Earl Ashton Goodrich, was born in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, not far from Heart Lake where I am writing this.  I am beginning by publishing the information I have on his family, because several of my first and second cousins have expressed interest in the family stories.  All four of Earl's grandparents, six of his eight great grandparents, and three of his sixteen second great grandparents lived in Susquehanna County.  Two of his great grandparents lived in adjacent Wayne County, Pennsylvania and two other great grandparents lived two counties away in Chenango County, New York.  I'll be adding information on all of those families.  After that I'll be moving on to my father's family, my maternal grandfather's family, and my great grandmother Grace (Dayton) Goodrich's family.   There are also pictures, letters and other exhibits to be added.  I can't predict the order in which I'll be adding things.

For over fifteen years I have been using what I think is the best genealogy computer program on the market, The Master Genealogist, commonly called TMG, from Wholly Genes -- the link is actually to the Wholly Genes website.  Some people think that TMG is hard to use, but I have always found it pretty straightforward.

The web presentation of my genealogy data is generated by John Cardinal's program Second Site, which is designed for use with TMG data.  I am also using Second Site to link the narrative section of my family history to the more specifically genealogical pages.

I have no connection with either Wholly Genes or Second Site except as a satisfied user, although I contributed two chapters to the book Getting the Most Out of The Master Genealogist.

The website is in its infancy and has a lot of growing to do.  Right now all I have is the beginning of the narrative and some rudimentary information on Manzer Judson Goodrich, his three wives, and his descendants.  Part of it is still pretty kludgy.  There will be pictures soon and information on more people.  Navigation will improve, too.

Independence

We're back at Heart Lake for the summer.  This year I swear I'm going to make real progress on my family history project as well as getting the books in the attic organized.

I thought I might have separation anxiety after my term on the board at Morningside ended about two months ago, but in fact I don't.  I'm just relieved, especially given what the current board has to face.  If I feel moved to do so, I may write a little about that later.

I have agreed to remain as co-chair of the Tenant Selection Committee (our name for the admissions committee) and have also agreed to join the new Apartment Sales Committee.  Those committees are meeting on Monday and Tuesday evenings next week and I'm going back to New York for both meetings -- which means two nights away from here.  Not so long ago, it cost about $35 to make the trip -- now it's over $50.  

I'm also still Treasurer of St. Mary's, a position I want to give up, and that will take some of my attention (and gas money) this summer aas well.  I'm grateful that others, especially Warden Dorothy, are carrying a great deal of the responsibility for financial planning and keeping us on track.

 For the most part, I'm free -- freer than I've been any time since February 2003.

Well, we've come to the end of another board year

Well, we've come to the end of another board year here at Morningside Gardens. This year the terms of four of us board members were up. All four of us were eligible to run again but for varying reasons each of us chose not to run, so there were four vacancies. Seven candidates ran for those four positions; they ran as two slates -- one slate of three people and one slate of four people. The slates were each backed by one of the two parties that have dominated internal politics here at Morningside for the past few years.

In the past, I have agonized over how to refer to the two parties, since they don't have names and aren't even really parties. For the moment I'm going to use color names that don't carry too much baggage (at least for me) -- Purple for the supporters of the slate of four and Orange for the supporters of the slate of three.

While the parties embody divisions that have been with us during the more than thirty years that I have been actively involved in the governance of Morningside Gardens, their recent history goes back to the debates over the resale price that occupied us in the first half of the past decade and culminated in a change in the price structure in 2006. The Purples have at their core many persons who supported the increase in price while the Oranges have at their core many persons who opposed the increase in price.

Some vocal members of both the Orange and the Purple parties have made public statements which I deplore, and it is easy to caricature the stances of both parties. Despite slogans and hyperbole, though, both parties are concerned about both the future and the present well-being of Morningside Gardens and of its cooperators. However, they have divergent views of the best way to achieve that well-being. There is also, on each side, a deep mistrust of certain people on the other side which often spills over into a near total rejection of anything put forward by any of the people on the other side.

The Orange slate won the election handily, but one member of the Purple slate out polled all three of them. When we take into account that four of the continuing members of the board are supported by the Orange party and three are supported by the Purple party, it appears on the face of it that the board is starting out divided seven to four or possibly six or seven to three with one or two swing persons. This is essentially the position we were in two years ago and we didn't come out at all well. Last year we had a board which started out divided five to five with one swing vore. Again we didn't come out well.

The reason we came out badly each year is mistrust. Two years ago it was mistrust of the manager by the newly elected officers and mistrust of the officers by the minority. Last year it was mistrust of the preceding year's officers by the newly elected officers. I am not proud of my own role in the past year -- if I had been a little more thoughtful, I might have been able to steer us away from what became an expensive debacle -- expensive in dollars but more importantly expensive in increased ill-feeling and party spirit.

With four new members, the board has an opportunity to try to pull together. Time will tell.