I Love New York Travel

We took a short trip out to Herkimer today. Traveling along Route 5, that ancient trail of the forefathers, was enjoyable. Despite the blistering heat and humidity, we kept the windows rolled down so we could snap photos of old houses, memorials, and farm equipment along the way.

The route from Utica to Herkimer (old Tryon County) is old. It was once the Indian trail for the Iroquois nations. Later, it served as the wagon trails for the settlement of Western New York and beyond. The scenery is lovely. The houses are aging– some charming, some not so. We saw a few ailing businesses still standing, too; mostly car shops and such. Antiques and corsets hawkers are further west (Bouckville is the antiques capital). Here in this area of New York, it is the architecture and farm implements that are the antiques. New Yorkers plod on, persecuted by meddling and greedy politicians, plagued by high taxation and an increasingly older population. We’ve got our history, we do.

Found this little surprise in the wall, when I removed the old 70s style medicine cabinet from the bathroom wall. Unbelievable, really. For one, junction boxes hidden inside walls is illegal. Two, it’s unsafe. Three, THIS is a hazardous, horrifying mess. Wow. If you need prrof that God exists and He is merciful, here it is.

We’re renovating the kitchen and dining room, as well as repairing the electrical and plumbing and heating systems. LOTS of work. It’s consumed my life right now. I eat, breathe, and sleep plaster and lathe, rough framing, PVC pipe vent systems, electrical code, and flooring. It’s exhausting. Initially, it was all like a treasure hunt: who knew what timeless old treasues we’d find in the studs?? But all we found were half-eaten walnuts, some dead rodents, and a few old grocery lists and newspaper waddings from the 70s. Oh well. Disappointing, yes. I wasn’t expecting gold bars or even refurbished fitness equipment, mind you. But a little note or some greenbacks from the original builder would have been nice. :D

Anyway, we’re removing horrors like the one in the photo. Whew.

I have over 3,800 photos in my Flickr account, and it grows more every year. :| I’m glad there are no restrictions on size amount and bandwidth, or I’d be fried. :|

Anyway, I dug this photo out of my old archives. I like it because it is so old looking. It’s a photo I snapped at Fort Ontario. There is a small potter’s field cemetery near the fort, a very lonely and forlorn area under some trees. The head stones I saw were from the Revolutionary and Civil War days. There were women and children buried there, too, so I assume it was a cemetery for the unclaimed soldiers and/or for their families. I gave it a sepia look. It makes the photo look more aged, but also heightens the forlorn aspect, I think.

Life was so much more serious back then. Today, everyone seems hyped up on 7-dfbx or looking like a celebrity… back then, people were concerned with if they’d have enough food to eat and if they would survive the British invasion. Times certainly have changed.