They are often very developed and designed for the tourist to enjoy from the comfort of their air conditioned SUV with the emphasis on concessions, gift shops, and designated activities and view points with a detailed explanation on the signs on what you are supposed to be experiencing. And lots of crowds. If that is the purpose of public lands then why leave the suburban strip malls and parking lots behind?
Any day I would prefer a State Forest or National Forest outside of developed recreation area. While some blazing of trails and signage are helpful along with some trail maintenance and outhouses in popular areas, often parks agencies try to make things as comfortable and regulated as a suburban backyard.
Cows! 🐄
I’ve certainly spent a lot of my summer vacation studying them up at the National Forest and reading about them and their behavior in Temple Grandin’s book Handling Livestock on Small Farms which I read on vacation.
The thing about cows is that they are big, expensive and have a lot meat. Certainly not the first animal I would want on a homestead, though after goats clean up a woodland and it transforms back to field, they’re one of the best grazers after sheep. And arguably more tasty in what they transform grass in. But certainly not the first animal you want to raise much less butcher before you have the skills and the equipment to do such things.
But they are also beautiful to watch how they act and how they rip grass and chew it down. Unlike mechanical cutting of grass, cows with their siliva actually stimulate more growth of the grass as their plate and teeth rip it off in their mouths. There is something quite delightful about the smell of grazing and with good management they can really help keep grasslands healthy for a diverse number of wildlife species. They do take a fair amount of land to raise and you still need to buy or make hay for the season grass is not growing.
Plains of Nebrasky-o – YouTube
"Is there anybody left to walk a muddy mile,
Is courage a word that's only said,
Is it true them dusty days are days that never really were,
But are only tales in books to be read?"
A very stoned walk through the woods 🌲🌳🧟🐞
It was the last day of 13 I planned to stay in the National Forest without driving. So I had a good hit and took off for a walk down a trail, into a gully, on a cloudy damp day. More than lightly toasted but soon more clarity reappeared. But it was better than the anxious suburban life. These high times in the drizzle and the rain.
It’s been a long time in the woods but I’ve enjoyed it rain or shine. Just studying the wildflowers, the bees and the birds. The occasional doe or grouse I flush out the bushes. At this point I hardly care if I step in a pile of horse shit or cow plop, it comes with the territory.
It’s good to be away for such a long time. Even if it’s mind bendingly short. But it’s a reminder that step by step I’m getting closer to owning my own land, a woods far away from the suburbanite life I live most Mondays through Friday.
I thought they’d never end ⏳
Those were the days my friend, we thought they never end, as the lyrics played by Macías Nguema on that Christmas Eve 1969. Somehow though lyrics of that delightful song have so much relevance in this era of the Trumpster. But at same time, I have look at Big Red with some sadness knowing the era is not long for him, amd that is certainly the last trip out to Finger Lakes with him coming to an end, I don’t plan to come back to the Finger Lakes at least in not in 2026 in favor of my trip to Michigan.
I should be excited about getting a new rig next spring time, 🛻 replacing Red with something newer, more reliable, more fuel efficent and safe, and much easier to park and navigate around tight spaces. But what I feel is sadness. But I know with the rust, the shit suspension, the anti-freeze and oil consumption and another salt-encrusted winter ahead, 🌨️ I know it’s getting close as his 14th birthday approaches. If I make it to April, I will have gotten 14 1/2 years out of him, and between the lift kit, cap, and other repairs probably spent $50k over 14 1/2 years which isn’t that much money for a lot of good adventures. You say that’s wasted money, but how much did you spend on hotel rooms and fancy campgrounds and restorts? Still soon this all will be a memory, photographs and thoughts back about what was. Much like how I look back at my life twenty years ago finishing up my degree at Plattsburgh State during Hurricane Katrina 🌀. While I didn’t experience any of the bad of the hurricane besides high fuel ⛽ prices, it does bring back a flood of memories of that time in college. 🎓
Kind of another cold and gray morning, though the rain pulled off fairly early and the woods isn’t so wet. 🌥️ Zucchuni, peppers, mushrooms and eggs for breakfast and lots of coffee. 🍳 I drank more coffee then I usually do at camp, ☕ but I’m not worried about an anxiety fuel haze, as I’m not going anywhere today and Big Red was remarkably well behaved yesterday. It makes me think potentially about going back down to Pennsylvania to do the Pine Creek Gorge Trail on Sunday, the last final full day in the Finger Lakes or maybe not. Tomorrow though I plan to spend in Ithaca. As a practical matter I need propane and probably grass by then, and I want to explore my options in Ithaca as I’ve heard the dispensaries are good there. And speaking of weed, 🌾 I want to check out the Cornell Botanical gardens 🌸 to see what flowers are growing there in late August and the Canadilla Gorge which surprisingly enough I’ve never visited. And maybe make time to visit Buttermilk State Park for a quick swim? Sunday looks nice, but I’m really undecided what my last full day in the Finger Lakes for at least two years, as next year I plan to do Michigan and Wisconsin in my new rig, and potentially West Virginia in November 2026. 🍁
I keep coming back to my brief trip down to BFE Pennsylvania, seeing the run-down farms and homesteads and burn barrels 🛢️ which kind of makes me want to go back on Sunday, In my mind there is something sacred about the hills around Asonia and Pine Creek Gorge, but I also like seeing fire and people burning garbage and nobody giving a damn. I just how moralistic New York politics can be and how different the culture and communities of Pennsylvania seem, and it’s not just the hillbilly incense piled upon the smells of manure, wood smoke, and other parts of rural life. 🐐 I was noticing how many people in BFE New York have a few hogs 🐽 penned up out back for a roast or bacon, plus they are such wonderful animals for building good quality soil and consuming organics. 🔥 The thing I already burn most of my junk, indeed after returning the cans and a aluminum recycling bin 🚮 at Walmart and the regular fires, once I have another campfire there won’t be really any trash leftover from two weeks of camp. I burned some of the poop 💩 the other day, but I’ll bury the rest and let it rot. It’s amazing how much poop you make – especially eating healthy – after two weeks. And so manu people are freaked out about a little trash or poop, but I’ve been having a lot of fun splashing through the cow pies on my mountain bike, 🚲 and studying the dung beetles 🐞 and watching as the plastic bottles melt and burn. Fuck you liberals and your burn ban.
The cloudy skies should be good for fishing, 🎣 and I also want to hike over to the gorge trail and I don’t know, maybe hike the Interloken over the top of the Backbone. 🚶 And find time to read and maybe listen to another audio book. 📚 Hoping it does clear out relatively early, and maybe catch one more good sunset. I have a feeling the next three days will fade away remarkably quickly, and Labor Day I want to take down camp fairly early for ra leisurely. drive out to visit my parents on Labor Day via NY 23 at least east of Oneonta. 🏡 Might stay over night there, as I’m not sure I’m ready to face my apartment come Monday evening. Tuesday I’ll have to either drive to work or bike in – – probably the prior as I want to bring my laptop in and not on the bike. 🖥️ No more express bus! 🚍 Plus if I’m unpacking, I might be late. Whateever, it’s not like I haven’t driven a lot of miles the past few weeks. And it’s not like work is all that far from home, and I’ll certainly need groceries after work. 🛒
