Benjamin Franklin’s place in American history goes without saying. Today I quote him:
Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.
With those words, I must take you into today’s indulgence in history. With my new abode, I’ve come to discover the surroundings of the
Every word uttered, is one learned, for meaning in words are not just about words, they’re about expression. When an expression is attached to a word, it can state something entirely different than intended. Here you read what I write, but if I told you the story in person and you were picking up the intonations on the words I speak, or the gestures I explain them to you with- perhaps I’d be much more clear- DEFINITELY more entertaining. Communication is about the combination of senses and if one’s not clear with their expression, one can be totally misunderstood. How many emails have YOU had misinterpreted?
Back to my point; I visited a manor called the Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow today. It’s a colonial milling complex which dates back to the late 1600’s. The family was the richest in
We were taken inside the Manor house which was largely run by the slaves, because the owner spent his time largely in
I think the most fascinating thing for me- yes, I’m a big kid too- was the making of linen from a plant called Flax. I saw it hanging in the barn and I thought it was horse hair used to make colonial wigs, but find it was actually a plant. When the plant dies, they soak it in water for 2 weeks, dry it, and crush what remains with a large wood crusher (looked kinda like a giant nut cracker- and for you perverts I offer this translation: a giant WALNUT cracker). Once it’s crushed, it’s pulled through a piece of wood which has nails upright to pull off the hard stuff. It’s then brushed and what you have is something which resembles grey hair. It was used to make linen, HOWEVER, you couldn’t wear this near the fire because it was highly flammable and we all know we wouldn’t want to be the wick of a Molotov cocktail.
There are several other things I could tell you in my observances which include the grain and mill operations, the slave garden, the drying of beans (hope their digestion systems were adapt to THAT- know mine HATES beans), times of planting, ship routes on the Hudson and a whole bunch of uninteresting stuff.
Where are we now? Well, I don’t think I need to tell ya we can call a jungle in the remote reaches of the Amazon, we have people in space, we just discovered there’s water on Mars (no kiddin.. heard tonight on news) and we have women getting boob jobs.
Note: Please refer to said quote by Ben Franklin above
It’s all about progress kids, but without a foundation in the history of the world, we’d have nothing. To be a good at what you do (as you know I’m a writer also) you must understand where we’ve been and what can be achieved. I think I just grew an inch today.
(you dirty minded people……….)
Good evening all. I spent plenty of time typing up a blog minutes ago and can’t cut and paste it to this area. Soooooo, I’ll provide a link for you. It’s in my Funk Thunder myspace Blog. It’s quite entertaining and something I think we can ALL relate to. If you’ve ever had terrible experiences with the Division of Motor Vehicles, your gonna relate to this episode for sure! Enjoy it, and feel free to drop a line!
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=97057996&blogID=419384103
Steve
My first experience at the Rockland Bakery was like when the Little Rascals lined up in front of the Sweet store, hands pasted on the window with mouths watering. Back then it was the Great Depression, and me? I could have fallen into a depression thinking how small my hands were to carry such a limited amount of bread, cakes, or cookies out without getting back on line.
There’s nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread, it’s like the perfume of humanity.
There are two entrances to the Bakery: one through the Deli which serves Boars head cold cuts, fixins, the usual bottled water and beverages, in addition to snacky sort of things for people on the run. The other point of entry is the bakery section where a line forms at the register. People are called to be served. The abrasive staff has no patience for anyone who DOESN’T know what they’re doin, and not ready to order. Seems everyone is supposed to be on the Manhattan time clock, time is money and if you don’t know what your doin, be prepared for some harsh facial expressions. It kinda reminds me of the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. Don’t ask, just follow or NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Places like this always get you in tune quick out of shear humilation. Being from New Jersey, and adapting to a New York kinda attitude… I get it. Fortunately, with my work in Manhattan I bounce into the swing pretty quickly, and let me tell you… EVERYTHING is worth the wait.
Behind the Deli and to the left of the Bakery is a small station with bags labelled Rockland Bakery and gloves which are required for stepping behind the swinging doors. The doors guide you to the assembly line where FRESH bagels come right off the line in the hundreds. You can pocket them directly in your bag- BUT, they’ll be HOT…. I mean burn ya hot. They have these bins which have them sorted and racks and racks of assorted breads. My personal favorite is the Olive loaf which is blown up like a wheel and measures probably 15 inches across. The kids can watch the loaves of bread being transported up the assembly line for bagging, but like I’ve said before … NOTHING beats the scent! Do not go there hungry because you’ll wind up with a small sack thrown over your shoulder like a summertime Santa.
When I first went, I was expecting the bill to be pretty outrageous considering I WAS hungry and I had two bags of assorted bread and a few chocolate chip cookies. When I received the bill, it was FANTASTIC! If I recall bagels where like .45 cents, my HUGE olive loaf was $4.50 and that was the most expensive thing on the bill. Rolls were something like .35 each and the cookies $1.00 . When you look at the prices in the supermarkets for a loaf of bread, you’ll find they’ve skyrocketed over the past year due to the shortages of wheat.
I don’t think there’s anything better than having a sandwich on bread which is practically out of the oven fresh. Soooooo soft, sooooooo scrumcious, in fact I just finished a few pieces of toasted olive bread for breakfast.
I’m lucky enough to say this place is REALLY close, to the point I may never eat supermarket bread again! Welcome to the Rockland bakery all: http://www.rocklandbakery.com/tour.asp
Today, I was charged as I thought about the area in which I live; not very far from
When I originally started searching the area for a home I came across Sleepy Hollow, which to me, was a fictional tale about the legendary Headless Horseman. How was I to know about the author who actually created the tale: one Washington Irving, and his life story? He also created Rip Van Winkle for those of you unfamiliar with his writings. He was the first great American writer. People came to visit his home from NYC and from all over, because he could put in words what other people could only think.
When I think of myself as living in this area, it gives me a great amount of patriotism, honor and makes me proud to say I’m American. Today, when I went through the grounds of
I’m at the point of looking at the past right now… I’ve already admired, gone forward, and now I’m full circle… I’ll do it over and over again as I continue my writing, because any great piece of writing always NEEDS the human element… and this cycle is indeed human.
I found out from our tour guide that
I’ve never lost my belief.
Good evening my dear people! It’s been some time since I’ve put anything in my precious blog and I think I’m going to get more regular now as I gear up for Fall.
I’ve been in the new place now for 3 weeks and we’ve got a great deal accomplished. Two weeks of DOG work, shaping up the house to be this little layer of inspiration, which we find comfort, livability, and convenience. I can’t tell you how excited I am in a new domain. The world is a new place with new wonders and plenty of excitement.
Today I joined the Historic places of the Hudson Valley. Amongst some of the homes are Washington Irving’s home called Sunnyside, which I visited today and four other locations which I’ll fill you in as I go.
The only disadvantage I can see in my new location is my lack of direct trains into NYC. For commuter’s it’s great with plenty of trains in the morning to get you to the satellite station, switch and get in, and plenty to get you out. I, on the other hand tend to visit at night. Granted I’m only walking distance to the train, however, it’s like a mousetrap… you have one time to get the train in…. and NO time to get one back out- direct that is. I’m seeking alternate ways to do this trip for the best possible late night run with cab fare. Don’t want to chance a couple of drinks and get behind the wheel, so it’ll be cabs.
I’ll most likely log back more info tonight on my visit to the Washington Irving place, so until then- stay tuned.
Steve