Community Voice: A Special Part of My Day That I Look Forward To

caywood--

Those of you who have spent much time around Caywood know that the Pennysaver is the only major newspaper offering home delivery to our hamlet. At first--and okay, still-- we bemoaned the absence of the New York Times (this being New York for god's sake), but for local news and entertainment, the Pennysaver has no equal. I'm not sure how intentional the "entertainment" is, but once you've spent a few days or weeks during which your biggest outing is a visit is to the compost pile,


you look forward to reading the weekly menu at The Golden Buck, clipping out the Dairy Princess's recipe for Cheddar Cheese Sour Cream Smoothies, and bearing witness to your community's cycle of life (Births, Obituaries) in between perusing the classifieds for a qualified deer butcher.

We've mentioned "Community Voice" before in this space but perhaps our citified readership would benefit from a bit more detail. The Community Voice feature invites the reader to "have your voice heard" by emailing comments to the Pennysaver, which then compiles them into a column. The Pennysaver reserves the right to revise or reject any comment, but it's evident that it never does. Part Opinions page, part telephone party line, part never ending bitch session, there is no issue too small to find its soapbox in Community Voice:

I have noticed that ever since the economic times have gotten tougher, that area stores are becoming stingier with the icing they are putting on baked goods. For me, I buy bakery items because they are delicious and the icing is my favorite part. It is not the only thing I eat, but rather it is a special part of my day that I look forward to. Please return to full portions of icing on baked goods, even if you have to charge a little more. (Dec. 5, 2008)

So if you are wondering why the holiday treats you receive from us are a bit top heavy with frosting, now you know. We have an irate neighbor to appease.

New Favorite

caywood--

Parlour Game

caywood--

It's fun, when you're lolling around already feeling silly, to think up a Spice Girl name for the people and pets you may know.

Bella: "Timid Spice", "Garbage Spice"

Ruby: "Skittish Spice"

Phoebe: "Bossy Spice"

Let us know if you need a Spice Girl name of your own.

P.S. For reference (or can you name them yourself?). the original Spice Girls were Scary. Posh, Sporty, Ginger, and Baby Spice

Furthermore, Wikipedia says they are the most successful gal band of all time and the biggest cultural icons of the 1990's, according to a poll by Trivial Pursuit.

I have to sign off to mull this over. Just call me Life Review Spice.

You Know What's Nice?

dewitt cafe--

When a person reading the New York Times in a public place leaves it behind for someone like you.

Now You

caywood library--

I don't know if you are like me and sometimes cast about for way too long looking for a good book. If you are experiencing this, look no further! We have some recommendations for you, especially if you don't need anything uplifting. Send us yours!


My Abandonment
Peter Rock
About a father and daughter living in Portland's Forest Park, until someone finds out, and then what happens. Beautifully written, poetic, heart-aching, and a different angle from which to consider homelessness. Loosely based on real events. Rock teaches at Reed College.

Castle
J. Robert Lennon
Mysterious, very precise, and pretty unfriendly guy returns to his hometown in Upstate NY. Why? It says a lot that I didn't even like the protagonist for the first 100 pages or so but kept reading. Read it so we can talk about it! Thanks, Amy for the recommendation. Lennon teaches at Cornell.

Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure
Peter Stark
Ever wonder what it would be like to die by drowning, heat stroke, mountain sickness, hypothermia and the like? Now you can (kind of) know! Stark intercuts these fictive tales with details about the physiological processes that accompany each event. Also, remind me not to go mountain climbing with 5 of my best friends.

Carnival Wolves
Peter Rock
A novel in short stories, with some overlapping characters and themes. Starts out right here in Ithaca, NY at Cornell's Johnson Museum. Who could resist? Warning: I found the first story especially upsetting. Come to think of it, so is the second. They all have that quality to them.

Do Not Deny Me
Jean Thompson
Thompson is said to be the American answer to Alice Munro. I read that on the flyleaf; I'd never heard of Thompson, but I love Alice, so the marketing worked. As you might have gathered from a previous post, I was really taken with the first story, about an aging academic treading through a familiar and riskless rut while surrounded by post-modern know-it-alls. Totally nailed the ridiculousness, irritations, and minor joys of academia. The other stories varied in their ability to make me believe, but not a bad way to spend a Saturday.

The Light of Falling Stars
J. Robert Lennon
Just started. Stay tuned.

Bonus:
Marcello and the Real World
Francisco X. Stork
Okay, this one is for "young adults" (that includes us, right?). I was captivated by the cover art, which I found absolutely beautiful and now I very young adultish-ly want a poster of it. It's about a boy with an unspecified condition on the Autism spectrum, and the summer he spends working at his hyper-successful father's law firm. I thought Stork got Marcello's voice just right. Very touching in many ways. I also like that the author works at an affordable housing nonprofit in real life.

Kindness

caywood--

A gift of the Reading-Farmer Chapter of the Caywood Alumni Association. We miss our friends and love it they can find time for the overland journey, which is also why one of us was totally bummed out to have missed their long-anticipated visit.

Brussels Sprouts, Pork Belly, and Thee

ithaca--

Carpentry 101 class today. Skills built? Not really, though I know more reasons and have more vivid images to accompany my fear of power tools. We slipped out at lunch to pick up provisions at the Farmer's Market.

We spent some time basking in the deliciousness of the day and planning future meals.









The trees now mostly look like this, which is an awesomely appropriate sillouette for framing the full moon and the whispering clouds on dark, standard-time nights.


But for today, nothing but blue skies...



... autumnal sunset, and minty flashbacks.

Looking for Something to Do Sat., Nov. 14?

interlaken--

... well, why not join the Interlaken Sportsmen's Club for its Annual Fall Fun Shoot.

Question: Do I get to shoot anything I want?

Gun drawing tickets available. Just wondering: Does this mean the winner gets a gun without having to go through the irksome paperwork, background check, and waiting period? If so, sign me up! Perhaps I can regift it come Christmas.

The Cat's Meow

caywood sleep disorders clinic--

Ruby is waging a one feline campaign to abolish human sleep. Scratching to get out, scratching to get back in, meowing constantly, meowing in a random, unfocused way-- she tries it all. And each is effective in its own way.

Internet research reveals that something may be wrong with Ruby. Really?! You're kidding! Cats do not like others to know when they are under the weather, so they may exhibit no other symptoms when ill... only meowing. Unfortunately, cats also meow when they are feeling fine, as we have confirmed with a visit to Tburg's Bippity Boppity Boo Veterinary Clinic (where fairy godmothers daylight).

If anyone out there in our vast reading audience knows how to stop the madness, operators are standing by!

Otherwise, we'll be tuned to the All Night Ruby Show until further notice.

Reader's Almanac

trumansburg--

He wore a heavy, ugly wool sweater and fortified himself with thermoses of tea. He looked and felt ridiculous. Suffering had made him ineffectual. Outside the window the campus trees went from vivid color to rags of leaves to bare branches filled with ice. Students hurried along the sidewalks, intent on their own urgencies. The air in his lungs felt frosted. "This place will be the death of me," he said aloud, since there was no one there to hear him.

-- "Soldiers of Spiritos" in Do Not Deny Me by Jean Thompson

Trumansburg Dispatch

trumansburg--

I don't have my camera with me today, which is just as well, since I am frustratingly unable to capture what I want to most of the time.

On a related note, I am trying to notice more. Here is a list of things noticed today on the roundtrip journey between library and pizza place:

-- Surprised looking pumpkin with squiggley mouth ... Well rendered!
-- Leaf impressions in newly laid sidewalk ...Thank you, guerilla beautifier!
-- (Potentially) enchanted tree
-- Pumpkin impaled on the short spire of one of the playhouses at the Colonial Laundromat's playground. Humorous reference to this legendary
occurance?
-- Italian news channel on at pizza place. Do they always have this on?
-- Is that a pile of snow behind the phone company? No, it is a pile of transparent garbage bags filled with mostly white garbage
-- No mailboxes ... which seems out of character for this normally convenient town
-- Black cat, not crossing my path
-- One of the other dogs who participated in the Tburg 5k

While staring out the window of the pizza place instead of reading, I was reminded of a job I used to have where I was required to knock on a set of designated doors in a designated neighborhood every twenty minutes until someone was finally home or opened up. Since people are often not home during the day, or don't want to talk to you if they are home, and it does not always take twenty minutes to circle a few blocks, I spent a lot time sitting in my truck reading the paper or looking out the window. This experience convinced me it might be pretty easy to be a detective, or at least to stalk someone. An amazing amount happens when nothing is happening. People walk to the corner and come back with whatever they got there (a meal, beer, a kid); they leave the front gate of their apartments ajar, they go to their cars-- so you know what they drive-- they walk their aging dogs. Also, they don't seem to wonder why you are sitting in your parked car. But maybe that's just cityfolk.

My New Best Friend

caywood station--

Hickories! Get Your Hickories!

caywood station--

So it's true what everyone says: Hickories are hard to crack open. Then, if the nut has shattered after you get the shell open (a common occurance), you'll spend a lot of time picking out the little bits of nut. But it's so worth it! They are delicious! I bet Almanzo and his family spent many a winter night shelling hickories. If you want to try one, let me know! I will send you one.

Supplies limited to stock on hand.

Community Voice

caywood station --

News and notes from this week's Pennysaver:

"There are two families with the names that begin with the letter 'H' that should stay home from Bingo more often so someone else can win once in awhile."

You know who you are, H. Both of you.

"To the lady looking for a Gregg Shorthand book, would you please leave your number in this column again. I have several of them."

We don't often brag about it, but we're on the cutting edge of technology here in the Finger Lakes.

"If Owego is such a cool town, why are there so many complaints in the Readers' Column?"

Yeah!

"This is for Tioga ding-a-ling - the Obama care plans now number five plans and are working their way through the house and senate and changing daily. I suggest you take course in government. You need it. You are delusional. You don't have a clue!"

Take that, Tioga ding-a-ling. Tough to argue with that kind of logic.

"I see that there's two outside bathrooms, or port-a-johns, so to speak, at the end of the grandstands for the haunted house. Why don't we be proactive and leave those there all winter. They are halfway between the skateboard park and where the kids will do ice hockey. That way our fairgrounds won't turn into an outside commode. What do you think? Is this a good idea?"

No.

What Would Laura Do?

caywood--

What the f*? I plucked an apple from its storage area in the unheated office yesterday and found it was rotting! We have to make it through the whole winter with these things as our only fresh(ish) fruit!

So, let the apple-drying begin.



Still, this made K and I wonder what those pre-electric pioneer folk did. Yes, dry the fruit outside in the sun, that we know. But how did they keep the birds (and bugs) away from it? K says she read they covered it with muslin. But what if you live in a superhumid area, like say, the Finger Lakes? K conjectures you just ate a lot more mold and grime than we do now.

Day in the Life

caywood--

Morning:



Afternoon:



Evening:



You know Fall has rounded the corner from summerside to winterside when you bust out the amber liquids.

Upstate Story

romulus--

No jobs and cheap beer.



Then again, the beer doesn't seem that cheap, especially when you don't have a job.

Question: Does this mean Romulus' only ATM is looking for a new home?

Sunbeams

caywood station--

Feelin' Fit!

trumansburg--

... well, not really! That's why we signed up for the Chris Bond 5K in Tburg again this year.

Here's Karen, Jen, and Nhu, ready to run!



Meanwhile, somebody needed to hold the t-shirts and walk the dog...



The walking contingent was happy to be joined by Kit.



And nature provided the perfect conditions.

Phoebe with a Vengeance

around the house--

Five pounds of constant menace, Phoebe, rules our home with an iron claw. When she isn't terrorizing Bella (braver every day, to her credit), she is driving the humans insane. Truth be told, she is mainly driving Karen insane, as Anisa has lived under Phoebe's regime for 15 years and has acquired a "learned helplessness" approach to survival.

Phoebe's Activity List
- Standing in the doorway or at the top of the stairs to scare Bella
- Perching on the highest point i.e. hip or shoulder of a sleeping person's body
- Not letting Ruby sit on any human lap or get any human attention
- Shedding
- Drinking out of our water glasses
- Eating Bella's kibble
- Walking in the wet bathtub
- Jumping on the table
- Jumping on the counter
- Standing in the sink
- Standing on the stove, licking leftover soup from the pot (today: 4:30)
- Imitating velcro (winter long activity)
- Resting her chin on Anisa's wrist while she types
- Waiting for humans to leave the computer, so she can sit on it
- Typing coded messages to those on the outside
- Just wanting to be loved but it's hard when you are so misunderstood

It's hard to believe that just a few months ago, Phoebe was practically at death's doorstep. Things didn't look good. In fact, they looked bad. She's no spring chicken after all. But she napped, clawed and purred her way back to health and has resumed her active lifestyle.

There's a lesson there.

Caywood Caption Contest

the photo desk--



As you know from your vigilant reading of Caywood Days, Lisa (above, with friend and fellow Hubbard, Daffodil) took some kick ass pictures while she was here. Her output included some portraits of the Caywood denizens, which she snapped using her supersecret spycamera attachment like those WPA documentarians.











Submit your caption entries now. Prize: Fame. You have no idea how many readers flock to this blog.

New Hobby

the surroundings--

There is a hickory tree in the yard; Jay and Amy had told us about gathering hickories from it, but we never had. Until now!

The green part is the outer husk, which must be removed.



It accounts for about 40% of the size of the hickory... they are actually pretty small, as nuts go.







They are currrently "curing" or "drying." We'll let you know how it goes.

Finally, just a nice picture of a Fall day, like one of those on which I gathered hickories from the lawn.

Lisa's Visit

in and around Lodi--

Last week, Lisa came to visit from DC. What fun! (All the good pictures on this post I ripped off from Lisa's Flickr photostream.) We went apple picking (no pictures), junk picking (I don't care what you say, Hub, you're a junk store and there's no shame in that)...



... pumpkin picking at the place we've gone each from year since being here (Christina, Mom and Dad, does this look familiar?)...



... dog walking at the SPCA...





... hunting...



... dutch baby making...



... taking walks...




... watching hawks*...



* actually, this is a vulture


... and otherwise soaking it in!



Thanks for coming up, Lisa! Y'all come back soon, hear?

Password: Cheese & Crackers

canandaigua--

You know Karen never brags...



... so I must do her bragging for her! That is the Lively Run Goatcheesecake that she made at the, ahem, Finger Lakes Culinary Bounty Local Foods Recipe Contest COOK OFF! Her recipe was selected and yes, she had to go make it for JUDGES!

As you can see, she was not even nervous.



She won second prize! Lisa, our friend visiting from DC said, "She was robbed!" And... it was true. Karen would never say this, since she's a good sport and all, not in it for the glory. But Lisa and I know the truth: ROBBED! If you want to hear the story, ask Karen. Use the password above.


Also, she was the prettiest one here.