The American Revolution’s Second Clarion Call

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 24, 2019 in Community, Historical, Personal Values, Striving, Travel

July 9, 2019, Danbury to Fishkill-

On April 26, 1777, Sybil Ludington, 16-years -old, rode from outside Carmel, NY to Danbury, CT, warning all who would listen that the British were moving up the Still River Valley to Danbury, where British General William Tryon was leading a force which intended to burn the community, as it had been a key provisions site, for the Continental Army.

Her warnings aroused enough resistance and emergency evacuation, that the Continentals’ losses were significantly limited. Sybil’s ride, over 40 miles, was longer than that of Paul Revere, and over rougher terrain. Hers was thus the second clarion call of the American Revolution.

Danbury preserves much of the heritage of the Revolutionary War Era, including a Freedom Trail, somewhat shorter than its counterpart in Boston, but a vital record of out nation’s beginnings, regardless.

Downtown Danbury’s centerpiece is Elmwood Park, a median with a fountain, that attracts many families throughout the day.

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It was already getting hot, when I happened by here, and small children were making the most of the dripping water.

Below, is a row of early Nineteenth Century buildings along the Main Street Historic District.

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Of more recent vintage is this branch County Courthouse.

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From the era of Sybil Ludington is Rider House, one of the few remaining colonial-style houses in downtown Danbury.

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Fishkill, west of Danbury, was likely on Sybil’s route and was a center of resistance to the British advance up the Hudson Valley.

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Danbury has much more to be seen than I took in, this morning, I did find a gem on Main Street: Padamina’s NY Bakery, which offers Brazilian cuisine. Having never enjoyed the fare of the South American giant, I took in a plentiful buffet plate of large chicken croques, marinated salad and grilled plantains. Padamina’s is well worth the stop.

I will be glad to return to Danbury on a future jaunt, but now it’s time to head to West Point and the United States Military Academy.

The Valley of Five Colleges

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 23, 2019 in Community, Education, Historical, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 8, 2019, Amherst, MA-

I learned much from my growing-up years in Saugus-certainly a lot more than some people, who knew me when, ever suspected. Some, especially in my family, still wonder how I’ve made it this far, ever managing to get out of my own way. Truth be known, what I learned as a child and teen determined what I retained from my college and university days, and from many experiences thereafter. I learned to survive in Saugus and how to thrive in Amherst.

Amherst both sheltered me from the real world and engaged the stretching of my comfort zone. I came to this place of five institutions of higher learning, at a time when the women’s movement was coming into full flower (no pun intended) and when the residue of the anti- war movement was settling into an ennui of apathy. Watergate rekindled a sense of outrage, for a time, but with Richard Nixon gone, by the Fall of 1974, many were back to focusing on I, Me and Mine.

I returned here today, for the first time since graduating in 1976, to see what, if anything, had really changed. Amherst College is still the centerpiece of downtown. The University of Massachusetts is the town’s largest employer. Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Hampshire College lie in a semi-circle to the south of Amherst, I took a stroll around Amherst College and downtown Amherst, before heading up to the University campus.

Here a few views of Amherst College.

The Loeb Center is a job placement hub for Amherst graduates.

Bassett is one of two planetariums in Amherst. Orchard Hill, on the University of Massachusetts campus, is the other.

Henry Ward Beecher was a pioneer in the abolitionist movement, but was later the focus of scandal, showing the two sides of even the most ardent of social reformers. Nonetheless, he is honoured by Amherst College as one of its most prominent alumni.

Lawrence Observatory, to which Bassett Planetarium is attached, is one of the first astronomical observatories in the United States, having been built in 1847.

My walk around Amherst town began with lunch. Fresh Side is a lovely Asian fusion cafe.

St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church is one of the most prominent non-college edifices in town.

Amherst Town Hall, though, is the signature Town Center building, across from the Town Green.

Fast forward a bit and I found myself gazing at the High Rise Dormitory, completed just before I attended the University.

Here is the Sciences Complex.

This scene appealed to me, as a fusion of two starkly different architectural styles.

I headed south, after a brief visit to the University Commons, and gazed towards Mt. Holyoke, from a highway rest stop. The Five Colleges were a solid unit in the 1970’s and are even more vital an educational force now. The concept of a unified and diverse educational consortium has only gained traction, in the decades since.

NEXT: Danbury, The Second Clarion of the American Revolution

The Bay State’s Sparkling Southwest

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 20, 2019 in Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Striving, Travel

July 3, 2019, Great Barrington-

In all the years I lived in the Bay State, even when I was in attendance at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, there were areas to which I never quite made it for a visit. One is the region of the Berkshire Hills that lies south of the Massachusetts Turnpike.

This morning, as I drove from Poughkeepsie, through Connecticut’s Taconic Hills and into the state of my birth, the opportunity to spend a bit of time in the southern Berkshires, entering at Sheffield and stopping for lunch at Egremont Market/Mom’s Cafe.

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I enjoyed half of my sandwich at a picnic table, outside by Hubbard Brook, which is hidden by a lush forest. The New England and Mid-Atlantic states have a fabulous forest cover, surprising to some-given the density of population between Boston and Richmond, or Charlotte, for that matter. I never once, growing up in the Boston area, felt at a loss, when I needed a forest break.

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As I was finishing my meal, a man who was through-hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail, that he had previously missed, sat briefly at the next table. As we conversed, he mentioned needing a ride to the Post Office in Great Barrington, the largest town in the southern Berkshires, so as to pick up his mail from General Delivery. Samuel seemed a pleasant sort, hailing from Houston, so I agreed to take him up to GB.

His tips could be useful, should I ever follow the long-distance hiking option, one of three post-retirement routes I’m considering. Certainly, a series of General Delivery boxes eliminates a major impediment to such travel.

After dropping Samuel off near the Post Office, I took a few minutes to pick up a replacement for an implement that had broken, earlier this journey, and took a few photos of Great Barrington’s downtown.

Here is St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church. Up the street, in the background, is First Congregational Church.

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First Congregational is better seen below.

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There is much that would lend itself to a longer stay in the southern Berkshires, but for now, I must head to the town of my childhood and youth. Besides, it’s hot and my passenger side window is not working right.

NEXT: Reflections on A Holiday Weekend, “Back Home”

Popeye Doyle Wasn’t Here

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 19, 2019 in Community, Historical, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

July 3, 2019, Poughkeepsie-

In 1971, I viewed a film called “The French Connection”, a fictionalized account of New York Police Detective Eddie Egan and his work on a case involving a French heroin smuggling syndicate, and their New York associates. Gene Hackman played Egan, using the pseudonym, “Popeye Doyle”. In one scene, Popeye interrogates a suspect in a routine case, asking him “Do you ever pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?” The suspect is sor attled by Popeye’s pushing the issue that he confesses to the actual crime of which he is accused.

That put Poughkeepsie on the map for me. About a year later, I was given a ride to the town, by some frat boys from New Paltz State University, which lies northwest,across the Hudson River. Poughkeepsie didn’t impress me as a place where people would travel, to engage in weird behaviour, but one never knows.

I stopped here to get a glimpse of how the town was faring now, after reading how it is being compared with Newburgh, a few dozen miles to the south. Both are viewed by some New Yorkers as down-at-the-heels, miniature versions of the city’s own crime-ridden neighbourhoods.

I found Poughkeepsie to be in a slightly better state, right now, than Newburgh-at least with respect to its downtown area. It is a somewhat bigger city, and serves as the commercial hub of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

As in Newburgh,I focused on the architecture and the city’s relationship with the river.

The first two photos below show a Nineteenth Century building, which may have been originally used as a mental hospital. It is now a Seventh Day Adventist church- a far cry from its original use. It still left me with an eerie feeling.

Walking downhill, towards the Hudson, my attention was grabbed by two things: This mural which occupied both sides of the street, under an overpass and a rough-looking man, struggling with his equally rough-looking dog, which wanted to walk in the middle of the busy street. Twice, both man and beast were almost done in by cars which were not going all that fast. Somehow, the approach of a police car empowered the man to get control of his pet. My attention went back to the mural.

That is what I wish to see in the struggling towns of the Mid-Hudson-and in all struggling communities. The talent and drive are here. They have, for some reason, not been tapped.

The future doesn’t necessarily need to look like this Victorian-era resort, across the river in Highland, but it starts with bright minds etching their dreams, the way the muralists did in the above scenes.

This bridge takes people to and from Highland, eight miles southwest of New Paltz and its university. That is a short distance that, for people like the young man I met in the Waterfront Park, seems like a million miles. He wasn’t happy standing and staring at the cement whale that lies near the playground, but it seemed to him to be safer than being downtown.

There is, for those who see a way to self-expression, a vibrant drama and dance scene, based in Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center.

Making beautiful noise, and painting in bright colours, are what get a community started in building a mindset of recovery and moving towards prosperity. Handouts, which the young man in the park most certainly did NOT want, will only extend the misery. I have hope for Poughkeepsie.

NEXT: A Bit of the Southern Berkshires

The Two Faces of Newburgh

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 18, 2019 in Community, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

July 2, 2019, Newburgh , NY-

One of the things I often find myself doing, when going back and forth across the continent, is spending at least a few hours in a town or city that is struggling with a variety of social ills, yet still manages to keep a semblance of what made it tick. Newburgh, in the middle Hudson Valley, is one such place.

I spent last night, and this morning, in Oley, PA, at the home of friends who operate Glick’s Greenhouse. It’s always a pleasure to stop there, with a house full of people and one sometimes grouchy greenhouse dog. When I was about to leave, after breakfast and lunch served up by a budding eight-year-old chef, the proprietor of the Greenhouse showed me some of his nephew’s latest blossoms.

The evening brought me to the Hudson Valley, and Newburgh. I made the choice to focus on the Inner City, thus spending the night at Imperial Motel, which has seen better days, though still home to some of the most regal people on Earth. A wander about the downtown area showed both early 20th and contemporary 21st Century architecture.

The City Courthouse is a busy place. Newburgh is said to be the murder capital of New York State, so it isn’t a place for the distracted or the unwary.

There are plenty of safe havens, though. These two churches signify the legacy, and the promise, that exists in places like Newburgh, and its upriver cousin, Poughkeepsie (more on it, in the next post).

I spent a little time, here and there, along Newburgh’s Riverfront, with plenty of locals celebrating the majesty of the Hudson-and a few signs of decay in spots.

Here is a view of a crossing, from south of Newburgh.

Looks like the boat might need some work.

Nonetheless, there is an enduring charm about the great river and its banks.

From this area of Newburgh’s waterfront, several ferries take people across the Hudson, to Beacon.

I took a walk, from Imperial to a small “spa”, which is another term in the Northeast for a convenience store. The dour South Asian proprietor took no crap from any of the young men who cam in and out, basically trying one scam or another. I got my coffee, treated everyone politely, while walking with confidence and had no trouble. Then again, it was broad daylight. Most trouble here seems to come from domestic disputes, and in a city where too many men have lost hope, that violence comes all too easily.

Up on the bluffs heading out of town, there is a far different ambiance. This Korean-American establishment offers one mindset that is the basis for solving many social ills: “We are one family.”

NEXT: Poughkeepsie, without Popeye Doyle

Delmarva, A Shared Gem-Part 2

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 16, 2019 in Community, Historical, Social, Striving

July 1, 2019, Dover, DE-

The one thing about this trip that went begging was time in the Maryland portion of the peninsula. That will bring me back, at some future point. This afternoon, though, I chose to satisfy my curiosity about Dover. It is inland, and so not directly part of Delaware’s thriving beach tourism-though it strikes me that a room here would be a fine base from which to visit Rehoboth, Lewes and Bethany.

Dover’s lure is history. It was the first place in the Original 13 to see the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. It is a clean, though not sanitized, place, with an orderly street grid and more civilized drivers than those further north in the state. (One would go into full road rage when I made a right turn ahead of him, instead of going straight, as HE thought I should, but that’s a tale for another day.)

That said, I will let the photos tell Dover’s story.

One view of the Legislative Building.

Any state that prominently honours its women has my heart.

A more complete view of Delaware’s State Capitol.

Note the weather vane-a Northeast tradition.

Another fine feature of Delaware-It supports its First Responders.

Here is one of Dover’s oldest homes, the John Bell House, circa 1743. John Bell did not live there. The structure was actually a workshop. This serves now as the starting point for a walking tour of Dover Green.

One more view of the State Capitol, in its entirety.

Lastly, here is a view of the place where the U.S. Constitution was first ratified: The Golden Fleece Tavern.

On the way back to my car, I chatted up a local resident who told of recently helping a young boy who’d been struck by a hit and run driver. who got off in court. Even in civilized Dover, there are miscreants at all levels. Life plods on.

NEXT: The Two Sides of Newburgh

A Capitol’s Quiet Hour

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 13, 2019 in children, Community, Historical, Personal Values, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 30, 2019, Raleigh-

Perhaps in a moment of selfishness, I chose to head to North Carolina’s Triad region, specifically to the Capitol, rather than to the west central area, north of Charlotte. This, though, is what my spirit guides were telling me was in order.

I found Raleigh in a quiet and pensive collective mood, whilst walking about the Capitol District on this morning, when many were engaged in acts of worship. I pretty much had the area to myself.

The great museums would not open until noon, by which time I was getting my laundry done, in south Raleigh’s International Market, a haven for the area’s Hispanic community.

Part of the Tar Heel story is told on the Museum of History’s grounds. The frame of a Catawba home is here, surrounded by the lushness of the Piedmont.

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North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences takes up the right flank of the Museum Quarter.

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The North Carolina Museum of History occupies the left hand side.

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Three figures greet the visitor to the Museum of History: A woman of Sauratown, Thomas Day and Frederick Augustus Olds. Sauratown is an isolated mountain region, northwest of Winston-Salem. The independence of area residents is commemorated by this statue of an unidentified woman. Thomas Day is celebrated as an example of how much a free Black man could achieve. He was a skilled cabinetmaker, of the Antebellum period. Frederick Augustus Olds, a journalist, was a relentless advocate of telling North Carolina’s story, especally of “human history” and of the advancement of both Boy and Girl Scouts.

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Here is the Promenade, in its fullness.

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North Carolina is the birthplace of three U.S. Presidents: Andrew Jackson, James Knox Polk and Andrew Johnson. They may not be the favourites of many people, but each pursued and achieved his goals. The State Capitol looms in the background.

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Here are more complete views of the State Capitol.

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This statue depicts a naval cadet, of the late Nineteenth Century. A woman passing by with her young daughter remarked to the child that it must have been most uncomfortable to have to wear such garb, in the heat of a Carolina summer.

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This bell tower, of First Presbyterian church, is framed by the Memorial Garden of the Harden family.

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At the opposite end of the Promenade, near the Natural Sciences Museum, is this statue depicting the naturalist Rachel Carson, listening to a story being told by a young boy. She was passionate about educating the young, as to the dangers posed by excessive chemical use, in the mid-Twentieth Century.

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My time with the Hispanic people showed that the Tar Heel tradition continues to promote the achievements of the individual, over a mass ideological swell. May that ethic long continue.

NEXT: Virginia’s Eastern Shore

The Turnstile Island

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 12, 2019 in Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

June 29, 2019, Charleston, SC-

It was a still, warm day, even on the water, as the Noon ferry headed out of Charleston Harbor, towards Fort Sumter. The hundred or so tourists and Park Service staff who were aboard were a far cry from the angry men who stormed Fort Sumter, after firing on the supposedly impregnable island fort, on April 12, 1861- the opening shots of the American Civil War.

The fort was one of those which had been built as a response to the glaring lack of coastal defense, during the War of 1812. Thus, it is ironic that Fort Sumter should have been the symbol of oppression, to many in South Carolina, and that it would change hands three times, during the Civil War’s progression. Built with three stories, to convey the image of indestructible fortress, it was leveled by bombardment and was turned into an earthwork, by Confederate defenders, between 1861-63.

I have had Fort Sumter on my to-go list, since 2007, when we made a family “virtual field trip” journey, for Penny’s University studies. We never made it to Charleston, among other places. Now, though, the scintillating city. and Fort Sumter, were on my blog-topic itinerary..

Here are some scenes of the ferry route and of the Fort. The park’s office and waiting area are adjacent to the South Carolina Aquarium, just north of downtown Charleston.

Whilst waiting for the Noon ferry, I happened upon East Bay Deli, on a row of eateries, three blocks south of the Aquarium. It is a perfect spot for a full line of made-to-order delicatessen foods.

Below is a scene of Castle Pinckney, a small fortress from which Confederate forces harassed Union Naval vessels.

This sand spit is used by Charlestonians as a private beach, and is not part of Fort Sumter.

The first sight we saw, after the Ranger Talk, was of these cannon portholes.

Here is one of the entrances to the lower breastworks.

A full view of the cannon ports faces east.

Sea shells were used to reinforce the mortar, during the fort’s repairs in 1862.

The cannon portholes are sometimes shut

and sometimes open.

The cannon was always at the ready.

The supports of the upper stories still remain, in several parts of the fort.

For the person who has done everything, there is this:

My money still needs to go elsewhere, but there it is. This is one such cannon that has been adopted.

Finally, here is a Howitzer, used by the Confederates, during their defense of the fort, in 1863. The Union forces won that battle and retained control of the island, thereafter.

Fort Sumter reinforced my view of the folly of war, when pursued as a means to safeguard ideology or narrow self-interest. We have far more in common, as human beings, and thankfully have come a fair distance in viewing others in a positive light, since the Nineteenth Century.

NEXT: Raleigh’s Capitol District

The School of Hope

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 9, 2019 in children, Community, Education, Historical, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 28, 2019, St. Helena Island, SC-

I am of the opinion that there should be no child left behind-and I don’t mean to throw us back to the Federal educational initiative by that name, which only met the need in a limited fashion.

Truly meeting a child’s needs is something that no “one size fits all” program can possibly address. The basis for any effort to improve a person’s well-being is love for that person, as an extension of one’s love for humanity.

Penn Center, in the heart of this Sea Island near Beaufort, is a shining example of the true meaning of “No Child left Behind”. Its genesis was the implementing of the Emancipation Proclamation. One thing that was ever in Abraham Lincoln’s mind, when he contemplated freeing the slaves in the Confederate States, was the immediate unleashing on Southern society of millions of illiterate people, the majority of whom were also not trained in any skilled trade. “Forty acres and a mule”, the mantra of freed enslaved minister Garrison Frazier, turned into a scattershot attempt to relieve that society of its immediate burden, once it became actual Federal policy. Lincoln himself, hamstrung by his own conviction that any given White man was inherently superior to any given person of another “race”, had no coherent plan to alleviate the situation.

So, it fell to Rev. Frazier and a council of educated Black men, in the Lowlands from Savannah to Charleston, to devise and implement a plan to establish a school for the children of the Sea Islands region. Penn School, established, as its name implies, with the support of the Society of Friends, became just such a school. It was initially established in 1862, even before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. Truth be known, word had reached the Black community in Savannah that many slaveholders in Virginia, Louisiana and Georgia were teaching their male slaves how to read and write. Many others had been taught, surreptitiously, by the wives and children of their masters. The former estate of a freed slave, Harvey Gantt, became the site of an expanded school, in 1864. By 1865, Quaker abolitionists in Philadelphia began supporting the school, and it was named Penn School. In 1901, Hampton Institute, a Black college in Virginia, began sponsoring the school, which was cut off from public funding by Beaufort County’s segregationist leadership. Even with this assistance, though, the school continued to struggle. In 1948, Penn School closed and Penn Center, a community development and cultural preservation institution, emerged on the property.

Today, Penn Center is a haven for the study and preservation of Gullah language and culture and for the promotion of Civil Rights. Its York W. Bailey Museum has a wealth of African art and Gullah artifacts. The Center promotes the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park, of which it is the epicenter, and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, from Florida to North Carolina. It maintains active relationships with people in West and Central Africa, with the President of Sierra Leone visiting the Center, in 1988.

Here are some scenes of Penn Center’s grounds. No photography is permitted in the Bailey Museum itself.

The Gantt House (Pine House) today serves as one of the learning sites for Penn Center.

These storage cisterns were once the school’s main source of fresh water.

This is Darrah Hall, Penn Center’s oldest building, built in 1903. It is used for large events.

The flat bottom boat is a staple of Low Country transportation. This one was built and used by freed slaves.

This is the Center’s Administration Building.

Here is one of the first classroom buildings of Penn School, circa 1905.

This complex was a beehive of activity, during my visit. Vibrant teens were calling out friendly greetings to me, while their teachers were trying to get them focused on the activity of the afternoon.

As in any community, a small cemetery has sprung up at Penn Center.

I end with two shots of Brick Church, the original site of the school, and which predates Penn Center.

There is much to learn, as yet, about Gullah Geechee culture, so I know this is far from my last visit to the Low Country. Penn Center, though, gave me an excellent introduction.

NEXT: The Wonder That Is Charleston

Staying Independent

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on July 5, 2019 in children, Community, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 4, 2019, Saugus-

I will continue (go back to) my photo blogs, in the next few posts. Jumping ahead to the Fourth of July just seems best, though.

I had a conversation with someone very close to me, during the family gathering at a niece’s home, this afternoon. One thing rings very loud and clear, from this discourse and from other conversations I’ve had, these past few months: Many people are feeling put upon by aggressive individuals and groups, who take a point of view opposite that which they happen to hold. Many individuals and groups ARE resorting to the use of force, when confronted with those taking such opposite viewpoints.

I was raised to hear other people out. My parents, social conservatives, made a great effort to understand even the most seemingly ludicrous viewpoints. I have maintained an open mind, as a result, throughout fifty-six years of adolescence and adulthood. Civil Rights have long been a matter of supreme importance in my life, and that cuts both ways. The Right cannot bully people of colour, of Faiths other than that of the majority in a community, or those living a lifestyle different from that which is conventional. The Left, likewise, cannot deprive people of more traditional bearing, of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Violent behaviour, on either side, is the stuff of fascism (even when the bully calls self “Antifa”)

I am, as it happens, an obstinate soul, when people without authority try to force me to do their bidding. Additionally, I question those who DO exercise authority, as to the ethical basis for their actions. That is what I get from both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. That is what I get from my Faith.

So, to my family-my elders, siblings and cousins: You all matter, greatly. Your point of view has at least some validity and is worth hearing, and pondering. Our family is large, so there are all points covered, on the political spectrum. I will not plug my ears to any of it, so long as you do not ascribe to a coda of violence or or a policy of defamation against your opposite numbers.

To my children, nieces/nephews, and “grands”- You are, one and all, a great hope; you are people of immense promise and, especially if you are feeling vulnerable, are worthy of all the support and love that we, your elders, can muster. We cannot spare you from life’s ups and downs, but we can point towards the light. This is the very least we can do, in building and safeguarding your own sense of well-being and independence.

Most of the problems we face, when it comes to intolerance and reactive violence, seem to stem from the violent ones acting out of insecurity. In truth, though, i have to ask, “How does a person expressing an alternative point of view, in and of itself, constitute a threat to my well-being?” It may be annoying, but it is not a threat-unless accompanied by force-which then makes it an entirely different matter.

Staying independent means, to me, that one takes the time to carefully examine issues and evaluating a variety of points of view. It also means extending that right to independence to every one else. These are my thoughts as the Sun goes down on another July 4.

	Sagittarian Seeker on By Example
	slmret on By Example
	Sagittarian Seeker on False Equivalence
	slmret on False Equivalence
	Patty Wolters on Limits of Responsibility

A Sagittarian Seeker

Sharing a life of inner and outer journeys

Category Archives: Striving

The American Revolution’s Second Clarion Call

The Bay State’s Sparkling Southwest

A Capitol’s Quiet Hour

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