I went to see my Grandparents at their cottage in Black Walnut PA. The cottage faces the Susquehanna River which has become a new refuge for the Bald Eagle that has just recently been removed from the endangered species list. My Great Grandfather helped build this cottage along with his friends. The work was completed in 1937 and took years to finish considering the harsh economic times. Since that time the cottage has been known as the Black Walnut Lodge. I have come almost every year since I was born.




This is the rear view which is the part that you first see upon driving up. This always confused me that this was the rear of the cottage even though it faced the road which is gravel.



This is the view from the Susquehanna. Despite being elevated on pillars the second story of the cottage was flooded in 1973. Great Grandpa built this to last.




This is the view from the opposite side of the river. I'm looking upstream towards the island that me and my sister took the canoe around. Once you do all the work of paddling upriver, you are rewarded by being shot back down for a swift scenic ride.





This is how I got to the other side of the river. It is the "River Rat" that my uncle built with my aunt and grandfather. Now it is 45 yrs old! This has always been my favorite boat because I hate motor boats.




This is my beautiful sister Vanessa.




This is her dog Oliver.








This is my Daddy.




This is the storm that knocked the power out when I got there. It was out for 12hrs. It was so hot and I was sweating so bad without a fan in the upstairs dormer.



Here is one of the Bald Eagles. My Dad got a much better pic, but I don't have it so here is this one.




My Grandparents have a Humming Bird feeder.















This is the rail road directly behind it. You can still hear it go by everyday.





The clouds were so beautiful.









On the way home I stopped at wyalusing Rocks. The property belongs to Natives but the view is open to the public. It is amazing and one of the most photographed views of the area for obvious reasons.




So much of the area is farm land. The cows don't even look like they are suffering here.




The hawks love this area and because you are so high up you actually share their air space.







This hawk so had its eye on me.






Again the clouds were so beautiful. The hawks seem so free in the air like that.






This Ben Franklin is in the town of Towanda. I think it is probably the last surviving five and dime. I can't believe they are still open.







Here is their historical court house.





Stephen Foster took up residency here. He wrote "Camptown Races" and "Old Susanna"

De Camptown ladies sing dis song, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De Camptown race-track five miles long, Oh, doo-dah day!
I come down dah wid my hat caved in, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home wid a pocket full of tin, Oh, doo-dah day!

Gwine to run all night!
Gwine to run all day!
I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag,
Somebody bet on de bay.

De long tail filly and de big black hoss, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across, Oh, doo-dah-day!
De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can't touch bottom wid a ten foot pole, Oh, doo-dah-day!

Chorus

Old muley cow come on to de track, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De bob-tail fling her ober his back, Oh, doo-dah-day!
Den fly along like a rail-road car, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin' a race wid a shootin' star, Oh, doo-dah-day!

Chorus

See dem flyin' on a ten mile heat, Doo-dah doo-dah!
Round de race track, den repeat, Oh, doo-dah-day!
I win my money on de bob-tail nag, Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag, Oh, doo-dah-day!

Chorus





This is the view of Towanda from a bridge on the Susquehanna. My battery died here.

Thanks (e:mike). The only glass that I started with was Theodore so Mike found a set on ebay that had all of them except Theodore. When he gave it to me I found out that my Theodore glass had been broken so then I had every cup except Theodore. Now finally I have them ALL...hahahahah *evil laugh*


Check out the difference in the ducks at Hoyt Lake over a period of 20 days. They are getting so big so quickly!







I saw this beautiful bird that had a big red stripe down his tail
feather. Anyone know what it is?



What is this crazy bug? It was so hard to shoot because it was so fast.



I love turtles. This was right before I spooked him and he jumped off.

As I mentioned on (e:metalpeter)'s journal "Bonus Pictures" the gulls are taking over the city. His pictures of the art festival clearly show their dominating presence.

Today I was disturbed to know that they are also taking over Hoyt Lake. I have never seen them there in previous years. Not only are they there, but it almost seems like they are starving. Over and over they would splash the lake with their feet. Looking for food? I don't know. Check out the videos I put up on the boobtube.






So it seems like yeah I'm just crazy and talking out of my ass about Seagulls, but I did some research. Gulls have become a huge problem in Britain. One person was given emergency treatment for a deep beak wound to the neck and a 80 year old woman had a heart attack after they swooped down at her. Check out these articles by the BBC and National Geographic regarding the growing problem in Britain.





One of the articles mention that after they take to a city they stay. That would be pretty sad to always have these nasty dirty birds around all the time where they shouldn't be naturally.

Back to the beaches you peaches!!!!

I love my last post...it cracks me up. It makes me sound like a nut case, but the sky really was falling and therefore I am hardly crazy. Does anyone know how to get a weather forecast record online for free?










Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird fly
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

I just wanted you all to know the sky is falling.

I just want to clarify again that my last post has nothing to do with anyone on this site. I tried to do this before, but it was hard considering I couldn't give details. As far as I know nobody is gossiping about me on here. The situation i was referring to has nothing to do with anything I have ever talked about before or anything about my relationship with someone on this site. Now I'll try and go back on my sabbatical and put this behind me because I got a lot to do homework wise and despite being on spring break I haven't gotten any of it done.

Its just that I don't think I'll be around to defend myself and that is why i posted what I did. Hopefully nobody will ever find out what I had to do, but just in case you did, I wanted you to understand that I had to do it rather than it was something I did on a whim or without really being sure that what I did was the right thing.

Thanks for all your support everyone, including (e:leetee) who behind the scenes has given me lots of kind words of encouragement. imk it was definitely good seeing you. I'll pass it on that you think my friend is cute. She certainly is! thanks jason and metalpeter. you guys are all so nice and caring people which makes all of the ugliness I have seen in people lately (again not referring to the (e:peeps)) not so sad.

If anyone hears someone running their mouth off about me and a decision I had to make recently please tell them to check their facts. What I had to do was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. This was something I have been agonizing over for days and not something I did to be vindictive or petty. This is about somebody's life. I did the right thing regardless of whatever this person THINKS they know about the situation. Sorry for being vague, but I think it is necessary for me to protect the privacy of those involved, unlike the person that doesn't quite have their facts right.

To be praised by fools --- that is the greatest shame. ---Nichiren Daishonin

PS. This doesn't have anything to do with anyone on the site, but some of you know this person. Just in case they haven't finished with their ugly gossip yet.

I'm doing my best to hang in there. These days have been terribly sad for me. Everything I have had to deal with lately is making me much stronger. I'm not going to let other people's hateful selves ruin me. I have seen enough of people's dark side (Not anyone on this site) in a period of less than two weeks to last a lifetime. It really makes me suffer, but I guess I can say that I am not blind and I would rather see the reality of the world instead of closing my eyes and pretending that it is something it isn't.

Take care everyone.

Hello (e:peep) friends and (e:voyeurs),

In case you haven't noticed I haven't posted in almost two weeks. That is cause I am on estrip sabbatical right now. Maybe I'll come back in May. Time is moving faster than it ever has in my life.

One thing I couldn't resist looking at was (e:metalpeter)'s great pics of the st. matty's day affair. There is one pic where it looks as if I'm going to slap the shit out of (e:terry). Really I'm just leaning against a wall and am not winding up to unleash my wrath on terry.


Lator Gators,

call or send an email if you want to get a hold of me.

peace in the middle east ya'll

Today for the first time ever I changed a tire. WOW

A friend of mine just reminded me of how I also changed a car battery.

And I also put in a new DVD burner into the computer too. WOW

I can do it!

This is completely random and I feel like posting it even though you are all sick of me bringing up Cuba. Really I haven't seen any of the people that I went there with since we got back. So now all in the same week I see 3 out of 7 of them. This guy I ran into day was only with us for a month, but we all got to know him pretty well considering we were on a bus together for twelve days traveling the country. Anyways he came to a Buddhist meeting tonight that I was emceeing! I didn't recognize him because his hair was all long and he looked compltely different and he was introduced by the english pronunciation of his name. All of this is bringing up so much in my life. Actually amazing thing is that the Buddhist organization i belong to JUST became officially recognized by the Cuban government and they are now compltely official. Daisaku Ikeda, the president had met personally with Fidel many years ago. The revolution has seriously impeded religious freedoms in the past and they are now slowly opening up. This is such a great victory. To share one of my biggest regrets, not trying hard enough to connect with other members in Cuba. I had a chance to meet these people and be a part of something truely historical, but didn't. Regrets suck.

It was so good to see all of these people. Wish I could say more about all of this, but......It's top secret.