Help Needed

I am in desperate need of financial help. The problem is, in this neck of the woods, everyone is in need of financial help. Our combined income is too much to receive any services, but our debts are too high to obtain a loan or mortgage. What do we do? Not to mention, Iraq Veteran status means nothing. It's disgraceful. No help for those who work their asses off. Declaring bankruptcy is looking more like the option but there has got to be another way. We moved up here three years ago hoping to build a house on the land we bought. The land was raw though, and remains that way to this day. We work day in and day out just to get by. It's no kind of life. We've also got a baby on the way in June, and a looming eviction from my grandmothers house which we've been living in virtually rent free to get caught up on things but now, grandma is in a nursing home and the state will be involved soon. We can't buy the house through a first time home buyers program or a low income housing program because 1. Either our income is over the bracket or 2. Our debts are too high as I mentioned in the beginning. I don't suggest any young couples ever relocate to the North Country. It's rare that anyone succeeds up here. You've got to have quite a lot of money saved in order to survive. This area has chewed us up and spit us out. Canada isn't too far away... I'll try to be positive.

Hush

The wind hushed through the tall pale grass and I felt at once I was free
The wind hushed through the wings of a crow curoius to watch me
The blue ice and snow were frozen in time
And time was frozen still too
Tufts of field straw poked up through the snow and the glitter of snow stuck like glue
Everything seemed to be waiting for something, that something seemed ever so near
It was there but gone in the blink of an eye, the white flash from the tail of a deer.
So hushed was the wind from it's chore to announce
that the message was almost not heard
But it did not escape these cold ears on that day
I listened and breathed it all in.
The crow was then not so curious
For the line between us became thin.

fist posted 4/21/06

Old McCay Chest Freezer

We have an old commercial McCray freezer in our house. It's huge, I'm not sure of the dimensions at this point but I will have a picture posted soon. We want to sell it, just to get it out of the way. It belonged to my grandfather who ran a bar/pizza shop. I've been looking online to see what an approximate price would be, but I can't find much info. If anyone knows about these types of freezers could you please point me in the right direction?

Snow Mobiles

Wow, our strange neighbor across our street was out on his snow mobile until 11:30 last night. I could not sleep. He was driving it up and down the main street (which faces our bedroom window) reving the engine, and just being all out rude. It's one thing if there is a trail near your house, at least you know the snow mobiles will pass on by. This guy was racing back and forth on Main street all night long. He was like a renegade snow mobiler terrorizing the town. What's that all about?! Ugh, I'm tired.

Christmas trees

I just love cutting down my own Christmas tree. There's something victorious about tromping through the snow and chosing the perfect tree from the wilderness that it grew from. Being as though we are not in short supply of evergreens in this area, I don't feel so guilty about cutting them down for selfish, make me feel warm inside beacuse it's Christmas, reasons. I have planted some from the Arbor Day Foundations though, just to keep the balance. Does it help? I don't know. Happy tree hunting!

There's is a tree farm in Kendrew Corners on 812 towards Heuvelton/Ogdensburg that lets you cut your own tree and they serve you warm cider! Went there last year with a friend and we found a great tree.

1844 House

Great restaurant: The 1844 house in Potsdam. All meat is bought from local farmers. They use local veggies when they are in season too. Bread is from the Carriage House Bakery. I'm very excited about it. It's about time. We need to be more responsible with the food we eat. I also know for a fact that the food is mouth watering good. The money stays within the community. It's great! Let me know if you try it out. I like to promote places like that. Click the link. http://www.1844house.com/

originally posted 5/16

Cougar

In Old DeKalb, my brother-in-law claims he encountered a cougar. (Cougar, Mountain Lion, Puma- all the same animal) He said he heard his dog barking at about 5:30 a.m. and he went out to investigate. He then heard a loud growling sound, that sounded like a cougar. He shined a flashlight around the property and said he saw the animal in a tree. This was the begining of October and some leaves were still on the tree. He said he didn't get a good look at it but his dog (a Shephard Husky mix) put her tail between her legs and stayed right by his side. He saw a tan body of a big cat and white on it's face. He had his gun with him and he went to load it but when he put the flashlight down, the creature jumped out of the tree and ran off. The year before, the neighbor called and said he saw what looked to be a big cat up on their hill. Are there mountain lions around here? The DEC website says not likely but there is a small chance. My brother in-law is convinced. I have heard other stories too.

Robert Frost

The Sound of the Trees
I WONDER about the trees. Why do we wish to bear Forever the noise of these More than another noise So close to our dwelling place? We suffer them by the day Till we lose all measure of pace, And fixity in our joys, And acquire a listening air. They are that that talks of going But never gets away; And that talks no less for knowing, As it grows wiser and older, That now it means to stay. My feet tug at the floor And my head sways to my shoulder Sometimes when I watch trees sway, From the window or the door. I shall set forth for somewhere, I shall make the reckless choice Some day when they are in voice And tossing so as to scare The white clouds over them on. I shall have less to say, But I shall be gone. -Robert Frost-

Moose everywhere

I can't remember a time when there were this many moose sightings in St. Lawrence County. I would love to see one up close. Heck , Id like to see one far away too. I've only ever seen a moose in pictures. Sad isn't it.

Some times

Those were some times we had under wispering willows
some times I think back to those days
I layed my head dreaming on leaf pile pillows
I wished for my life to stay paused that way
It's harder now to trust as I did
Things were so simple living life as a kid
the willows are still there and might always be
I still love to watch them sway
I sometimes think back to when we played under those trees
and wish that my life had stayed paused that way

Bible thumping

I've just started to read the bible a little bit. No reason other than boredom, but it's worth a look. I suppose you can't argue religion without knowing the source. So I started with your standard Christian bible, nothing extreme...except the stories. Ok, Genesis is always a heated debate and frankly it is a beautiful uncomplicated sugar-coated story about the origins of man. Done. Then I skipped to Job. It's scary. It's about this guy Job who is the happiest, most faithful man on the planet. He love God, God loves him and everything is rosey. Then one day Satan approaches God and says "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan then makes a wager with God that Job will not be so happy and faithfull if everything is taken away from him. God, without much of a fight I might add, hands Job's life over to Satan with the understanding that Job himself must not be harmed. Oh, but Satan kills Job's children, livestock, and destroys his house and land. God... completely ok with it. Job... not so much. He gets pissed at God and self detructs out in the desert and his friends try to cheer him up but they can't. But, In the end Job gets new children, land, livestock, and a house and he and God have a good laugh and they're on good terms again. Did I miss something? This is what the bible has in it? This is what Christianity is based on? Since when is God a gambling buddy of Satans? I think I've been sheltered from this stuff. I guess Good & Bad isn't so black and white after all. I need explanations...

originally posted 1/29/06

Father

He told me many things but showed me more than he knew.
Sincerity was intended many a time he told.
Watching made me wonder only after he wasn't there.
Wondering caused me uncertainty.
I waited for him to tell me more.
He showed me how to listen for untruths.

(fist published 1/9/06)

Bad winter good winter?

How's it gonna be. I keep hearing different predictions. Most are saying the winter will be hard this year though. I'm inclined to believe it. The hunting season should be a good predictor. People are getting prepared now, they know the north country can be brutal. What do you think?

Tomatoes

My tomatoes still have not rippened! Everyone around me has fat juicy red tomatoes and I still have green ones. I'm hope to be seeing red very soon. I had the sweetest corn I have ever tasted last night. My mother had bought it from a stand somewhere near Pyrites I think. I'll have to confirm that and post the actual location of the stand so others can discover this amazing corn. It tasted like someone had sprinkled sugar all over it. It's true!

Debt Angels

I need a "get out of debt free" card. I can't believe the setbacks we have had financially . I'm not one of those people who max out credit cards on frivolous things. I am even a pretty good book keeper and accountant. I know there are many others in the same boat. There has got to be a network of caring people who donate what they can to a general fund for those in need to access. Once I got on my feet I would most definately contribute a large sum back into the fund. If anyone out there knows of a system like this, let me know. This working 40 + hours a week is not cutting it. I work very hard and I have only ever taken a day off for two funerals and an occasional clean house day. Where are we getting? The economy is getting worse. Cost of living is going up and the pay rates are still the same. We don't have debt collectors calling us yet but who knows how long we can keepp our heads above water. I'd say we're are about chest deep in debt. As soon as we get it down a decent amount, something else hapens. I need a solution.

Haven't written

Haven't written in a while. Great weather tends to do that to a person. PLease enjoy the blog. More entries to come.

Behind every powerful man is a strong woman

Ok, I have a theory that the reason we (The U.S) were so successful (or so the story goes) in WWII, is because of the great PR work. Posters were every where recruiting everyday people and especially stay at home women to pick up the cause. It's a pyscological thing when you see a poster of a strong woman holding down the fort. The men fighting probably felt secure, in a way, that things were being taken care of at home. I think in this war and much more so in Vietnam, the soldiers feel seperate from the rest of the population. We do not want to islolate our fighting force. It makes them either feel inferior or superior. I think a strong woman in the military could even appreciate seeing civilian women supporting the cause. Suberbia is run by cunning, smart women who can network like crazy. Someone knew that during WWII and used that to our atvantadge. Now, the only glorification of these women is Desperate Housewives. It's such a waste of a valuable resource... our citizens.

I love this joke. I borrowed it from a blog called Walt's mind.

A teacher told her young class to ask their parents for a family story with a moral at the end of it, and to return the next day to tell their stories.In the classroom the next day, Joe gave his example first, "My dad is a farmer and we have chickens. One day we were taking lots of eggs to market in a basket on the front seat of the truck when we hit a big bump in the road; the basket fell off the seat and all the eggs broke.The moral of the story is not to put all your eggs in one basket..""Very good," said the teacher.
Next, Mary said, "We are farmers too. We had twenty eggs waiting to hatch, but when they did we only got ten chicks.The moral of this story is not to count your chickens before they're hatched..""Very good," said the teacher again, very pleased with the response so far.
Next it was Barney's turn to tell his story: "My dad told me this story about my Aunt Karen.... Aunt Karen was a flight engineer in the war and her plane got hit.She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a bottle of whiskey, a machine gun and a machete.""Go on," said the teacher, intrigued."Aunt Karen drank the whiskey on the way down to prepare herself; then she landed right in the middle of a hundred enemy soldiers.She killed seventy of them with the machine gun until she ran out of bullets.Then she killed twenty more with the machete till the blade broke. And then she killed the last ten with her bare hands.""Good heavens," said the horrified teacher, "What did your father say was the moral of that frightening story?""Stay away from Aunt Karen when she's been drinking..."

We need a revolution

What ever happened to the free thinking society of the 60's and 70's. Yeah, drugs were a factor but seriously you would think that some of that revolutionary idea of love and peace would have worn off on following generations. Is it just that the cause is being carried on quietly? Taylor Hicks should be President. Anyone see the movie American Dreamz?

View Tax?

I just recently returned from a trip to New Hampshire and a friend of mine there was telling me about a proposed view tax in her area. It left me wondering how soon that trend will be here. It's essentially a tax based on the type of view that can be seen from your property. My friend was obviously outraged and so am I. Who approves these things? Just because your town is small and boring doesn't mean you shouldn't attend town meetings. Look what happens when no one is there to dispute new laws and ordinances. It's just like the Wal-Mart issue. Any comments are gladly welcomed on these two issues. I think this beautiful area has a lot to lose if we don't start paying attention. We don't want to become New Hampshire (the live free or die state... ha)