A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

Hiking

Cleansing the mind and body with a day of geocaching

Nature really can be medication for the mind and body.

Being stressed recently with the job situation, I needed to get out. Last weekend, I had the chance to meet up with a friend, Tavis, and head out on a day-long geocaching excursion.

It’s always fun to find a geocache out in the woods.

This went beyond regular old geocaching, though. Let me re-phrase that — it went beyond a power day of caching where the majority of caches found are park-and-grabs.

It was going to be some hiking, which is good as well because I haven’t been as active as I should be since my summer gig ended. Though my weight has remained about the same, I needed to get some activity going as I want it to keep going down, not staying status quo. The plan was to conquer Mine Kill State Park, which had a whole heap of caches among their trail system.

Turns out, this is what my mind and body needed. Though, I will say, my feet were killing me at the end of the day. That’s not just from the walking, though, it’s also from the terrain and because some of the trails were quite soupy and I didn’t have waterproof shoes on!

Anyway, back to the post at hand.

With everything going on in my world, my mind had made my stress level go through the roof. Seriously, for those of you who have battled a long bout of unemployment and such and understand, the stress level is through the roof.

So sometimes you need to find a way to ignore it all. Geocaching is the perfect hobby for that.

(For those who don’t know about geocaching and want to learn more, I’ve done a 101 series on the blog. Click the part you’d like to read: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) 

A place to sit and look at the lower falls at Mine Kill State Park.

The day started out with a quick grab along the way and then we went to the first part of Mine Kill, the falls. There are trails leading to the bottom, so you can see that part of the falls.

After hiking down to the bottom part, it was back up top to the viewing spot for the upper falls. Two caches were in this part of the park. We then headed into the main part of the park where another 13 caches awaited us, and then two more at the connected power authority.

Heck, that’s a day all on its own!

The trail systems in Mine Kill are quite nice. There’s some terrain and most of the geocaches were pretty easy to find, once you got to the area. We saw some wild trees, some great nature and some cool places.

Just what geocaching should be.

The caches in the park took a few hours, but it was a perfect day for it. The sun was out for much of the day, but it had a little feel of fall. Therefore, part of the day required a sweatshirt, which was nice because that meant it wasn’t too hot to hike.

The day was filled with a ton of great caches.

We even stopped at one point to make some lunch and enjoy just being outside. The views through much of the park at Mine Kill is quite beautiful.

I’ve been to this park a couple of times before, but mainly for the falls. It was nice to get out and explore the park a bit, take some photos and see different parts.

We had originally also planned on hiking up to Vroman’s Nose, but with a full day of hiking already under our belts, it was decided that was better saved for another day. Instead, we then focused on a few shorter hikes in smaller town parks and a bunch of park-and-grab caches to finish off the day.

Of those local parks, one ended up being on a trail that was pretty overgrown. To make it easier coming out, we actually walked our way through a cornfield. Now that was interesting.

How’s that corn?

One of the caches we found was a memorial for Old Blenheim Bridge, an historical covered bridge that was washed away when Irene came through a few years ago. It’s sad to see that spot as it is now as it was one of my favorite covered bridges in New York.

Toward the end of the day, we hit up a small town park, where there was a multi and a letterbox hybrid. We found both, but there must have been some festival earlier in the day as there were still people milling around. There was also some tug-of-war competitions going on.

In the end, it turned out to be one heck of a day as I ended with 35 finds (Tavis had one or two more as we found a couple I had previously found), so not bad at all.

And it was good because my mind wandered for the entire day and that was something I needed.

Here are a few more photos from that day:

Colorful nature.

Signing the log.

Found — without trespassing!

Sign we saw at a fishing access. Looked old school.

Sign in Mine Kill State Park. Looked like an old wanted poster.

The lower falls at Mine Kill.

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Book Review: Sheltered

(Note: I am in two challenges this month, so this is running a little earlier than I normally would publish a post. My 30 minus 2 Challenge post will be published early in the afternoon.) 

In 2011, I did a series of stories about people who had hiked the Appalachian Trail. It truly is amazing to hear people speak about their experiences.

One of the people I wrote about was Emily Harper, a Pennsylvania teenager hiking more than 2,100 miles on her own. It’s pretty amazing to hear about something like this. Late in 2012, she e-mailed me and let me know she wrote a book about her experiences and was curious if I wanted to read and review it.

Of course!

Sheltered

She sent me two copies — one for me to read and review and the other to give away. So if you’re interested in winning this autographed book, see the bottom of this post for the details.

With all that in mind, this is an honest review of the book, which takes you along the Appalachian Trail through her eyes. Her details are quite strong, he writing is conversational and, the one thing I truly loved, she didn’t hold anything back. It’s a colorful tale of her time along the trail, off the trail, her experiences and the people she met and hiked with.

It’s not perfect by any means. It’s a self-published book and it has some errors throughout. I’ll touch more on those later. While it’s true that I probably gave a little leeway here because of what she accomplished at her age, I’m still a writer and reader first — and I had to put myself in each of those shoes throughout. The price seems a little on the high side at $15.50 for paperback (on Amazon) and $5.99 for the Kindle version (on Amazon). If you are an Amazon Prime member, you an borrow the Kindle version for free, which is a good thing.

Still, as somebody who claims he will eventually write a book or three, I know the dedication and time needed and understand what she went through. But there are a lot of basic things in the book that made me cringe a little, which sometimes makes it hard to continue, no matter how good the stories are.

In the end, I’m glad I got the chance to read it, especially knowing I had written about her before. This is probably a good read for younger women thinking about tackling this hike by themselves as Harper is really straight forward with things and shows you what it’s like for a woman on the trail.  Now, I’ll get a little more in-depth on my likes and dislikes.

The Good

There’s something to be said about not holding back any punches. Harper definitely doesn’t and that’s refreshing.

She’s candid about people she hiked with and met. She offers up her attitude on different things. She flaunts that hiking as a female can often be way better than being a guy. And she also shows a softer side in situations.

I liked that.

Many hiking books I’ve read don’t show that. They show you the eyes of the hike, introduce you to some people and make it sound pretty good. There’s no doubt that Harper’s hike wasn’t perfect. In fact, if you read the book, there might be times where you’ll say something out loud, wondering what she was thinking. Or that you didn’t like how she acted. I know I did. But I liked that. Because she didn’t paint herself as an angel. She also didn’t paint anyone else as being perfect.

Harper had some interesting hiking partners. From the ones she started off with and eventually was left behind by, to the ones she truly seemed to care about and wonder about what happened with them. She paints a picture in the reader’s mind of these people. She lets you develop your own thoughts. I like that.

The other thing I did like is this book is more like a journal. And, as somebody who read her online trail journal during her hike, it was nice to see that style in her book.

It’s personal, but can be impersonal at times. It’s written in a style that isn’t literary. Many people may not like this style. I don’t mind it with this book. It has to have a certain flavor for me to enjoy a style like this and I can dig it here. It’s almost like she handed me an old leather-bound book, handwritten for her long journey.

That, however, tends to lead into something that isn’t liked by most…

The Bad

Spelling. Grammar.

If one is to expect people to spend money on a book, the author needs to do everything in his or her power to make sure the book is clean in regard to spelling and grammar. I respect the self-publishing route. I’m not snobby like some who think self-publishing is a bad thing. In the modern day, some people need to go that route to get books published. And I’ve found many, many books I’ve truly enjoyed through authors who took that route.

That doesn’t, however, excuse one from doing everything in his or her power to make sure things are right.

There were a lot of mistakes in this book. I had started writing them down and finally stopped after a while. It was frustrating at times. Though I got through the book relatively quickly, there were moments I had to put the book down because I couldn’t accept the issues. I always went back, though, as the story was good.

The major errors includes punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.

A few examples including misspelling of things such as Willy Wonka, which was spelled Wanka. Or not capitalizing “Subway.” There were places where words needed hyphens, or needed to follow the right tense — one spot said “… but made my arms ached.” There was a chapter, too, where she spoke about some hiking friends and spelled the name of one person two ways.

Some people might be able to overlook issues like this, but I couldn’t. It was hard at times. A few things like this is one thing, but having it littered throughout makes one wonder if it was ever proofed or edited. If not, it could use a good edit and then maybe put out “a second edition” to update things a bit. Having two or three people — ones who aren’t afraid to tell the truth — edit a book before hitting the publish button can be worth their weight in gold.

I also would have liked a little more explanation at times, such as telling the reader what “root ball” is, besides it being a game some hikers played during their time on the trail.

Rating

Taking everything into account, I’m not going to lie that this was an extremely hard book to rate. There were so many good things, but then the issues with grammar and spelling really took the wind out of my sails.

I just didn’t know.

The reality is, I’d probably split this one down the middle. In other words, I’d give it a 2.5 or so. But that’s not based on the content. So, with that in mind, I’d bump it to a 3 out of 5 and would be more than willing to go a bit higher if a second edition came out with a bunch of edits. The 3 is worth is on content and style alone. But I couldn’t go more with knowing the issues with common things, some of which probably could have been avoided with a slow spell/grammar check in Word.

Artwork (For The Artful Readers Club)

This book is also one I’m reading for The Artful Readers Club. In this club, we read one book per month and also have to so some sort of a piece of art to go with it. For the second straight month, I went with an advertisement. I wanted to use a hiking shelter, but I couldn’t find any in my archived. I thought I had some. Instead, I just went with a trail photo.

For the Artful Readers Club.

Book Giveaway

I have a signed edition of this book that I’ll be giving away. So for the next two weeks, I’ll accept entries. Just drop a comment down below and you’re automatically entered in the drawing. Note that the book will be shipped via media mail to the winner.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Woodland murder is still a mystery at Wilber Lake

This body was found recently at Wilber Lake. No identification has been made.

(Side note: This is obviously me delving into fiction here based on finding this object during a recent geocache outing. Enjoy!)

ONEONTA — Cops still had the area taped off Thursday night as they investigated an apparent murder at Wilber Lake.

The body was found by a group of geocachers as they traipsed through the woods looking for what they called treasure. Cops said none are suspects.

The gruesome scene made some cops shiver.

There are many trails through the park.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in 30 years as a cop,” said local police officer Joey Bagadonuts. “This was a heartless and pointless crime. This kid had a full life ahead of ’em.”

The victim, who has not yet been identified, was found beheaded in the woods. Cops said it appears like the body had been here a while, which will make it tough to find clues.

“The area is pretty clean, outside the body,” Bagadonuts said. “There’s the nearby lake, too. We’ll be looking for clues in that as well.”

The body was clothed, though some of the clothing was tattered. That could be because the body had been in the elements. A lot of dirt and mud was also on the body, which could show there had been some sort of struggle.

Cops said they will be on the scene for another day or so as they comb the area for clues.

Sources close to the situation indicated the head has not been found yet and DNA has been taken to see if it could be matched with those on missing person lists.

The body was found in an underused area of the park. There was a slight trail and the body was in the open.

“I’m shocked nobody discovered this before,” Bagadonuts said. “Unless it was placed there recently.

Those who found the body were geocachers. Geocaching is a game that is played where people hide containers in the wild and upload GPS coordinates to a website. Others will then get the coordinates and go find the container.

The headless body was found by geocachers.

The group stumbled upon the horrific scene on a crisp fall morning.

“They called police right away,” said Burt Bakon, public information officer for the local police. “It was my understanding that they were quite shocked and emotional, which I can fully understand.”

Police are also trying to figure out how somebody brought the body into the park. There are numerous trails and the area is popular for fishermen.

The trail systems are pretty straight forward, but people also paddle on the water.

“There are many ways to get to where the body was found,” Bakon said. “We’re exploring every possibility and asking anyone with information to contact us.”

Police said the body was also found with black-and-blue marks as well as red rashes. This could be a sign of a struggle, or could have come after the attack.

The body was also found without any identification and cops say they can’t start to figure out some things without identifying the body.

“This is going to be one complicated case,” Bakon said. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Other images from the seen are as follows:

Black-and-blue marks were found on the body.

Marks were all over the hands, which could possibly show the victim was fighting back.

The body was found clothed.

Geocachers found the body on the side of a trail.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Notes from my noodle: September 25 edition

“Get busy living or get busy dying…”

I’m sure many of you may remember that quote from the Shawshank Redemption, said by Red, portrayed by Morgan Freeman.

I write this post as I listen to some big-band era swing music. It’s some pretty sweet stuff. It can get you in the mood to be creative. Though I’ll readily admit not being a fan of a lot of jazz music, there’s something about the big-band era that really works for me.

Especially the songs with the faster pace and beat. Songs like “Sing, sing, sing” by Benny Goodman. Excellent stuff. Makes me thing of the 1920s and 1930s. Gangsters. Prohibition. Suits. Cigars.

Ahhh… talk about a time in history.

Recently, I was at a friend’s wedding. During the dinner portion, the DJ played some swing music. A couple people got out and danced. It was kind of fun to watch.

I was then chatting to a friend about this era of music and noted if I could go and live in a different era, this would be the one.

Back when Zoot Suits were the norm.

And I’m not a supporter or advocate for organized crime, but there’s something about the gangsters from that era. The suits. The cars. The Tommy Guns — AKA a Chicago typewriter.

And, of course, swing music.

I’m not sure what I would have been. Maybe I’d still have been a scribe. I could see covering the Yankees or something back then for one of the many New York papers. Maybe I’d have been on the crime beat.

Heck, maybe I’d have been a gangster. Chewing a cigar and rat-a-tatting with the Tommy Gun.

Who knows.

But what an era.

I know a lot of people don’t listen to music when they write. And, for the most part, I can’t listen to music with words when writing. But tunes such as classical pieces or the swing band era can keep my mind rolling as I write.

And with the jazzy stuff I have playing tonight, it’s got me thinking of old cars (Like the Ford Model Ts and As) and the prohibition era of time. Black and white.

That’s the era I’d definitely love to be in if not for now.

And while you read the rest of this post, have a listen to a little Benny Goodman:

****

As many of you know, I’m still working on finding a job. The resumes keep going out and I can’t seem to find much. I’ve thankfully landed something on a part-time basis, but it’s basically once a week and it’s not even every week. Still, it’s something to help me along and get something more recent on the resume.

So, I’ve been looking at career changes. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that here before.

I recently visited a school for a program I’m highly interested in. I’m not going to spill all the beans here because I hate putting things out there until I know for sure if I’m going to do it or not. Some friends already know as I needed to see what some people thought.

My issue?

I don’t want to fail — again.

Though I realize I didn’t fail in newspapers and journalism, the industry failed me. And I don’t think it’s getting any better. And with barely anything in a retirement fund, I need something different.

I’ve watched others go the route of changing careers during the mid-life years and do well. Heck, take a peek at my brother who fully changed directions and went into teaching and now he’s a tenured teacher at a good school.

Might as well give it a go, yeah?

So, I’ve e-mailed one other school today in hopes of being able to compare the two programs. There’s a significant price differential in the program, as well as hours needed and the time frame to finish. The end result would likely be me going into business for myself. It’s something I’m thinking long and hard about.

Once I decide, believe me, I’ll share with the readers of the blog. For now, I’ll leave it with my seriously considering a massive change in career direction.

****

Speaking of writing and career things, I’ve also finally sat down to work on a couple of fictional books. These likely won’t be huge books, but I’m hoping to write them and see where it takes me.

I don’t fathom any riches here.

I need to get working on my book ideas so I can one day have a book like this!

The reality is, I’ll likely publish them on myself. If any money is made, it will basically just be a bonus. My thing is just getting it done. Then seeing about shaping it and all from there. If something bigger comes out of one of these, awesome. If not, it’s more of a goal to just do it.

My big issue with fiction is shaping the story.

I have a couple of real-life things I’m working on, too. I’m not sure if they will be full-blown books, a series here on the blog or something along the lines of an Amazon Kindle Single. But, I am hoping to work on those, too.

I need to push forward. I’ve applied and applied for things to get squashed. I guess it’s time to take the bull by the horns…

****

I went on a small trip Sunday, heading up to Ithaca to hike a bit, find some waterfalls and take a few photos.

But I also got to play disc golf for the first time since early June.

Taughannock Falls just outside of Ithaca. I took this shot Sunday during a day trip to the Ithaca area.

It was nice to get out and flip a few discs on an actual course. To be fair, it was just a nine-hole course, but it was so nice. It’s also good because I’m playing in an Ace Race in a couple of weeks. While I don’t expect to do anything major in that Ace Race, I’d at least like to know I can throw a disc well enough to get it close to baskets!

As for the day overall, it was nice.

For those of you who have never been to Ithaca, it’s a wonderful little city. The city’s motto is “Ithaca is Gorges.” There are many gorges and waterfalls to explore throughout the area, so it makes for a nice day trip.

In total, I got to see several awesome waterfalls and hiked — including the disc golf — upward of 3.5-4 miles, which is always nice to do.

I had been worried about the waterfalls and how much water would be coming off them, considering the lack of rain we’ve had all summer. Alas, recent rains made most of them vibrant falls. All but one were fun to check out and take photos of — in all their glory.

And yes, there were a few geocaches mixed in as well.

In the end, it was a good getaway from the real-world issues going on in my life. Nature can do that to you.

**** 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the passing of a well-known local person.

Sid Levine died Sunday at the age of 99. I only knew Levine in his later years as he owned part of the Oneonta Tigers, the minor-league team I covered for six years. A quiet man, Levine was one of the nicest people I dealt with. He also was a no-nonsense person. He didn’t worry about what people though, he told you how it was.

And that’s how it should be.

He, along with co-owner Sam Nader, ran the local team up until selling in 2008. The team then left the area before the 2010 season.

I dealt with and developed a stronger relationship with Nader, now 93, but toward the end of the run of the Tigers, I also got to know Levine. He was always a gentleman and had an infectious smile. And he knew his baseball.

Nader and Levine were close friends for more than 75 years and when I visited with Nader one afternoon earlier this year, I had to come after a certain time as he and Levine still met nearly every day to chat.

Levine’s legacy in the Oneonta area will live on for a long time. But he’ll be missed, that’s for sure — for many more reasons than baseball.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Book review: The Best Way – El Camino de Santiago

Allow me to preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Bill Walker’s storytelling and how he weaves a book about hiking together. I’ve also found Bill to be quite an engaging fellow as I’ve written about him on this blog before, both with book reviews and a story I did about him and hiking long distance.

I didn’t hate his latest book by any means. In fact, it was through him that I first discovered what the heck the El Camino de Santiago was. Without doing the story about him, I might not know much about this hike, outside of the 2010 film The Way, which starred Martin Sheen.

Still, when doing book reviews, I like to be as honest as possible.

There were moments during my reading of The Best Way: El Camino de Santiago where I grumbled about it and wondered if I would plod through. Too, there were times when the book breezed by and captured my attention and imagination like Walker’s past books. The fact that there were parts that made me feel fully opposite of others made this a maddening read.

The Good

One thing I like about Walker’s books are how well he describes things. He takes basic things and makes them sound wonderful. His descriptions of the people he meets on his jaunts make you feel like you are there standing next to him and seeing these people.

The way he writes about all the little towns and places he stays and eats is very strong. When I finished this book, I had a great feel of this trip and what a person must go through to do this hike. And, if you’ve read other Walker-written books, you’ll know that you will know all about the hike when the book is finished, which is more than I can say for some other hiking books I’ve read.

Walker’s style is easy to get into. It’s conversational and you can feel like he’s telling you a story. When dealing with things such as long-distance hikes, that’s important. The reason being? Most of us won’t do a long-distance hike, so to get the full feel of what one has to go through on these hikes.

Walker is colorful, truthful and doesn’t ever really hold back punches, which I fully appreciate.  It’s nice to get a story that tells the truth of the hike, whether it be good or bad.

The one big thing Walker has done here? He’s made me really want to think about doing this hike. I’ve often thought about wanting to do a long-distance hike, but I also realized that the Appalachian Trail or Pacific Crest Trail likely wouldn’t be in my future. The El Camino has a lot more meaning to it, in my eyes, and it’s something I’ll definitely be researching.

The Bad

I don’t speak Spanish.

That also means that I don’t read Spanish. For those who do, kudos. But I can’t and don’t.

There are parts of this book where Walker writes his conversations that he held in Spanish. I fully respect that he can speak, write and understand that language. And there are times when he translated what he said. But, there were also times he didn’t.

All it takes is in the beginning to note that many conversations were in Spanish. I don’t have to visually see it to be able to imagine it. In fact, it makes it harder for me to continue because it makes the reading choppy and not very enjoyable. One thing I’ve always believed is by making a reader stop and scratch their head when reading, you risk losing them.

I was almost lost.

In Walker’s previous two books, I flew through them in a few days. This one took a while. Mainly because when I hit these Spanish speaking parts or something else, I’d drift off and stay away for a day or so.

The other thing is the history lessons. Look, I love history. It was always a favorite in high school and college and I often took elective classes because of this. And I don’t mind reading about history.

But there were times where Walker went deeply into history and it took up a chapter at a time. I don’t want all of that. Personally, I’d want to see it in a shorter version. Books like this are ones I get for the stories about the trip. The people, the events, everything else. I appreciate some of the history, especially because of how long and how historical this hike is. But there were times where it seemed like it was being forced to me more than intertwined with the story of Walker’s hike.

Other may see it fully differently, and I respect that.

Overall thoughts

This was a good read for the most part.

As I noted earlier in the review, I like Walker’s style and his storytelling is some of the best I’ve read when it comes to long-distance hiking and I’ve read quite a few books about the subject.

Still, it wasn’t perfect.

Of the three Walker books I’ve read, this is probably my least favorite overall, yet it’s probably my second favorite in regard to subject. There are parts of this one that really made me think it was going to outdo his other books, but then parts where I wanted to close the book and move on.

If you are a fan of Walker’s writing, I would highly encourage you to grab a copy and read it. If you are a long-distance hiking fan or have interest in the El Camino, again, grab a copy.

I’m not sure this book will be something everyone would enjoy, but it’s still worth the read as Walker gives you a good look at the El Camino, it’s history and what it’s like to go through the hike.

Rating

This book was, for the most part, a solid read. It had some downs, but more ups. I know most major sites won’t give half-stars, but that’s their choice, not mine. For this review, I’ll give the book a solid 3.5 stars and highly encourage people to read it.

On the web

See more about Walker at his website.

If you are interested in purchasing The Best Way or any of Walker’s books, feel free to click on any of these links:

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!