Jack's Outback Rendezvous #31 Jack's Outback Rendezvous #31

Hand Wrought Carriage Steps
Good examples of hand made functional art. These were affixed to horse drawn carriages to aid occupants in getting up onto the high seats. These hand forged steps were the "signature" pieces for area carriage makers and are kind of the precursor to the running board on modern day cars.

Stepping up, at Jack’s!
Go there. Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

Treasures of Cambridge #31 Treasures of Cambridge #31

Debra Pearlman pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, moved to Cambridge in June of 2001 after being out of the country working on a film in Chile.

She got to know the Cambridge area after working on a number of wildlife films with local filmmaker, John Carlson. She liked the area so much she moved up to Cambridge and started a business, securing a affordable studio space above Beanheads to produce and edit films and video projects in an Avid (at the time) state-of-the-art post production facility.

She did not waste time buying a house and moving her mother, who is suffering from Parkinson’s and Lewy body Diseases, up to enjoy the peace and quite that Cambridge offers its residences. Debra has traveled all over the world (to every continent except Antarctica) and yet, she is taken by the scenic beauty of this area in a way that makes her want to live here over just about any place else. "The hills and the colors in the fall, you feel like you are walking in a Grandma Moses painting all the time. It is just stunning!"

Besides making films, Debra’s favorite things to do are either on, or in, water. She is an avid kayaker, and she loves canoeing and scuba diving, snorkeling or swimming laps in a pool, it does not matter.” She feels this is a perfect area to live to pursue those loves, with so many beautiful lakes and rives a short drive away. "I can hike with my lightweight pack canoe on my back and paddle on so many lost ponds all over New York and Vermont states."

Debra also loves to hike and camp and between the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Berkshires and our own Taconics, "there are many opportunities to get out into the hills here".

Debra’s prop is her audio kit that she uses to record sound on film and television shoots. "The big fuzzy thing on the end of the boom pole is lovingly called a "dead dog", and helps deaden the sound of the wind rushing past the shotgun microphone when you are shooting on location in the outdoors". In addition to being a Producer, a camera operator and an award-winning editor, Debra does her share of sound recording. She loves all parts of the filmmaking process and is one of those rare individuals in the business who has experience working on most every aspect of that very demanding process.

Debra would like to be remembered as someone who never followed a normal path. "It is so much more interesting to challenge yourself, to confront the things that scare you, the things that make you really uncomfortable. To face those things and to hopefully conquer them, it just makes you feel so great, and it makes you a better person cause you realize there is nothing in life to be afraid of."

(As of this posting Debra and her sister, Robin sit and comfort their mother Bea in a hospice situation at their home. Bea is sleeping peacefully. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Pearlman family at this profoundly moving and important time. Followers of this blog have gotten to know Bea somewhat through Debra’s thread, "Cambridge Life".)

Extreme Gardening #6 Extreme Gardening #6

(Photo: c. 2006 John Carlson)

Extreme Gardening
By Sean McEntee, your vegetal correspondent

What time is it?

My grandmother had a little mnemonic device which would help her keep track of the seasons. “When the frost is on the pumpkin, that’s the time for Richard Duncan.” Only she knew what that meant, but she’d announce it and that would mean it was time to drag out the 50,000 BTU “salamander” kerosene heater and prepare the winter tomato patch.

The roar of the heater was almost deafening, and refilling it every five or six hours was an onerous chore in the depths of a January night. Wallowing through the snow to the tomato patch, we’d find the heater sitting in a pond of melted snow water, graced with an iridescent slick of gently swirling spilled kerosene. We’d work in shifts through the night, keeping the heater trained on the baby tomato plants, taking care to walk that fine line between incineration and glaciation.

When we weren’t manning the heaters through the night, we’d be hauling blocks of ice from the lake to stock the ice house for the June crop of ultra early parsnips, which needed that “kiss of frost” to develop their sugars.

Grandma knew a thing or two about gardening, and she was proud of her “open air” January tomatoes. I’d take one over a hothouse tomato any day.

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

Cambridge, NY 10-24-06 9:30pm

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

January Flight
I live on the Hoosick River so I get to see some awesome things in nature such as these Canada Geese who had been resting on the River during a bitter snow storm. I would have thought they would stay put during the storm but all of a sudden I heard the sound of a flight “calling” which I know precedes a take-off. I got my camera ready just in time as they took flight against the heavy grey sky amidst the snow flakes. They circled around and came back along the River, going right by me a bit above eye level. This is the shot I chose as my favorite. I created a card of this photo to give to a beloved friend. She loves geese as I do.-June Mohan
Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2006) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com

Jack's Outback Rendezvous #30 Jack's Outback Rendezvous #30

Cast Iron Waffle Iron
Griswold was one of the premiere makers of cast iron pots and pans in the United States. They started producing all kinds of cast iron cooking utensils in 1865. Jack likes to say that they were the “BMW” of the pot manufacturing industry. Just a casual glance at this beautiful work of functional art and skillful engineering makes that a good argument.

Today, Griswold pots and other cooking implements are prized for their quality as well as their cooking prowess. Jack has found a gem in almost perfect condition; a collector’s dream waffle machine.

No Waffling Here, at Jack’s!
Go there. Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

Treasures of Cambridge #30 Treasures of Cambridge #30

Evan Lawrence pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, has lived in Cambridge since February of 1988.

Originally from Bridgeport, Connecticut, Evan traveled to Vermont as a child with his parents, and became interested in the area. With an eye to moving towards Vermont, Evan took a job offer right across the border, here in New York State. The job only lasted 2 months, but he decided to stay in the area after that because he, "liked it so much."

When asked what he likes most about Cambridge, the response is immediate and succinct, "It’s green, it’s quiet, it’s open, it’s beautiful, and so different from where I came from."

Evan works as a reporter for Main Street and the Hill Country Observer, both independent newspapers serving Southern Washington County and environs, does professional gardening and lawn maintenance in the summer months, and like many area residents, finds other small jobs to fill in the gaps.

The beautiful black tiger cat accompanying Evan he thinks is about two years old. "He was brought into a vet’s office last year to be put to sleep because the owner could not care for him any longer and could not find anyone else to take him on as all the area shelters were full. I saw him sitting in his cage and said, "I cannot let this cat die," so I took him home. My other two cats still haven’t decided if they are going to forgive me yet. But he is a great cat, loves to be held and is very well behaved." Evan named his friend, "Hauberk," (which is a medieval term for a suit of chainmail) for the way his fur glistens like that a suit of armor in the sun, "and as it turns out, he is quite defensive in that way too!"

Evan is also wearing his most recent "Aids Walk" tee-shirt from the annual Capital Region aids walk, which he started participating in back in 1996. "This is the 7th or 8th walk I have made. The most money I raised was $500; money that stays in the region for Aids relief and education."

Evan would like to be remembered as someone who loves the outdoors, tries to live with pride and integrity, and is a good person.

Extreme Gardening #5 Extreme Gardening #5

(Photo: c. 2006 John Carlson)

Extreme Gardening
By Sean McEntee, your vegetal correspondent

Mulch ado about nothing.

My late father was fond of Scottish omelettes, his recipe was simple: First you steal two eggs…
Bear this in mind when choosing mulch for your garden. Many smokers tell me the best cigarettes are O.P.’s, perhaps this holds true with mulch.

Under cover of darkness, on the new moon, creep into a local field that has a good crop of hay and, with your scythe, mow down about an acre and a half of hay and quickly shock it. Drag the shocks to the side of the road and then rush them home to be spread about your garden.

You should be finished no later than 1:30 am. Be sure to get a good night’s sleep so you look well rested the next morning at the diner while you feign disgust and outrage at the news of someone’s nefarious harvesting.

Blisters on your hands are a dead give away. Simply eat your breakfast wearing rabbit skin mittens, pointedly ignoring any comments people might make. Tell them you are breaking in the mittens so they’ll be super comfy by winter.

The benefits of mulching are hotly debated; is possible prison time worth soil tilth and aeration? Write to us from the big house and let us know.

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

EVENING’S REST
It’s funny that I don’t believe I’ve ever before truly captured the fragility in geese. In the thousands of photos I’ve taken I can see their beauty and strength, loyalty and perseverance, intelligence and cooperative spirits, but I believe I have never actually identified their fragility so strongly as with this photograph. The field is immense, they are so tiny. The golden light of the setting sun outlines them against the sky: diminutive warriors, circling our world in punishing flights of endurance, finding rest and food in our fields, marshes, rivers and ponds. Tired from a journey whose adventures and perils we humans could not even begin to imagine, urged on to a destination we will never know, by forces we can never experience or understand, they sit in the golden red glow of the setting sun, waiting for whatever the unknown prompt is that comes and lifts them into the air as one to continue their journey. How little they seem to this large landscape, to the golden-red glow, to the shadows creeping up on them. Each a few pounds of defenseless feathers, flesh and bones, prey to all on the land and in the air. Each a remarkable being unto itself with it’s own story, it’s own chosen life-mate, it’s shared life perseverance.

For them, this was just another evening, and gratefully a gentle one, with kind weather upon them and plenty of corn kernels and insects to glean from the soil. For me it was an awakening, a new awareness of beings I’ve been photographing for years. When I drove away from White Creek Road, leaving behind the tiny flock of geese on the hill, I was blessed to bring their peace with me.
-June Mohan
Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2006) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

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White Creek, NY 10-14-06 5:00pm

Jack's Outback Rendezvous #29 Jack's Outback Rendezvous #29

Vintage Horse Blanket Pins
Large brass horse blanket pins with stamped numbers. Used to safely fasten horse blankets, but to me they look like large diaper pins for extraordinarily big babies.

Baby Louie, eat your heart out, at Jack’s!
Go there. Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS... CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS...

Dining with friends and family is a great way to pass a long winter's night. Do you have a favorite recipe that you want to share with your neighbors and friends? Well, if you send an email to me, Debra Pearlman at debra@earth-rising.com I'll post it on the Cambridgebuzz Blog.

Treasures of Cambridge #29 Treasures of Cambridge #29

Ivonne McManus pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, has lived in the Cambridge area since November of 2001 with her husband and son.

She loves Cambridge because it reminds her of her home country of Chile and the town of Quilpue, nicknamed, "The City of Sun." Even though Quilpue is actually a larger town then Cambridge, it has a similar small town feel, "and you can walk anywhere in the village and meet people." Her favorite thing to do right now is to play with her son and take him for walks in the stroller.

Raising a family takes a good part of her day, but she does find time to do her hobby- the study of astronomy. And so her prop is the telescope that she uses to explore the stars and planets seen from our hemisphere. She belongs to a couple of local astronomy clubs, groups of people who get together once a month and share their knowledge and the wonder of the heavens that can be seen through the lens of a telescope.

This interest started way back, “Ever since I was a young girl I would look up at the stars.” She loves to view, what are called by astronomers, "the fuzzy objects" like nebula, because they are fun to find. One of the biggest thrills she has had was finding the Andromeda galaxy and the fact that you can see it with without a telescope. "I never knew that before I had joined a club," she exclaims.

Ivonne would like to be remembered as someone who wanted to help people.

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

Alexandria, VA 10-07-06 10:45am

Cambridge, NY Farmers' Market 10-15-06 Cambridge, NY Farmers' Market 10-15-06

Cambridge, NY Farmers' Market Season Ending
Well folks, the farmers' market season is coming to an end. Next Sunday, Oct. 22, 2006 will be the last Cambridge, NY Farmers' Market for this year. It's been a great season. We started with a cool and rainy spring, but summer blossomed into fine weather and abundant crops for local farmers.


I hope you had the chance to visit on of the more than 22 vendors that participated in our market. Besides the wonderful eats, there were tons of treats from visiting musical guests to craftsmen that demonstrated their skills and sold their creations. I thought I'd leave you with some food for thought as our market season comes to a close...
Our Featured Vendor this final week is Taylored Farm.


Mike and Kellie Taylor travel all over the northeast selling their home made salsa and all the ingredients necessary for you to create your own version of that wonderful condiment.



Kellie has generously offered to share her "Fresh Tomatillo Salsa" recipe with you. You can copy this down, or visit the Taylored Farm booth at this and next weeks' farmers' market to pick-up a copy of the recipe and other choice salsas.

Kellie's Fresh Tomatillo Salsa
1 lb fresh tomatillos, husks removed, cleaned and halved
3 peppers (Anaheim, Ancho or your choice), roasted, peeled and chopped
2 fresh hot peppers, seeds and veins removed
1/2 c. chopped onion
3 large cloves garlic
1/8-1/4 c. fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
1 squeeze fresh lime

Chop tomatillos in food processor until coarse.
Add remaining ingredients except olive oil and lime.
Pluse until diced...do not over process.
Drain excess liquid.
Pour into serving bowl, stir in olive oil and lime juice.

Serve with chips, over eggs, or on burgers. Kellie guarantees that you'll love this "not to spicy" version of our favorite dipping sauce.

So folks, with this recipe, I'm starting a new blog feature: Cambridge Cooking -- I've got my own list of easy and tasty meals, but I would love to receive your family's favorites to share.

Email your recipes to debra@earth-rising.com

Extreme Gardening #4 Extreme Gardening #4

(Photo: c. 2006 John Carlson)

Extreme Gardening
By Sean McEntee, your vegetal correspondent

So many seeds, so little soil.

“Oh my god, ya’ll didn’t actually eat there did you?”

That’s the kind of question you don’t want to hear shortly after you’ve finished eating an uninspired, vague dish of refried beans, in a deserted restaurant and then decided to hit another place for a coffee to go. Chatting with the waitress you allow that you wish that you’d found this place first; clean, bright, crowded. All the signs you are looking for.

You do know why all the seed catalogues you get have so many varieties don’t you? Because the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The bounty is bigger, the taste is richer, and the disease resistance is more colossal than ever before. What you had last season was awful and it was because you picked the wrong seed, not because you avoided your garden like it was infested with pythons after June first.

Well, it was infested with pythons, so you were wise to avoid it. But this year don’t bother buying seeds it just encourages them. Don’t even bother harvesting anything, just leave it there, in the ground, and let nature do the rest. You see the plant flower and produce seeds, then topple over and die. Next year just stand back and watch the seeds sprout up all over the place. Have you ever walked on a thick carpet of tomato seedlings?

I didn’t think so.

Next week:
Mulch ado about nothing.

Cambridge Spiritual Cambridge Spiritual

Cambridge, NY embodies a rich beauty that is evident to visitors who travel by it’s Victorian homes and bucolic landscapes. But there is much more to Cambridge than meets the eye. It is found in the Spirit, and freely expressed by congregations of people who practice their faiths here in a myriad of ways.

Cambridge Spiritual is a new thread on CambridgeBuzz that explores ways people connect with Spirit and celebrate that union for themselves and with others. It also offers a resource for visitors (and residents, alike) to find out about opportunities for worship in our area.

NEW SKETE

Located in the hills right outside of Cambridge, NY, you will find this contemplative monastic community of men and women dedicated to living the monastic life together within the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Recently, A blessing of animals was held at New Skete in the new Meditation Garden to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Since the monastic communities raise German Shepherds, dogs made up the majority present for the ceremony. But there were other creatures as well ranging from horses to a Python!


A visit to New Skete gives one access to many aspects of its community life, from worship and meditation to world-class dog training and some of the best cheese cake on the planet (and beyond no doubt, considering where it is baked)!

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

Cambridge, NY 10-12-06 8:04am

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

AUTUMN GLORY ON WHITE CREEK ROAD
Some of the most spectacular sunsets can be seen along the rolling landscapes of White Creek Road in the Cambridge Valley. This particular sunset’s golden glow bathed the already lush autumn leaves with even more intense color. No one else but I was around to enjoy it, no cars even passed as this particular section of road was set ablaze with absolute glory. It was as if God were putting on this show for me alone to enjoy and capture to share with others in my photographs. It was an amazing quarter hour of glowing color.-June Mohan
Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2005) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

On the Hudson River 10-08-06

Cambridge, NY Life Cambridge, NY Life

The big leaf peeping holiday, Columbus Day, could not have been better in Cambridge, NY. The weather was perfect and the color display was amazing. I could not resist taking a drive. I managed to avoid the major tourist routes and found some beautiful farms. Preparing for the coming of winter is really important here.




The farm fields are covered with hay bales drying out for winter feed. I spent 4 hours raking the leaves and mulching the garden in preparation for winter's arrival. You'd never know I worked on the leaves, but the maple tree in the driveway just keeps on giving. They say we could get a light dusting later this week (at least in the mountains). But for now the days are beautifully warm and the nights perfect for sleeping. The recent Harvest moon made for some wonderful light to work by. If you get the chance to work outdoors by the light of the Harvest moon, I recommend doing so. It's truly a magical experience.

Life is good in Cambridge, NY -- now it's time to carve the pumpkin.

Extreme Gardening #3 Extreme Gardening #3

(Photo: c. 2006 John Carlson)

Extreme Gardening
By Sean McEntee, your vegetal correspondent

Helpful Advice

You wonder how we managed to make it this far as a species without things like lawnmowers, flame weeders, and those little pigstickers that all the catalogs are flogging. 40,000 years is it, by some reckoning? That’s a lot of weeds and seed catalogs, it makes a stronger case for creationism, doesn’t it? I mean, 40,000 years of gardening, you think someone would have figured a few things out along the way.

Forget about convincing flounders to copulate with tomatoes just so you can have fish sticks with built in ketchup or tomatoes that stack neatly for shipping, that’s just crazy talk. What you really need is helpful advice.

My advice is: you need help. First, begin a regular regimen of grooming and establish personal hygiene habits. Next, convince a healthy young woman to marry you* and bear several or more children with you as soon as practical. Paper the nursery with seed catalog pages, and be sure all the children’s toys are working scale models of garden tools.

According to every pediatrician I’ve spoken to about this, as soon as the child is able to sit up they can be put to work in the garden.** BF Skinner’s work is a good reference for helping to teach the little ones what is a weed and what is a crop.

* If you are a woman gardener you obviously don’t want to be tied up in the baby making process, it is best to subcontract this part. Your better seed catalogs offer mail order brides.

**I’ve actually not spoken to any pediatricians about this.

Next: So many seeds, so little soil.

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

10-06 Bronx, NY

Cambridge, NY Life Cambridge, NY Life

Photos by: June Mohan, John Carlson, Carole Liggett and Debra Pearlman

Cambridge, NY is home to a plethora of talented artists. In the past week 10 year old Carolina Curvo (pictured above), stilled the Cambridge Farmers' Market crowd when singing her original songs...acapella no less! You could have heard a feather fall to the lawn...go Carolina!

A Hollywood film crew was in town for two weeks of filming at Jon Katz's farm. Jeff Bridges is playing Jon in a film based on his book "A Dog Year." Jon is also going to be doing a reading from his latest book. The reading is sponsored by Battenkill Books and will be at Hubbard Hall. Check their website for date and time. Many thanks to Margaret and Catherine for hosting these "meet the author" readings. If you can stop in at their new bookstore digs at 1 East Main Street in the heart of Cambridge, NY.

Not to be out done by Hollywood, I (pictured above) spent two days working with National Geographic Television. The show, "Struck by Lightening," is being produced by Dream Catcher Films for Nat. Geo's Explorer strand. I was the sound person as we recreated lightening strikes and interviewed strike survivors. It was a fun shoot, and I finally had a chance to work with my good friend, Holly Stadtler.

Writers, painters, dancers, filmmakers, sculptors, weavers, furniture makers, violin makers, and the best cheese cake in the world...ALL can be found in and around Cambridge, NY. To top things off - we're just about at peak color season so come over for a visit.

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

07/06 Brooklyn, NY

Photographer's Log Photographer's Log

“MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES
OF VEHICLES REPORTED ON ENGLISH ROAD”-
Dummmm, da, dum, dum, daaaaaaaaaaa! Special police investigators are looking into a rash of reports concerning cars, trucks and farm vehicles which have unaccountably vanished during the summer months along English Road. There were no clues until one witness snapped this photograph of a giant vine creature rising forty or fifty feet into the air behind an unsuspecting truck! In the photograph you can see it has already thrown it’s lower body over the rear of the truck, enveloping it within it’s mass as it’s giant paw is reaching out to grasp the cab or rear bumper for it’s final fatal onslaught. English Road travelers beware!!! Last Spring’s heavy rainfalls have created unearthly metamorphoses amongst our local vegetation! If you foolishly choose to park along the road to admire the view and even think you imagine you see the vines moving towards you, drive away for goodness sake, drive away!!!?.-June Mohan
Photo: (Copyright Mohan 2006) To contact the artist, please send email to: junemohan@hotmail.com

Windows on our Worlds Windows on our Worlds

Share a view of your world. Email your jpg to jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com with date, time and place you took the picture and I will post it ASAP.

10/3/06 Cambridge, NY 8:15am

Jack's Outback Rendezvous #28 Jack's Outback Rendezvous #28

Shaboom’s Restaurant Sign This sign came out of Shaboom’s Resturant in Providence, Rhode Island. “The story is, the restaurant was a rock and roll café in the 1960’s, went disco in the 1970’s, and after that, the restaurant did not survive.” This is a hand made artifact that was hanging on the wall in the sixties. A real interesting folk art relic!

Sign up for an interesting artifact, at Jack’s!
Go there. Visit Jack’s Outback, 30 West Main Street, Cambridge, NY 518-677-2929.

Treasures of Cambridge #28 Treasures of Cambridge #28

ATTENTION: Cambridge area residents.If you have not yet been photographed for this project please contact me, John Carlson at jdcarlson2001@yahoo.com to make an appointment to meet at Beanheads!

Kobe pictured in front of the vault in the former Bean Head’s Coffee House, has lived in the Cambridge area all his life. When asked what he liked most about living in the area, he did not have much to say. He does sport a really great Pooh hat, however.

Kids are the biggest treasures of Cambridge!