Davidson Woods

from Grandpa Woods
marywoods submitted on January 14, 1970
My first remembrance is when I was 5 years old entering first grade at St. Columbus School. Even though we lived behind the convent in a little house I didn't want to stay in class and I tried to run out the front door. I remember the nun holding her wide dress across the front of the door so I couldn't leave. I was five years old when my brother went to Rome to become a priest. He was Father Francis. He received two doctorates in Rome. When he returned to Albany diocese he became the judge of the diocesan tribunal and chaplan at the college of St. Rose. He later became a parish priest, first pastor of St. Madeline Sophie Church. He helped Father Patrick Peyton, founder of the Family Rosary, and received permission from the Albany diocese to become co-director of the Family Rosary Crusade.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTMy first remembrance is when I was 5 years old entering first grade at St. Columbus School. Even though we lived behind the convent in a little house I didn't want to stay in class and I tried to run out the front door. I remember the nun holding her wide dress across the front of the door so I couldn't leave. I was five years old when my brother went to Rome to become a priest. He was Father Francis. He received two doctorates in Rome. When he returned to Albany diocese he became the judge of the diocesan tribunal and chaplan at the college of St. Rose. He later became a parish priest, first pastor of St. Madeline Sophie Church. He helped Father Patrick Peyton, founder of the Family Rosary, and received permission from the Albany diocese to become co-director of the Family Rosary Crusade. I heard subsequently that he was an excellent candidate for bishop but I knew he wanted to work with Father Peyton, a Holy Cross priest, for ten years. While working with Father Peyton the Holy Cross Order loaned the diocese a priest to cover St. Madeline Sophie Church. Father Francis traveled a lot working with the Family Rosary Campaign. Before that, Father Francis was away for seven years when he was becoming a priest and came back when I was 12. While in Italy he would write me letters with little children stories in each letter. We missed each other very much. I along with the family met Francis at the dock in NYC; he was on the Andrea Doria. At the dock I went up to him and said do you have the correct time, Father. He did not know me at first and looked at his watch and then we both recognized each other with love and happiness. My Dad died about this time; he was 52 years of age. I lived with my mother and sister, Helen and Aunt Elizabeth Hesler who came to live with us after Grandma Hesler died. I went to Nott Terrace High School. At that time the school was on Nott Terrace where Friendly Ice Cream is located now. Francis was 15 years older than me; Helen was 11 years older than me. They were both excellent students. I had a difficult time living up to their reputation in high school. After graduation from Nott Terrace in 1939 I went to Siena College in Loudonville. It was the third year of Siena's existence. I was historian of the class. At that time my mother sold the house on Stanley Street and bought a home at 1377 Union Street in Schenectady. We lived upstairs and she rented the downstairs flat. I want to mention here that prior to my parents buying 711 Stanley Street that my father was an iron moulder at the American Locamotive Company and also at the GE Company. He had been laid off because of strikes at that time. He took a job as janitor or custodian at St. John the Baptist Church in Schenectady. And, one of the perks, was living in a church owned home next to St. John's Convent. One day before I was born, and, I was born in the church house, a Sister of Mercy nun who had been reading about St. Norbert and St Norbert's Day, June 6 told my mother that she liked the name of Norbert very much and that she thought that would be a good name for me. That's how I got the name, Norbert. Let me return now briefly to my college years at Siena. I hitchhiked to and back from college everyday or occasionally got a ride with a fellow student. Our family never had a car until many years later when Father Francis bought the first car in the family. At college I did pretty well. Mostly a C student I think, and played football and took up boxing at the college. These sports were on a more or less informal basis as these teams were being thought about as Siena College sports. I entered Siena in September 1939 and received a private pilot's license with friends of mine under the college and the US Civil Aeronotics program. As the first half of my senior year was ending round January 1943, I became very bored with college and anxious to join the regular marine corps. I wrote into the marine corps headquarters and asked them to give me a date that I would be taken in, so that I could relax and concentrate on my studies knowing that soon I would be in the corps. In their return mail I received orders to report to Paris Island, So. Carolina marine corps boot camp. My mother and I took a train to NYC and mom put me on a train for Paris Island. I remember the sad feeling we had when the train pulled out. The train was actually like a troop train. It took several stops on the way and each stop brought more young men going to boot camp. The first day at boot camp they shaved our heads, shipped all of our civilian clothes back home, and we were issued a sea bag full of marine gear along with a M1 rifle and bayonet. This was scary and exciting because I had never held a weapon of any kind before and had no experience and regimentation. That's all for now--next time more about my Dad.
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Journal
marywoods submitted on January 14, 1970
Patty is here tonight to start me on a journal. We have had a fun weekend with dinner up on the Shack above Snug Harbor watching the pelicans brigade and the traffic on the bridge. We enjoyed breathing the fresh air and seeing the smoke from the brush fires in the distance. Tomorrow we will go to church and see how the new community building is coming along in Fort Myers. Patty says to pick a story I feel like telling again. I find it interesting that my Dad grew up in central Illinois in Abraham Lincoln territory to very young parents on a very poor farm with no hint of ever going on to school. Yet, he was known as one of the greatest educators in central United States when he died. There is a football stadium named after him in Burlington, Iowa. He built this stadium in a ravine in downtown Burlington Iowa with concrete steps. These steps hold two thousand people. The night lights were the first ones installed in the country in a high school west of the Mississippi River. This was a former lumberyard. The seats go up one side of the stadium and the wooded hill on the other side of the stadium has the glory of autumn leaves right during the football season. The high school has been rebuilt out on the edge of town but they still use this football stadium.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTPatty is here tonight to start me on a journal. We have had a fun weekend with dinner up on the Shack above Snug Harbor watching the pelicans brigade and the traffic on the bridge. We enjoyed breathing the fresh air and seeing the smoke from the brush fires in the distance. Tomorrow we will go to church and see how the new community building is coming along in Fort Myers. Patty says to pick a story I feel like telling again. I find it interesting that my Dad grew up in central Illinois in Abraham Lincoln territory to very young parents on a very poor farm with no hint of ever going on to school. Yet, he was known as one of the greatest educators in central United States when he died. There is a football stadium named after him in Burlington, Iowa. He built this stadium in a ravine in downtown Burlington Iowa with concrete steps. These steps hold two thousand people. The night lights were the first ones installed in the country in a high school west of the Mississippi River. This was a former lumberyard. The seats go up one side of the stadium and the wooded hill on the other side of the stadium has the glory of autumn leaves right during the football season. The high school has been rebuilt out on the edge of town but they still use this football stadium. While he was growing up he went to grade school (eighth grade two years as most boys did) because they spent most of their time helping their father. They had very little equipment and very little if any fertilizer. I think one year my grandfather gave my grandmother six dollars from the fall crop to buy clothes for the family for the year. My grandmother went to the woods to find something similar to yeast to raise the bread dough. They had very little dishes or silverware. My grandfather really did eat peas on his knife probably because he had no other silverware. I think they had three children by the time they were twenty. to be continued--tomorrow I am going to explain how my grandfather's sister was his mother in law. Think about that.
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Gas prices
Tom submitted on January 14, 1970
"Aren't high gas prices something that environmentalists want?
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENT"<a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110008309">Aren't high gas prices something that environmentalists want?</a>
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Deal or No Deal?
MarkD submitted on January 14, 1970
This article explains why my life is about to get more interesting.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTThis <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/25/nyregion/25cnd-rebuild.html"> article</a> explains why my life is about to get more interesting.
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weekend
Tom submitted on January 14, 1970
Patty and I drove to Fulton and visited my Dad and my sister Megan on Saturday, and they seem to be doing well. Patty did some yard work up there. And of course, we were very sadddened and shocked to read in Saturday's paper about the apparently non-accidental death of Marlene Hill, Patty's first instructor in waitressing at Luigi's. We are going to the wake tonight.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTPatty and I drove to Fulton and visited my Dad and my sister Megan on Saturday, and they seem to be doing well. Patty did some yard work up there. And of course, we were very sadddened and shocked to read in Saturday's paper about the apparently non-accidental death of Marlene Hill, Patty's first instructor in waitressing at Luigi's. We are going to the wake tonight.
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April 24th
Norb submitted on January 14, 1970
Nice blogs from everybody. We've been back from Hawaii 2 weeks now. Spring is in the air. Jim and I've worked on the yard. Susan's busy with decorating. The pool is open. Starting temp was 50. We're not heating the entire pool yet, but we just fire up the attached hot tub when we want to and it's ready quickly. For you birders we have a wood duck apparently nesting in a natural hole in one of our black locusts, about 50 feet off the ground, and only 10 feet behind our pool. We've got 7 bluebird houses up. They've come and gone several times during and since winter but haven't settled in.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTNice blogs from everybody. We've been back from Hawaii 2 weeks now. Spring is in the air. Jim and I've worked on the yard. Susan's busy with decorating. The pool is open. Starting temp was 50. We're not heating the entire pool yet, but we just fire up the attached hot tub when we want to and it's ready quickly. For you birders we have a wood duck apparently nesting in a natural hole in one of our black locusts, about 50 feet off the ground, and only 10 feet behind our pool. We've got 7 bluebird houses up. They've come and gone several times during and since winter but haven't settled in. The creek is in heavy flow. In our earth bridge we have 2, 18 in. conduits, but it would take 5 to accomodate all the water so it just flows around the bridge onto the lower land then back into the stream. We want to arrange a family cookout soon. We're working on the date.
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April 23, 2006 - Lufkin, Texas
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
We have rediscovered the color green. Eastern green that is. The green that comes when you mix water and earth to produce luxurient vegetation. Our last day in Ft. Davis was exciting with the first significant rain in months and a hail storm that dinged our car a bit. Chuck ran out and grabed three stones. Two measured 1.5 inches and one was 1.0. After the storm we took a final walk. The bunch moss and grass was already greening up. The Sabinal River, which had been almost dry turned into a modest brook. The birds, reptiles, and amphibians became more active. The barking frogs did indeed bark on our last evening. We enjoyed last looks at the small but handsome golden cheek warbler.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTWe have rediscovered the color green. Eastern green that is. The green that comes when you mix water and earth to produce luxurient vegetation. Our last day in Ft. Davis was exciting with the first significant rain in months and a hail storm that dinged our car a bit. Chuck ran out and grabed three stones. Two measured 1.5 inches and one was 1.0. After the storm we took a final walk. The bunch moss and grass was already greening up. The Sabinal River, which had been almost dry turned into a modest brook. The birds, reptiles, and amphibians became more active. The barking frogs did indeed bark on our last evening. We enjoyed last looks at the small but handsome golden cheek warbler. We had met another couple on the trail. They were looking for this bird. Anne heard and then spotted it in a newly leaved oak. She pointed it out and shared the joy of of the others seeing it for the first time. Our drive here was uneventful. The price of gasoline is frightful, but other than that all went well. We stopped at the town of Luling to enjoy the famous City Market Place barbeque. We arrived about 11:30 and parked in the last row of parking behind a truck. Much of the rest of the lot was empty. Entering we saw a simple sign with prices by the pound for brisket, ribs, and sausage. We stood in front of the kitchen door a bit confused. Another patron told us to go on. "Just order what you want." We entered the dark pit and reached the counter. We ordered a slice of brisket and a sheet of ribs. Then we reversed and said, "half a sheet, and one sausage ring." There seemed to be no other sides except some poor looking white bread. We found drinks and salads in the main dining room and then sat down. By now the crowd was pouring in. We found the food to be excellant and a bargain. Anne struck up a conversation with a rancher and a retiree who assured her that this was one of the best such establishments in the Lone Star State. We loved our lunchtime dinner. Returning to our rig we found that the lot was now crowded and someone squeezed in front of our rig behind the truck. Chuck said we could back up. Anne said we couldn't. It was tricky, but we did make it out and got back on the road again. We rode east on I-10 and watched the land turn from desert scrub to grassland and then grassland and woodland. There were lawnmowers in this part of Texas! Construction slowed us down near Houston, but we arrived in Lufkin to visit friends of Chuck in the evening. We are parked in a rural driveway this weekend and enjoying the comforts of a household. Tomorrow we begin a three day run to Hiawassee, Georgia. We will stage food drops for our hike from there. By the end of the week we will drop our car off at Amicalola Falls State Park and drive on to Sylva, North Carolina. Friends there will drop us off at Fontana Dam (Little Tennessee River & Smoky Mountains National Park) on Sunday. We will start our 170 mile hike from there. The wildflowers should be in full bloom.
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Fish Fry
Jeff submitted on January 14, 1970
For some time now I have been taking up the hobby of trying to breed my fish. This past summer I got my first betta (fighting fish) and decided to try my hand at raising babies. On my fist few tries I successfully got little fry swimming around but they didn’t make it to adulthood. Since then my luck has gone down hill. I have been trying different methods and techniques and finally yesterday my fish mated! Bettas can lay up to 300 eggs so it can get pretty hectic, but it seems that my fish only decided to have about 50 (It was their first try). The eggs are just starting to hatch now and my little guy is getting his first chance at being a good dad.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTFor some time now I have been taking up the hobby of trying to breed my fish. This past summer I got my first betta (fighting fish) and decided to try my hand at raising babies. On my fist few tries I successfully got little fry swimming around but they didn’t make it to adulthood. Since then my luck has gone down hill. I have been trying different methods and techniques and finally yesterday my fish mated! Bettas can lay up to 300 eggs so it can get pretty hectic, but it seems that my fish only decided to have about 50 (It was their first try). The eggs are just starting to hatch now and my little guy is getting his first chance at being a good dad. Hopefully some fry will make it!
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oh dear; the downside of blogging
Tom submitted on January 14, 1970
Couldn't resist. Had to post this article from the WSJ about blogging, inhibitions, repression and some new psychological terms about blogging disorders. Do I have a problem? "Someday we will all sound like this"l
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTCouldn't resist. Had to post this article from the WSJ about blogging, inhibitions, repression and some new psychological terms about blogging disorders. Do I have a problem? "<a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/dhenninger/?id=110008265">Someday we will all sound like this</a>"l
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April 19, 2006 - Leakey, Texas
Anne and Chuck submitted on January 14, 1970
Our visit to Ft. Davis was punctuated by attending a "star party" at the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. We were hesitant to give this a shot, but everyone we met said we had to do it. The telescopes are conspicuous and visible from our campground at the state park fifteen miles away. The three classic astronomical domes are silhuetted on the distant ridge. We arrived early as the sun was setting, looked for birds on the grounds, explored the museum and gift shop, and enjoyed coffee before the 9:30 program.
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BLOG TITLEBLOG CONTENTOur visit to Ft. Davis was punctuated by attending a "star party" at the McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas. We were hesitant to give this a shot, but everyone we met said we had to do it. The telescopes are conspicuous and visible from our campground at the state park fifteen miles away. The three classic astronomical domes are silhuetted on the distant ridge. We arrived early as the sun was setting, looked for birds on the grounds, explored the museum and gift shop, and enjoyed coffee before the 9:30 program. The loudspeaker came to life and invited us to walk out to the amphitheater. Faint lights lined the walk. All of the lights in Ft. Davis County are faint. It is the law! The speaker welcomed us and started the session with a few questions. He then illustrated a brief discussion of the universe with a tour of the heavens much as is done in a planetarium. Only his pointer was a six foot long flashlight and the sky was the surrounding dome. Of course he started with the big dipper and polaris. He worked his way around the sky to Orion and back to the north. Then he invited us to visit the seven telescopes set up for our inspection. Two were on the moon, one on saturn, and others on various galaxies. The views were magnificent on this clear night, and at each scope was a knowledgeable and friendly operator. At first the lines to the scopes were several minutes long, but as the evening grew late and chilly, the crowd thinned. We never went in to warm up and look at the video that was also part of the show. We were among the last to leave. As we were about to go, we noticed that one of the smaller scopes was pointed in a different direction, low to the horizon. The young woman there told us that Jupiter had risen and she had set the scope for a view. We took it. Whereas at Big Bend we were struck by the sense of time, seeing sediments of Cretaceous origin broken into range and basin and intruded by much younger igneous rock, the whole lot now much eroded away, at Ft. Davis the focus on the sky gave us a sense of space. The universe is huge and we range only on this small planet. The two of us give thanks for our lives and the consciousness to glimpse the miracle of creation. We are now in the Texas Hill Country. The land here is a plateau also of Cretaceous rock that has been elevated without significant alteration. The flat strata have however been eroded for about 60 million years or so and so consist of canyons between narrow flatlands that remain at the top. This is a land of trees and streams with water, in contrast to where we have been for the last several weeks. A welcome contrast. More on this later.
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