|
|
|
 |
Cold Spring: Arrived Day 5, left Day 7. I was on the Onrust this day. We arrived at Cold Spring after a long haul, mostly rowing, from Bear Mountain. It was an incredibly still day as we rowed past the Outward Bound National office, West Point, and the castle where the original Wizard of Oz was filmed-- very cool! Erin and Trevor lead the group in song to help keep the rowing rhythm (LINK to VIDEO)-- it was a hard push because we had an appointment at the Foundry for that afternoon, and we arrived promptly at 1:30. We were originally offered to dock by tieing up to a massive heap of metal with nothing to step out on, and nowhere to land-- a real garbage heap. But then we were able to dock at a nicer dock, albeit shakey, and the Tiger tied up along side. Tiger came in motoring-- apparently Erika waqs really sick. We cleared out of the way as 2 people helped her up on the dock and under the small shelter on land. The shelter didn't offer very good shade-- it was corrugated plastic so the sun came through-- it was more like an oven than a shelter. This was the day of our resupply and Robert was there waiting with the goods. Each of us had packed extra underwear, clothes, etc. But since it was only day 5 I didn't feel like we really needed anything. The only thing we were running low on was fresh produce-- we'd eaten the rotten Bananas at Alpine (thanks to Coyote's ingenious with the bananas flambe). We exchanged good while Robert got Erika hooked up with some medical attention. Next stop was the foundry, where we had an awesome tour of a boat-building shop (thanks Dave!) and of the foundry (thanks Tim and Michigan Tech research crew!). The foundry was built around 1817 and is the place where they built the canon that is credited with winning the Civil War. They also built the first steam engine in New York. In its day the foundry was the industrial hub of the area, with all the latest technology, and was also the sole reason the area was populated. In the 1920s as a textile shop where they produced and dyed silks. The dye from the silks would be dumped and eventually run straight into the river. After the 20s the foundry was closed, and essentially left vacant until the 1960s. In the 60s the community came together to protect the area from a development group that wanted to build a hotel. At that time the area was protected as a community historical site, and industrial archeologists later began research on the area as one of the most interesting industrial sites in the country. Leaving the foundry there was one additional highlight of the day-- a Superfund site that had been cleaned up in the mid 90's after the close of a cadmium battery factory which had been dumping waste for years. The waste was going into a swamp that feeds directly into the Hudson. Trevor said the cleanup cost around $200 million just to take the top 6 feet of soil out of the swamp, haul the dirt away, and find a place to put the contaminated soil. Today the site is a beautiful marsh area with tons of birds everywhere. That evening we had dinner and Trevor invited his brother, Bevin and Bevin's dog, Reilly, as well as David (the boatmaker) and his kids. We enjoyed dinner and played football with the kids. That night I slept on the land because the kids were taking a long time to set up the tarp, and I was really tired. I told several people where I was, but apparently not enough... Jesus, Matthew and Julian put together a search crew to look for me-- and finally found me under a bush! (THANKS GUYS!) They were very considerate not to wake the other instructors, but we also suggested in the future that they should feel comfortable waking any instructor, especially if they think someone is missing!! The next day, Day 6, we went to the ropes course at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center ) where Robert met us and ran the ropes course. We went in two groups because we couldn't all fit in the van. I was in the second van. Along the way we saw a wild turkey with about 7 baby chicks. Cool! The ropes course was a challenge for me-- first time to do it. The kids all seemed pretty relaxed about it-- they'd done a ropes course before. I shot video of most of them, and then climbed. Robert made it look really easy but it wasn't. On the highwire we had to reach really far for the first rope-- I had to kick the rope to make it swing towards me because I couldn't reach it. Sarai was belaying me so I felt pretty comfortable with her guidance. The catwalk was a long pole stretched about 40 feet up between 2 trees, and there was nothing to hold on to. It was hard but not as hard as the highwire. I realized that as scary as it was I just had to trust Erin (who was belaying me there), and accept that if I fell I would be okay. It was liberating and exhilerating. After the ropes course we had our first and only shower of the course. It was wonderful, too short, and I discovered the evidence of the past 5 days of suffering and sleeping on the boat-- huge bruises all over my body!! I'll never miss another shower... That afternoon we tried to refine our interviewing process-- listing the questions that worked best at Piermont, looking for themes, and trying to frame new questions. The kids were really tired, though, and my instructions were probably too lengthy. Erin jumped in and we did an African energizer dance and then headed to town. The kids were resistant again to the interview process, but came back excited and eager to share what they had learned. We debriefed the interviews with Dominique catching it all on videotape. The evening was uneventful-- dinner was oodles o noodles and salad-- I made my garlic tamari dressing and everyone gobbled it up. Dinner circle, feeding time, ANCHOR meeting and to bed! I slept on the boat that night. Garlic Tamari salad dressing: |
 |
||
|
|
|
|||
 |
 |
|||
 |