Alexandersmap

    Category: Travel

    • Control

      Control

      Some things are in our control, while others are not.  We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and, in a word, everything of our own doing.  We don’t control our body, property, reputation, position, and, in a word, everything not of our own doing.  Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered, and unobstructed, while those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered, and are not our own.” – Epictetus

      Know what’s not in my control tonight?  The Internet connection is down.  My reaction?  Type this abbreviated blog post on my phone and save the big stuff for another day.

    • The Price of Time

      The Price of Time

      Foggy mist is socking in Bristol, Rhode Island tonight.  I’m here to watch a basketball game, or more accurately see Ian for a couple of hours and talk to him for a couple of minutes.  The time investment is always significant when you have active kids, but I don’t mind the price.

      I remember my mother commenting on the hours she invested to watch me row by for a couple of minutes.  I didn’t really factor in the time they were allocating to watch me row by and grunt at them afterwards, but I’ve learned in the years since.

      Hopefully the temperature drops or the precipitation dries up and the drive to the Cape isn’t 50 miles of white knuckle.  But I’m here and committed either way.  People don’treally understand what you’d do for your kids until you have them.

    • Rail Trails

      Rail Trails

      Today I took an eight mile walk on the Windham Rail Trail with my wife.  The trail segment is four miles long and cuts through ledge and over low areas that were built up to level the rail bed.  This section of railroad was originally opened in 1849 and stopped running in the 1970’s.  At the time the technology was by far the most efficient mode of travel, and in some cases it still is.  That efficiency made it worthwhile to undertake the massive manpower project that was the laying of this rail bed.  Just the blasting and moving of ledge must have been a massive project.  Add in miles of building up low areas to that and it must have been backbreaking work.

      Today the trains are gone, replaced by power walkers, joggers, families on bicycles and dog walkers. The occasional house peaks through the trees, but for the most part you’re out in the woods, and it feels like a world away from the strip malls of Route 28.  The highlights of this trail are the long cuts through granite ledge, the water views of Flatrock Brook and Mitchell Pond, and the ghosts of the working railroad that still exist in the quiet forest.  Railroad ties stacked on the side of the trail are slowly returning to the earth as moss and wood rot eat away at the timber.  Walls made from the ledge kept a hill from creeping onto the railroad bed for decades, and now serve that purpose for the trail.

      The segment of rail trail that we walked on was once part of the Manchester and Lawrence Branch.  Eventually Boston & Maine picked up this segment in 1887, but eventually the entire branch was abandoned.  Nonprofit corporations were formed to raise funds for paving and maintaining the segments.  Today there’s a great stretch of paved rail bed from Methuen, Massachusetts all the way up into Derry, New Hampshire.

      Rail trails are popping up everywhere.  Candidly I rarely think to use them, and wish I’d done so years before.  I remember walking along old railroad beds long abandoned in other parts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts.  Re-purposing those beds into rail trails is a great way to make open space accessible for everyone.  The stretch in Windham is a beautiful example of that and that’s opened my eyes to the opportunity to explore more of these trails.

    • Robert Rogers

      Robert Rogers

      Robert Rogers was born in Methuen, Massachusetts – twenty minutes from where I currently live.  His family moved to what was then the wilderness of Dunbarton, New Hampshire a few years later.  Rogers is famous for leading a group of colonists in the French and Indian War.  There are some who will point to his debts, drinking and war atrocities committed against women and children.  These are very much the darker part of his story.  But Rogers was very good at what he did, which is taking the fight to the French and Native America populations during war.  In war you need strong leaders, and Rogers was certainly that, leading Roger’s Rangers to fame that lasts to this day.

      I first learned about Roger’s Rangers when I was a kid watching the movie Northwest Passage.  I haven’t seen that movie in 40 years, but I’ve read up on Rogers, and everything I read makes me want to learn more about this guy.  Rogers and his Rangers wore green uniforms and did epic raids and scouting missions across vast and hostile wilderness.  Roger’s Rangers were the origin of what is now the United States Army Rangers.  Live off the land, shrug off hardship and discomfort and get the job done.

      Perhaps the most epic story I read about Rogers Rangers – and there are many – is a mission when they skated across Lake George, switched to snowshoes and trekked across snow covered forest for miles.  These were tough, athletic and versatile men who never saw a mission that they didn’t want to tackle.  On another snowshoeing mission they ambushed the enemy deep in hostile territory, only to be ambushed themselves.  Rogers and many of the Rangers managed to escape by holding off the French and Native Americans until dark, separating into smaller groups and melting into the wilderness.

      By all accounts, Rogers was a brilliant soldier who adopted Native American tactics to create his own form of fighting.  Today people talk about Navy Seals with awe.  Frankly I do as well.  Rogers Rangers would hold a place of honor at the table of military heroes in America’s history.  Many of the tactics used in the armed forces today originated with Robert Rogers.  In fact, Rogers “Rules of Ranging” are still followed by the U.S. Army Rangers of today.

      Rogers was a hero of the French and Indian War, but like many soldiers he struggled after the war.  Debt, scandal, alcoholism and war crimes muddied his reputation after the war and in the years since.   During the Revolutionary War he took the British side, and it’s said that he was the one who recognized Nathan Hale (“I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”) when he was spying on the British in New York.  Hale was hanged soon afterwards.  New Hampshire, which Rogers did as much to protect as anyone during the French and Indian War, expelled him as a Tory.  He would die in poverty in London.

    • Oil Delivery

      Oil Delivery

      In the early morning hours of December 31st, Buzzards Bay was very still.  There was a glow from the towns on the other side of the bay, but otherwise the night was dark yet brilliantly lit by thousands of stars.  House lights and red and green lighted channel marker buoys twinkled across the calm water.

      Off season is very quiet on Cape Cod, and that’s particularly true in this quiet corner of the Cape as well.  There are very few year-round residents, and the few that are around aren’t hanging out on the beach this time of year.  Walking down the beach to take a sunset picture last night I saw two couples doing the same, and saw one other family when I first arrived and a power walker this morning.  Solitude prevailed.

      The only company I had was announced by the distant thumping diesel engines of the tug boats pushing oil barges to and from the canal.  Tugs are a constant companion on the bay, and there was no let-up at 3 AM.  Heating oil is in high demand this time of year, and barges are running from Hicksville, New York on Long Island up through the canal to fuel thousands of customer’s heating systems.  There’s an estimated 2 billion gallons of oil being shipped through the canal annually.

      In 2007 a barge being towed hit a submerged ledge and leaked 928 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay.  The ecosystem is very fragile in Buzzards Bay and from that point on barges are required to have two tugs to ensure that any trouble is mitigated immediately.  The 2007 leak was the fourth such incident in 32 years from 1975 to 2007, and thankfully there haven’t been any since then.  I’m told that they’ve started using double-hulled barges so that even if the primary hull is breached the second hull should contain the oil.  I hope so.

      But last night, that wasn’t on my mind so much as knowledge that the tugs and barges continue working this stretch of water from Long Island to New England and perhaps Canada.  This isn’t a 9 to 5 job, and I appreciate the people out there working the wee hours of this morning of 2018.  Hopefully they’ve reached port and are able to celebrate New Years Eve on shore.

    • New England’s Frontier Wars

      New England’s Frontier Wars

      Being a settler in New England wasn’t all that easy.  Events outside your control impacted settlers for generations.  Encroachment on the Native American population created resentment and occasional raids on settlements.  Global forces were at work against the settlers too, as France and England were constantly at war with each other in Europe, which naturally bled over to North America as each side fought for their turf.

      There were several wars between the English and the French that deeply impacted the settlers in New England.  So many wars that you need a scorecard to keep track of them all:

      1689-1697  King William’s War (War of the Grand Alliance/Nine Year’s War)
      1702-1713  Queen Anne’s War (War of Spanish Succession)
      1722–1725  Dummer’s War (Father Rale’s War/Wabanaki-New England War)
      1744-1748   King George’s War (War of Austrian Succession
      1754–1763  French & Indian War (Seven Year’s War)

      Over the next several posts I’m going to try to tackle each of these at an overview level, and dive deeper into individual stories from each over time.  With 75 years of fighting between the settlers, the French and the Native American population, there’s plenty of content to work with, and only time as a restriction.

    • Atomic Habits

      Atomic Habits

      I’ve got a long history of pursuing audacious goals that eventually crash and burn either immediately after accomplishing them or somewhere along the road to getting there.  I’ve rowed a million meters in support of a friend, and as soon as I’d accomplished it I walked away from the erg for months.  I’ve lost 30 pounds and was literally within five pounds of my perceived ideal weight of 225 when I just stopped pursuing it.  I’ve aimed at 10x my quota attainment for years, and inevitably scratch and claw to meet quota, let alone 10x it.  I set a goal of doing 20 burpees a day for the rest of my days, and injured myself after increasing the reps to 50 burpees per day and not listening to my body when it started breaking down.

      “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Norman Vincent Peale

      Such is the life of the big dreamer.  I’ll still pursue bigger goals for work and fitness.  You need to have bigger goals to inspire you after all.  But in aiming for the moon, I’ve ignored the other advice that I’ve heard over and over.  Steady, incremental improvement ultimately wins the day.

      “Slow and steady wins the race.” – Aesop, The Tortoise and the Hare

      Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We’re proud of you for having them. But it’s possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that’s really frightening you—the shift in daily habits that would mean a re–invention of how you see yourself. – Seth Godin

      With that in mind, as we run smack dab into another year of bullshit resolutions, I’m taking a different tack as we round the corner into 2019.  Small, “atomic habits”, inspired by a free ebook with the same name by James Clear.  Overall this has worked for me with a few things, like writing this blog.  I don’t do it every day, but I’ll aim to become more consistent.  So here goes:
      1. 10 burpees per day.  Not 11 or 20 or 50.  Just do 10 and re-establish the routine.
      2. Minimum 5K per day walking.  Aim for 10K.
      3. One call per workday to a high gain contact.
      4. Write something every day and post it in the blog.  Even an interesting quote someone else said is better than nothing.
      5. Do at least 3 of these before you check social media.
      Easy right?  That’s the point.  So easy you don’t have an excuse not to do it.  So here we go.  In fact, I’ve already knocked off two of these today.  So I guess I’m off to a good start.

    • Halifax & Boston

      Halifax & Boston

      The connection between Halifax and Boston is similar to a sibling relationship.  Boston receives their Christmas tree from Halifax every year as a thank you for Boston’s role in supporting Halifax after the December 6, 1917 explosion that killed almost 2000 people.  Boston’s medical ships arrived well before the Canadian government reacted, and Halifax has been forever grateful.

      Halifax and Boston were sister cities of the British expansion into North America, and there was strong sentiment to invade Halifax and bring it into the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.  That it remained British-controlled created some separation, but eventually the cities proximity and cross pollination of people moving from one to the other brought them closer.
      Halifax receives the Boston feeds of a couple of news channels and follow all of the major Boston sports teams, making them more familiar with Boston than Boston is with Halifax, but the bond is strong both ways.  Part of my family came through Halifax as well, so I’ve always thought of it as a home away from home.  It’s been over a year since I’ve been in Halifax, and I think I need to remedy that soon.  Nova Scotia keeps calling to me.  I need to return the call.

    • JOMO

      JOMO

      2018 is the year when I’ve finally sickened of the addictive, time-sucking apps on my phone.  I’ve deleted and re-added Twitter, and now work to pair down my focus on it.  I’ve deleted and definitely NOT gone back to Words With Friends.  And now I’m toying with the idea of dramatically limiting my exposure to Facebook.

      There’s a new term making the rounds lately; JOMO – Joy Of Missing Out, which inserts joy where fear used to reside.  Frankly I’m all in on that.  I’m making 2019, beginning now, the year of JOMO.  I’m deleting FB off my phone, so I can only look at it on my iPad.  I’m figuring out what to do with Twitter, which I enjoy using as a news feed, but frankly the news sucks nowadays and I’d rather focus on things I can control.
      According to my Screen Time feature on the iPhone, I’ve been on Twitter for 4 hours over the last 7 days, Facebook for a little more than 2 hours, and InstaGram and Safari for almost 2 hours each.  That’s not bad compared to a lot of people, but that’s still more than I’d like.  Combined Social Media time for the last 7 days is 11 hours and 55 minutes.  Ouch.  When I think of that stack of books I’m trying to work through, and the time I’m spending mentally away from my family and friends during the holidays it’s not good.
      That said, Social Media can be a good thing in doses.  So I’m going to set screen time limits on my phone and iPad and work to honor those.  I’m going to start using the Watch more as I try to increase my overall activity.  But overall this is an opportunity to change my habits as we roll into the New Year.  

    • Silent Night

      Silent Night

      This year marks the anniversary of Silent Night, written and then composed to music two hundred years ago.  The history of Silent Night is making the rounds on various media this holiday season, so I won’t re-write it here, save for this brief Wikipedia intro: “Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.

      It’s Christmas Eve in New Hampshire.  The nest if full, if only for the briefest of times, the presents are under the tree, the plans are made.  2018 was a tough year in so many ways, and many people who were with us at Christmas last year aren’t here this Christmas Eve.  Best to make peace with yourself and your neighbors on this holiest of days.

      Austria is calling me.  Vienna and Salzburg keep popping up in my life.  I work for a company based out of Salzburg and the whole Sound of Music connection to Stowe, Vermont (Trapp Family Lodge) has lingered in my imagination for some time.  Vienna is the title of a Billy Joel song that keeps reminding me that Vienna waits for you.  The Geography of Genius and Cultural Amnesia have both informed me of Vienna’s place in our cultural history and the fragility of Humanism and Intellectualism in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany.

      A popular bumper sticker this year seems to be the “Resist” slogan.  It’s a reaction to Trump and white supremacist groups feeling the courage to crawl out of the rock they live under in the last two years.  Trump is testing our democracy and the Rule of Law like no other President in American history.  So resist, but know your history and what happens when you don’t resist.  Blindly following a religious, political or military leader has consequences often not seen until it’s too late.  The best defense is strength and knowledge.

      On Christmas Eve, most of us want peace of Earth and goodwill toward men.  Looking back one hundred years to the meat grinder that was World War One, it’s easy to see what can happen when we let “leaders” power go unchecked.  When I think of Silent Night I think of the story of the two sides in opposite trenches stopping the fighting on Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night.  The war would grind on and many more would die, but for that brief moment reason and goodwill took over.

      Silent Night, Holy Night
      Mindful of mankind’s plight
      The Lord in Heav’n on high decreed
      From earthly woes we would be freed
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.