Alexandersmap

    Tag: Hamden

    • Bucket Lists and Daily Life

      Bucket Lists and Daily Life

      We’re in the mad dash now.  Kids in college, new job ramping up, house showing need for repairs, retirement saving, mileage on the cars, Bodhi needing more meds, appliances acting up, stuff accumulating, stuff we seemingly need, stuff we definitely don’t need, should we stay or should we go now?  Time ticking along.  Here we are: This American life as we’ve built it.  Domestic bliss.

      Is that a spaghetti squash on the counter?  The kids are adults now.  I’m not sure I am yet, but they’re eating new foods, trying new things, opening their eyes to the world.  Sometimes they like what they see, a lot of times they don’t.  The world is a complicated nest of too much information, fake news versus real information, everybody trying to get more clicks or views or subscribers.  The drive for influence and income – power and money – drive behavior in the media and in social media.

      I was asked why I don’t get my blog out there for more people to see.  Why nobody knows about it.  Honestly I write it for myself and invite others to see what they want to see.  At some point when there’s critical mass in content maybe I’ll shift it to an e-book.  For now it’s enough to stay in the habit of writing and contributing to something daily (or when I can).  I believe that the people screaming the most for attention have the least to say.  I’d prefer to say something, even if the volume isn’t in line with the world we live in at the moment.

      So….   this post is all over the map but that’s where I want to be myself.  Keep the home and the garden and the job in some form or another but get out and see the world.  Sometimes the world is a flight to Europe or a hike on the AT or sailing from here to there.  Sometimes the world is a walk down the street to visit an old graveyard I’ve driven past for 20 years.   That’s my bucket list now.  Just get out and experience as much as possible in the time I have.  Maybe ease off on the booze and red meat and sugar a bit during the journey.  Eat more leafy greens or dark purple berries.  There’s plenty of advice online should I need guidance.

      Bodhi is clicking his way over here now.  He’s ready to go outside.  He sniffs and snorts and groans and shakes his head.  Time for me to get outside!  Time to go!  What are you waiting for?!  Don’t just sit there!  Let’s go!!  Now, please!  Now!  I know how you feel Bodhi, I know how you feel.

    • Sleeping Giant

      Sleeping Giant

      The Metacomet Ridge runs roughly along the Connecticut River from the Vermont border through Massachusetts and into Connecticut.  In that state, close to Long Island Sound in Hamden, is Sleeping Giant State Park.  This is a part of the Metacomet Ridge and for my money the most interesting formation in the entire ridge.  If you look at the ridge from the North or the South you can see what looks like a giant person lying down…. thus the name.

      This is considered a trap rock mount, made from flowing lava and forming a step formation.  In fact, much of the Metacomet Ridge is trap rock and geologically distinct from other mountains in New England.  The ridge was previously called the Traprock Ridge, which is more descriptive but not nearly as interesting.  The name Metacomet comes from Native American chief who fought with the colonists.  He’s better known as King Philip.

      This picture shows what the “head” of the giant and the upper torso.  Other vantage points offer up the entire body of the sleeping giant.  The foreground, is “progress” in the form of a Dunkin Donuts, liquor store, etc.  I’m sure there were better places to take this photo, but this was what I had to work with today.  The head is also known as Mount Carmel.  Right at the base of Mount Carmel is Quinnipiac University.  There was a time right before Sleeping Giant became a state park when there was an active quarry at Mount Carmel.  With the establishment of the park it ceased operations, thus protecting the park for forever being known as the Headless Giant State Park.