Catch Up

I know I have been derelict in getting things posted so here's some of the update.

We have spent most of the last two days roaming around Lewis County searching out and photographing graves, including that of my paternal grandparents. Most of these were places I had never been and graves I had never seen. We had great success with that but it wasn't all that we did either.

One of the striking elements of the skyline west of Lowville is the Maple Ridge Wind Farm. I had seen wind farms from a distance, but this was the largest I had seen and also the closest I had been.

There are over 196 windmills in this farm and they're building more. Each Blade is over 100 feet long.

If you stand near the base, you can hear a swooshing sound but they're not loud at all. Each on stands on private land and the owners are paid a yearly stipend for the use of the land. Most of it is farmland and the farmers continue to work it except for a small area right at the base of each windmill. Each windmill has a lifespan of 20-30 years or more. But they are so big and dominating they're almost spooky.

Another arm of our trip took us through the small town of Croghan. Now, for a quiet, small, country town, Croghan has a lot going for it. It has a Maple Museum and a Railroad Museum. It has a neat diner. And it has an island saw mill. The Croghan Island Mill & Lumber Company.

 At first I wondered if it was really in operation, but then I saw a man loading freshly milled lumber into his pickup truck and I saw this pile of shavings being emptied into a wagon.

All of this is located on an island of several acres in the middle of the Beaver River.

Croghan is also the home of one of the regions most notable delicacies, Croghan Baloney. This is really a dry, smoked, spicy summer sausage put up in rings by the Croghan Meat Market.

That's only some of what we've been doing but the rest will have to wait for the next post. We're about done in the North Country and are now headed to Rochester, NY to bug my sister  for a couple of days.