Hiking Mt. Beacon

Mike and I hiked to the top of Mt. Beacon this morning. It was more strenuous than I thought it would be. Nice enough, but I doubt I'll be returning.

We saw the remnants of the old pulley that raised and lowered the trolley up and down the mountain,
and some very beautiful views of Beacon and Newburgh. These pics are all taken with my phone so they're not the best, but you get the idea.

Welcome Back

I wandered through the forest of internet and was separated from my blog. It's easy to do, but I'm glad I found my way back. I've reconnected with many friends, old and new, through Facebook. I've been merrily pinning things to my boards on Pinterest. Managed to avoid Twitter, although I know many who never make it past that pit. I enjoy the internet, a lot. But I feel like I'm going to have to carve out some time for it and use the rest of my time for myself and my family. My responsibilities are being fulfilled, but I think that if I want to get to another level, to heighten my 'self', I'm going to need some time to dedicate to reading, learning new things, and developing current skills.

It seems selfish to post an entry only to say "I don't have much time to spend here", but I think that by putting some boundaries up I'll actually be able to be more productive here.

Latest Reads

Shooter by Walter Dean Meyers is a book intended for a teen/young adult audience. It's a fast read (one day), but I certainly wouldn't recommend for anyone under 15. It's a good example of 'If you don't stand for something you'll certainly fall for anything.' There's a variety of examples of bad parenting and teens feeling alienated from peers. Leonard, one of the leading characters, who is actually deceased, is a real head-case with propensity for violence. I was on edge waiting for Cameron or Carla to truly stand up to him, but even when they did it was short lived. I'd like a follow up to see what actually happens to Cameron after this tragedy. Does he grow a spine? Can he improve his relationship with his parents? Would he continue to attend the same school? How does he explain his complete lack of affect? The book is a tragedy in the traditional sense. All the characters are flawed and there is no happy ending.


Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby is about Theodore Mead Fegley and his struggle to fit in somewhere despite his incredibly high I.Q. and his always being considerably younger than his peers. The book is written with Fegley's college graduation as the pinacle and we get to see all major events before and after his entering college. Mead is not likable. Although he becomes more so as he tries to mend his relationship with his Aunt and Uncle and finally stands up to his mother (back off lady, sheesh!). You think he's losing his mind, or you are, as things progress because he starts to hallucinate a bit. I liked all the math references and his trip to Bell Labs (Yea New Jersey!). You wouldn't need to know any math to understand Fegley's obsession. Due to some adult situations I would not recommend for under 17.

New Dog

Here's our new dog, Ozzie. He's a complete love. We found him at the Middletown Humane Society, which was a great location. They had a lot of great animals including chickens, rabbits, birds, reptiles, cats and dogs. Ozzie and his sister, Ruby, had been surrendered by a family who no longer had time to care for them. I appreciate what this family did, because Ozzie and Ruby were so sweet you could tell they had been truly cared for. He sleeps with his belly to the sky and loves to carry his bone around. He's great on the leash, nice to everyone he meets, and is great with Frank. He's a nice new addition to our family.