Old Stomping Grounds

Oneida Lake, NY
43 12.84 N 075 59.21 W

We are crossing Oneida Lake. The lake is about 20 miles long and 10 miles wide, but otherwise unremarkable. However, looking south from the lake we see a series of prominent ridges. The north slope of those ridges are our old stomping grounds.

Libby grew up in Fayetteville, NY and me in the next town, Manlius. My parents lived in Oran. Libby went to college in Cazenovia. The nearest town was Chittenango. All of these place are on or near the north slope of the Allegheny Plateau. South, the altitude is higher. North is a vast flat plain extending up far into Canada.

We both remember the specactular scenic views from the hilltops on that ridge. Especially at night when we could see the lights of Syracuse at our feet.

This slope also has the effect of wringing out the last droplets of moisture from the lake-effect air heading southeast. In winter, that meant snow; lots and lots of snow. Indeed, I remember some stats. Syracuse has fewer hours of sunlight per year than any place in the USA. It also has more snow than any other city of 100,000 people or more. There are lots of places in the world that get more snow, but nobody else ever built a big city on those places.

Just seeing that slope brings back lots of memories. In the spring of 1962 I drove a car to school. Libby and I used to skip school and drive around on those hills enjoying the spring feelings. (I hope our grandkids don't read this blog post:)

What's our plan? Tonight, we'll visit our dear friends Gerry and Phyllis in Clay, NY. Tomorrow, we'll backtrack eastward and meet our grandson Nick. Nick will spend a few days onboard with us. Next Saturday is Nick's high school graduation and a big party at John's house north of Rome, NY. Our whole family will be there, except David who is still in Alaska, but including John and Mary Ann from Schenectady. That will be the high point of the year for Libby and I.

By the way, being here reminds me of one of my favorite true stories. In the 1950's a local boy from Chittenango was the boxer Carmen Basilio. In 1957 he beat Sugar Ray Robinson for the middleweight championship of the world. That was a big deal back then. He fought Robinson in a rematch on March 25, 1958. I watched that fight on a TV with a 5 inch circular screen. The referee came out to start the match. He grabbed the mike, looked at his notes, and said, "IN THIS CORNER, FROM [pause] SHIT AND GO NEW YORK IS CARMEN BASILIO."