Master Storyteller - Steven Posch

I am not a huge fan of television and for when I have to get a lot of things done radio is a good companion. Over the past few years I have become increasingly dissatisfied with much of what is offered on radio. Even "commercial free" public radio seems to be littered with a long list sponsors and supporters. Has anyone else noticed that it's not just a list anymore? It includes a little tag line along with the business name that describes what the business has to offer. That is a commercial to me.

I do enjoy music but I do not have one fixed genre that I am a huge fan of. That is probably the most significant reason I become bored with any one station. I also do not have a large collection of purchased music. I think I get tired of switching discs through the day. I don't like listening to the same thing not just every day, I get annoyed if I am hearing the same song within the week or month. I am highly susceptible to ear worms and do not like to reinforce them.

More frequently, I have been enjoying some of the ambient, electronic and other diverse offering on iTunes radio. For the times I can tolerate vocals, a favorite station of mine has been Pagan Radio (found under the religious section). The tunes are usually rounds or chant-like but the selection is great enough that none of them get caught in my head. I can get a lot of projects done, feel really uplifted and affirmed with this station on.

The new iTunes update must have had a temporary glitch because roughly 75% of my radio station disappeared for a day. It was then I realized how much I had been enjoying them. Yesterday I checked and my Pagan Radio was back but wouldn't load. This morning all was finally right and I had my tunes back. Very pleasant.

Now for the real reason of this blog. I found myself enjoying the songs about stags and spirits and drum solos when the next piece that comes on is one of the very infrequent stories not told to music. I found my ears perking up as I slowed my pace on the tasks I was trying to undertake. A man was telling the story of The Descent of Anat.

I had heard other stories of his on Pagan Radio and they were always worth listening to, he is obviously a master story teller. It was in the middle of The Descent of Anat I saw this man's face in my mind! I swear I knew his voice and did some research to find that we had actually met Steven Posch years ago at PSG in Wisconsin. Two summer solstice celebrations, years ago, Steven Posch's story telling was the highlight of most every day for me. He was kind to our young son and his humor warmed our camping trip each year. The second year we went, we packed a toy mosquito to show him since he called mosquitoes the Minnesota state bird. He laughed with glee when our son showed him how it made a whining song.

I found he has a cd, Radio Paganistan: Folktales of the Urban Witches, and I don't think I am going to be able to resist increasing my meager collection. He is worth listening to again and again.

Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

This past weekend I spent a lot of my waking hours hiking in the dark. RGBisMe and I set up a series of night only letterboxes for anyone in the Elysburg area the evening of 9/11. We knew the date itself conjured up images of darkness but there is a lot we can do to take back that date. We wanted to celebrate things that are enjoyable in the darkness and at night. We had some folks pitch in and carve stamps that could be inked up in colors other than black yet were indicative of images that were pleasant manly at night.

Are you noticing no photos? The entire day and evening we set this series to be found it poured buckets, pretty much non-stop. We had one unique way of hiding a letterbox that required the finders to lower the box from a branch 30' up. The twine was so waterlogged from when we left a trail run rock in place weeks before that it would not allow us to lower it to put the box in place. We had to replace the twine and RGBisMe spent 10 minutes looking up into the pouring rain and trying to trow a rock over the branch. All that time he was getting rivers of cool water pouring down his sleeves. We laughed and laughed.

We took a break and met Maga11 to set up camp and have a hot lunch before heading back out to activate over 100 little colored glow bracelets that acted as blazes along the trail. Until about 5:30, we hung out with her at Mossy Point Camp Ground. I must say that place is NOT for everyone.The owner is friendly and low key and the woods are nice but the ground were really trashy and quite expensive for a wet lot to crash in. Maybe next time we will just camp in Weiser SF.

Janila, Sepia Slipper, Tracdc and the unnamed RumiKube boxer joined us at the camp ground right before we had to cut out. Back we went into the pouring rain and from 6 - 7:45 PM we activated the glow bracelets and placed them in sometimes very specific places according to their colors and the clues that had been set up on the trail earlier. I forgot to mention that the clues were not visible during the day but I will hopefully be able to use the idea in the future for when they are replanted. I would hate to spoil future fun for anyone.

We finished blazing the trail just at dusk. Having worked from the far end of the course back to the parking lot, we were a little surprised that no one was waiting to start finding the boxes. It was good to have a break and we grabbed our left over Chinese food from lunch and ducked under the shelter of the out house for a romantic supper.

The food and break were welcome, I had at one point broken down into tears in the middle of the trail about 45 minutes earlier. I could tell it was going to get dark soon and I was starting to get disoriented as to exactly where I needed to put a yellow blaze that marked where a bonus box was hidden. There were just too many shaggy barked trees near dense pines on that stretch, my personal notes nor the gps that was refused to keep sat' lock were totally helpful at all at the moment. I couldn't even find the darn bonus box we had hidden 8 hours earlier. RGBisMe was less than .10 mile away and I found myself crying, "I have no idea what I am doing or where I am! I can't find the Luna Moth! Where am I!?"

As we waited for letterboxers to brave the rain and darkness, we enjoyed a few bites of food and looked back onto a moment we had just experienced. Having been so focused on completing the task and because it had just finally gotten dark we hadn't really looked down the trail to appreciate our work. Near the end of the trail but before the parking area, we turned to check back to see if we had placed enough blazes to lead the way around a turn. Lovely glowing little rings spaced along the now dark trail looked like magical Will o' the Wisps. The muted colors in the mist were something to behold and we agreed that if the evening ended there it would have been gratifying.

As gratifying as the view down the trail was, we couldn't really consider the evening a success unless someone actually came out and found at least one of the 12 letterboxes we had hidden along the mile of wide gravel road. It was looking more and more like everyone had decided that it was just too rainy. There were sections of the trail/road that were puddled up and we knew that it was probably flooding in places around the region.

I think it was pretty well after 8PM until the first car pulled into the SF parking area. I had been assured by the ranger that we were allow to park there for our night hike and he was fine with the little additions we made to the trail as long as we cleaned them all up the next day. Mososo Kruppe were the first to arrive and they brought the intrepid Barghest who was recovering from Lyme Disease. The joined us under the outhouse shelter and soon Lotus, Leaf Cutter, Dolphin Lover and Horse Whisperer pulled up. I thought it was Maga11 and Tracdc so I started making weird noises at them to get them to come over. That poor crew hustled down the trail, not knowing it was us being goofy.

Maga11 and crew came along and soon after that Janila with Sepia Slipper. We felt compelled to make sure people were interpreting the clues correctly. With the pouring rain the last thing we wanted was for someone to be frustrated at clues that we may have messed up.

We walked with one group, then another and then headed back toward the trail head with yet another group who chose to start at the end and work their way backward. It was closer to the parking lot than not when we met up with the Booshmen, Ralph Spoilsport and the GrizzlyCats! That made 15 brave letterboxers giving the night series a go on a very wet night.

We were exhausted and fell asleep very soon after returning to the camp ground. Close to midnight we heard Janila and Sepia Slipper pull in but I had no energy to even get up to see how it went for them.

Morning came very quickly and it was about 6:30 AM when we grabbed a quick coffee at Sheetz before mounting up onto our bikes one last time on the trail. Our 4 panniers were filled with soaked twine, spent glow sticks, clues and 12 letterboxes after 2 hours of tearing down in the morning rain. We were gratified to read in the final logbook that everyone who had set out on the trail that evening had made it to the end.

A dark evening in less than perfect conditions might make for some carelessness but we saw none. Every clue and letterbox were returned as intended, no logbooks were waterlogged, every stamp was replaced and the land that was walked upon looked fresh in the morning light. The most telling sign was the one section where the clue required walking off trail for a bit. There had been a delicate mushroom right on the heading the clue asked seekers to travel. In the morning light,as we collected the letterbox at that location, stood the same proud mushroom. It witnessed a careful group of adventurous souls who warmed our hearts on a date that could have been filled with bleak thoughts. My thanks goes RGBisMe and to those 14 who made it a success.

A RGB Portrait

A stenciled portrait I made of RGBisMe.

The Real Master Carver

Sometimes we get compliments on stamps we have in our letterboxes. We almost always defer to each other and swear that not just one of us has carved the stamp but it's a collaborative effort. For those of you who don't believe us, you are right and we have a photo showing the real master carver in action. All we do is put out a piece of carving material at night and in the morning it is complete.

Thanks Miles!

Shades of Summer Turn Autumnal

My beautiful Peace Rose blooming one last time with the Goblin flourishing as it has all summer long.

These mums have taken the place of the hydrangea that was gracing our entry steps. The summery pink blooms are now planted and will hopefully come back next year.

A Busy Summer

This summer was filled with family, hiking, biking and a lot of wonderful times. I have been reminded twice this week that my blog has not reflected anything of the sort. Be assured we are all well and have many exciting plans for the rest of the year.

Highlights included my time at Sinnemahoning, hiking with RGBisMe, the magical trip I took with Tracdc & Maga11 into the Shenandoah National Forest and the two weeks Asrai & Ravenboy spent with us here in town. The only sad thing is that we are losing the best neighbors; Mososo Kruppe are moving across town. It's only sad for us. Their new home is just amazing and I am sure they will be much happier there.

I forget that not everyone can see what I add on FaceBook so here are a few photos to show what I have enjoyed.

A field trip to shoot photos with the master, Toolman Luke.

One of his eagle shots from May.

Hanging out in Fordam Commons between shows near the Met Opera House.

Maga11 feeding Chickadees in Trexler Park.

Early June, returning 5 years later to try to find a remote letterbox in a beautiful spot.

Skyline Drive with Maga11 & Tracdc. The week we spent needs a blog entry of it's own!

Exploring the newly renovated Academia covered bridge. Longest covered bridge in the USA.

Prodigal Son on stage at the Met, literally and figuratively.

A snapping turtle along our local bike path.

The huge toad that lives in our backyard and eats bugs off the porch at night.

Returing to Sunset Rocks in July.

Ravenboy & Asrai.

Pickles on a stick!

Knoebels in August.

Biking in Weiser State Forest.

The reservoir in Weiser State Forest.

Appalachian Trail on Peters Mountain with Janila.

Stone Mountain, yesterday.

Caught in the act of geocaching.

State Game Lands 106 this past Saturday.

Ravenboy & Asrai at Knoebels in late August.

This is the kind of stuff I was treated to this summer. Is it no wonder that I haven't had time to write about it? Any moment I would turn away, something amazing would be going on.

Broken Branch

Where we like to sit with our morning tea or summer supper in the evening. Does anyone have a chainsaw we could borrow?

Up in the Air

Our weekend was mostly spent in NYC visiting Asrai & Ravenboy. Ravenboy was able to get us a couple of tickets to his performance of "Airs" in which he had received such a wonderful review earlier in the week. Asrai invited us to watch her trapeze class before we had to change for the performance.

I had no idea what to expect watching her trapeze class at Trapeze School New York. She was learning some flying trapeze at their tented location on 30th St. When we got to watch, she was perfecting a trick and then translating it into being caught. At the very end of the class she was even being coached for the return.

Asrai did great and you could tell by the way everyone around her reacted that they had a lot of respect for her. This school is one that accommodates people just trying one class through people who are trying to perfect certain techniques. The staff seemed very in tune with what each student wanted to accomplish and I saw them going one on one with them to make sure they were focused on coming away with something.

We watched as each student in the rotation used their failed moments as learning experiences. At the end of the class the instructors all made sure to touch base with the students and put into perspective all they had accomplished. It seems like a pretty neat school.

After her class we went down town to check out the newly opened The High Line park. We had known about the High Line for years and were thrilled to learn it was finally going to open in June. This trip we were glad to finally set foot on the old elevated rail way that cut through the meat packing district. Currently, the only section that is open is from just south of 14th St. (Ganesvoort St. to be exact) up to 20th St.

It was a beautiful day to explore this new park and many people were enjoying it. The park's structure echoed the existing rail lines and the pieces of art reflected the surroundings. The most stunning display was a piece whose name was based on the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. "The River that Flows Both Ways" by Spencer Finch transforms Chelsea Market Passage's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a period of 700 minutes on a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed a floating object as it moved through the landscape of the Hudson River, beginning upriver and following it as it flowed down to New York City. The artist then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass. I was not able to capture it's magical presence on film so am taking an image from the web page.


We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with Asrai and finally went to the performance at the Met Opera House. We had a chance to meet some patrons who regularly post their ballet reviews on Ballet Talk and had a wonderful conversation before we had to find our way to our seats.

Ravenboy was in the first piece performed that evening and had some very dynamic solos that were well received by the audience. The cast of 7 in Airs did a great job performing the breathtaking Paul Taylor's "Airs." As we drove back to Ravenboy's apartment the whole day felt as if our heads had been in the clouds, walking on sunshine and buoyed by the crisp Spring air.

Ravenboy's Company

If you know what he looks like you can find him in the foreground and background in some of there shots. He is the one that keeps turning after the others have stopped in class.

Thanks for the Litter in our Box!

Jack Purcell Art Limitd Edition

Art Nouveau shoes! Dag yo!

Home Grown Pad Thai

Ingredients I grew to use in our Pad Thai lunch.

Sinnemahoning WITO - Day 3

The night after star gazing was cloudy but cooler than the evening before. Somewhere between 11 and 2, I heard raccoons making their stupid fighting noise and zipped my fly so if they walked by I wouldn't have to look them in the eye. I have no idea why that made things better for me. I found out later that DaBraLady overheard one mother/ daughter couple heard them so close to their tent that, they could, "... hear them panting." They chose to go and sleep in their car for part of the night. Her comment about hearing them panting cracked me up.

Our morning started with tearing down the campsite. It was quite chilly and moving around really helped. I knew I had to eventually pack my bike but my first class in the morning was on biking rail trails and we would be on a stretch of the Low Lands Trail. There weren't too many parts of any of the park trails I hadn't already been on. I had even come back via the rugged and poorly blazed Red Spruce Trail the day before.

That morning I just took to the road. When I had woken, my arms were really stiff and sore from paddling the kayak and half of me thought that I might decide not to go to my canoeing class later in the morning. It was cold and I was sore. Over breakfast at the pavilion in the Forty Maples area my attitude changed. The sun came out, I had some food, the Prothonotary Warble was singing and it was our last day. I really didn't want to miss anything.

Jackie started our class with some rail trail history and gave many resources for finding trails in our own areas. She had a book on Pennsylvania Rail Trails which I was less familiar with and intend to check out when I have the chance. By this point, it was pretty clear to everyone that I like biking so when Jackie asked if we wanted to bike straight through her planned route or stop along the way for points of interest I know that some people re reticent to speak up and choose as to not disappoint the avid bikers. After what I felt was an appropriate amount of silence to let other people chime in I said, "Points of interest please." Many others agreed and I don't think anyone was sorry for it.

Jackie Flynn has an obvious love for Sinnemahoning State Park. Everything she says reflects that. Each stop we made on our bikes allowed her to share personal experiences mixed with history of the area. We learned of the town of First Fork that used to be in the area and she showed us the trees and Foxglove that the townsfolk had planted there. She showed us the way the CCC had planted trees and now they were slowly clearing them out because they allowed no sun to the ground. She pointed out the common May Apples and made them interesting all over with the history of the American Mandrake Root.

Jackie shared her favorite birding spot, noted out some bird song and passed on some sage advice from her expert birding friends. When she was frustrated with her level of proficiency her Audubon certified friend encouraged her, "Jackie, you are at the fun point in birding. You know enough to identify enough to keep your interest but have so many to yet learn and explore that you are still discovering. After you are an expert it becomes boring." Her friend went on to tell her that many birding experts go on to watch dragonflies and follow some of their migrations. It was a great perspective to share with so many of us who are feeling frustrated by not knowing as much as we might hope to.

We returned in time to meet up with the folks who had chosen to go bird banding, DaBraLady was among them. She was on a real high having correctly IDed some of the birds that had been caught in the mist nets. When she shared how she was allowed to set free a Common Yellow Throat after it had been weighed and banded I could tell another life long memory had been made. This program was full of them.

I had donned my water shoes that were still damp from kayaking. The sun was out but the shoes were chilly. I had already decided that I was not into water travel so it was a push for me to get excited about the canoe class. Park Manager Lisa Bainey's enthusiasm made it worthwhile. With the help of Environmental Education Specialist Aaron, she gave us so many pointers on proper paddling technique that I was afraid to tip my head for it running out of my ears. We buddied up and safely set out on to the lake. One thing that was different in this water sport class was that Aaron and Lisa made sure we were wearing properly sized and adjusted PFDs.

Liz and I paddled out onto the lake toward the middle and we all got some on water instruction. I was in the front and I tried to utilize my core strength rather than being an "arm paddler." We really just enjoyed the lake and chatted with one another from that point on. Every woman on the lake was so down to earth and interesting. We were all different in where we came from but similar in that we could all share the exhilaration of a bald eagle as it glided over our heads in the noon day sun. I obviously left my camera behind for this class too.

We returned for lunch and the final class of the day, geocaching. DaBraLady had taken the geocaching class while I was on the lake for my canoe class. Over sandwiches and fruit cups I asked her how it went. She thought I might not like it because the guy gave too many hints. She also told me that it wasn't Olf D'Cores as I had thought it was supposed to be. This brought me down a bit but I was all ready to debut the tracking coin I had activated just for the day. I had called it Sinnemahoning Smiley.

By now I think you may have caught on that I don't like to mention the names of anyone I have anything negative to say about. This geocacher may have been a late substitute so perhaps some of the things that fell through the cracks were out of his control. I personally think I cut him a lot of slack. He was pleasant, shared a lot of good information and none of it was incorrect. My problem was with the actual hands on geocaching. As with DaBraLady's group in the morning, after a quick demo of finding a nearby waypoint (it lead to a post) we were sent off to find a nearby cache. He had given a few hints and pointed us down the trail. It was not the approach I would have chosen because the tree he made reference too was on the main road and Diane was not
able to do any bushwhacking because of a severe poison ivy allergy. She was already on steroids for a bee sting. We walked an .6 mile by having to back track to a main trail and ran out of time before finding the cache. The morning group actually bushwhacked .3 mile and also did not find it. I was really disappointed to find that the instructor hadn't even checked on the cache before sending us out. Why he didn't do that, accompany us or set up a "day of" cache that was stocked and easier to find just perplexes me. Let me at it next year, I will lead this class.

I will be honest in saying that is where our weekend ended. We were both quite tired and wanted to be awake for our drive home. We decided at the last second (literally) to pass on the pontoon tour. We hugged everyone goodbye and swapped information with those we could. We really want to sign up for next year and take along as many friends and family who are interested. There is something for every woman, young and old. Attending the Sinnemahoning Women in the Outdoors program is probably one of the best decisions I have made in a long time.