With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.
The good life, as I conceive it, is a happy life. I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy - I mean that if you are happy you will be good.
Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.
I enjoy paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.
2002-07-04 - 5:10 p.m.
I know this is threatening to become the Horvendile workout page but that's what I've been doing lately. I've taken two walks since the last entry. Yesterday stayed hot late so I didn't start my walk till 7 O'clock. I took a different route than I've been taking. I walked to Alley Pond Park, which is about a mile from my house, and then I walked in the park. This has always been my favorite walk. The park is an amazing place. It is in the middle of a heavily populated neighborhood yet when you are in it all you can see are the trees. The outside world is so well insulated that I made a wrong turn at one point and after walking about 20 feet found myself on the street. Even that close to the edge I couldn't see the outside world. What makes his ironic is that 300 years ago where the park is was the town and everything around it was the wilderness. What made this choice land to build in then was the Alley stream, which powered a watermill.
When I walk in the park I am not bothered by the bikers or bladers that I run into on the walk by the bay. I rarely run into anyone when I walk there. Another advantage is the topography; the park is quite hilly and has many ravines in it. This is good training for FRFF. My plan was to maximize my vertical movement by always choosing the steepest path. I followed this to one of the highest point in the park then went down to the pond from which the park takes its name. I never know how far I walk in the park though. The paths are far from straight. I walked for a bit over an hour so I figure I walked a bit over three miles.
Today was even hotter than yesterday, the forecast was for the temperature to hit 100° F. I wanted to walk so I left in the morning when the temperature was only 84°. I did the walk by the bay that I noticed was called the "Joe Michaels Mile. " A curious name as the path is almost 2.5 miles long. I decided I was going to really push it today and walk all the way to the Throgs Neck Bridge and back. I figured that the bridge was about 3 miles from the start of the path. You can see the route on the map.
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I started the walk at the lower right hand corner where it says 25A. I finished it at the intersection of the Cross Island Parkway and Route 295. You can't see it on the map but 295 leads to the Throgs Neck Bridge. I knew that this would not be an easy walk so I took extra preparations. I had been walking mainly in the late afternoon when the sun was low in the sky. Today the sun was much higher. I didn't want to get burned so I applied sunscreen before I left. It was a longer trip so I brought water with me. I filled my 1.5-liter camelbak. The camelbak is a great invention, it is a water bag made into a backpack with a tube so you can drink while you are walking or biking. I wore white shorts, a white t-shirt and my large straw hat. I wanted to test my limits not hurt myself.
Today it wasn't high tide and I hoped to maybe see some horseshoe crabs. The beach was exposed but I didn't see any. One landmark on the way is the Bayside Marina. This used to be the Bayside Yacht Club. When I was young the club was restricted, it didn't allow Jews. This wasn't down south someplace but in New York City, in a neighborhood with a large Jewish population. When it went bankrupt I didn't shed a tear. The site went unused till two years ago when the parks department turned it into a public marina. Now it's a facility that anyone can use. People keep their boats there and you can also rent boats and fishing tackle.
I had not gotten much past the Marina in my other walks. I was in uncharted territory. I got some encouragement when I hit the 2-mile marker, just about where I thought it would be based on the time. The path ended at the Bell Blvd. exit of the Cross Island. That is right by the East River where there is another park. I crossed the street and started on another path. A few feet from the beginning was the 2.5-mile marker. It was measuring from where I started my walk. I estimated that it was about a half a mile to the bridge. That was a pretty good guess. The 3-mile marker was a couple of minutes from the bridge. There was far less traffic on this part of the walk. I didn't see any swans or horseshoe crabs but I did see a cormorant diving in the water by the shore. A pair of peregrine falcons nest on the bridge, I'd love to see them some day.
I was still feeling strong when I reached the bridge and turned around. By the time I reached the Marina I was feeling the strain. The heels of my feet were beginning to sting and I started to feel winded. I wouldn't stop though and kept walking at the same pace. I made it back to my car in about 2 hours just like I expected to. I had rationed my water supply well and finished it off about 10 minutes from the end. When I got home I weighed myself and found that I had lost half a pound. If I hadn't been drinking I would have lost about 3 lbs. The temperature was 93° F by then. I really should have started earlier. My next goal is to see if I can walk all the way to the Whitestone Bridge and back. I think that would add about 4 miles to the round trip.
I read something encouraging in the paper today. They are releasing Bald Eagles in Inwood Park in Manhattan. It used to be that if you wanted to see a bald eagle you had to go Alaska or Florida, now you can see them right in NYC. We really are making progress with the environment. The battles aren't over though; Bush is making lots of mischief now. The government finally came to the conclusion that the rest of the world has that mankind is causing global warming due to the release of greenhouse gasses. Bush and the Republicans have been saying for years that it hasn't been proven. Now that it has you'd expect him to push for the sign of the Kyoto agreement curbing greenhouse gasses right? Wrong, the new position is that things have gone so far that they can't be helped. When Florida is under water and tens of millions are displaced in Bangladesh, you'll know whom to blame. He also cut funding for the Superfund. A toxic waste site near you is probably going to not be cleaned up. Let's all thank the "environmentalists" who voted for Nader because there was no difference between Bush and Gore.
Today is the Fourth of July and I haven't made any mention of it yet. I'm going to stay in today for the first time in years. I usually go to see the fireworks but it is so hot and I have no one to go with. I'll celebrate tomorrow when I see Great Big Sea at the seaport.
I really should write something patriotic about what the United States means. I think I won't though. It's been said far more eloquently than I could ever aspire to. Even if you don't usually follow my links follow this one. It's the text of the Declaration of Independence. Read it and pay attention to what it says. Compare the ideals to the reality. I'm not going to make any editorial comments but pay close attention to the "injuries and usurpations" committed by the British.
I know the question you all are asking now. "How is Gella celebrating the fourth?" She is making her own fireworks with Nicholas Brendan.
The International Jewish Banking Conspiracy - October 07, 2008
On the Road to Westchester County - October 06, 2008
Inside the Madison Square Studio - October 05, 2008
I'm a Bosniac and I'm debating like I've never debated before - October 03, 2008
Islands in the Stream of Consciousness - October 02, 2008
Email me: GordonLew at gmail
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Horvendile 2002-07-04
