Nuggets

Corn from Atkins Farms, Q. Cassetti, 2010Atkins Farms was full bore into autumn. They were doing the make your own scarecrow thing (like crazy..since the last time we were there mid September). There were pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and varieties along with a crazy selection of gourds. Of course there were corn sheaves to decorate with along with popcorn on the cob and this stuff to the left, indian corn. I love indian corn….never buy it cause I just love it as a thing. You don’t eat it…you just hang it up or use it to add color to a little harvest shrine or decoration you make in the display area of your mansionette. We have yet to create a display area, and frankly, I would rather be drawing than making displays (more like work than play) . So pictures will have to do. Back to Indian Corn. In this day and age of politically correctness—when Christmas Cards are Holiday Cards and all the antics in December January are called the holidays and not Christmas, Christmas Eve, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa…Why is it acceptable to call this decorator vegetable/grain “Indian” corn? Just a thought. I like it because I do not have to change my vocabulary on this one…and it refers to those people who taught us that this was a worthy and fine foodstuff.

Big day today on the work front. Plenty to do speaking of holiday work…and small projects that need to be nudged forward. Need to work on a job description….for Craig’s List etc. Also, need to start upping the ante on some bad teaching happening with Alex. There is some stuff going on that is not acceptable. Wasn’t the first year he had this teacher, and now is totally unacceptable as we are paying good money for inadequate work on the school’s end of things. No, I am not going to negotiate with the individual as I do not have any control over those things that are important (salary, wages, benefits) but I contribute mightily to them. I am pissed off…and going to go nuclear on this one. Thankfully, Alex is right behind me and fine with it.

Onward.

Goals, Roles

Sushi for Breakfast, 10/17/2010, Q.Cassetti, 2010On the second of September, we left our daughter off at college, to start the next chapter of her life as an individual and a member of our family—with all of our respective roles tossed into the air to float and fly until we redefine ourselves. Here we are, a month and a half later and Kitty is settling into this next chapter with a spring in her step, an Indian story on her tongue and a giggle. She is delighted, as she always is, in the opportunities, the joy of new friends, new knowledge and in a community where play and adventure is valued. Even Alex, our skeptic, was swept away with the sense of play, and reaching out to others, and the fun that can be had within this sort of environment. These Hampshire students are not sitting in front of televisions in elegantly appointed home-like living rooms, or stretched in front of cracking fireplaces intent on beating the next guy to Law or Medical school. The Hampshire student is the child that finds joy in a piece of string…and shares that joy with his/her friends until they figure out something fun, fabulous or even additive to do with this thing. Case in point: There were these students who were standing in one of the quadrangles with a tarp. A regular tarp with people on each corner— moving the fabric to make it simulate waves. Other students saw this, and engaged in this activity with dancing through and around it. Skaters doing the same…and it was magic. It stopped time. Alex (and Kitty) were enchanted. And this sort of thing happens every day. This playing with ideas, playing and making, thinking and doing, engaging and laughing. It is a charmed place.

Back to roles. Kitty has found her path. We are forging a new team with Alex as the main man which is beginning to get some steam and we are all enjoying it tremendously. He is in the spotlight…and responding positively to having the center stage, our attention and pocketbooks. And we are loving it too.  We can tease him…and he teases back. He is not as reticent to be honest—blunt, with us. But where are we as parents to Kitty? We spent yesterday with her, feeding and shopping—just spending time. After a day of hanging out, she finally, after the moroccan sandwich, began to loosen up and tell us Hindu tales, which coming from her was a hoot and a half. As we got in the car, it dawned on me we had something we could offer her. “Kitty?” I asked….”would you like to come back to our room, take a bath and a little nap?” Yes. That would do. Our role has been redefined. We bring home with us…and we need to offer up the hot buttons and allow our girl a bit of time just to unwind….and veg….whether its here or there. Tubs and naps. Food and truly, unconditional love. That is our role. She also said that she approved of my asking her if she was drinking enough water? or  what about her hot room or humidity in her space. She is looking for her mommy to continue to be home and comfort. I can do that. I can help her be comfortable. I can be a support. i can listen happily to her talk about the nutty eye covered Hindu god, or about the four elephants that hold up the world. I can meet her lovely friends and not need to be anything but enchanted. I can help and hopefully be of value to her and her friends. I want to be relevant and helpful.  I betcha if I brought a feast in a cooler, that might rock a bit. We could cook for the troops…take the cast party to the cast…and meet these lovely playful folk.  New role we can fill. We are back to preSeptember 2. We have all been redefined. And, its all good…and all the same.

White Pumpkins at Atkins Farms, Q. Cassetti, 2010We met Kitty for Breakfast (sushi today). Alex and Rob bought a dozen doughnuts at Atkins Farms (a food we never buy…but AF breaks that rule). I oogled the piles of white pumpkins, the gourds, the halloween candy and finally bought a gigantic rosemary plant (bush sized) as I am weak in the knees with rosemary. There is something so happy about the bush, it’s lovely scent and its heartiness. I hope I can nurse it with humidity and happiness through the winter.

It was a long drive home. We do not need to go to family events any more now that we know our roles. We just need to get our girl, get a tub, find a stove and settle in.  I did remember that tubs are something that you can get in Noho. There is a hot tub spa that you can endlessly use on Saturdays for $10 per person, so that Kitty and her gal pals can do some fun soaking together to get the tub thing in between going home….unless we buy them a portable spa…? Plus, from the lovely coffee opportunities, the thrifting (she has figured that all out), and the stores…she doesnt need us to make home for her all the time!

I am currently home, roasting some chicken bones (to go into the pressure cooker tomorrow), and watching Alex watch a frightening show about folks overeating… somehow adding enormous amounts of bacon, cheese and meat…I am belching just watching. Ouch.

Home team

Robbie, Kitty, Alex on the way to the Farm, 10/16/2010, Q. CassettiNote the new boots. You can see Kitty and Robbie are having some laughs. Alex is just plain exhausted (didnt go to bed until 3 a.m. and up at 7 a.m. to run).

We are having family quiet time here at the Clarion Hotel with Rob giving an interview to Carnegie Mellon University around the next 2300˚ at the Museum that is incorporating an alumni “meet up”.We managed to convince Alex to consider sleep. We charmed Kitty with the opportunity to take a bath (nonexistent at Hampshire) and a nap in our comfy bed. My two babies are asleep. All is right with the world.

I am rethinking my business. I have been looking at my resources and how things get done and have decided I need to up the pace a bit and bring on a person to be a strong second to me. I do not have design back up. I cannot rely on things not falling through the cracks. I need someone to backstop me, think ahead, help me— honestly help me—so that the creative work can get better for me, and I have someone I can trust. I need to think about how to roll this out…particularly after some fairly significant fumbles this week (and unfortunately, never ever even a mea culpa). I am tired of not having a “good morning” or cups put into the dishwasher. I am tired of having to be the mommy and the pointer and tasker…and not have someone I can really rely on , trust and quite honestly, truly respect. I have maxed out…and after hitting yesterday’s speed bump…I think I have had enough. More on this. Need to think about how to get the query out…I am sure the right person is out there.

We had a very late lunch at a Moroccan restaurant (with sweet minty tea)-there is a break and then Kitty and Alex have wild evenings planned. More later.

Napoleons for Breakfast

Napoleons for breakfast at Atkins Farms, Q. Cassetti, 2010\We got up very early yesterday to get Rob to a meeting at a bottle machine/bottle manufacturer company by 11. Alex and I were dropped at the Enfield Mall to buy new shoes at Mens at Macys and to go to Target to upgrade his phone, something I have been wanting to do for a while.  So, roughly two hours or so later, Rob was done and we could get up to Amherst to pick up one computer being fixed and the other dropped off. Then it was off to get and see Kitty.

Kitty is in wonderful form. Learning and growing. Working hard on her work—but needing to get help with her writing and projects (or at least that is what is being said). I need to see if we can get permission to see what the professors are saying about her/ her work as I want to keep tabs on her progression without putting thumbscrews on her. She has made some very good and interesting friends who are motivated to do things, try things, grow and develop. Rob took a nap in her room, while Kitty took Alex and me on a walking tour of the other dorms and the little stores, shops and classrooms that fill her day.

Kitty Loved the polka dotted Dr. Martens I got her and immediately shut the door to try on the black Gothic Lolita dress, shoes and striped stockings she has for Halloween (a big big thing at Hampshire with lots of excitement around it). The boots went on immediately (ie, she sat down on the cement outside of the minivan and put them on!). Kitty was delighted with the offerings.

We took a minivan of friends out for dinner at a lovely fresh asian restaurant in Amherst and were entertained by their high spirits, their supportive attitude towards each other and the funny things they have rattling around in their heads. We left Alex with Kitty for the night…(they stayed up and saw the comedy troupe and then Alex paired off with other friends and ended up going to Amherst on the bus, coming back, hanging out for an impromptu dance party at the Yurt). Alex was up early to run (and if you havent figured it out he is currently taking a nap—sleeping the way he does when he is uber tired (with his eyes open)>We took Kitty to breakfast and whimsically she decided that it was a Napoleon for Breakfast! Which even for the sweet toothed one, was too much.

We went back to Hampshire to collect Alex (and wait for R under a tree with Kitty and Alex snacking on sushi). We took a walk down to the Hampshire farm—through the fields of greens and kale, by the exotic belted cows to the farm festival with horse drawn hay rides, soup, crafts, cider making, popped corn and livestock. A pair of students were making bread in a cob oven which was impressive. It was very much in the “try it try it try it” thinking of  Hampshire which is continually reinforced every time we bump up against it. The clear eyed response to that  is “whynot” from glassmaking to pizza ovens, from learning arabic to reading the Ramanya, from Kabuki to Timpani. The cry of Why Not, Try IT inspires me to forge ahead with my friends and supporters cheering me and mine on. What an environment to grow.

It was a clear blue sky day with plenty of wind and moving clouds. The trees are brilliant and the hills surrounding us in the Pioneer Valley are purple blue, shadowing the asters by the roadside. Pumpkins are everywhere (cheap) as are bird feeder/goose necked gourds, popped corn, indian corn and more.They have spectacular rosemary plants at Atkins Farms for $10. each…so one may be coming home with us as I am a big sucker for rosemary in the wintertime. And winter will be here before we know it.

iPad#1, Q.Cassetti. 2010Fired up by Mr. David Hockney, I was fiddling with Sketchbook Pro on my iPad and did some googling to see if there was any pdf/manual to talk to the functionality. I found out something even better. Adobe has a simple drawing program for iPad called Adobe Ideas which is sweet sweet sweet. As its Adobe, it’s home for me…and the interface is glorious and nicely designed/more intuitive.  So, I am making little dumb pictures (my first one to the left) and will continue to do that. Its a tool, and a tool I need to learn. Who knows? But, its fun and I have it…so I should learn it a bit just to add to my kit of tools.

I also am charged up about thesketchbookproject.com. I got the book. I have the upc code and the impulsively selected topic “Secret Codes” and it has sat on my desk for two weeks. I was unsure if I had the time. However, I had the book and topic…and it is not a gigantic page size…So, with Rob working late last night, I cracked it open and started drawing with orange and peach sharpies to have 6 pages already in the works. I figure one or two sketches a day on this, quickies…and I will have this done in the right amount of time with a bit of time to spare. I will scan and post even though they are impulsive little diddles. And this is a low risk thing that has gotten me fired up in another way…Hockney on one side, Masonic iconography and Indian art, the other. And of course, there is caffeine too.

We are off to Hampshire this weekend to visit our Princess. We will be staying in Northampton (a surprise yay as I thought all the rooms (at least from Hotwire) were booked and we would have our choices amongst the one stars. But no. Alex and I will have some date time as R. has a meeting tomorrow a.m. I will need to charge my camera and pad and pod and phone…get the dog resolved and away we go. I hope there is a beautiful clear weekend as we are not seeing that now. Even so, the boys are on the ladders on the back of the house (after the ancient septic was discovered yesterday and vented). putting the big deep boards under the new roof on the back walkway. This walkway was added on twice during the course of the former rennovations on this place…and as we have been pulling them off…and discovering the visual history from the witness marks and paint on the side brick walls….the roof has become prouder and the space more graceful and in keeping with the house. It is no longer the cat urine scented back hallway, mean, dark and shabby. Now we have light and grace. Quite a change for this old girl.

I might have to upgrade...

Adobe Illustrator CS5 Tip - Masking reversed

Instead of creating complex artwork and then drawing another object on top to mask that artwork, you can now simply click on any object and change the drawing mode to Draw Inside (Shift-D) at the bottom of the Toolbox. After you’ve set Draw Inside, the selected object will mask everything you draw. Draw Inside also supports the Paste and Place commands-pasting inside an object has finally come to Illustrator.

Look at what the pros are doing

Images drawn on an iPad by David HockneyIf I were Alex Cassetti, I would exclaim that David Hockney is “fresh as hell”. This is an unafraid artist who paints about everything that touches him from his lifestyle with pictures of men in swimming pools in Los Angeles to his new and exciting pop in the iPad art world. I love it that Hockney has been drawing on his iPhone and has newly adapted the pad (down to having coats made with big interior pockets to hold the pad). He has exuberantly leapt on the technology, making new pictures that have merit on their own, and not trying to be anything than what they are. He creates images daily and emails them out to his friends just because…and this resonates with me. So, inspiriation is there. Just get going. Keep drawing regardless of the medium. It will look like you because, silly, it is you.

“Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?”  David Hockney

“I realized when I was doing the sunrises last year that it was partly because the iPhone was beside my bed when I woke up,” “But if I’d only had a pencil and paper there I probably wouldn’t have chosen to make pictures of the dawn.”  David Hockney

And so today begins. Recycled soup (bean as the base…tomatoes added as well as some chicken) ready for the back porch crew. I made two cornbread loaves last night while I joined the world watching the amazing and to me, frankly pretty scary/horrifying venture in Chile to get the miners out. That tube, the rescue contraption called “Phoenix 2”, 26” x 6’ being lowered into the ground essentially with a jerry rigged rope tow, with either a miner or a rescuer squeezed in, coffin style with air and (I hope some medication) to make an uncertain journey (180 feet of it encased in a metal tube as the ground was uncertain towards the top of the shaft). The chanting of Chee Lay by those above and below as if it was a game, interestingly, instead of buoying my spirits, made me chew my lip even harder. Then the elegant Florencio, the first miner up, was instead of having a bit of privacy watched as his dear little son (with a chilean mylar balloon shoved into his hand by some media spinner) break into heart wrenching tears when his papa surfaced. And the media circus surrounded this poor soul who needed a beer and a chance to put his head down, hold his family’s hands and say a big prayer that he was out of that subterreanean prison and his comrades would make it too. There was nothing about this enterprise that spoke of any of this being a “sure bet”— but the quiet confidence of those surrounding the entrance to this shaft was reassuring even to this nail biter. I hope that today brings more confidence, more rescues and closer to this amazing story of these men below the ground.

Sure make the small stuff seem pretty silly, doesnt it?

 

Head down.

Coming Soon: Farmer Ground Flour MixesComps in the hands of the master who will be showing them this week at a food show. Farmer Ground is coming out with some great organic mixes: Buttermilk Pancakes, Buckwheat Pancakes, Cornbread and Muffin Mix, Bran Muffin Mix, Ginger-bread Cake and Cookie Mix. These are packaged in nice, neat canisters that keep the flour and ingredients fresher. Fresh, organic and delicious.

Speaking of fresh, organic and delicious… freerange, happy bird for the holidays—I ordered my turkey for Thanksgiving today from The Regional Access. So, I have put the money down and have pencilled in the pick up prior to that special Thursday in November. Now what to cook beyond this. And, who is sitting at my table too? I would love to have a big group. Its so much more lively and fun. Plus, as its Kitty home from college, it would be fun to have people she loves and adores too to enrich the time. And extras? Do you think that something with Farmer Ground Cornmeal or Grits might peek into the mix? Can I do something with leeks and polenta with a little elegant cheese? Hmmm.

Speaking of food…I used a Martha Stewart Food recipe as a starting point to riff on using beets, potatoes, tarragon and onions (roasted) and then cooked cooked cooked into a pink soup. It was good. Pretty good…and a little something hefty needs to be added. But we all politely ate it for lunch. More successful was the beet salad that everyone is chowing on and going back for seconds. So from all white lunches to today, all pink all day!

Had a terrific chat and am highly motivated by talking with the local letterpress printer. His prices are good and he loves the same things I do (crappy paper or really elegant all cotton cream paper, we love letterpress and foil stamping and the works). We are going to work on a postcard printed on a kraft paper stock (black and grey on kraft)…and his price is great. So, need to get the valentines prepped as well as a “family” holiday card for friends and wider family group. Need to roll on that….

Cranked a ton of design work today too. Got new numbers on possibly refinancing our house. Going rate these days is 3.5% and we could lower our payment and by refinancing, also save a ton of money over the life of the loan. I hate applying for these things, but at least we can get our hands on the paperwork quickly…So need to talk to R about pursuing it or not.

Keystone cider mill, Q. Cassetti, 2010

Pennsylvania Pizza

Peter at Keystone Cider, Q. Cassetti, 2010It was running from pillar to post this weekend. No time for blogs, naps in the car from one place to the next. Friday found us meeting up with some family members from Rob’s family—a treat, a sparkling gem. Things have been hard for them, but time has not visibly aged them…but the wisdom, kindness and joy peek out from the words and ideas and we are sad with them and embrace them in their joy. It was wonderful. We left them to have dinner with Ron and Mary to go have dinner at the Pourhouse—meeting up with people we do not have a chance to chat with…to much happiness and laughter. Then, we dropped into the Rongo for the driving, happy music of Billy Eli and Eric Aceto. Lots of energy, nice crowd dancing and mixing…and not too loud to talk. We had a chance to catch up with Todd on news around town and things that interest him. Local food being a lead. We had to get home as apples awaited the next day.

We got up early and met Peter and the apple crew at the Little Camp House on Searsburg Road. Peter believes in free apples —so he collects, like a mushroom hunter, old apple trees, and where they are. He calls the owners and asks if he can pick up the excess which they grant him. It was a brilliant day—just warm enough, clear blue skies and if I were the determiner of the “colors” we were on the shoulder of the peak colors. So dazzling yellows, gold, orange, purple and red.  So, there are bags and bags of apples ( coal bags) (85 we finally had), of old and new varieties, quince, and other yummies that are piled into trucks after the picking and sorting on Saturday Morning to go to Keystone Cider in Sayre, PA. I raved about it last year and could rave again this year about the belts and chutes and ladders, the hoppers and the tractor drive. I could rave about the filters and goldenPennsylvania Pizza, Q. Cassetti, 2010 juice being forced out of layers and layers of apple which, when its scraped off the filter is lovingly referred to as” Pennsylvania Pizza”—a dried mash of apples, core, and fiber that the ciderists feed to chickens (or so the young boy who I befriended, told me). Smaller group this year ( I am thinking maybe because it was a rough weather day last year)—but all of us knew the drill…so it went smoothly. We had a nice dinner with the same group hosted by Peter and Peggy—with delicious dinner, of course cider and all sorts of ideas, thoughts and sharing going on. We are so grateful to be included in this wonderful progression from fruit to table—and all the exotics, the ingredients, the community and network that spin and overlap with this group I find amazing. Amazing to understand. Amazing to find that I am in some of those circles that keep overlapping. Amazing to find out how many communities are out there…each as interesting as the next…all locally driven and inclusive. So different from living in a big city or corporate town…as these communities just spin like catherine wheels, overlapping mandalas…that grow and morph. I think living in this small environment makes these groups so much more apparent. Curiouser and curiouser.

Amy, Q. Cassetti, 2010Sunday was up and at em with Rob meeting with a really wonderful new friend to talk architecture, stones, masonry, projects, “who do you know”, “what do you know”, “how do you do it”. High energy, high ideas. Ponds and hot tubs, stones and quarries, steps and projects. While all that was going on, I made beet soup, beet salad and a huge beef (not beet) stew for later during the day. It was processing a ton of stuff in the fridge, so there is more room in the top of the refrigerator and tons more to eat. Thankfully, a bit of cooking keeps my Alex happy…and as its been so wild, it makes me happy to know that we have something for the boy to eat (at least for today).

Then I went off to Amy Brill’s Open House.What a shot in the arm! OMG. It was color, fiber, energy, gorgeous display, Amy “doing her thing” and showing us all the things her clothes do when you turn things upsidedown and backwards…the nineteen things to do with her sweaters. I, of course, couldnt resist and found things I have always lusted after in black and or charcoal (my faves)…along with some beautiful shawls and scarves for the holidays. It was great watching a pair of friends taking picture of each other and sending them to “mom” to approve or direct. Their use of the phone was sublime and quite effective as they managed to pick out sweaters and shawls for all of the daughters for the holidays this year. Amy spun magic and energy dressed in this adorable dress with great legs and cute shoes…constantly fluffing and trying on new scarves and accessories to let us see how great they look. Friends offered up that this was their second time to the sale….with full arms and happy hearts. I hope that this was successful enough for Amy to do it again. I know there are ladies I didnt have the sense to call (as not everyone is a Facebooker) who would faint at all the glory of Amy’s clothes, her accessories, and fibers. The riot of color, buttons,, and details invites a welcome step into Amy’s happy world and vision. And, I want to be in that world with Amy…spinning in joy in the fashion stories she tells us. What an absolute treat.

The small group spent the evening at the lake. Late dinner. Late sleeping and now we are back in the cogs of the machine. More later.

Here and now.

Lots of work hitting the desk. Redos of a client’s international work with very immediate turn-around (my stomach is still churning) along with long discussions of design and imagery that could affect so many future instances that its important we are talking and better understand what is important. And its fast and furious.

The two books for Cornell’s Vet School I am powering through—looking for images, lots of retouching and editing. I did a few layouts for one and need to make the second one more real. I am working a lot in Century Schoolbook (need to reconsider the drawing I am using) and really loving the way it looks. Marries well with the wood inspired type (Knockout, Acropolis for instance). We will be printing on uncoated paper for both pubs using (like the year before) UV inks which do not fade but give you much brighter and bolder ink coverage on the sheet.

Running parallel with this work, Farmer Ground Flour is coming alive. I posted a page via Squarespace which is really working between my pal and me…editing, designing, refining all in tandem. Once again, Squarespace pulls through easily. It has given me something to tinker with in the slivers of time (not a lot into this) to get a site up and posted as Farmer Ground and Cayuga Pure Organics will be in an article in The New York Times Magazine (10/17). We need to have some presence before it hits.

Additionally, there are some terrific new products using Farmer Ground which are being shown next week that we need to get labels resolved for comps that they need. As we keep talking, the need for a rack card, or output is surfacing. This logo is in the works but I really want to rework it this weekend as it needs to be tweaked. The uber cool thing (speaking as a vector geek) was that the wheat are brushes that created these strokes that were then rotated off a central spine. Still looks friendly and handmade but just a bit clunky to this designer. The messaging and image of the flour will flow into the messaging and image for the Bakery we are working on and is derivative of the messaging and the image of the grain and grain farmer. So it feels like there is a lot to think about, but as we begin to parse this information, it suggests or overlaps other aspect of this grain related community which is really cool. I am enjoying trying to put these pieces together.

I have been really going, so having that peaceful moment to think about pictures hasn’t happened in a few weeks. I would really like to get back to it. For now, a double order of granola and a tray of cookies need to happen on top of what is going to be presented for dinner.

Man, do I love the web.

Birthday clouds over the NYS Thruway, Q. Cassetti, 2010So, to pick up where we left off. I was busy musing happily on how the naming of this nutty region happened. Dreaming of some scholar, schoolteacher who might have surveyed and in his dreamy way, somehow assigned value and sported his classical education in the naming of parts of Central New York. Rob found some interesting stuff that pointed to an idea there…but something caught my eye, the phrase “Military Tract” and so, as always, I googled it. Turns out there is a lot of talk on line about the “Military Tracts of Central New York” with wikipedia and rootsweb really getting into it. Wiki sez:

The Military Tract of Central New York, also called the New Military Tract, consisted of nearly two million acres(8,000 km²) of bounty land set aside to compensate New York’s soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War.

The United States Congress had already guaranteed each soldier at least 100 acres (0.4 km²) at the end of the war (depending on rank), but by 1781, New York had enlisted only about half of the quota set by the U.S. congress and needed a stronger incentive. The state legislature authorized an additional 500 acres (2 km²) per soldier, using land from 25 Military Tract Townships to be established in central New York State. Each of the townships was to comprise 100 lots of 600 acres (2.4 km²) each. Three more such townships were later added to accommodate additional claims at the end of the war.

The townships were at first numbered (1 through 28), but were later given (mostly) classical Greek and Roman names, along with a few honoring English authors:

1. Lysander
2. Hannibal
3. Cato
4. Brutus
5. Camillus
6. Cicero
7. Manlius

  8. Aurelius
  9. Marcellus
10. Pompey
11. Romulus
12. Scipio
13. Sempronius
14. Tully

15. Fabius
16. Ovid
17. Milton
18. Locke
19. Homer
20. Solon
21. Hector

22. Ulysses
23. Dryden
24. Virgil
25. Cincinnatus
26. Junius
27. Galen
28. Sterling

The tract covered the present counties of Cayuga, Cortland, Onondaga, and Seneca, and parts of Oswego, Tompkins,Schuyler and Wayne. Most of these township names are reflected in current town names in these counties, but the area of the military townships do not correspond exactly with any of the modern towns, which only cover a fraction of the original townships.

 

So there you have it. Rome and England…all in one place. Names that have stuck in most cases, with the subdivisions of these towns taking on Native American names, or to my thinking, also taking on the names of those soldiers who earned their acreage….Certainly worth learning more of that. I am going to post the map with a close up for your amusement.

Names of Ancient Rome

I am always thrilled and secretly amused by the crazy naming we have in this area. I love going to events and seeing the names of Ancient Rome, Roman writers and philosophers, towns and personalities blazed across these young chests proudly stating that they are: Tully, Seneca, Ovid, Romulus, Manlius, Ulysses,  Homer, Rome, and so on. Ancient Rome takes on Native America with teams that evoke those names and places. 

I am secretly harboring a passion to take portraits of these athetes… singletons or could be these sensational posed pix for the “moms” which I pretend I am one of… with a salient quote from Seneca or Homer or the person/ place these groups of sweating teenagers represent.

I hope I am not the only person humored by these wonderful names and references that go beyond the painted lines of playing fields and into our minds, our cultural history referencing a romantic time worthy of honoring on new maps with straight lines in this crazy lake filled countryside we live in. 

Just a thought.

“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. “

Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

“Light is the task where many share the toil. ”

Homer