As my Mom always said, "You never know where the days going to take you". As we grow up we come up with life plans that will hopefully all take us to lead a happy and productive life. It's funny how events, people, and new experiences can lead us to veer left or right each time we come to a fork in the road. Opportunities, sometimes once in a lifetime, come up and we grab them or, after much deliberation, choose to let them pass. Hopefully the choices made don't lead to a lifetime of what-if's and regrets.
Thirty eight years ago this month I was packing and planning to move in to Seton Hall University. It would be there I would get my degree in journalism and photography after a four year stint at college. Well I moved in, partied hearty, pledged a fraternity, and lasted only one semester. If I hadn't done that I wouldn't have met an alumni who was a Newark fireman. That lead me to a career as a fireman that lead me to a second career in nursing. What would have happened and where would I have wound up if I didn't go to Seton Hall for those four months?
This weekend we had a convoy, well two cars, that made their way into the Adirondack Park to help Lauren move into Paul Smith's College just outside of Saranac Lake which is just outside of Lake Placid. It'll be there she continues her education working towards her bachelors in Park and Conservation Management. While it was her decision I can't but help taking a little credit as we introduced the college to her during several family trips up to Saranac Lake over the last 10 years she's been in my family.
Covid really took a chunk out of the high school class of 2020. It occurred during senior year. No proms. No parties. No college move ins as most colleges were offering virtual classes. If they did allow kids to move in it was like being herded like sheep at every turn. In addition to missing that opportunity it really put a beating on that generations mental health. It wasn't a good time for a send off into adulthood.
We had visited Paul Smith's during Lauren's college tour in the fall of 2019, just months before Covid hit in 2020. It was one of several colleges she considered. I thought it was a perfect match but, at that time, the world had other ideas.
So she did the virtual Rowan thing for a bit but that was less than fulfilling and fun so she came up with a plan and executed it perfectly. She enrolled in Mercer Community College and majored in automotive
technology and after graduation worked as a mechanic for two years. Needless to say I, and my vehicles, benefitted greatly from her choice of study. In my opinion every single person in the United States should learn a trade out of high school. A hands on get your hands dirty vocation. Dirty with grease, food, blood, sand dust, paint, you name it. Over in Israel every single person out of high school, man or woman, is required to enroll in the military. I'm not hoping for that but I think real world old-
school skills are what's lacking in our society today. Take electronics and computers out of our lives and really what do we have? And once you have that training, or skill, and a license to practice, you have it for life, no matter where you may choose to go. My kid sister Jessica graduated from the Culinary Institute of America as a pastry chef after completing their four year program. Out of school she joined a start-up, named Peloton, and the rest is her and her families history.
So with her skills, her degree, and several certificates to practice her trade as a mechanic, she is now circling back to Paul Smith's. I think if there's a poster child for PSC Lauren could be in the running. While it's a traditional campus with dorms and buildings, the Adirondack Park is the classroom. She is setting herself up for a multitude of career options that can applied anywhere in the United States or the world for that matter. Pretty cool stuff, pretty cool kid, and we are so proud of her.
I have always enjoyed the Lake Placid area. I thought for a while I would one day call it home. I've been going up there since 1989. You know the story about my houses in Ausable Forks so I'll spare you. But every time I go I always feel like I could have made it there. Not in a walking, hiking, biking, swimming, skiing, or snowshoeing kind of way, but in a small town work hard be somebody kind of way. While I've missed that boat as that area exploded, especially after Covid, with a migration, or invasion, of investors and relocators, I still feel there's opportunities abound up there. My sister and brother in law seem to be living the Adirondack dream, of course with tons of hard work.
So while I tend to try and not tell other peoples stories, but I do, much to the chagrin of my family, like in this post, it all really comes back to me. This year my sis and BIL, Meg and Will, purchased a home that, you could say, needs a little love. While others may see a perfect opportunity to practice demolition skills with heavy machinery, I see a beautiful woman, who's down on her luck, and just needs a shower, some new clothes, and a chance. I'm not picking on women, so just go with it.
Her bones are strong, maybe not straight, but just in need a good chiropractic adjustment. And if anyone could snap her back it could be Will. I've seen him work, and his COMPLETED projects, a skill I greatly lack. After they purchased they told me about it. Looks pretty nice outside but hoarding conditions inside. Right up my alley. So during this trip we took a ride over and explored.
Inside the place is pretty much floor to ceiling boxes. Inside those boxes are books, thousands and thousands of books. As I looked around they mentioned something about finding some stamps. Now when I hear stamps I think of Lionel trains. Everybody's got them and think they are worth a million dollars. I'm in the slow process of getting ready to sell my collection, something I just really ned to do. So it was worth a look, well really a dig.
I would say that after the archeological dig Will and I uncovered some stuff. This wasn't your kids stamp collection. This was the real deal. Stamps, envelopes, ephemera, a coin here and there, and a ring from WWI. And so the, well my, insanity kicked in. I think it may have spread to Will,
and even Meg, a bit. Soon we had downloaded stamp identification apps on our phone and we started snapping away. This stuff has been cataloged, labeled, and stored in glassine envelopes. There are invoices from orders from the big old stamp collection houses that once were in New York City, including Robert A. Seigel. Manhattan used to be the home of several districts, the Diamond, Fashion, Stamp, and Train. Certain streets held all the stores and dealers for each of these collectables.
There were players in each game and I think we may have found the collection, in part or whole, of one of them. After a few hours of work everything was loaded into bins for safe storage and relocated to a new warm and dry home. I wished I lived up there because nothing makes me happier then rolling around in shit like that looking for treasure. And the books....oh lord. If you need one let me know and they might be able to help you out.
So back to that fork in the road. Decisions, decisions. Some are huge, other's not so much but we put the fate of the world on them. It's nice to see when a plan comes together. Lauren going to PSC, very cool to watch unfold. My sis and BIL finding the Mother Lode of stamps worth $1 million dollars, kidding of course, priceless. Me spending countless hours writing this blog, stupid.
But by chance I took another fork in the road as Theresa and I traveled back down to New Jersey. At Albany we made a right and headed to a little town called Berne, New York. My Mom, who had just done a few day trip from Florida to Niagara Falls with her Golden Girl besties, were now visiting 'The Boys", who summer up there and winter down in Florida, living right above my Mom.
We spent a few hours there and had a nice visit. I wish there was a way that each of us could live where we wanted and it was only a town or two away. My sister is 6 hours away by car and my Mom a 2-1/2 plane ride. While I can, and should, make a better effort to visit both of them, it's not always easy, but good when you get there. What you miss are the hangs, just sitting around enjoying each other's space. Having coffee, sharing life stories, getting a load on, helping with a project or with the kids, or digging through dust covered asthma kicking-in boxes looking for treasure.
So, yes, "You never know where the day is going to take you". As August starts to turn into September I wonder when I'll arrive at the next fork in the road. I'm tired of doing the same thing everyday and expecting different results. Things won't change unless I change, and each day and week is one closer to a day when it's all over Johnny. It's time to go and find that fork.