Biking In Barneveld - Best Anywhere

We have been on our bicycles this week - not long trips but delightful sojourns of twenty or so miles. Once the temperatures dropped below the mid 80’s we just had to get up and go.

Though we’ve biked some of the world’s most famous scenic routes, we find the biking in and around Barneveld uniquely satisfying.   Yesterday’s ride, for example...

We pedaled out the driveway at just about 9AM; the Canada Geese watched as we headed out. They seemed pleased that they’d now be able to graze (and, ahem, fertilize) our lawn without disruption for awhile.  Sigh.

The dirt road felt good beneath the tires as our muscles got the message that they’d need to wake up and work.  Crossing the bridge over the West Canada, we noted the flow of water at the spillway and felt a sense of camaraderie with the first fisherfolk of the day as they waded into the stream. 

It was almost chilly as we biked through the village of Trenton Falls and passed Trenton Meadow just as the sun just began to spread across the grove and grasses, sparkling the remaining dewdrops and lifting a light morning mist.

Our breath came in happy puffs as we rode up the rise and through the railroad tunnel (we have to say “beep” in there). Then a sweet swing past Evergreen and Sugarbush and we floated down to route 12/28. Imagine! Not a car in sight, so we were able to bike across without stopping. That took us into and through the town of Barneveld, the historic homes and old stores breathing out their story without a trace of pretense. 

And then, as if passing through a scrim, we are away down Steuben Valley Road!  Field after field, rolling into wooded hills behind. Cows grazing, twitching tails and gathering beneath the leafiest trees in preparation for higher sun to come. Farmhouses and gorgeous barns passing us one after the other. In the gentle rhythm of biking we have time to enjoy the touches each family has added with flowerbeds, stone walls and places to rest in the shade.

The scents tell us the farmers have been at work.  The smell of fresh mown hay and, yes, the spreader has left its perfume - a heady aroma that is amazingly sweet despite itself.

There are hills to climb, with cornflowers, elderberries and gateway openings for the tractors and wagons. There are tractors humming their motored tune in the fields - today they are collecting round bales.

And there are the downhills! We fly with the hawk above us as we swoop down and around gentle bends. This makes the climbs more than worthwhile.  

We are headed back to our house. It has been a couple of hours. We’ve seen, maybe six cars in all. We have had the Kuyahoora Valley country to ourselves -- and what a country it is!

Fly Fishing - True Atonement

On any given day in the West Canada Creek you'll find flyfishers contentedly working the stream a respectful, collegial distance apart. 

We hear from friends who don't flyfish that they can't imagine what moves people to do this.  We think it has to do with "at-one-ment" and we hope others will write in with their own thoughts.

Flyfishing has a unique way of putting a person "At One" with Life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. To begin with, we are largely made of water; and standing in it just feels right, the cool caress of the current soothes even "the savage breast" and we settle into the experience, into the very moment.

Then there's the necessary full attention that engrosses a flyfisher completely in many ways... What insects are flying, floating, rising?  What's the condition of the stream - its temperature, current? What effect is the day itself having on the trout? How and where are they feeding, protecting themselves, preserving energy?

And always the rapt endeavor to engage 'the big one' in tender battle. There's joy in the moment of "winning" and gently looking our conquest in the eye as we release it back to its home. There's even joy in the "dan it" moment when we realize that the fish has won, slipped the hook and shimmered away.

There will be other times for both the flyfisher and the fish. And, in all of these times, a flyfisher will be in complete atonement.

Get Into The West Canada

The West Canada Creek (ok it’s really a river) is good for the soul, a place to feel “at one” with the Life in which we “live, move and have our being”.

Our counsel? Get into the West Canada as often as you can. Whether fishing, kayaking or tubing, time spent in the West Canada always rewards openhandedly.

Hear the many songs it sings as it rounds its serpentine bends. Listen to the whisper of slow moving water gliding through deep pools, the chirping ripple of sparkling shallows, the rush and pound of strong rapids. Each has a musical voice lovely to the ear.

Open your senses to the West Canada’s caress. Move though a shady overhang of fragrant firs and tingle with delicious goosebumps. Then find yourself warmed by brilliant sunshine blanketing your skin like a hot towel after a cold shower. And dance with the swirl and roll of boisterous rapids where large boulders defy the waters.

Share the joy of each moment with those you came with and folks you meet along the way.  Most especially, be aware of your kinship with our fellow species - with darting songbirds, hovering dragonflies, busy waterfowl, elegant trout  and deer bending to drink - all will let you pass as naturally as though you are just another floating leaf. 

It feels so good to be a floating leaf and, amazingly, these moments are memories that last forever.

Why Partridge Hill Treasures WCNY-FM

Dear Friends of Partridge Hill: This morning we awoke to the glorious sounds of Mother Nature, songbirds chirping, geese murmuring and the stream rippling outside our window.  Truly we live in Heaven here in Barneveld!  We find it easy here to remember just how blessed we are with Life's loving  gifts.  Here, beauty gives a face to divine Spirit; and we do feel the Love.

For us, being able to tune in to WCNY-FM is a wonderful complement to the beauty around us. Those of us who have travelled extensively, know that there are too many areas where no fine music is available.  We find it troubling that many big cities, who should know better, fail to provide the touch of the classics to a world so badly in need of the beauty and wisdom they express.

Today, we  contributed, online, to WCNY-FM and it felt oh so good to do it.

We hope Partridge Feathers will grow into a community of like-minded people working to protect the finer things of Life  and banding together to fight things that threaten them.

We'd love to hear your views on  things you find uplifting   as well as things you find threatening.

And now, we are headed out for a bike ride!!!

Dan & Suzanne

Let's Hear It For Personable Professionalism!

It's wonderful when people act like - well - like they should.  To me this means being superbly professional while also being just plain human and downright likeable.

It's all too rare; so when it happens let's all be sure to rave about it. After all, it's a fact that bad behavior ignored increases while good behavior ignored goes away.

So I want to rave about an IRS phone representative I spoke with the other day. I called because both my wife and I got the same notice from the IRS saying we owed them money for our 2009 taxes and that interest was already being incurred. The notice claimed to be a "second notice" although neither of us had received a first notice. And we were especially unhappy about it because we had a document rom our preparer advising us that we would be receiving a sizable refund.

So, naturally, I called.

The phone wait time was lengthy while "all representatives" were "busy helping other callers"; but happily the music was quiet, unobjectionable and completely instrumental. Note to all planners of phone services - we all have distinct musical preferences and they probably aren't yours. Keep it low key, upbeat and as classy as you'd like your service to seem.

Also, I was grateful with the relatively few number of times I was advised that my question could likely be answered on-line at their website.

Then, just as I was starting to think I would never find an agent with time. A real person picked up. She gave me her name and number and worked with me for at least 40 minutes. She listened to my concern and asked me if I would wait while she looked into it. Over the space of our call, she found they "they" (meaning some IRS clerks somewhere)hadn't posted some of our payments over to our account. The net was that, yes, they owe us money and we should not worry about to dunning notice.  If our refunds do not arrive within a couple of weekes we should call her, yes her, back.

Throughout, she was eager to solve the problem and to explain to me what had happened and, maybe just as important, we shared a few laughs. She had a sense of humor and seemed like a person we'd enjoy having over for dinner.

In my view, THAT is personable professionalism.