It was snowing and windy, and the road was icy, running between desolate, snow-covered fields in the town of Plainfield. We were climbing a long hill, up in God's country, looking for a microwave tower.
"See what you can find on the radio; I don't dare look," Uncle Chet said, his gloved hands clenching the wheel in his Ford Ranger. He wore a maroon jacket and an old gray bombardier hat.
I lowered the volume, searched for something good, early rock, blues, jazz, anything but commercial drivel.
"When are you going to get a four-wheel drive?" he asked pointedly.
"As soon as this ride is over," I said. "If we make it."
We came to a crossroad and slowed to a crawl as we tried to read the dang sign through swirling snow.
"`Bassett,"' I said. "That's not it. Keep going."
"What are we looking for?"
"He mentioned a few names. I'm not even sure which one it's on. Hughes, Armstrong and something Pond Road."
"Something Pond Road," Uncle Chet repeated.
"I couldn't hear him; he was on a cell phone. Maybe 'Allen' Pond Road. I told him I needed a photo, and he said, `Don't go, unless you have four-wheel drive.' Then I lost the call."
"And called me," he grumbled.
"You want me to drive?"
No reply. We continued to climb as the sky started to darken. I turned again to the radio, went through the FM band to NPR, in the middle of a story on WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange.
"There's a hero," Uncle Chet said as we inched along. "And you know they're trying to tear him down, put him out of business."
"You mean the rape charges?"
"That would be one way. And I bet they'll find another crime he's guilty of, for damaging the security of the United States by letting its citizens know what their government is up to, what their public servants are doing and thinking and e-mailing."
"I'd like to cover that trial," I said.
"Assange is being painted as a saboteur by a government that …" he paused as we approached Little Hughes Road, one our source had mentioned.
This lane led back into the woods and up, up, as the light was fading and with it, my chances to take a decent photo of the new microwave tower atop Noah's Rump.
About a mile in, we came to a fork in the road. Straight, or left? Straight or left?
"He didn't mention this," I said.
"Left takes us up," Uncle Chet said and cranked the wheel.
In a series of rolling dips and rises, this road took us higher until we broke out of the woods and saw the tower in the distance.
"Hallelujah," he said.
"Who needs GPS?" I said.
"Or even a map," he said.
Soon we found Adams Pond Road, a turn to the right. This was a long, narrow corkscrew to the summit, with little room for error. But we made it, and there, in the fading daylight, was the object of our quest.
"Why don't you park over there, where I can get a picture through the window," I requested.
"You're not getting out?"
"Can't in this weather, with company equipment."
"Talk about lazy," he said, but backed around so the tower was on my side.
I lowered the window, took three quick photos, two horizontals, one vertical, then lowered the window and brushed the snow off my lap.
"Do I dare say `mission accomplished'?" I asked.
"No. That phrase has been ruined," he said. "But after Obama's last week, I think you can still say: `Yes, we can."'
Cooperstown Bureau Reporter Tom Grace is traveling with his Uncle Chet, who he says is imaginary. Grace's column appears every other week. For more of his columns, visit www.thedailystar.com/tomgrace.
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December 28, 2010
Target within sight; summit within reach
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
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Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
I saw in the news last week that Disney theme parks are raising admission prices to almost $100 a person. Children (who Uncle Walt considers 10 and under) are now $86 a day.
Continued ... - Getting creative with gifts for grads
- Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
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Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
- Cary Brunswick
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Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
So what does the 1960s game show ``What's My Line'' got to do with the Bloomsday festivities occurring in Dublin, Ireland, this week? Surprisingly, there is a link.
Continued ... - Envisioning a world without terror
- We've become our own worst enemies
- Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
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Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
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- Mark Simonson
- Rick Brockway
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Don't play around with snappers
The other day, I was driving along Route 205 between Mount Vision and Hartwick. Suddenly, I had to swerve out of my lane to miss a huge snapping turtle. It was crossing from a large swamp on the left to some higher ground on the other side of the road.
- Emmons Pond Bog is pretty easy to enjoy
- Fishing has gotten a lot more complex
- Waterfalls are even better when you keep them to yourself
- Kids have sparkle in their eyes
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Don't play around with snappers
- Sam Pollak
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Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
"If this had happened while a Republican was president, the liberal media would be screaming."
Continued ... - THIS WEEK'S POLL
- Using time off in the worst way possible
- Terror lives on, and there's no end in sight
- Remembering the glory of their times
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Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
- William Masters
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
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Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
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Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
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Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
