No More Travels!

I have been thinking about the route I took through western NY to get here, and how it is steeped in Revolutionary War history. You can look into the trees, hillsides, meadows, and forests and just imagine what it must have been like back in those days. Even here in Dutchess County, which sits between the Hudson River and the state of CT, are numerous traces of history, including the Old Post Road. I am planning to try to follow it one of these days, at least as far as Hyde Park and the FDR library and museum. There were several Post Roads - one ran from Manhattan to Boston - and ran along old Indian trails in some places, through dark forests. It must have been frightening to a man who rode a horse carrying the mail from NY to Boston, or in the case of the one here in this county, it once connected lower Manhattan with Albany. I've also been interested in some of the names that seem to get a lot attention from visitors, for example, Fishkill, which is either a Township, Village, City, or Hamlet, and I can never remember the difference. In the case of Fishkill and E. Fishkill, it may be more than one of those definitions. The word "kill" is the Dutch word for stream or creek, and fishkill was originally called vis-kill by the Dutch. I've also gone through Beaverkill, Wallkill, and while I didn't go through it, I have heard of Peekskill. Peek may have been a person who owned the land on which that particular kill ran through, or maybe not. It is interesting that the organization PETA was trying to get Fishkill renamed to something less offensive in their eyes, but I don't think that would go anywhere. It is a perfectly good name and if anything, there should be more publicity on the meaning rather than just ditching it. Last night I attended a T-Ball game that my oldest grandson played in. It is so cute to watch, and I remember when his daddy and his uncle played. There are really no rules and the coaches just introduce the boys to the concept. Each team puts all its players up to bat, they swing until they hit the ball and then advance base by base, but usually just one base at a time. No home runs. The outfielders all converge on the ball and probably never get it to first base. When each player has had a turn, then the other team does the same thing, and this goes on for 3 "innings". The outfielders switch positions as the game goes on so each gets a chance to see the game from different vantage points. Also, no score is kept because, of course, they all score a run. I am now switched to the new and improved blogger, and have made several attempts to load some pictures but to no avail. I am fed up with Google, and I don't care if anyone disagrees with me or not. After I published I took a look and it seems they don't recognize paragraphs, but it is just one long rant. I wish someone could tell me how it is improved. Lady is perking up, by the way. She is still an old dog, but she seems to be doing a little better - the two grandsons are trying to make sure she is getting exercised and brushed. And this morning we met Bosley the boxer who lives down the street. He and Lady just checked each other out, but I think they might become friends.