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Home My WebLink AboutOctober 21, 2004 - A shack full of memories The Suffolk Times • October 21, 2004 S a� u o m emorl es ,�ti „�� ,� , � , ,��e A�%,iv4�(y , , � � , � ��;, '� ,;�� '� � � ; +� � �i i�� w y y ,� 'S; µ��h��p � d a� , ;i ,'''' � � M ' � �"'��a�ql��ry- 'mk�Gd'A�imi�l`'�� . ��N'�'n�%u� r,'� � � , � , �e�� w� �� ,�, r iu ,�i � � � � , i C� � // �� ll �.;v" r,� � . i � � *� a a'�, N�� ' i i , ✓Al i ' a: �r �r�p � � � '��✓1��4 r�„ � � ��i, �: y ;��l�n „,%" ' �� ;p> �s�*�,"6M"+ . .��a��u ✓��i�iaN ,i' i 1�i � � � �• ,, : r , . '�"'� �""" ��. , � '� �:,,, � � ; r �uu�r' � � ��:. r ,��tif�ti��%��yll/iN� � �r �� riliid�� /�� . � , b�°a�� ' �l i,� � {�� ' „ �uWd l `� ��. �� j� ��'u ,/%�;, � / , ;, ,� }, �- � "� �� , ,, �,,4,� � ,.,� .. ; � � , , �� r ° ' � �, % _�. , �, '�''y';rf - „, , , �� i% � �N, W� - '',� � �� "/%'�� l ud� . � �t ,v�'�r�� . . .�.. ' ' �i�i . � f . t � n,�� : l�, r x„ ��W�b�� „p .��. ,Ad,� .�',4, �r, �'l�pri� .,. i��r�i,��l d'% .. M y�r� �. „ �, ,� � ` ��4,: �$ . . „ — -" u i��r, � � � �, � Y �Y'M' ;�,,.i {p�,� / a. . �. �� . i � i''u;tr:Iry F',n�l 5(uu�Cnl�urgh Many of my Focus on Nature articles have been written in the "hay shack" that overlooks the little pond, tucked away amongst the trees and shrubs of the pasture. This makeshift studio is where odds and ends wind up when they've lost their usefulness but still hold fond memories too rich to throw awa . M,arvv oH�,y�Focus on Nature artides you have read over the years ,o,let's go.As I open the door I see nature's tides and winds,when we were writ�ten in a little building we call tl�e old dartboai-d hanging on the went to races in boats seldom spoken the hay shack,at the end of the pas- other side. It goes back to when the of today—Lightnings,Lawleys, ture.Originally it was an old sprout kids were young and they'd come up "1,histles,Comets—they were the house that came from Barbara's to play darts.There are some darts still boats of the day. grandparents'farm,not far from attached to the board.I wonder when Hanging on the wall across the top where it stands today.Half of it acts as the last one was thrown and by of the window is a six-foot two-man sort of a studio where we store odds whom? saw I remember all too well using and ends,while i�i the other half we Once inside I sit at a table that with my dad,particularly after the '38 keep hay for the looks over the pasture down to the hurricane,when trees were down all F'OC V$ cows during the pond.The legs of this old table have around our house.We all felt nature's winter.I thought been scuffed and scarred from many wrath during that dreadful day.At ON it might be sort years of use in my mother's kitchen. that time we used a wood stove to NATU RE °f fun to look Today it lives a different life,just wait- heat the house.How could one forget by Paul hack on things ing for someone to come and sit. those early mornings,rushing from Stoutenburgh �hat wind up in Off to the left of the table is a book- the cold bedrooms to the warmth of this place we call case with two sailing trophies that the stove Dad or Mom had glowing • the hay shack. have lost most of their luster.These before we got up to get dressed? They're mostly misfits of the past that were won in t�he early days,when we Little did I know that years later have lost their original importance but kids first became acquainted with Pd be using a more modern,airtight still have a spccial meaning lo me. version of that old wood stove in my own home.The wood back then was cut on a buzz saw attached to a trac- tor by a wide,flat belt.Logs were lai on a movable table and pushed into the whirling blades.On the wall here in the hay shack are the two big, three-foot buzz saw blades,which, again,what do you do with an old along with the two-man saw,serve stern light? gone by,only to find a place in the only as reminders of those wood-cut- Hanging in the window to show off hay shack,out of harm's way. ting days.Since those early days the On the wall,which is lastered,is their colors are three big glass balls, p chain saw has come into its own, probably each five or six inches in scratched the outline of a five-pound along with the hydraulic log splitter; diameter,held together by a heavy Weakfish I caught in our creek on they make a once-tedious job much web of line.They were used years ago very light tackle years ago.Again, easier and quicker. on fishnets. Evidently these had bro- part of nature's scheme of things,for Hanging on the wall is a service flag ken loose and floated ashore,where I �n those fishing trips in the quiet of that was hung in the window of a came upon them on some lonely the evening there's a wondrous spell mother whose son had gone to war.It beach.They give a warm glow in the that takes over that only few are has a star representing the son who afternoon sun,with their brown and Privileged to see and hear.The dis- left his home to go in the service.That green and white colors reflecting tant cal! of the"quawk,"or night was World War II.After all the years through them. heron,the splash of a weakfish as it it's faded and wrinkled and looks Lying on the desk in front of ine is feeds in the mirrored waters,the pretty sad.I found it when going one of nature's little smell of mud as the tide goes out and through my mother's things after she mysteries,shaped like a the twinkling of the first� died. miniature flying saucer. TI1QS@ fi1@ry�@ntOS star that seems to say Sitting on top of the bookcase and It's about two inches in turn u "all is well."Here, the table are two o1d kerosene lamps; diameter and seemingly p W�th nature is at its best.The their black wicks need trimming. made out of hardened their dust and date scratched in the They're dry now for lack of kerosene. clay.These are called grime of days P�aster is"May 1972." Their soft,warm light shown many concretions and they'rc Hanging from the ceil times on our tables when the lights found wherever clay g�ne by, 011�J/ t0 ing in this hideaway we flickered and we were left in darkness. comes to the surface �nd a plaee in call the hay shack are They seem out of place in today's"flip along our shores. the hay shaek. o1d lobster buoys that of a switch"world but,like everything Scratched on its brown broke away from their else up here,they had their day. surface is"Gardiners Island 1975." It traps below.These are Still standing on its own two-foot doesn't tell the month,so it could n'� � �ut o1'wood,which dates them, support is the glass stern light from have been on one of the many for now lobster buoys are made of my old 38-foot wooden cabin cruiser. Christmas Bird Counts that I partici- P�astic.They float much higher in the There was a boat that brought nature pated in or on one of the many Water and are much lighter to handle. closer to all of us as we slept in her osprey surveys I took with Dennis In those early days,some were made warm bunks,listening to the water puleston years ago,when ospreys �'ith pride and painted in bright col- lapping at her sides.We cooked in were in such dire need of help.But ors,while others had no character at her spacious galley and took care of what to do with these concretions? all. her every need and,even in the end, Send them up to the hay shack, Today is the 12th of October,and as put her in her grave.This stern light where they'll wait another day to I walked up to the hay shack this shows its age in the color of the glass, bring back memories. morning there was a real chill in [he which by now has turned to a light Resting against the windowsill in air and with it came a cutting wind out purple,as many glass objects do front of ine is a 12-inch slab of white of the northwest.It reminded me that when they are exposed to the sun- birch that I picked up years ago when �t might be a good idea to light up the light for a long time—in this case, Barbara and I were visiting friends in >ittle wood stove in the corner of the probably 70 years or more.But then Maine.On it I carved a heart with an shack.When we first refurbished the arrow going through it with the ini- shack I would often light a fire and tials PS/BS cut deep into its white Write my articles there.It hasn't been bark.That PS/BS combination has lit for some time now .., perhaps this lasted over fifty years and is still as �s the day to start it up again. good as ever.These mementos turn up with their dust and grime of days