12 minute read
Tales from Shawangunk, Part 74
Tim gets water from Misty Brook
TALES FROM SHAWANGUNK Chapter 74 by Peggy Spencer Behrendt
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In 1974, Tim and Peggy Spencer Behrendt set off on an adventure. They began a new life in the woods of Cold Brook, NY, without modern conveniences like electricity or indoor plumbing. These are excerpts and reflections from Peggy’s journal chronicling their adventures and also her childhood memories growing up in Westmoreland.
It doesn’t take long for us to learn about the downside to some of the lovely joys life brings. The kid-size car Tim got when he was a tiny tyke (on the cover of last month’s issue) rolled delightfully downhill but was almost impossible to pedal.
My young siblings and I were thrilled to receive an expensive wood toboggan one year, but on our first ride I ended up with a sprained hip. Grandma did some praying on it, but I had to limp painfully around our house on one leg for the rest of that vacation. I was thrilled when we started to learn to read in early elementary school, but distinctly remember being extremely disappointed with the boring plots in our first readers about the “adventures” of Dick and Jane; “See Spot. See Spot run. Run Spot run!” I hoped for a more interesting sequel!
My mother used to read nursery rhymes to us from a set called, “My Book House,” consisting of fables and classic fairy tales in graded complexity. Stories and illustrations like, “The Gingerbread Man,” were magical to us back then, but later I realized that many of the classic “children’s” stories we grew up with are extremely macabre, racist, and/or sexist.
It was a high point in our lives when Tim and I married and created our own little home in the woods out of recycled materials. We looked forward to the privacy, peace, and beauty of living close to nature, because although we loved our work; ministry, teaching, and doing concerts, it involved a lot of tiring social interactions. Life here has fulfilled many of these expectations. But lengthy isolation was one of many new challenges we faced that first winter of 1974-75. Too much time in one place, even in nature or with a cherished loved one, can have its drawbacks, as so many of us have been experiencing with the isolation caused by the unprecedented virus spread of 2020. We sometimes get cranky with each other.
“You left your sewing out! These pins are dangerous!” Tim might say with a hint of horror in his voice. I’d be mystified. Why does he have such a strong reaction to pins? I can’t count how many times I’ve pricked myself while sewing. It’s no big deal! One time as I was bringing a box of them down the stairs to my mom, I slipped and landed unhurt at the bottom, but with pins all over the place! Even my dark hair gleamed with a jewel-like crown of sparkling shafts of sunlight! My sister thought it was hilariously funny, which annoyed me greatly, but I didn’t get a single prick from the pins.
I sometimes whine to Tim; I’m getting cold from the door opening and closing so much!” And he’ll reply, “Well, we have to get the wood and water in here somehow!”
There were other similarities with the present social isolation. Except for daily
In 1975 a trip to Uncle Grunt was an adventure
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Available at Tom’s Natural Foods in Clinton, Peter’s Cornucopia in New Hartford, Brenda’s Natural Foods in Rome, Sunflower Naturals in Mapledale, and the Little Falls Food Co-op (all donations go directly to the Preserve)
Peg was eager for the sequel to
Dick and Jane in 2nd grade
Tims reading interests jumped from comics to health, religion, psychology, and philosophy
showers (which were outside) and a change of undergarments, we could easily wear the same clothes for many days, especially since our winter wardrobe of warm clothes was minimal. It’s nice to have warm layers already put together when you’re dressing in the cold. And why bother brushing one’s hair if you’re not going out (or online), except to prevent dreadlocks from developing? Even when I was young, winter laziness resulted in my sisters and I attempting to establish a record for how long we could get away with wearing our long flannel night-gowns. There is some risk in this though. I know a man who walked out on his wife, and one reason was that he got sick of looking at her favorite purple pants!
Fortunately, thanks to Tim’s experience as a counselor, we’ve developed techniques to deal with our conflicts. Being able to call a formal meeting about a complaint, ventilating, then posing possible solutions to consider and try, has allowed us to mitigate many issues and not let them fester and grow into catastrophes. I ashamedly admit that I used to sometimes harbor a grudge for many days much to Tim’s painful regret, and extended the misery for both of us. But over the years, a conscious effort of will and valuing our relationship has given me the fortitude to forgive and move on more quickly. Nowadays, some arguments simply dissipate because it takes too much effort to pursue them!
Sometimes we just need to say; “I’m tired of talking and want to focus on something else for a while.” We honor this request without taking it too personally. Also, except for the occasional flare of temper, we try to always treat each other as kindly, patiently, and politely as we would strangers or friends. All this has helped us manage through many challenges in 48 years together.
Sources of entertainment were minimal for us in our early years here. We didn’t have internet, telephone, electricity for lights, TV or radio. Climbing a tree, doing chores, getting to the outhouse, or to work in the city were challenges and adventures. So, getting something new to read was special. Just going to the library meant hiking half a mile through a snow-filled road, starting a frigid vehicle, and traveling on icy roads for at least seven miles.
We’d read or write or draw, sitting next to a candle or kerosene lamp for light, and equally close to the warm, red glow of the wood stove for heat because our floor was not yet insulated and drafts of frigid air from below could negate the heat from the fire. Favorite reading material was “The Mother Earth News” (if we could afford it), organic gardening, vegetarianism, root cellar storage, or Eric Sloan’s beautiful books on hand woodworking and tools. For sermon research, Tim sometimes used New Age spiritual texts like Chop Wood, Carry Water by Rick Fields to supplement his old seminary books by Kant, Kierkegaard, Aquinas, Luther, St. Augustine, Wesley, Bonhoeffer, etc.
He told me that he only read comic books when he was a youngster. He was too busy delivering papers, playing sports, and flirting with girls to be interested in reading, and that every book report he ever did then was on Treasure Island, (which may have been from a condensed comic book version.)
Nowadays, he studies the succinct wisdom of proverbs from many cultures because they condense practical and spiritual wisdom that has survived countless generations. One of his favorites is “The tiger strikes on the path unexpected.” All one has to say in our family is “tiger,” with a little tremble in your voice, and even our 3-year-old great-grandson knows what you’re talking about!
And Tim’s not afraid to add his own. One of his most popular publications has been “Timothy’s Earthy Everyday Proverbs for Everyone, Everywhere.”
That which we dislike in others, we have not accepted in ourselves. If you can’t tolerate rejection, don’t accept leadership. The more one has, the less it means. Be your own best friend. Racism reveals one’s ignorance and fear. Those who kill for sport spoil their time. The more you earn, the more you spend. “If only” is the great tormentor; acceptance is the great pacifier. The faster you move, the less you see. The essences of world religions can be summarized in seven words: be careful, have fun, live with integrity
When I was young, a visit to the Utica Public Library with its vaulted ceilings, marble staircase, statuary, and art was a pilgrimage to Shangri-La! Voices and footsteps echo musically among the multitude of multicolored books. “How many may I take out at a time?” I would ask. I’d borrow all I could and spend hours on my bed reading except for the
We were lucky to have an old set of encyclopedias then, but I was envious when neighbors got a newer one, plus an encyclopedia of piano music classics! I often saw their first son-in-law lying on the living room floor reading their new encyclopedia from A – Z to supplement his education because he was committed to his family farm as soon as he graduated from high school.
Not infrequently, my mom would order a new book for us. One time, they sent a substitute title which she was unimpressed with and intended to return. Well, of course, I read it first, (“The Pink Dress” by Anne Alexander), and loved it so much, I started to copy it out
K
Peg gets home-canned vegetables from the garden out of the root cellar
until Mom said I could just keep it.
During one of my last visits with her, I was surprised when she started reading aloud to me from a cookbook and I suddenly understood why she had so many. They contain much interesting information about cultures, human history, evolution, and survival in many climates. Consequently, although I avoid salt, I borrowed her book: “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky, and was amazed to realize that salt has sometimes served as currency,
and “has influenced the establishment of trade routes and cities, provoked and financed wars, secured empires, and inspired revolutions.” Many of us know that Syracuse, NY is one of these cities, due to the salty springs on the south side of Onondaga Lake, which made Syracuse, in the early 1800s, the largest producer of salt in North America.
Food is likely why Shawangunk Road is here, why we live here! I’ve often mused about what prompted its construction. Reliable historical references indicate that the main purpose for our road was to transport fresh milk from nearby farms to cheese factories in Cold Brook and Poland. Turning it into long-lasting cheese (likely with salt from Syracuse) when production was high, was the most economical way to make this nourishing food available for long north country winters and provide precious income for the farmers. In fact, the first cheese factory in our nation, facilitated by pooling milk from area farmers, was founded in 1851 by Jesse Williams in Rome, NY.
Now Shawangunk Road is clothed in bright, winter white with strange silhouettes and negativities created by the low sun of deep winter. When we dress adequately, we can have lots of fun during these brief days with sleds, skis, or snowshoes on forest trails. (We recently finished a beautiful two-mile loop along Black Creek that able hikers may come and use anytime). When it’s packable, we can build strange new creatures and people out of snow, and inside, our great-grandchildren can get excited about just creating a hut under a kitchen table. It’s essential to be able to simply ‘play” but just doing our chores is full of essential, existential meaning; bringing in firewood, going to the outhouse, chopping through the ice for water, opening a root cellar full of carefully preserved food from our garden, feeding the birds and squirrels, mending or sewing… After grieving the loss of summer’s sunshine, and autumn’s kaleidoscopic festival of lights, we eventually adjust to the slower pace, the shortened days, diminished light, and colder temperatures of winter. After 20 years, Tim and I will probably not go camping in Florida due to COVID-19 risks and must re-discover the pleasures and adversities of a north country winter. It will be a lot easier than it used to be. Now we’ve got a warm car with all-wheel drive and a road that’s well-plowed right to our garage. Our cottage is as well insulated as possible, dear family members live nearby, we have phones to talk to friends, and access to a seemingly infinite fount of information and entertainment through the internet. Having gone without and managing with less has made us stronger and more appreciative of what we now have.
I hope that getting through this pandemic will make us all stronger and more appreciative. Tim says, “It is difficult to see the upside when you are down, but it is always there.” •
The Shawangunk Nature Preserve is a deep ecology, forever wild, 501©(3), learning and cultural center. Tim and Peggy still live there and can be contacted through their website. www.shawangunknaturepreserve.com
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