I strongly relate to this piece. I have always been an outlier in every community I’ve, well, circled. In my dreams, the cold North is always on my horizon. Without sounding romantic, I have sometimes wondered if it’s an ancestral craving within. If I go as far back as I can, my people came from Norway and Wales.
Thanks Katie! Unfortunately, the deal did not go through. The acreage was being subdivided from a larger parcel, so the taxes had to be drawn up new… and when the assessor informed us of what the new taxes are, I balked. Terribly high, plus the acreage turned out to be ~40% wetlands.
Wiser to wait, and to seek a lower-tax school district to buy in.
Oh yes it is wise. Looked like it would be a lot of work clearing it. Will you stay in Massena? New York taxes were high when I was a girl!
I definitely think I’m an outer edge person too. Maybe not a holy fool or clown. Maybe a solitary but married? I don’t have a name. I recently wrote about how a waiting room can be liminal but also a mini community. Grocery store too.
We actually don’t live right in Massena, but it’s possible we’d move there.
Since our Parish Priest retired we no longer have the daily Mass, so our first priority is access to Mass, and then hopefully to get some acreage. The outskirts of Massena or Ogdensburg might be the way forward…
Oh I hear you on not leaving New York. I’ve thought of returning…but it’s cold and so expensive. I hope you find a wonderful place near a church that offers daily mass.
As a fellow Northern New Yorker who, like you, knew Massena on the map long before I ever visited, I instantly related to your entire thesis at a gut level!
My only wish - not a critique, just a personal wish - is that you might have included a photo gallery of the massive international power dam, and its nearby transformer-clogged switchyard, and the octopus-like outstretching high-voltage powerlines heading out in every direction across the plain.
On the other hand, I suppose that would have completely defeated your theme and contemplation of desolate-ness, so I understandingly withdraw my wish ... for now.
Maybe you'll find another theme one day for which those images, so etched in our North Country minds, will be apropos.
Have you heard The Blindboy Podcast? I became aware of him with the Martin Shaw episode. His June 23rd A Live tour of a Berlin Art Gallery. It's an exploration of Modernism, German Expressionism, Fascism and Muesli; all the things haha. There a generous bit of it delivered to the part of his audience says thats's crap , a child can do it. He's cool. you wee both on same track this week.
I strongly relate to this piece. I have always been an outlier in every community I’ve, well, circled. In my dreams, the cold North is always on my horizon. Without sounding romantic, I have sometimes wondered if it’s an ancestral craving within. If I go as far back as I can, my people came from Norway and Wales.
Lovely piece and the photos are so restful. Thank you.
Did you buy your 100 acres? Beautifully written piece
Thanks Katie! Unfortunately, the deal did not go through. The acreage was being subdivided from a larger parcel, so the taxes had to be drawn up new… and when the assessor informed us of what the new taxes are, I balked. Terribly high, plus the acreage turned out to be ~40% wetlands.
Wiser to wait, and to seek a lower-tax school district to buy in.
Oh yes it is wise. Looked like it would be a lot of work clearing it. Will you stay in Massena? New York taxes were high when I was a girl!
I definitely think I’m an outer edge person too. Maybe not a holy fool or clown. Maybe a solitary but married? I don’t have a name. I recently wrote about how a waiting room can be liminal but also a mini community. Grocery store too.
We actually don’t live right in Massena, but it’s possible we’d move there.
Since our Parish Priest retired we no longer have the daily Mass, so our first priority is access to Mass, and then hopefully to get some acreage. The outskirts of Massena or Ogdensburg might be the way forward…
As for leaving NY, I don’t think I can do it…
Oh I hear you on not leaving New York. I’ve thought of returning…but it’s cold and so expensive. I hope you find a wonderful place near a church that offers daily mass.
Beautiful writing here, it reminds me of Annie Dillard’s
books “Pilgrim At Tinker Creek” and her “Tickets To A Prayer Wheel, both luminous,
God filled books. You will find a better piece of land, never fear. God is with you.
Would you accept the idea of the Holy Fool as appropriate for you?
What makes high art ‘high’….price or aesthetics?
Thanks for writing this...well done!
Outstanding piece, Andrew!
As a fellow Northern New Yorker who, like you, knew Massena on the map long before I ever visited, I instantly related to your entire thesis at a gut level!
My only wish - not a critique, just a personal wish - is that you might have included a photo gallery of the massive international power dam, and its nearby transformer-clogged switchyard, and the octopus-like outstretching high-voltage powerlines heading out in every direction across the plain.
On the other hand, I suppose that would have completely defeated your theme and contemplation of desolate-ness, so I understandingly withdraw my wish ... for now.
Maybe you'll find another theme one day for which those images, so etched in our North Country minds, will be apropos.
Keep up the great work!
Yes.
I get it too! Thank you!
That is beautiful work indeed.
Nearly every sentence and sentiment in that essay provoked recognition and empathy with me.
Thank you.
I am a free subscriber but want to send you some cash for this one.
Can I do that as a one off payment?
Your writing stirs things in me that I know are there, but I have ignored for too long. Thank you.
Have you heard The Blindboy Podcast? I became aware of him with the Martin Shaw episode. His June 23rd A Live tour of a Berlin Art Gallery. It's an exploration of Modernism, German Expressionism, Fascism and Muesli; all the things haha. There a generous bit of it delivered to the part of his audience says thats's crap , a child can do it. He's cool. you wee both on same track this week.