Author Topic: Paleo flint sources, New York State  (Read 34127 times)

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Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #15 on: September 20, 2008, 06:48:37 pm »
Call this a penny-dreadful serial, Wayne. It will take months to complete.

Just kidding - I'll get the last part up tomorrow at the latest. Honey-doos for me today.

Dane
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #16 on: September 20, 2008, 11:36:35 pm »

     What?! AWWwwwwww!......ok.......I guess...... Just dreadful, just dreadful......This would 've never happened with the Indian story tellers !

     "Foul Buffalo Wind!  Me thought you said you going to clean out hide scrapings today?  Hhmmph!"  " Y e s s s, she who has many moccasins.  Even as me speak, me go in general direction of scrapings."   So anyway, as me saying before, there me was, me thinking soapstone be verrrwee cwose......hahahahahaha......( All rights reserved by Elmer Fudd inc. )
                           Wayne

Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #17 on: September 21, 2008, 09:28:28 am »
Wayne, very funny :)

Okay, the rest, as promised. 

So, here I am, tamping along this rutted, winding, steep old wagon road, marveling that horsedrawn wagons would pull tons and tons of stone up and then back down into Grafton. Thick forest came right to the edge of the road, and I could see the old farm walls snaking up and down the steep sides of Bare Hill. I stopped at one point and tried to imagine a team of mules or horses pulling a plow with a cursing old farmer spitting and muttering as he unearthed yet another rock. They say, in fact, that in New England, they farm rocks, not crops.

About this time, about 45 minutes into the walk, and being careful not to “fall into” the quarries, I began to suspect that I had missed them. The Google Earth image I had printed and taken with me showed that there was no disernable industry that can be seen from space.

Where I went wrong was missing a fork in the road. If I had taken it to the right, I would have found the quarries. Instead, I took the left fork and ended up going down a road called Ledge Road. Ledge Road would have taken me to Route 121, the road that travels from Cambridgeport to Gratton, so I would have ended up on Route 121 and walked about 20 minutes back into Cambridgeport.

And that is the story. Having failed to find the quarries, I still had a great time. the solitude was nice, too, something you dont get a lot of in New Engalnd, as it is so densly populated. It was about 3:30 about this point, and starting to get dim, so I decided to get back to my car and not try to find that fork and find the quarries on this day. After all, they have been there for many years, and were first worked by pioneers in the late 1700s who used soapstone even for tombstones.

Walking out, of course, was a bit tougher than heading in, but I made good time and got to my car about 4:30. I stopped back in the little museum and kept my promise to tell the woman there if I had found them, and then stopped in the one store in town for some water and snacks. Coming out, I cross the street and saw what goes for excitement in this tiny village; an old farmer who looked like the archetype of all New England farmers was hauling a trailer full of cordwood behind an ancient tractor at about 5 miles per hour. I nodded and smiled at him, and he nodded back. Another old man wearing those 50s style black framed glasses was following him in an old Buick. I nodded and smiled at him, but he frowned at me and looked away. A Flatlander, I guess.

And that is the story. I stopped at Curtis and got some ribs and chicken, and then drove the 45 minutes home. Before winter sets in, I’m going to give it one last shot, and think I will be successful, if the Bennington Triangle monster or a moose doesn’t get me first.

« Last Edit: September 21, 2008, 09:35:45 am by Dane »
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #18 on: September 21, 2008, 04:01:19 pm »

     Well couldn't you have at least thrown in a mishapen dwarf that kept following you at a distance, or some mysterious sound in the woods, just out of sight......or a glowing orb in the sky that kept following you, and when you made the wrong turn it kept bobbing towards the right......or an old farmer that looked up at you from his field, where he was wrestling with a large stone, and as he slowly stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow, he slowly faded away into a light mist......or a mysterious shimmering area, just ahead......something like that......Well be sure to let us know when you find the quarry, and if you can get some of the soapstone.  I would love to get some of that stuff.  There are some carvings I want to do.  Let us know, and take lots of pictures.  Now clean out that garage, and for the last time, take out that garbage!  Oh, and take the dog for a walk, and the cat's litter box needs to be emptied.  Do that before you take the garbage out.                                                                                    Wayne......

Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #19 on: September 21, 2008, 09:27:42 pm »
The garbage is out, and I ate the cat. Okay, I don't have a cat. Davenport the Pug, however, I took out.

So you want a real ghost story? I worked at Cambridgeport for a year, back in 2000 - 2001. The route I took to work took me from Putney, through Westminster, and then into Saxtons River and then down Route 121 to Cambridgeport.

This happened about five times. As I approached Saxtons River, the road passed a couple of farm houses on my left, before making a sharp turn to the right, then a sharp turn and over the river and onto Main Street. The first farmhouse that I would pass had a long, overgrown hedgerow that paralled Westminster West Road, and ended at the edge of the house's yard. Behind the hedgerow was a tillered field. As I slowed down to 25 mph (you don't speed around there, the cops are bored and hide), I would see a woman standing on the edge of the road. As I got about 50 yards from her, she would turn and walk back toward the field, and disapppear from sight behind the edge of the hedgerow. About 10 seconds later, I'd pass that spot, and the woman was gone.

As I said, this happened at least five times. She wasnt wearing classic ghost white, but a light colored dress, and long dark hair. I am kicking myself for not stopping and asking the owners of the house if someone died there on the road, or in the field. This always happened about 7:45 AM, as I was always punctual and passed the spot at the same time each morning. It wasn't a threatening ghost, just strange to see, as if I was seeing something I perhaps shouldnt have been seeing, or a replay of some event from the past.

I guess it is true that there are a lot of ghosts in this part of the coutry. The suicide vicitim I encountered at another old job was also not threatening, but seeing it at dusk alone in an old restored mansion was not exactly fun, either. It was about three feet from me the time I saw it, turning around suddently and there it was. The only ghost I have encountered that I felt in danger from was in the attic of the house I grew up in, which I am pretty sure was once lived in by Amelia Erhart. Whatever was up there was evil. And it, like all the other ecounters I have had, always happened during daylight hours.
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #20 on: September 21, 2008, 11:01:10 pm »

     Cool.  I have never seen any, but don't doubt their existence.  I ,like my Dad have had dreams that have actually happened as in my dream, or near about as it happened in my dreams.  I have seen a lot of UFO stuff though.  My Dad has seen Ghosts before.  The last one was an old sailing ship.  He was fishing late one night, or early in the morning, at the Jupiter Inlet.  It had been foggy, and had finally cleared up, and the moon was shining through the clouds, and my Dad said after a few minutes he heard a loud banging, and thumping, and grinding noise, like an old wood barrel, against the rocks.  He kept hearing it, and he walked along the Inlet towards the sound, and he looked across the inlet, and there was an old sailing ship, the sails, were in tatters, and the ship was sideways up against the rocks, and it was being tossed back and forth against it, and as he watched it, it slowly faded from view.  He said loaded up his fishing gear and went home.  He said he had never told anyone about it before.  He used to have dreams, when I was younger.   He would tell us about them, and we would laugh, and make fun of him.  Till they started coming true.  Some of them were exactly as the dream was.  When I was in high school, I started to have a dream, about once every six months.  It was an extreamly intense, and realistic dream.
     I was in an old abandoned house, and I was with a friend.  Only I didn't know who it was, his face was blurred, like on tv when they don't want to show people's faces.  I kept having this dream till I graduated from High School, and finally went into the Army.  The dream was, I was standing in the front room of an old abandoned house, with my buddy, and all of a sudden there were about four or five teenagers, about 12th grade highschool age, or a little older, and we were in a knock down drag out fight, and then I would wake up from my dream.  Well after getting my appendix taken out in Ft. Lewis Washington, the night before I was to ship out to Vietnam,  (Oh, I also had an intense feeling that I was not going to Nam, even though all the paper work said I was.  I also had the same intensity that if I did, I wasn't coming back.)  anyway, I was sent to Ft. Lee Va. instead.  After about a year or so, I had a couple days off, and a buddy of mine said hey, you collect any antiques?  I said just guns and knives, but I can't afford the stuff I would like to.  He said well since you have a car, and we both have time off, how about we go exploring.  He said he collected old porcelein light switches, and door knobs.  He said he had been talking to some locals, who said that there were a lot of old abandoned homes scattered about the area, and some were fairly old.  So I said ok, lets ride.  So we hit the road, and I said you tell me where you want to go, he said he had no particular area to start, so I said well pick a direction.  So we went all over different places, and finally we came to a four way, and on the south west corner, was an old house with the door hanging on one hinge, and most of the windows out, and he said hey go there.  So we did.  Well to the south side was a little fenced in area, and a little lean to, and a small whit pony.  So I said, hey I don't think this place is abandoned.  He said " Somebody probably just keeps the pony here.  And as we entered the front room the hair on my arms stood up, and I this chill!  I turned to look at him, and I guess my shock showed, because he said what is wrong with you?  Now the blurred face in my dreams was clear.  I told him about my dream, and I told him, you go upstairs, and you will find the bathroom on your left.  There is an old claw foot bath tub, and the front bedroom has little roses on the wall paper.  He went up stairs, and came back down, and smiled, and said you've been here before.  I said only in my dream, and I'm leaving now.  He said you're serious aren't you?!  I said you'd better believe it, and headed out the door, and got in my MG, and started it up, and he got in, and we took off.  Well just as we reached the four way, and started out on the highway, this fifty seven chevy turns onto the road we just left, and there were about four or five teenagers about our size, and they gave us a dirty look, and then they pulled into the driveway of the house we were at!  My buddy, said man you're haunted!  I still had goose bumps.
     Well I am glad I had that dream, because I don't know how the dream ended.  Probably not good, hence the early warning. 

                                                                            Wayne

Offline ricktrojanowski

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #21 on: September 22, 2008, 10:48:17 pm »
Dane-
Both great stories.  I've got to check out that part of VT.  I love spooky places.  Especially abandonments.  My favorite place in Putney is the Putney Diner.  They have the best meatloaf sandwich.  We got to hook up for a rock hunt. ;D
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Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #22 on: September 23, 2008, 03:37:47 am »

     Dane:  I had just remembered after I posted that last post about the Ghost, and dreams and such.  I said I had never seen a ghost, well I was thinking people ghosts.  I have actually seen one ghost, and it was that of some Friend's cat that had died, about a month before I had gone to visit them, after some time not seeing them.  Well they had a Black and Tan Dachs Hundt, and a Seal Point brown and cream colored Siamese cat.  The cat and dog were like two peas on a pod.  They would wrestle, and play, and the dog would get the cat down, and the cat would submit, and the dog, Beans, would start strutting off, and the cat, Louie Chang, would jump up on the couch, and launch another attack.  Anyway, I used to play with them both when I was visiting, and the cat really took to me.  I would sit in the kitchen with my friends, and we would be having some snacks, and something to drink, and the cat would come in, and I would put my hand down under the seat of the stool, and he would start batting at it, and such.  Well like I said I hadn't been over for a month or so, and I was in the Kitchen, and sitting on the stool, I usually sat on, when here comes Louie Chang, around my leg, and then around corner of the breakfast bar.  I got off the stool, and said "Hey, Louie, come here", and my Friends looked at each other and at me, and said that's right you don't know do you?  I said know what, and they said Louie was hit by a car last month.  I said I just saw him!  He was at the foot of my stool, and ran around the corner here.  Their house is haunted anyway.  Not bad, just that sometimes you can hear someone walking up stairs, nothing sneaky, or rushed, just casual walking like you would if you were going about your business in your own home.  I have heard it several times when I was helping them paint the outside, and I was there by myself. And when I house sat for them, for a couple of weeks.  I have tried to get on my little Indian toes, and go up stairs, and catch whoever it is, but everytime I get there, No one or anything is up there.  But as soon as I get back down, there it is again.  They have heard it also.  It is just as plain as day, like someone with hard soled shoes, just walking across to the dresser, or the closet, or wherever.  The house was built in the late teens, and the original deed, says there will be no parking of " Flying Machines " in the front yard.  Anyway, I thought I would put that in here, while I am thinking of it.

                                                                               Wayne

Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #23 on: September 27, 2008, 08:07:44 am »
Wayne, I hate when those dang flying machines park in my yard, too. :)

Great stories, thanks for sharing them. You risk being ridiculed when you tell real ghost stories, so doubly thanks.

Rick, thanks man. I'd love to get together for a day of rock hunting, maybe at Grafton again. I will have to see if there are rock clubs in this area who may be able to help point out stone locations. And, there are supposed to be some great petrogylphs in Bellows Falls, which is a town near Saxtons River and Grafton, just off I-91.

And, a town a few miles from mine, Montague, is the location of Argullite, according to a reference work I have here.

Dane
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline D. Tiller

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #24 on: September 27, 2008, 07:13:20 pm »
" See Dead PEOPLE!!!!"  :o :o :o :o ;D ;D ;D ;D
“People are less likely to shoot at you if you smile at them” - Mad Jack Churchill

Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #25 on: September 27, 2008, 11:09:44 pm »

     You're welcome.  It's nice to talk to someone of like experiences.  as for being ridiculed, I have thick skin.  Besides I used to be quite skeptical myself.  Like when I used laugh and tease my Dad about his dreams, till I started to see the results first hand, and then I started to have them my self. As for Ghosts I think they are like UFO's, most can be explained,but the rest......Just can't be dismissed, as swamp gas, hallucinations, cloud refractions, or meteors etc. ...... Good luck rock hunting, You guys should get together and combine your searches, and I hope you find that soap stone quarry.  Go back and talk to the lady you talked to in town, you will find out a little bit more.  Sounds like an interesting town, to visit for a week or so.  Get to know some of the locals a bit.  I'd like to do that.  Let me know, and take pictures of the quarry.
                                                                               wayne
                                                                               

Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #26 on: September 28, 2008, 07:13:03 am »
D Tiiller, "they are everywhere." :)

I will be going back, and if Rick can join me, all the better. The Putney Diner is very good, too.

I hope I can go this coming weekend, if it doesnt rain all day and night as it did this weekend. And I promise to take lots of pics, I did on the last trip, but all I got were pictures of the forest.

I just talked to a friend about Grafton, she too thinks it is a strange place, so that is not the first time I have heard those kinds of comments. They actually filmed a famous Bud commercial there years ago, the wagon and team of horses in a perfect New England village, if you recall that commercial, that is Grafton. I always get the feeling that every building is empty and there are no actual people living there. I also get the feeling you are being watched closely the moment you get there. Yeah, contradictory feelings, but that is Grafton for you.

Getting to know the locals in New England can be difficult :) I've lived in Greenfield for 10 or more years, and I am still an outsider, and always will be. They may like you and all that, but you never really are felt to be part of the community. The woman I wrote about in the musem is actually from Texas, her dad grew up in Grafton, but she only arrived lately, so she too will always be an outsider. That is why I got so much info from her about the surrounding area. She showed me photos and told me about this wierd pavilion you can rent for the day for family picnics and events, but there are no roads leading to it, you have to pack in through the woods and across some fields. Vermont is typical in that way. They dont make it easy for you, lol. They didnt get universal electricity service until after WWII.

Apparently, there is a haunted old school house in town, I will be checking that out as well next time I go there. What I read was that you can see a shadow on one wall of a hand holding a ruler, and at times, chalk boards appear and disappear on the walls.

Dane
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline stickbender

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #27 on: September 28, 2008, 08:54:20 pm »

     Man sounds like my kinda town.  Uh......about those feelings in town, you didn't by any chance eat any of the brownies at the Putney Diner, did you?  Just wondering.  Oooh, about the school house, I was going to say be careful of getting smacked by a ruler, when I read the part about the shadow of the ruler......ooooweeeeooooo ,man I have got to make plans to go there.  As for not being accepted, maybe a few extra " Ay-ups " might help......  Yeah, take Rick with you.  He can warn you when the ruler goes in your direction......also the ghosts always go for the friend first......That way you will know when to vacate the premises at warp speed.  By all means take pictures, and of the School House also.  Keep us posted. 

                                                                     Wayne

Offline Dane

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #28 on: September 29, 2008, 12:51:15 pm »
Will do, Wayne. And you can bet I wont be the guy saying "hey, let's go look in the basement filled with warm human blood...and what about that attic torture room? Someone go look there, too. Split up everyone..and the guy in the wheelchair, stay here and keep an eye out."

Pictures will be posted, no matter what I find.

But don't use Ayeup around here. That is up in Maine, not Vermont and Massachusetts. :)

Dane
Greenfield, Western Massachusetts

Offline D. Tiller

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Re: Paleo flint sources, New York State
« Reply #29 on: September 29, 2008, 01:03:43 pm »
"Holy Wah!"
“People are less likely to shoot at you if you smile at them” - Mad Jack Churchill