Baby Walrus at the New York Aquarium

© WCS/Julie Larsen Maher

The New York Times today ran an article, complete with pictures, about the baby walrus born earlier this summer at the New York Aquarium. The public watched with joy as he made his first public appearance, taking a swim with his mother in one of the aquarium's larger viewing tanks.

From the NY Times online I hopped over to the New York Aquarium's website. At the present time they are running a video banner of the calf and his mother frolicking in a shallow pool of water. There's also an article on the calf's birth and his parent's history. Still following the trail of hyperlinks on the NY Aquarium's site, I found this page with a fascinating baby book of photos as well as videos. You can even go to the Today Show's website and vote for a name for the little fellow!

Contrast this happy story to the much sadder report published April 15, 2006 by the Washington Post that tells of a sighting of nine walrus calves swimming in deep water with mothers nowhere in sight. Biologists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said the walrus babies swam around their vessel crying for the entire 24 hours they were in the vicinity. Young walruses generally live on a shelf of ice close to shore and are rarely separated from their mothers during their first two years of life. Scientists postulated that perhaps a storm had separated the babies from their mothers -- but more likely was the theory that their ice shelf melted in the unusually warm waters.

Ironically, today's NY Times also reported on an international conference in Washington DC on climate change during which President Bush proposed an international fund to finance clean energy projects in developing countries. Sounds good on the face of it, but reading the article more closely you'll see that Bush thinks steps can be taken to halt global warming without giving up profits. He doesn't think strong legislation or international treaties are necessary either. Quoting the Times article: European delegates, in particular, rejected the administration’s insistence that any plan to reduce emissions be voluntary and devised by individual nations rather than as a part of a worldwide treaty. One European representative... called the meeting a “game” played by the administration to slow momentum toward an international pact. So the political games continue, while arctic ice flows melt and arctic wildlife dies.

Help! How did I get here? I tried to write a nice post about a cute walrus calf and ended up thinking about global warming. Argh! We must all do what we can to make legislators hear us on issues of global warming. We can write letters, sign petitions, and give money. For example, the NY Aquarium and the Bronx Zoo are both part of the Wildlife Conservation Society. We could contribute to their work on behalf of all wildlife - including arctic animals - by clicking here.

At the same time, however, let's not permit our concern over this issue to deny us the simple pleasure that comes from seeing a young, protected walrus calf take his first swim. If you haven't done so already, take a few minutes to hit all the NY Aquarium links above and savor each picture. Better yet, go on out to Brooklyn (if you live in NYC) and see the little fellow.

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Visit to the Farm Sanctuary

Suddenly, and unexpectedly, I’m a vegetarian again. Here’s how it happened.

On July 6, 2007, The New York Times ran a story called "Where the City's Runaways Roam Free" which recounted the happy tale of Lucky Lady, a sheep that escaped from a Bronx slaughterhouse and was sent to live out the rest of her natural life at the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York. My husband and I had been trying to decide where to spend a short August vacation. The Times article inspired us to choose the Finger Lakes region of western New York State, a five-hour drive from Manhattan.

On August 20 we visited the Farm Sanctuary. We joined the tour group congregated in the People Barn, the large building on the left below. First we watched a short video explaining the work of Farm Sanctuary and some background about the conditions of modern-day animal husbandry. Afterwards, our guide led us up the hill to the animal barns.

In the cow barn we saw Queenie, who escaped from a NYC slaughterhouse in 2003 and according to our guide “remains feisty to this day.” Indeed, I couldn’t get a picture of her face!

Next we went into a pasture beside the barn to visit the “special needs” cows – a herd of 12-15 cows with an assortment of problems. Some were deaf or partially blind; some had anxiety conditions induced by human mistreatment or by aggressive cows in former herds. Other cows had no real problems of their own but had formed a bond with a special-needs cow and had remained affiliated with that group. In this picture my husband (in the foreground) is looking at three special-needs cows. The one in the middle is mostly blind.


I never really thought about that fact that cows must be pregnant or new mothers in order to give milk, nor did I know that dairy cows give birth every year. To maximize their milk yield, they are artificially inseminated after giving birth. Dairy cows are milked during seven months of their nine-month pregnancies. Calves are taken from their mothers two days after they are born - sometimes even sooner - so the milk can once again be collected for human consumption.

Some of the male calves are destined to become veal. They live their short, miserable lives in very small pens where they can’t turn around or lie down comfortably. Instead of healthy mother's milk, veal calves are fed a special liquid diet designed to keep them in a near-anemic state so that their meat after slaughter will have the desired pale pink color.

Moving on, we visited the sheep and goat barn. Sheep and goats and one cow, actually. This particular cow was harrassed by the other cows, so she decided to move in with the sheep who accepted her as one of their herd. By the way, that's Lucky Lady buddying up to the cow. Being "the new kid on the block" - or in the barn, as it were - perhaps she thought it advantageous to have a very large friend.

We learned that sheep are bred to produce more wool than is natural, so they suffer more than the other animals on hot days. The wooly sheep below was particularly friendly.


The goats were separated into two groups – the frisky youngsters and the arthritic seniors. I didn’t pet this young fellow, but isn’t he a good looking? I think he knows it, don't you?


In the pig barn, we learned that pigs also form social groups of four or five within the larger herd. They arrange their straw so they can sleep with their group. They are very sedentary and sleep about 60% of the time. Pigs are also very clean by nature. In sharp contrast to hog barns that you can smell from the highway long before you see them, this barn had little or no odor.


That's me above, petting a very large old fellow. The youngsters below were about one-third his size. We nicknamed them “the three little pigs.”


When we visited the chicken and turkey barns, we learned how these birds are debeaked and have toes cut off - without anesthesia - to keep them from hurting themselves when the frustration of being crammed into way-too-small spaces inspires aggressive behavior. Did you know that turkeys bred for food have white feathers because brown feathers leave a mark on the skin when plucked? The proud male turkey below is trying to attract the attention of the females on the other side of the fence. Although he was busy, he didn’t mind being petted and his feathers were amazingly soft.


It was fun to see the variety of chickens and roosters. There was one chicken that looked like it had poofy hair and bangs! I didn’t get his picture though. Chickens move fast and are VERY hard to photograph. The geese move slower, so I was able to get a picture of them near their pond.


The rabbit pen contained about 18 rabbits who had not been bred for food; they had been neglected pets. Not any more.


This last picture was taken from the vantage point of the animal barns, looking down at the People Barn where the tour started. The three small buildings in the center of the picture are the bed-and-breakfast cabins in which I had hoped we could stay. If you’re interested, call early as they fill up long before summer comes!

Iwas overwhelmed to realize how humans have genetically altered farm animals to increase profits. Chickens, turkeys, and pigs have foot and hip problems if they live to old age because their frames are not able to support their very large bodies. Thanks to hormones, dairy cows now produce 250-300 gallons of milk a week as opposed to the 30-50 gallons they formerly produced. As a result, they suffer painful udder infections and other maladies which required them to receive regular doses of antibiotics. Our guide told us that 50% of the pharmaceuticals produced in this country are used on farm animals, to make them grow larger and faster and to keep them healthy despite sickening living conditions.

Humans also suffer from modern factory farming methods. Farm workers also suffer lung diseases from breathing bad air in crowded and poorly ventilated barns, and huge factory farming pollutes the soil and drinking water. It is really very wrong, all of it. And there is so little public awareness of how unhealthy factory farming is - for us, for the animals, and for the earth.

After our morning on the farm, my husband and I went back to the town of Watkins Glen for lunch. Reading the menu, I thought about the special-needs cows, the pigs who smiled as they slept and rolled over to have their bellies petted, and the chickens whose freedom allowed them to run too fast to be photographed – and then I ordered a lovely salad topped with Portobello mushrooms.

I thought my reaction would lessen as the days passed, but it's nearly a month since our visit to the Farm Sanctuary and so far I still have no desire to eat meat. I guess that makes me a vegetarian (again).

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

US Navy's Deadly Sonar Kills Whales

Did you know that U.S. Navy warships use underwater speakers during routine sonar testing and training that blast the ocean with noise in excess of 245 decibels? This sonic barrage is roughly comparable to a Saturn V rocket at blast-off. That onslaught is so intense it can drive whales to panic, to surface too quickly, and hemorrhage. Scientists have linked the use of mid-frequency sonar to hundreds of whale strandings and deaths around the world. The Navy is refusing to take commonsense measures that could protect whales from being needlessly killed by high-powered sonar.

Singer James Taylor is lending support to the current NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) Action Fund campaign to bring attention and public pressure to bear on the Navy to stop this awful practice. Please click on the NRDC link provided above to read what he has to say - and while you're there, sign the petition.

Although sea turtles are not specifically mentioned, if they're in the testing areas, I'm sure they're suffering too!

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Instrumentalists at the 2007 Catskills Irish Arts Week

Since I am primarily a flute player, it wouldn't be right to finish my reflections on the 2007 CIAW without commenting on the instrumental music I heard. A few performances and players stand out in my mind:  Martin Hayes, Mattie Connolly, Angelina Carberry, Joanie Madden and Mary Bergin's tin whistle duet, and Mike Rafferty along with various other flute players.

Singers at the 2007 Catskills Irish Arts Week

I went to the 2007 Catskills Irish Arts Week (CIAW) in East Durham, NY, to expand my knowledge and skills in the area of traditional Irish singing (in English). I had some fantastic exposure to a great many singers, most of whom I had not heard before. If you're interested in Irish traditional singing, I highly recommend all the people mentioned in this post. If you can hear them in person, of course that's preferable. If not, I've tried to find links that would help you learn more about them and order their CDs.

Tommy Sands from Northern Ireland was at the 2007 CIAW for only two days following his appearance at the Smithsonian Folkways Festival in Washington D.C. He's a political folksinger much like Pete Seeger. As a matter of fact, they're friends. He's a very dynamic and compelling performer who sings lots of songs about the everyday effects of dividing Ireland into two countries. I wasn't familiar with his name, but I recognized what may be his most famous song, There Were Roses, which has been recorded by Joan Baez and Mick Moloney and probably others as well.

Julee Glaub and Mark Weems gave a master class on Appalachian singing and its commonalities with traditional Irish singing. They also participated in the many of the evening singing sessions and appeared during the week on the main stage. I was particularly excited to hear Julee sing again. I fell in love with her voice at 2004 CIAW. She performs traditional Irish, blues, and Appalachian styles equally well, and she is also a fantastic backup harmony singer. I have listened to her two solo CDs -- Fields Faraway and Blue Waltz -- many times over the last few years. I'm a little old to be star-struck, but that's as close as I can come to explaining how thrilled I was to meet and talk with her this year.




On the last day of the festival, many of the singers appeared together on stage. Roisin White, whom I discussed at length in my previous post, kicked off the event and introduced the other singers. Then they took turns presenting their songs. Check out this exceptional singing lineup: (double-click on the picture to see a larger version)


Left to right: Roisin White, Tim Dennehy, Catherine Crowe, Kathy Ludlow, Shannon and Matt Heaton (Matt is seated, holding the guitar). Standing between them is Daithi Sproule.

I have no pictures of Robbie O'Connell, Roxanne O'Connell (Robbie's wife), and Pat Egan, but they were all there and I enjoyed hearing each of them as well.

Listening closely to all the singers at the 2007 CIAW was rather like a crash course in the Irish singing tradition. By the end of the week I came away with a much better sense of the broad range of expression and styles that fall within tradition Irish singing. Now that the festival is over, the challenge is to incorporate various aspects of what I heard and try to develop my own authentic voice, to find the songs that move me and sing them in a way that will move others. Stay tuned... I'll let you know how it goes!

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Singing Class with Roisin White

Roisin White performing on the main stage

at the Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, NY.

During the Catskills Irish Arts Week I took a 5-day singing class with Roisin White of Northern Ireland. Although I was not familiar with her before this summer, I came to realize very quickly that she is well known and highly respected in the world of traditional Irish singing. As a matter of fact, she had just come from two weeks at the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC, where the music of Northern Ireland was one of the cultures featured this year. She appears on a Smithsonian Folkways CD called Sound Neighbors: Contemporary Music in Northern Ireland. Her only solo CD - The First of My Rambles - was reviewed by Brian Peters for The Living Tradition newsletter. An excerpt from his review describes her niche in the world of traditional Irish singing:

… Roisin White falls in the grey area between tradition and revival; singing went on in her County Down family, but she has learned much of her repertoire from such impeccable sources as Paddy Tunney, Robert Cinnamond and Eddie Butcher, as well as living singers like Len Graham and Joe Holmes. Although not strictly a 'source singer' herself, White has absorbed the local tradition whilst establishing a style that is all her own...

Over the course of the week Roisin taught our class approximately 13 songs. In addition to making sure we knew the tune, she told us her source for each song as well as stories about the song itself or her experience with it. She impressed upon us the necessity to know and love the song's melody. She advised us to digest the words and understand the song on all of its levels. Finally, she encouraged us to make a personal connection to the song, one which would enable us to tell the story as though it were our own. Overall, she instructed us to remember that the song - not the singer or the performance - is of utmost importance. Everything the singer does should focus the listener’s attention on the song itself and the story it contains. Indeed, Roisin's singing embodies all of that.

Roisin’s voice is not what you'd call "pretty" by classical singing standards. It is a forceful, strong, and compelling voice. It is honest and unpretentious. Her pitch is very accurate, and her diction is flawless. Both in terms of style as well as timbre, nobody else sounds quite like Roisin White.

No one else delivers the songs in quite the same way either. Quoting Brian Peters again: "she sings with warm, earthy honesty, and bags of rhythm and swagger.” I think that’s his way of saying she personalizes each song she sings. She loves the stories and the history they hold, and the listener is interested because of the compelling way she delivers the song.

Throughout the week I heard many singers, teachers and students alike, and was impressed by the enormous range of difference in the voices. Interestingly, the voices with the sweetest or most appealing tone quality were not necessarily the most moving. The most stirring performances were always skillful, but the listener’s attention was not drawn to the skill of the singer but to the beauty or the humor or the tragedy of the song. It was amazing to hear some rather rough voices deliver such a wallop!

Roisin has helped me realize I can sing - indeed, that I want to sing. All that singing in the Catskills reminded me that singing can be a way to share experiences, to draw people together, to respond to the things that come our way in life. That’s what traditional music has always done for people, and still does in the pockets of society where it is preserved and cherished. I'm not sure where this present musical exploration will take me, but I hope the singing – whatever form it takes -- will never end.

Thanks for a fabulous class, Roisin. I hope our paths cross again!

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

Mighty Craic in the Catskills

My blog posts have slowed down because I was in the Catskills from July 16 through July 22 attending Catskills Irish Arts Week in East Durham, New York. I took a traditional singing class with Roisin White of Northern Ireland as well as a master class with Julee Glaub of North Carolina. I also attended several great lectures, enjoyed many wonderful performances, and played flute in some marvelous sessions in the pubs around town. In the next few weeks there will be multiple posts on my adventures there, but at the moment I'm still savoring and digesting the experience.

I thought I'd ease my way into the heavier stuff by sharing the beauty of Greene County, New York. This map of NY State below shows that Greene County is about 150 miles north of Long Island, that bit of land at the southern tip of NY that juts eastward into the Atlantic. I drove up from Manhattan, the little island between the NY mainland and Long Island, not really visible on this map.


The hamlet of East Durham arranges itself around one road, New York highway 145. Every so often a side road like the one below branches off NY-145 and meanders into the countryside. I traveled on roads like this to and from the boarding house where I stayed. During the week I saw deer, adult and baby rabbits, a possum, a red tailed hawk, a family of wild turkeys, numerous chipmunks and squirrels as well as farm animals such as horses, cows, goats, and chickens. One of my housemates even saw a flock of peacocks crossing the road!


I stayed in a private Victorian guest house called. The Woodlands located in Roundtop, NY, 15 minutes from East Durham. (The owners rent it only occasionally, so please don't call thinking it is a year-round B&B.) My picture below shows a side view of the house and allows you to look across the spacious front lawn. Click on the link above to see the front view of the house as well as some interior shots.


Occasionally I was in the right place at the right time to see a beautiful sunset like the one below. Before I left NYC, I told a few people I was going to Irish music heaven for the upcoming week. They thought I was kidding. But with scenery like this, incredible music, likeminded folk, and plenty of Guinness, this week of Irish music in the Catskills is for me a bit of heaven on earth. Or, as the Irish would say, "the craic is mighty!"

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement

A Night at Keyspan Park

My husband Daniel is a college professor. When he's not teaching, he's likely to be found on a baseball field wearing an umpire's uniform. Readers of this blog know that my serious avocational interest is music. Well, for Dan, the equivalent of music is baseball. From March through October he officiates anywhere from 3 to 5 games a week for teenage and adult players. The difference between his serious avocation and mine is that he gets paid.

June 11 marked a significant umpiring event for Dan. That was the day he served as an umpire in the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) high school senior all-star game. Each of the four umpires belonged to different umpire association. Dan was honored to be chosen to represent the Bronx Umpire Alliance.

The game was played Keyspan Park, NYC’s new minor league stadium, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. Although the 7500-seat stadium was not nearly filled to capacity, the fans included a good group of spirited parents and friends as well as some college coaches - and at least one umpire’s wife. (That would be me, of course.) Although players and umpires alike behaved as though this were just another baseball field, I'm sure they were all absolutely thrilled to be at Keyspan. It's a beautiful ballpark.

Before the game began, I had plenty of time to roam around the stadium and take a few pictures. Situated in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, Keyspan Park is especially scenic. This shot was taken from a vantage point behind home plate looking down the first baseline. Beyond the right field fence is the old Parachute Jump ride, built in 1939 for the World’s Fair. It has an interesting history which you can read by clicking on the link above. The Parachute Jump is no longer operational and has been been declared both a national and a New York City landmark.


Beyond the Parachute Jump lies the Coney Island boardwalk and the Atlantic ocean. I've magnified a portion of the picture above so you can see the lights over the boardwalk and the ocean beyond.


The next picture was taken from the stands behind first base, looking toward second base at the scoreboard behind left field. The Keyspan sign above the scoreboard bears a replica of the roller coaster for which the Brooklyn Cyclones were named.


Approximately one mile beyond the scoreboard is Astroland Amusement Park which contains the famous Cyclone roller coaster, also a national landmark, which was built in 1927. It still thrills riders with its initial 85-foot drop and the violent jerks it delivers on the curves. Astroland is also home to the Wonder Wheel which is the world’s tallest Ferris wheel, soaring 150 feet into the sky. Built in 1920 and declared a NYC landmark in 1989, it has both stationary and swinging cars. (Click on that link, and watch til the end. This Ferris wheel may be scarier than the Cyclone!) Riders of the Wonder Wheel enjoy extraordinary views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Jersey Shore and the NYC skyline. Once again I've magnified a portion of my original picture. It shows the Wonder Wheel from a rather weird angle. You're looking toward the center support from a position you might take as you climbed into one of the cars. Looking behind the Wonder Wheel, you can see a bit of the Cyclone - the real one, not the replica on the scoreboard.


While I was gazing at the scenery, some of the umpires were having a pre-game pow-wow.


It rained a bit before the game, and everyone hoped that would be the end of the showers. However, towards the end of the first inning there was a pretty significant downpour. When the inning concluded, the umpires called a rain delay which lasted about 30 minutes and precipitated (pardon the unintentional pun) the later decision to conclude the game after eight innings. For those of you who would like to see more details regarding the game itself, I recommend the nice recap on the PSAL website, which also has some action shots of the kids. Here are my action shots of Dan.

... looking down the third baseline


... and now, signaling a home run that has just cleared the left field fence!


And here's our hero, heading to the locker room after the game. Please note, it was not raining.


Shortly after I snapped that shot, however, there was a sudden deluge. Groundsmen quickly moved in and covered the pitcher's mound and the home plate area.


Dan and I both got quite wet on our dash to the car. However, the rain did not dampen the thrill of umpiring at Keyspan Park. This will be a night to remember -- certainly the highlight of this season’s umpiring. So congratulations, Dan. I was very proud to be there and share this moment of glory with you. I wish you many more such games in future seasons!

© 2007, Linda Mason Hood
Truffles, Turtles & Tunes Copyright Statement