Basil Hawk in Summer

Red-tailed Hawk at Basil Marella Park(8/29/15)

To briefly resuscitate a tired metaphor, time does indeed fly. I took these pictures during girls' cross-country practice wa-a-a-a-y back in late August. Our team trains on our "home course" at Basil Marella Park in the beautiful suburb of Greece, New York. While spotting hawks on the Monroe County expressway system is a very common occurrence, I had not previously been capable of pulling over to the side of the road to take any photos (though the idea still often crosses my mind).

Like their cousins the American Robin and Northern Cardinal, the Red-tailed hawk can be frequently observed in Western New York. As written on the Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation website, Red-tailed Hawks "[are] one of the most widely-spread hawks found in the western hemisphere."

Because Red-tailed Hawks are so ubiquitous as to be nearly invisible, my wife (and the student-athletes I coach) think it goofy that I rush to the car to grab my camera. As I have often written, however, it is precisely because they are so common, that I find them so interesting.

(8/29/15)

Someone is hungry! (8/29/15)

A Muster of Faux Classroom Crows

More than just someone to watch over our accolades and team pictures.  (10/11/13)

Over the past five(!) years, I have purchased an artificial crow/raven to adorn my classroom each year. (Yes, crows and raven are NOT the same, but as birds, the two possess enough superficial similarities that I use the names synonymously--fortunately I am not an ornithology teacher.) At the conclusion of each school year, I remove them from the shelves, screens and unused, ancient tech around the room until the following August at which time they will each return to (slightly) different locations.

The crow chick perched on the 

deer skull is a recent addition. When 

it's previous perch, this was taken, 

the mounted television was removed, 

the small crow moved around before 

settling there. (9/1/15)

The first faux crow found it's way into our classroom in the same way most English literature teachers acquire them, as a prop for an October reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." In each successive year, however,  I have continued to acquire a new one during the Halloween decoration sales at local party supply stores. Nowadays, Halloween decorations are on sale in mid-August (along with Thanksgiving things!), hence this year's pre-school-purchase.

A morbid, and astute, reader may presuppose that the presence of a murder (or muster) suggests something "bad" is going to happen in this room. Though in Medieval time ravens would tend to congregate on the battlefield to feast on the corpses of the fallen, that depressing intention is not what's behind this style choice--at least not intentionally. Each new school year the presence of the artificial ravens in the classroom elicits a now familiar question from new students: "What's with all the birds/crows/ravens?"

As ours is an English classroom, I like to have some literature-based responses to the question of "why", ranging from the familiar to the esoteric (with secret hopes that during the course of our time together, the unusual will become more familiar). Just a few responses with a literary bent that I may offer during varying points int eh school year include:

As fate would have it, this freebie
poster was received in my school
mail today! (9/1/15)

• "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe: Most students are at least vaguely familiar with the poem if for no other reason than it's pop culture references in many a comedic television aside. For some, even those who've "read" it, the symbolism of the raven is often not so clear. Given the poem's close association with Halloween, they do understand it to be somehow dark or evil. Morbid, right?
• Did you know that good ol' Willy Shakes refers to the raven more often than to any other bird? In a number of William Shakespeare's works such as Othello and Macbeth (a play we will work with during the school year), the black bird makes an appearance. For example in Lady Macbeth's speech in Act I Scene V of Macbeth: "The Raven himself is hoarse/That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan/Under my battlements...".
• With any luck, we will be reading some excerpts from Keith Baines' translation of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur this year, whcih allows for this connection: in Celtic mythology, ravens are often associated with warfare and the battleground (especially in Irish mythology). In Welsh mythology, ravens figure as the army of King Arthur's knight Owain. King Arthur's messianic return is an aspect of the legend of King Arthur, the mythical 6th-century British king. One recurrent aspect of Arthurian literature was the notion that he would one day return in the role of a messiah to save his people. Other less common concepts include the idea that Arthur was absent leading the Wild Hunt, or that he had been turned into a crow or raven.



Someone has to use the
ancient overhead--why not a
Raven? (10/11/13)

• A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin is the fourth of seven planned novels in the epic fantasy "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of novels. The words "crow" and "raven" play multiple roles throughout the series. The most obvious for those who have never read the books or seen the HBO show is the historical one suggested above: A Feast for Crows clearly suggests (though no surprise to fans) that this book will have a hefty headcount of dead to be eaten.  Also, in the Fire and Ice mythology, a "Crow" is the name given to those men who serve on the Wall, the immense ice structure which separates the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms from the lands beyond. Men of the Watch dress entirely in black, giving rise to the nickname "crows"--which is what the Free Folk commonly call them. Finally, characters uses ravens as messenger birds throughout the series. Additionally, the Three-eyed raven appears in Bran Stark's dreams to guide him on a quest. Interesting side note, I had not previously realized: The first name "Bram" is derived from a convergence of two separate etymological sources, one being an abbreviation of "Abraham", but the other being the Gaelic word "bran", meaning "raven". That Martin guy is clever!
• In the past my students and I have read and analyzed J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), a novel chock full of inetersting tidbits about archettypes and etymology. This was also news to me, but really cool: Roäc is the leader of the Ravens of the Lonely Mountain. Roäc was the son of Carc, and as such "a descendant of those [ravens] that had remained on the hill even after Smaug had driven out their old allies, the Dwarves". Roäc is likely an onomatopoeic name. (Source: Tolkien Gateway)

Like good literature, I like to allow for a number of possible interpretations. For this particular artificial classroom muster, I choose to leave just "what" they mean, ambiguous, though surely those students who fail to put forth energy and effort will see them as circling their the fading life of their individual grades, and others will see them as delivers of a message of growth and learning that will allow them to reach new heights.

A panoramic view of a classroom surrounded by faux crows circa October 2013.

Courtyard Calls

Blue Jay on branches. (12/5/13)

Yesterday morning during class I had our classroom window slightly ajar (despite the protestations of a few students--it was after all almost 40°F out!). While entering attendance into the computer, I heard the familiar "jeer-jeer-jeer" of the Blue Jay just outside the window. Seizing the moment, I quickly took some photos of the two birds who briefly flitted about the trees and grass before heading over the wall of the courtyard. It has been so quiet this school year in the courtyard, almost any aviary chatter has been worth taking--though the occasional Mourning doves that peck about the pebbles in the early morning hours have been unusually quiet...

Blue Jay surveying the area. (12/5/13)

Birds of Change

Wild Turkeys in Perinton, New York. (11/10/13)

The trees are nearly naked and the first snow flakes of the season have fallen. The past few weeks have seen our little slice of heaven in upstate New York transition from fall to winter, and while the twice-read tea leaves suggest a tough winter ahead, change is good.

American Robin in the Greece Athena High School courtyard. (11/12/13)

Ironically, it is in the last few weeks that the bird activity has increased in the school courtyard, just as the wild turkeys in Perinton have gone into relative hiding. With my mother having moved from the family home in Perinton , the likelihood of too many more turkey photo opps is decreasing, though the Robins (and an occasional Blue Jay) are striking a few poses before the snows really begin to fly any day now...

High School Courtyard Birding

An adult male American Robin (Turdus migratorius) relaxing among leaves
in the school courtyard. (11/5/13)

Two days ago, I became acutely aware that our feathered friends had begun returning to the school courtyard with a degree of regularity. Maybe it was the unusually warm temperatures. maybe they were simply seeking refuge in the enclosed courtyard from heavy winds. At nay rate, after a September and October with little birdsong or calls of any sort to speak of, things have picked up considerably since November begin. It was nice to have the occasional guest appearance by a Blue Jay during class, and to hear the sparrows playing in the overgrown bushes on the first floor. (All pictures posted here were taken from my second story classroom window.)

Such a beautiful Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) ... if only he'd come closer! (11/5/13)

Yet another adult male American Robin, this one hanging by
the unmaintained artificial watering hole. (11/5/13)

Idiom Fun: Hot As A What?!

Plastic bracelets from yesteryear; well, 2006 anyway. (9/15/13)

As a teacher in the upstate New York suburb of Greece, New York, and even furthermore a teacher at Greece Athena High School, most folks outside the region have a sense of where I live either by our presumed proximity to Buffalo (it's not that close) or as the school where the autistic student scored "all those threes" in 2006. While Jason McElwain's ESPY Award winning performance (and the incredible circumstances that made the story noteworthy in the first place) continues to be well documented, this post is about a little known corner of the "J-Mac"-verse that I was recently reminded of.

Upon returning from our most recent summer break, I was pleased to find that someone had anonymously gifted me with a unique present. While Jason and I have coached together the past few years (not basketball, but the high school sport that he earned his first athletic recognition as a student-athlete: cross-country running) I had only been part of the Athena school community for a few short months when the "J-Mac" story struck. I had just begun teaching on the building's third floor, which was at that point a separate (other than by name and location) middle school program. I wasn't at the game and I really didn't even get "it." At first.

In the days following the national exposure of his story, all types of t-shirts and memorabilia became common in the school halls, most notably two items with competing J-Macisms: a t-shirt imploring folks to "Stay Focused!" and black and gold (the school's colors) with a secondary phrase which for many outside the Greece community has been lost to the sands of time, "Hot as a Pistol!"

The anonymous gift I received at the start of this school year was an unwrapped black wristband which on one side was impressed in bold gold lettering "Greece Athena Trojans." On the opposing side was the phrase "Hot as a Pistol!" with an illustration of a basketball right of the lettering and a small handgun to the left. You read correctly: a small handgun.

Beyond my appreciation for the many great athletic accomplishments of our school's current and past student-athlete's, I am also a member of the English department, and as such, enjoy the wordplay of interesting (if not necessarily well-turned) idiom. The choice of that particular idiom on a celebratory bracelet such as this to be sold in a school is unusual, especially given its use of a phrase that reflects gun use and includes firearm imagery. The fact that a bracelet with this idiom was distributed at all  recalls "gentler" times(?) when fire arms idioms were not seen in such poor light. Of course, in our current climate, given the horrendous spate of national gun violence tragedies in school settings, a bracelet such as this would never see the light of day.

So just where does the phrase "hot as a pistol" come from? All idioms come from somewhere after all...

Most assuredly, Jason innocently used the phrase to reflect how "on target" he was on the basketball court that evening. He did after all make successive three point shots. Country legend George Jones once famously sang the Gary Lee Gentry lyrics that "Lord, she was 'hotter than a two dollar pistol'" which has a very different connotation. In both cases being "hot as a pistol" is a decidedly positive state to be in. The irony here is that in the past being "hot as a pistol", two dollar or otherwise, was actually not a good thing.

I would imagine that initially the idiom was intended to reflect the poor quality of an inexpensive (two dollar) pistol. Being "cheap" (and small), an inexpensive pistol is likely to yield significantly higher chamber pressures (hotter) than a more costly counterpart. Additionally, a cheap firearm is made of lesser quality materials, and will heat up quickly when fired; cheap metal doesn't conduct heat as well as heavier, more expensive metal. Being hot as pistol may have been a phrase turned to suggest something that, when used, was revealed to be of a lesser quality.

More modern translations, however, are more in line with J-Mac's intent. One online slang dictionary defines a "pistol" as "a person who is bright, quick, or energetic," for example in phrases such as hot as a pistol. Interestingly this new detonation of the noun pistol does dissipate the gun connotation from the phrase making it somewhat less insensitive. Of course, the gun graphic beside the quote on the bracelet reinforces the less desirable connotation, reinforcing the original (less positive) gun motif.  

Also lost to time is the side note, confirmed on Wikipedia, that Jason's Speech/Language Pathologist throughout high school, who was in attendance that night, later assisted him in "coin(ing) alternative language expressions to his now-famous 'hot as a pistol' phrase." One can only guess at what additional phrases were never given credence by making their way onto tee shirts and bracelets, but thankfully, the hot as an idiom has done nothing the diminish the overwhelmingly inspirational message of McElwain's feat.

The fantastic good news is, that either in the past or present, that amazing Youtube footage, and the cultural icon it led to, has not lost its very positive connotation.

Jason McElwain (J-Mac) and I coaching at the 2012 Section V X-C Championship.

Sources:
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-152405.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/idioms/pistol
J-Mac's ESPN story

Why Flash Rhetoric Cards?

As a teacher, I realize each June that there is always something I can do to improve upon the quality of my instruction. Often these epiphanies do not result from personal reflection, but from the responses students give me on the blind surveys I periodically ask them to complete. The purpose of these surveys is to help me do a better job helping them, and this often has to do with tweaking existing processes or procedures so that they are more effective.

For many years now, I have required my Advanced Placement Language and Composition students to maintain a deck of flashcards which I call "Rhetoric Cards." This is by no means an original idea of mine, except that (at least initially) some students resist the task as they deem it elementary--at least in the context of a high school English class (his practice is very familiar to them in their foreign language studies). Once they poo-poo this strategy, I remind them that the purpose of the cards is not to promote the rote memorization of every vocabulary word but to have a tactile resource for relevant Tier 3 terminology at their disposal when reading or analysing text that they can go through. Given the thousand possible rhetoric terms that may turn up on the exam, I have chosen to focus on 100-120 that are most likely to occur or that (minimally) provide them the best opportunity to eliminate possible answer on multiple choice questions.

In my classes, we use the Rhetoric Deck as a tool for learning important Tier 3 terms. Tier 3 vocabulary consists of low-frequency words that occur in specific domains. Domains include subjects in school, hobbies, occupations, geographic regions, technology, weather, etc. Generally these terms and concepts are introduced when a specific need arises, such as learning "amino acid" during a chemistry lesson, or "litotes" in the study of rhetoric. Some common examples of the terms I required students to define and "card" during summer (in concert with reading Thank You for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs) include antithesis, tautology and decorum.

My epiphany around Rhetoric Card usage came when, last June, a few students suggested that the cards had a diminished value as the year progressed. While this can be seen as a positive (as students internalize the definition and application of the term/concept, they need the cards as a resource less), I was reminded that there are some students who never caught on to the task meaningfully in the first place. That is to say, some students failed in September to begin a deck and consequently never kept adding concepts and ideas as the class (and better students) progressed. In effort to maximize the potential value of this activity, I am committing this coming school year to insuring that I check them more frequently early on, and that as we move through the curriculum students and I physically interact with the cards more regularly through some term chunking and kinesthetic organizing.

Some interesting related articles:

• Are Flashcards an Effective Learning Tool? [Infographic]
• Highlighting Is a Waste of Time: The Best and Worst Learning Techniques by Annie Murphy Paul, TIME, January 9, 2013.

Roadie: Braddock Bay Park

Jack on the boardwalk at Braddock Bay Park. (7/3/13)

Wednesday morning, my son, Jack, and I went on a field trip to Braddock Bay Park. Located  on Lake Ontario in Greece, New York, the park is just 20 minutes from our Rochester home and about a 5 minute drive from my place of employ. Braddock Bay Park is most widely known locally as a great place for birding, and advertises itself as such, which is why we decided to make the short trek. I had read a number of articles about the park and was looking forward to seeing what we could see.



The Laura and Neil Moon Hawk Lookout. (7/3/13)

It was a very foggy morning on the marsh, but this dissipated even over the relatively short amount of time that we were there. Excited by the prospect of possibly seeing some raptors in action, we were disappointed to find only the most common small birds, all of whom were also visible from our backyard.

Close-up of identification chart at the Hawk Lookout. (7/3/13)

View from the lookout to the bay-line. (7/3/13)

The "head" of the trail leading to the boardwalk out into the marsh. (7/3/13)

The boardwalk. (7/3/13)

Further into the marsh on the boardwalk. (7/3/13)

While the board walk (and the park as a whole) is purported to provide excellent viewing of waterfowl nesting, resting and feeding habitats, there is one thing that the visitor needs to bring with them: patience. This was our first ride out here, and the very peaceful environs alone made the trip worthwhile, as did the opportunity to walk around with Jack. Though we both wish there had been more unique aviary interactions going on, we did come to the conclusion that this would be a wonderful place to return with the intent of spending time waiting for observable events in the natural world to unfold. "Things" are not likely to happen right in front of you but taking one's time with an observable eye would definitely create a more engaging experience here.

View from the boardwalk. (7/3/13)

Expensive bay-front property. (7/3/13)

It is important to remember that the primary wildlife objectives for this area are to maximize waterfowl production and provide prime feeding and resting areas for migratory waterfowl, not to provide thrilling wildlife engagements a la National Geographic television. The opportunity to watch in such a peaceful locale can be a thrilling respite from an otherwise hectic day, though.

Red-winged Black bird, Agelaius phoeniceus. (7/3/13)

One species of bird we did observe flitting around the marsh was a Red-winged Blackbird. Given the bold red coloring on the upper part of the wing, these little fellows were easy to spot and identify. Taking a clear picture from a distance was another matter, but we were fortunate to snap a few shots worth posting.

Taking flight. (7/3/13)

"Bright fog" is not quite the oxymoron one would think.(7/3/13)

Haiku vs. Haiku... FIGHT!

Teacher examples of Dueling Haiku.

Yesterday in English Class, with AP Language and Composition exams in the rear view window and the upcoming English Regents 11 not posing much of a concern, I began working with my eleventh graders on first analysing, and then writing haiku. While students have been "taught" how to write haiku since kindergarten, I annually like to revisit the from with them, in hopes of sharing some new background information, or at least eliciting from them a poem or two that does not consist solely of seventeen syllables thoughtlessly puked out on a paper ten minutes prior to class.

Writing good haiku takes time. This is what I tell students who insist on the ease with which this particular form is mastered. The challenge here is to impress upon students that simply stringing together enough syllables in a familiar structure (5-7-5) does not mean one is "good" at writing them. Today in class we first started by reading four different haiku by different authors, including Basho.

It is important to remind students that the while the form they (and I) have been taught since childhood is "haiku," it is not purely haiku in the Eastern sense, but more of a Westernized "traditional" Haiku form. The basic rules are well-know: haiku are comprised of 17 syllables, arranged in 3 unrhymed lines of 5-7-5 syllables and the content should evoke or link to the natural world.

In order to mix things up slightly, rather than asking students to simply generate two haiku, I assigned them to develop two Dueling Haiku. A form I found online a number of years ago, a single Dueling Haiku consists of a pair of individual haiku that each focus or express forces, animals or seasons which can be seen as being in opposition to one another.

The use of the word "opposition" in the instructions can be confusing for students as there is no actual "conflict" or coordination between the two poems, only the potential for the reader to sense the opposing/contradictory/differing nature of the two forces, animals or moments. As I explain to the students, while there is no "shared DNA" between the two, there should exist an implied connection that is discernible to the reader. While the two poems can stand alone as well-crafted haiku, when paired together they offer a sens of opposition or express the dual nature of a subject.

At the top of this post are two examples of Dueling Haiku that I wrote and ultimately shared with the class.  Each time I deliver this lesson and assign the corresponding task, results vary. The majority of students can generate three unrhymed lines in a 5-7-5 syllable structure. Not all can write haiku that give pause for reflection on the image.  Often times the resulting poems are quite impressive, and my hopes are that this some images will pop with evocative language this year, too.

Catching Up in the Courtyard

Not quite the Garden of Earthly Delights, but a worthy natural distraction during a busy school day. (5/9/13)

Any number of times during the course of the school day I'll peek out the classroom window to see what aviary activity may be taking place. Any number of slight environmental factors (whether the lawn is cut, the state of the small artificial pond, if students are out there taking the course I affectionately call "Raking Class") can impact what may be gliding in for a rest. As the name would suggest, our school courtyard is an enclosed area that is somehow populated with any number of types of birds who find their way over the three story square building and onto this small patch of green.


Given the greenery of the courtyard, even the muted red of the Northern Cardinal stands out. (5/9/13)

Last week while teaching class I couldn't help but notice a small, brightly colored male Northern Cardinal briefly flitting around the courtyard at school. The bird captured in both images is the same one, though it's sharp color was much clearly captured in the one above. I am quick to notice colorful birds such as this one as they are not as common here as the more ubiquitous American Robin or the occasional .

Slightly different angle and lens results in more brightly captured red coat. (5/9/13)

In these pictures, the lawn is rather long (it was freshly cut a few days later) and and industrious American Robin can be seen in the images below collecting grass for nest building. I haven't had the opportunity to get down to ground zero to search for its location, but I suspect he is building for the summer. Robins are extremely common regionally, and this type of behavior in my backyard usually means a nest is going up in a nearby bush or soffet.

Just left of center, Robin looks for suitable building material (5/9/13)

The following day, (presumably) the same bird could be seen in roughly the same location scratching and pulling at dead grass and leaves. It occurs to me that any nest that is under construction may be taken down by school maintenance staff, or Raking Class, especially if any nest location is exposed. Reckon it's time to escape the "ivory tower" environs of my second story classroom and look around the courtyard for myself.

Robin certainly is enamored of that shadowy area just beneath the shrub's branches. (5/9/13)

School Birds: Meet the Mallards

Watching ducks from outside the computer lab window early today (4/12/13).

After a full 36 hours of traditional spring weather earlier this week, upstate New York once again returned to some semblance weather normalcy--for early/late winter, that is. From what could be observed in the school's courtyard, 36°F and rain is certainly ideal "duck weather." (I type this knowing full well that these birds are in fact the specific type of duck, Mallards, but "Mallard Weather" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.)

It had been quite a while since any noticeable duck Mallard activity in the tiny artificial "pond" outside my classroom window, but, as I was reminded by our school librarian when looking for a window to hang out, "Those ducks come back every year." She was correct...



A small part of the world outside my classroom window (4/11/12).

Over the past three days, beginning Wednesday, one female and one male Mallard have been spending progressively more time in the courtyard. They always seem to be walking together; at no time is there more than four feet between them. Being one prone to personification, I imagine that this young couple are house hunting or leisurely spending the day together.




Muddy, a little flooded, but passable for the web-footed (4/11/12).

The past two mornings, however, as luck would have it, I did have my camera handy. This gave me the opportunity to take advantage of the hubbub and to snap pics a couple of ducks tooling around the courtyard. On Thursday (the day on which the less vibrant images in this post were shot), the two spent much of the mid-morning in the area of the courtyard directly outside my classroom window. It was a grey day and they seemed content to pad back and forth between the shrubs and the artificial pond. Eventually, just as they had done the previous morning, the two took flight together for parts unknown by late morning.




The male Mallard patrolling the flood walkways (4/12/13).

Friday was the rainier, and therefore more lush (as evidenced in the pics) of the two days and the Mallards more time at play in the fields of the courtyard. The majority of their day consisted of walking the perimeter of the courtyard, stopping for long periods of time to splash in the puddles and inspect the surroundings. Eventually they left, or--more likely--I simply could not visually find them from my classroom window.


Nice shot of purple feathers beneath prominent brown coat (4/12/13).

With any luck, the weather will continue to improve over the weekend and perhaps, as activity in the courtyard increases with the doors being opened for student and staff traffic between wings, the Mallards will decide to stay. My camera will be at the ready as I look out the window from time to time just in case they return again.

Ghosts of Turkey Trots Past

Scrolling through my Facebook page, it is great to read that so many of my "friends" or "friends of friends" will be lacing up their shoes and heading out to any number of small suburbs to run with family and friends on this cool and damp Thanksgiving morning. It is a proud tradition that I fondly recall having been part of in the past, and on occasions such as this, miss...


Webster Turkey Trot, November 2007.

For the first time in almost six years, I will not be running in at least one of the many local "turkey trots," or road races, held throughout my community over the holiday weekend. There was a time not too long ago that I would register for and run in nearly every race scheduled during the holiday season, or at the very least, rotate my participation in the "big" races--run the Webster Turkey Trot one year and the Race for Grace the next, and so on. Sitting here this morning, psychologically preparing myself to head out for a solo short run, I realize that I kind-of-sort-of miss it. Turkey trots, you see, are kind of like the Easter Mass of the running world.

For many folks, the Thanksgiving Day run will be the only road race they enter all year. Much of this has to do with the purpose of the day and the event: giving thanks for family and friends (as well as one's health). The point of the run for many is not to run especially well, or even to win, but rather to be out with family members and friends on the morning just prior to gorging themselves with turkey and pie. Of all race days, it is the one were folks are less inclined to check the results for their times and more likely to do so to check the names of old friends they thought they recognized in the pack or new friends they met at the finish.


As you return home from your own turkey trot this morning, or like I begin preliminarily planning your participation in one next year--just a little hungrier and happier than when you left the house--consider the great friends you just finished running with and think about who you may invite to spend the morning with you and hundreds (or thousands) of your new friends next year.

Scoutin' Routes: Basil A. Marella Park

This fall I will begin coaching Varsity Girls Cross-Country (x-c) for the first time, and though I have been to (and for that matter, in) many x-c races over the years, my new role requires a greater intimacy with each of the 6-7 race sites our team will run at this coming season. I thought one way to begin familiarizing myself with each course would be to scout it on foot first: printing off a map, walking the course taking pictures of the course turns, and generally beginning to acquire a sense of what will be necessary for our team to properly prepare. Even in the off chance that courses are modified slightly, this will permit me a greater feel for the possibilities and pitfalls. Plus, I have the time during summer to embark on this sort of task.

The course I scouted this morning was what will be our home course, the 3.1 mile (5k) course at Basil A Marella Park in Greece, NY. Like many 3.1 courses set-up in small(-ish) parks, this one features a series of two loops (and for a couple stretches three) of the same area with only slight variation built in to extend the distance just far enough to qualify as a legitimate 5k. Let's take a guided tour through loop 1, shall we? (Note that the comment which accompany each photo are below the image.)

The start line is at the far end of two soccer fields, at which point it is a straight shot along the fields until you run out of real estate at the bicycle path. From there you hang a quick right onto said bike path.

Continue on past what one hopes will be cheering throngs of spectators :) ...

... which continues into the "woods" along a shaded paved pathway.

At this point, a little after the first 1/2 mile point, you veer left onto the hard pact dirt path which takes you to...

...Vintage Lane, hang another left and stay on the sidewalk until you are past the guard rail then take a left onto a dirt path.

This gets a little tricky (but shouldn't be a problem as it will be properly marked for competition), veer right (note the cement pad on the ground to the right)...

The directions did not specify with any clarity which side of the tree the course runs, but it is equidistant either way so I'm unsure if it matters. This is also approximately the 1 mile point (or you're a third of the way done).

As you cruise along this path (there are very few "hills" on this course), you'll stay right and descend down a lowgrade hill into...

... a meadow that will take you very quickly to...

... the monstrous incline denoted as "Howlett's Hill," which is really not much of a hill at all.

... and finally back along the same way you came, but in reverse.

And there you go. After passing the finish line you return to the bike path a little further down and repeat EXCEPT for a point just a few yards before the two mile point where you...

... take a right into the woods, taking a path that brings you to another left at which point you are running on a trail running parallel to the one you just left. My bet is that this is where the 0.1 in the 3.1 mile course comes from. Once you get to a second opening to the sidewalk running along Vintage Lane, you continue along the same route you ran your first loop.

By all accounts, this seems an extremely favorable, flat course with no technical elements and very few measurable hills. One concern I would have about using it as a primary training course is the lack of hills available for repeats and other training. In a few week's, once I've had the chance to visit a few more routes, I'd like to make my way back to Basil before formal practices begin in mid-August to continue getting used to it.