Montezuma

   It's a beautiful early September day and I'm heading down the NYS thruway to Waterloo, NY which not only is my birthplace but also the birthplace of Memorial Day. My plan is to visit Dad at the Seneca Nursing Home there and take him out for lunch. But a detour is in order first to a place my Mother so loved just a few miles from where I grew up. It's been on my mind since Jemison was released there in 2010 after his rehab. Then again in 2012 when Beauty was also released there after rehab from her injuries sustained in the territorial battle with Unity. I had hoped to go last year but there was too much to do sorting out the house and handling Dad's business after he went in the nursing home. But today I am as free as the wind as I take exit #41 Waterloo which takes me to Rt. 414 known as Mound Rd. 

   At this point I must make a brief stop to give you the lay of the land. For these surrounding lands are where I was raised, my downhome. A   left turn north onto 414 takes you over the thruway bridge to land now farmed by the Amish that was once my uncle's apple orchards. I started picking up cider apples around age 12 and recall it took what seemed like a forever to fill a bin. The land directly across the road from there is now the site of the proposed Tyre casino. I found out recently from my aunt that my great grandmother is buried there. I do not think they will be able to stop the casino if it is approved by the state and it breaks my heart to think what it will do to the surrounding area. A right turn south onto 414  takes you to the intersection with Rt. 318 and a place known as Magee corners. My Uncle Robert was the unofficial mayor of Magee and their large stone house once stood kitty corner from the Magee fire department. My brother and I sold wild strawberries and thimbleberries at a little stand right out in front of the house. Just down the road was my Aunt Kay and Uncle Richards business, Strong's Fruit Farm. The smell of apples and cider filled the air in the fall and I grew up with my three girl cousins who were like sisters to me. Just a few more houses down the road on the corner of Worden Rd. is the house I grew up in with my parents and brother. Surrounded by my mom's many flower gardens and out in back her huge vegetable garden. Further down the road on the property there was a stream and a marsh area we played in.

   But now back to my detour where I make a left turn at Mcgee corners onto Rt. 318 heading towards Auburn. I pass the Black Brook Rd. which is the back way we would take to get home in those days. At the intersection of  Rt. 318 and Rts. 5 & 20 I take another left. It isn't long before the huge osprey nests atop the power lines come into view and I know I am almost there. Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, an untouched gem of pure natural beauty and magnificent wildlife. It was established in 1973 as a national landmark but has been open since 1938. Just over 9,800 acres of swamp and woodlands comprise the refuge and make it an ideal environment for migratory birds. But to me me as a child growing up it was just a really cool place to go. Often we would drive through the refuge looking for wildlife. I did not like climbing the observation towers as I was afraid of heights but I could not resist if Mom spotted something through her binocs. Up I went to check it out and she would try to ID it with her bird guide if we couldn't tell what it was. Mom took us fishing there often during the summer and it was another fun activity for us. I don't recall that we ever took any photographs there, it was a sensory experience in a much simpler time. The memories I have are of sights and sounds and smells that do not fade. They are pieces of me like the land I hold dear. I missed this beautiful place after I grew up and moved away but after moving back to NY in 1991 I once again made trips there with Mom when I visited. As the years went by she wasn't able to climb the towers anymore because her knees weren't good but we would drive through and stop along the way so she could see the wildlife. Whether it was a deer and her fawn or a great blue heron, a flock of geese or a magnificent eagle, she loved them all. The last time we drove through the refuge together was in the summer of 2006 after she had had her third knee replacement. She hoped to once again be able to walk and enjoy doing the things she loved. But it was not meant to be and a year later she left this earth for her heavenly home. She loved October and she took a piece of it with her. 

  The late blooming wildflowers are a lovely sight as I head out along the 4 mile wildlife drive. As I come to the place where it runs parallel with the NYS thruway I encounter
a white goose right in the middle of the road. In no hurry to move out of the way she watches me intently and then very slowly makes her way towards the edge of the water. I have to believe she is a sign from mom and so I smile as she waddles off. I continue along, stopping every now and then to hold my my binocs up for a close view. The marshes are teeming with migratory birds and the sights and sounds are like old friends to me. I am especially fond of the herons and see several species. As I come around the bend I see what I believe are juvenile eagles soaring overhead. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

   I decide to return to the visitor center and check out the gift shop before I leave. I'm looking for a bumper sticker but they don't have any so I end up with a pair of owl earrings that have tiny googly eyes. I talk with the lady about the dire owl situation out in CA due to the drought and she tells me of an owl encounter she had in the adirondacks this past summer. A large white owl flew in front of her car one night to fast for her to get any photos so she could ID it. I smile to myself and think it was quite possibly a barn owl. It's getting towards lunchtime & I need to go pick up Dad soon. The time I've spent here has been much too short but it has refreshed my soul. My past now linked with my future here in this beautiful space. I feel my Mother's presence here, her love of the land and all that inhabit it. And I feel my falcon mother Beauty here also, her strength & resilience rooted in this land that once again set her free on her journey home to her Rochester territory. And I feel Jemison here, who is so very special me as one of my first eyas. I know he flies wild and free out there and someday maybe he will be ID'ed black over green 95W.

   When I arrive at the nursing home I notice Bluebell has been muddied up a bit during our drive around the refuge. Her christening I decide, her bright blue now speckled with that precious soil, land that I love.