Wild Wings Educational Facility

In Morristown, NJ, I lived close to the Raptor Trust, one of the premier wild bird rehabilitation centers in the country. I only visited once, but was impressed with their facilities. It was sad to see so many injured birds, but comforting to see them being nursed back to health. It didn’t occur to me to ask what happens to the birds when they’re “better,” since most would never recover enough to re-enter the wild, and it was obvious that they couldn’t stay there indefinitely. Who knew that I’d move to a city that had a sanctuary for just such rehabilitated birds?

The day after Thanksgiving (perhaps a bit ironic, after just having eaten a bird…), we took our company – Charlie’s nephew, his wife and two little girls, and my niece and her boyfriend – to Wild Wings, in Mendon Ponds Park, where it has been for 10 years, since moving from Hilton. Wild Wings currently houses 29 birds, every one of which is permanently injured or impaired in a way that would hasten its demise in the wild, and one bobcat.

There were three handlers, each with a bird on his arm, greeting us (and lots of other visitors) as we approached. They explained that Wild Wings does not do any rehabilitation (it is staffed with volunteers, not biologists, vets, etc.), doesn’t take in birds directly from the wild, and does no breeding. They are a sterile environment, and only take birds from rehab centers, like the Raptor Trust, around the country. Apparently, there is a database of birds that are available for sanctuaries like Wild Wings, which are looking to house an array of different birds. Brook, the osprey on display, actually came from Utah, where it had been nursed after breaking a wing.

Many of the owls have been hit by cars, because they fly low and don’t have peripheral vision. Some of the birds were imprinted on humans, so could never survive in the wild. The beautiful 20-year old barn owl Melinda was captive bred to be in a breeding program, but failed breeding school! Amber, a 32-year old red tailed hawk (a breed which has a normal lifespan of 8-12 years in the wild), was a falconry bird for his first 9 years. Amber, a female Alaska bald eagle, had actually been shot by a sheep farmer (yes, it’s illegal to shoot a bald eagle…). Each bird had a sad story, but a happy ending here at Wild Wings.

Back to the bobcat. When it was offered to them, they couldn’t refuse. 20-year old Tara, who was curled up next to a volunteer in her enclosure, had been declawed as a baby, by someone hoping to illegally sell her as a house pet.

Alison feeding a chickadee

After seeing all of the caged birds, we took to the trail to try to feed some chickadees. My niece and I each stood with an arm outstretched, and a handful of sunflower seeds. Attracting the birds requires patience and stillness, as well as arm strength. I got lucky fairly quickly, and was startled by the birds alighting on my hand – they were so light, but they also wrapped their claws right around my fingers. We would have had more success if the ground had still been snow-covered, so I’m thinking of going back after the next snowfall! What a fun way to connect with nature.

Genesee Country Village & Museum – Part I

The Genesee Country Village & Museum (GCV&M), located on 700 acres in Mumford, just celebrated its 40^th anniversary. It is the third largest living history museum in the US, with costumed interpreters, a nature center with educational programs, and the John L. Wehle Art Gallery, which houses a nationally-recognized collection of sporting and wildlife art and the Susan Greene Collection of 3000 pieces of 19^th-century men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing that are displayed on a rotating basis.

The visionary Jack Wehle, of Genesee Brewing Company fame, was the founder of the GCV&M, and he worked with architectural historian Stuart Bolger to collect local examples of 19^th century architectural significance. Buildings were moved, often meticulously dismantled and reassembled, to create the village, which now contains 68 structures (on an average summer day, 22 buildings are staffed with interpreters). 

Livingston-Backus

The first building they obtained was a log cabin in Scottsville: Hetchler House (now part of the Pioneer Farmstead). The second was a Quaker Meeting House, and there’s even a house from the city of Rochester: the Livingston-Backus house that once graced Corn Hill. While the GCV&M is no longer adding buildings to the site, the structures require constant maintenance, and they are currently in the process of restoring the Octagon House (the long-neglected Hyde House, from Friendship, in Allegany County).

The GCV&M hosts school tours and summer camps (an “earth camp” as well as a “history camp”), and recently partnered with RIT and Pictometry (a Rochester company that captures aerial images) to provide a site for drone training! While the museum is generally only open to the public from May to October, there are 20 special events and theme days scheduled throughout the year. 

knowing where your food
comes from...

mmm - chocolate!

Charlie and I took his nephew and his two little girls to Preparing for the Holidays on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Our first stop was the Pioneer Farm, with its chickens, roosters, herd of sheep, and two oxen, and where we had just (thankfully!) missed the demonstration of historic hog butchering, but heard and saw how the meat is preserved. We also saw demonstrations of beer-making in the brewery, lard-rendering at the Jones Farm, and chocolate-making at the Thomson Tavern. We learned two interesting facts at the Tinsmith Shop – that Monroe County was once the wheat-growing breadbasket of America, and that the sanitary, lead-free tin can was invented in Fairport.

the tin man...

Other upcoming events include Breakfast with St. Nick, Yuletide in the Country (with tours and special dining opportunities), a Maple Sugar Festival in March, and an Antiques Show in April. I have always wanted to attend Laura Ingalls Wilder Days in August (Ma Ingalls was the special guest this past summer, and I’m pretty sure that Mary made an appearance in the past few years). Their Civil War reenactment is the largest in the Northeast, regularly attracting more than 800 participants, and there is a waiting list to join the event.

You can also book an afternoon tea party in the Hosmer Inn, or dine there on one of their scheduled dinner evenings. There is too much to see and experience in one visit, so Charlie and I have already scheduled to return for Yuletide in the Country, and I’m going to make sure I’m around in August for Laura Ingalls Wilder Days! I’m thinking it would also be fun to put together a tea party…

For more information, visit their website: https://www.gcv.org

"Don't Blame Anyone"

This isn’t an admonishment to those upset with the election, it’s the title of a new “opera” by two faculty members at the Eastman School of Music: Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. A friend of a friend asked me to go, and then I read an article about its creators in the Rochester City Newspaper that almost brought me to tears. Rochester had the world premiere of this multi-media opera this week, and the Mexican premiere will be next week; the work was written by two Mexican musicians in Rochester, and was partially funded by Mexico’s legislature and cultural administration. That would be exciting in a normal time, but given the hostility of our President-Elect to our neighbor to the south, it resonated even more deeply. 

My original hook for attending was that I’d never seen PUSH Physical Theatre perform, and this was the perfect opportunity. PUSH is an international touring company that was founded here in Rochester in 2000. I can honestly say that I had no idea what to expect, and I was astonished. It’s a shame that this was a one-time performance here, because it was very moving. The costumes and movement were incredibly creative. Jeff Spevak wrote a fantastic review in the D&C, which is worth checking out just for the photos, which of course I wasn’t allowed to take!

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2016/11/16/dont-blame-anyone-debuts-eastman-opera-comedy-amazing/93611524/

The article in the City News talks about Darren Stevenson, the artistic director of PUSH, learning, in Estonia, about “the Baltic Chain, a peaceful protest in 1989, in which people from three different Baltic states… joined hands, forming a human chain that stretched more than 400 miles in solidarity against the political control of the Soviet Union.” He was impressed by the power of simply reaching out to people different from oneself to overcome our societal fears. It made me wonder if, in our country’s time of crisis, can love really trump hate (and trump Trump)? Instead of posting false news or unrealistic petitions on Facebook and Twitter, could we build our own human chain here in the states, to stand together, peacefully, to demand that we treat each other with respect whatever our gender or sexual preference or ethnicity or religion or other categories people use to divide into ‘us’ vs. ‘other’? To demand that our press remain free, and that our freedoms be protected?

Stevenson introduced the piece, which is about the creative act and the terror of the empty page, and explained that it was a true collaboration among the creators, who all worked closely together, sending emails and video clips back and forth. He repeated multiple times that they “didn’t intend it to be political,” but that it inherently did make a political statement – that “it’s hard to build walls when you’re holding hands.”

I can’t believe I never saw Push at Fringe, but I’m looking forward to their upcoming Rochester performances next spring (May 6 and June 9-11 were advertised in the program but are not yet listed on their website).

"Mother and Me" at Geva

First, let me say I am not a fan of the solo written-by-and-starring-the-writer “play” (or as Frank Rich called it, the “autobiographical monologue”). It seems a bit self-indulgent, and usually not performable by anyone but the author (one exception stands out in my mind – Blown Sideways Through Life). So when my sister-in-law expressed interest in seeing Geva’s Mother and Me, I reluctantly agreed to go with her. Before we went, however, I had the opportunity to hear the playwright, Melinda Buckley, speak about the genesis of the work.

The story encompasses the 10-year period in which she took care of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s, and Buckley’s realization that as her mother lost her memory, Buckley actually started remembering more. The project began in a writer’s group as therapy, and evolved into a performance piece, although even Buckley was worried at the start of the potential for self-indulgence. She had had a stand-up life before theatre, and that certainly influenced her writing. When I asked her if she envisioned the play having a life beyond her own performance, she replied that there was the possibility of a New York run, with a “name” in the role, which would be necessary to attract an audience.

Melinda Buckley with Artistic Director Mark Cuddy
at a recent Geva donor dinner

I was delighted to be wrong in my wariness. To say that the show was funny is an understatement. It is humorous, poignant, touching… brilliant. If I hadn’t procrastinated seeing it, I would definitely go a second time, for the horse-race scene alone – it was truly inspired. The fact that many in the audience didn’t realize the show was about the actress speaks volume to its ability to have wider appeal. And while Buckley was magnificent playing herself, her mother, her brother, and a host of other characters, I could easily see this having a respectable off-Broadway run starring someone like Christine Ebersole, or Joanna Gleason, or Bebe Neuwirth, or Laura Linney. And I’d build a trip to the city around seeing it again.

If you want to see Mother and Me, act quickly – the run ends on Sunday! For tickets:

www.geva.org

High Falls Film Festival

Thursday night kicked off the 15^th year (although only the 13^th season, because it hasn’t always been strictly annual) of the High Falls Film Festival, which celebrates the artistry of women in film, and was inspired by our location as both the birthplace of film, as a hub for women’s rights. Apparently, of all professionals working behind the camera, only 17% are women. To be considered for the festival, a film must have women in key positions, or the film must focus on women. 74 films were submitted for consideration this year, and the volunteer committee that chose the films watched 110 hours of movies before making their final selection of 15 features. The festival also presents 5 programs of short films, one of which was reserved for the women of RIT’s School of Film and Animation. For the 4 remaining slots, there were 225 shorts submitted.

Many of the films are premiers, although some have been screened at other festivals. Sadly, many of these independent films will only be seen in festivals like High Falls – they will never get a wide release, so you won’t see them at a neighborhood cinema or on Netflix. When I learned that festival pass-holders would be seated before single-ticket holders, I sprang for the pass (even though it wasn’t necessarily economical, since I don’t plan to spend the whole weekend, morning till night, downtown). That way, I was assured of a seat, as long as I arrived early, even if the film sold out. And I contented myself that I was contributing to a good cause! As with any festival, unfortunately you can’t see everything, since multiple events happen at the same time. The flip side is that, with multiple offerings, there’s more opportunity to find something that appeals or intrigues.

The opening night film was Last Laugh, a documentary exploring humor and the Holocaust, how soon is “too soon” when it comes to tragedy and humor, and where you draw the line of "appropriateness." It was extremely funny, touching and thought-provoking, and provided a welcome temporary escape from the recent current events (although a line that “comics are the conscience of the people” made me think of the recent attempts by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Trevor Noah, and Samantha Bee to sound the bell). At the post-film Q&A, the director, Ferne Pearlstein, talked about the long process of making the documentary – the first comedian she lined up was Rob Reiner; the hardest comedian to get was Sarah Silverman; and the two who got away were Joan Rivers, who died two weeks before her interview date, and Chris Rock, who pulled out around the time his personal life was in crisis. The film has been making the festival circuit; it debuted at Tribeca, and has been shown in Munich (the non-Jewish audience was silent during most of the Holocaust jokes) and Jerusalem. Pearlstein shared that the film will air at some point on PBS’ Independent Lens. This is definitely one to watch for! In the meantime, there’s a chance it will be selected as the Audience Choice Best Documentary and be rescreened Monday evening. My friends Bernie & Cliff and I all gave it a top rating when we voted!

For information on upcoming films in the festival, visit the website: http://highfallsfilmfestival.com/2016/

Thank you, Susan B. Maybe next time...

Yesterday was a scary day, but even so, it was so heartening to see hundreds of people – women, men, and children – patiently waiting in line for their turn for a photo at Susan B. Anthony’s gravesite in Mount Hope Cemetery, and to exchange their “I Voted” sticker for one that read “I Voted Today Because of Women Like Her.” I ran into lots of friends, fresh from voting, in the 9am hour. I joined the queue directly behind Jenni, Geva’s dramaturg, and her wife Emily, who I learned is an Assistant Professor at Nazareth and oversaw the lighting for the fantastic recent production of Women on the Verge!

After I decided I couldn’t wait hours for a 30-second photo at the tombstone, I wandered a bit and ran into my friend Johanna, from Concentus, and her daughter Grace. She told me later that she’d been interviewed by a reporter, who asked her why she had come to the cemetery. She was choked up as she answered, “When Hillary wins, I want my daughter to know she was a part of this day.”

Incredibly, right behind her was a man on a bike whom I recognized as my pedaling partner in the May 2014 Ride of Silence! In the evening, my a cappella group decided to curtail our rehearsal in order to entertain the still-waiting crowd that were even bigger at 8:30pm than they’d been 12 hours earlier.

It was very moving to be here in Rochester at this moment in history. Thank you, Susan B. Anthony, for your vision, your perseverance, and your faith in the progress of our society. I hope the outcome of this election doesn’t set our country irreparably back socially, environmentally, and economically.