LG

Lake George was one of my favorite trips thus far in our program. Despite the gross, spider infested lake house we stayed in I thought it was a great bonding experience. On our way there we stopped at Grant’s Cottage where we learned everything and more that we needed to know about Ulysses S. Grant thanks to our super creepy tour guides. Once we got there we did community service, which wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected it to be. I swept those porches cleaner than anything in my entire life. We had a lot of free time on this trip leaving us to explore the village of Lake George. I haven’t been in years so it was nice to see what it looked like even though most of the shops weren’t open yet. After that we got to relax and enjoy some of Barb’s famous pasta sauce, ice cream, and smores. We all talked about our interests and our personal college experience making us much closer than we were before because we got to know each other better. It took us forever to fall asleep because we didn’t want to know what kind of creepy crawlers were in our rooms. That being said, Meagan, Andriana, and I all shared a twin size bed! I haven’t slept in a twin size bed in over 10 years so it wasn’t exactly the most comfy nights sleep as I’m sure you can imagine. Friday was the highlight of my trip. I’ve never been on a pontoon boat before and it was extremely relaxing. We toured parts of Lake George right on the water. We saw an extravagant resort called the Sagamore, which looked even more beautiful than I have heard about in the past. I learned that mostly only the wealthy stay there but I plan on getting there sometime in the near future to see how gorgeous it is on the inside compared to the outside. On our way back we stopped and used a dredge, which I have never seen let alone used before. I learned that it was used to collect samples of the lake from the boat. The lake was very clear so I don’t think we had much to collect. I gave Toby my wet socks just in case we couldn’t find any organisms living in the water.

Sewage Plant

            Today’s journey was one like no other. We attended the Sewage Plant right over the bridge in Menands. It was a day I have been dreading since before we even started because my perception of the plant was completely different than what it turned out to be. I ended up saying during our trip that I would much rather visit places like the sewage treatment plant everyday than go to a museum. I would much rather attend places such as the sewage treatment plant because I learned about issues that our currently happening right now as opposed to years ago that lead us to the year 2015. The tour guide really captured my attention and made me aware of what actually gets put into our waste water and how much good they do to improve the Hudson River. The guide showed us how waste water comes in, how they filter it, and how it goes back out into the Hudson River. I found it truly amazing that because of sewage treatment plants 95% of the water that is put back into the Hudson river is completely clean and swimmable. Many people including myself criticize the Hudson River and talk about how dirty it is but today I learned that that isn’t the case. I feel like because of this trip I wont mind getting into the Hudson River after all even though I have been dreading it since the first day. Image how dirty the river would actually be without lifesavers such as sewage treatment plants?  The world would be a completely different place and living conditions would be much harsher. It amazes me how a place like this could pull out all of the of sludge dissolve into the water. Like the tour guide explained its like taking all of the sugar out of your coffee after it has already been dissolved. It seems almost impossible and extremely tedious but anything is possible and I am truly thankful for the sewage treatment plants to make the world a better place and filled with less pollutants.

Catskills

Todays journey was quite long but very intriguing. We traveled to the catskill's and viewed Thomas Cole's house. The house was immaculate inside and portrayed an amazing landscape view of the mountains just like many of his portraits. It was amazing to see what life was like during Cole's time period. I found it interesting that although his house was over a hundred years old, it was built similarly to houses that are but today especially the nicer and more expensive ones. In the house something I thought was cool in particular was his paintbrushes and paint pallet that we could touch with our own hands because in most exhibits we are not even allowed to take pictures of the items let alone touch them. After leaving Cole's house we traveled to Catterskill Falls. The mile hike up and down the falls was absolutely stunning. It wasn't like your typical hike, it was entirely uphill and we had to maneuver around rocks and water to get to the falls. Once we reached the top I learned that I was at the bottom of the highest falls in New York even higher than Niagara Falls which I found hard to believe. After leaving the falls we eventualy made it to the historic sight of Olana, also known as Frederick Church's home. Olana was by far my favorite sight so far during our summer on the hudson. It was true beauty. I learned that there was a purpose to the layout of the landscape of Church's home. He planted trees purposely to block the view of his castle and portray the beauty of nature and the river, and when he wanted you to see the house it was directly in front of you and impossible to miss. Mostly everything in the house was the original from Church's time period. It was crazy to see the original paintings that still hang in his house for tourists to see. My favorite piece in the house was his painting for his wife Olivia. It shows how much respect and love he had for her. Overall the day was great and I saw things I never would have unless I was apart of the discovery degree program. 

Institute of Albany Art Museum

During todays journey we visited Albany's Institute of History and Art. The paintings were exquisite and something for everyone to enjoy. Europe played a huge role on influencing art and history in the American culture. It helped the settlers understand their place in the world and acknowledge the beauty surrounding them. A famous artist in particular during this time period was Thomas Cole. Cole founded the Hudson River School during the 19^th century that lead to the expansion of art in America. One of his famous paintings is called the Ruined Tower. It was said that his inspiration for this painting was a combination between his trips to Italy while seeing many Mediterranean towers and from the artist John Constable’s painting, Hadleigh Castle from the year 1829. Cole is an amazing artist and influenced other artists in the country. One artist he influenced was Henry Ary who painted the famous painting, View of Hudson, New York also hanging in Albany’s Institute of History and Art. Ary’s artwork also consisted of landscape style paintings that were detailed with trees, elegant skies, the river, and the town it lied in. I enjoy looking at landscape painting and think they are very beautiful. To me, landscape paintings capture the history of the painting and the story it is trying to tell rather than just something small focusing on one thing.

Another painting I really enjoyed that was displayed at the museum was called The White World by Walter Palmer. Palmer was known as the "Painter of the American Winter" which explains why his paintings with snowfall on the trees are so beautiful. The White World the painting above was Palmer's last paining and was completed the year that he died in 1932.

New York State Museum

Today during our journey we looked at ancient artifacts found from 17th-19th century. I learned that early native settlers created tools using rocks to carve sharp points on them for hunting purposes so they could have a nice meal for their family. Because they didn't have many resources during this time period these settlers lacked proper hygiene including dentistry. In the picture to the left is a bone brush which people of the 18th century would use. One of the first features I notice on someone is their teeth so it amaze's me that there wasn't anything really to help take care of them during this time period. It was sad to see how degraded people's teeth were while looking at the cast of their skull. The bristles of the brush were attached to either bone or a bamboo handle.             

  

Another artifact we saw many of was pipes. Pipes played a huge role during the Native American lifestyle. The picture to the left consists of a tobacco pipe that was reworked and made into a whistle for musical purposes. Whistles like these were established around the year 1650-1700AD and were commonly used during the fur trade. Other pipes were commonly used to smoke tobacco which contained so much nicotine it could have been considered a hallucinogen. This came as a surprise to me because most pipe looking items in todays society are used to smoke marijuana which makes people feel high and a different type of way than tobacco would. 

As time went on I found it interesting how they separated people according to their social status. Only the elite could afford the nice plates with extravagant designs on them. The more color and designs the plate wear had meant the wealthier the person was. If you did not have much money your plate would be plain with no color or design on them. These plates were made out of clay and all of the designs were done hand made. Most plates had a china motif to them because that is where they originated from. I zoomed in on one of the many different drawings to show its beauty.