Tom Stock

Poet, Essayist, Photographer, Naturalist

Author: Tom Stock Page 28 of 30

Tom Stock has been involved in the Long Island environmental and outdoor education community for decades.

He has published two books; THE NISSEQUOGUE RIVER: A JOURNEY and HIDDEN AGENDA; A POETRY JOURNEY. He has also published many essays and poems in such journals as the Long Island Forum and The Long Islander.

Hawley Lake – Walk

By

On April 28, 2016

In Medium Length Essays

Both Babylon and Islip Towns have cut brush along the eastern and western edges of Hawley’s Lake making it possible to take a half-mile walk. Three problems arise:

1. The noise of traffic on north and southbound Route 231
2. There is no nearby parking. Road crossings are busy.
3. Poison ivy grows in profusion along the chain-link fence on the Islip side.

Starting from the concrete pool below the falls, we will proceed to walk counter-clockwise to the right. The double concrete tunnel carries Sampawams Creek three hundred feet under Montauk Highway.There, sweetwater becomes brackish.

Read More

Estuary – Sampawams Creek: Fresh and Salt Water Meet

By

On April 28, 2016

In Medium Length Essays, Sampawams Creek

While I taught science, I fell in love with the Nissequogue River, a few blocks from where I lived. Eventually I turned my enthusiasm into a book titled THE NISSEQUOGUE: A JOURNEY. As a naturalist, I started the project by exploring. This led to research and interviews, historical information, old maps, etc.

During one of my final teaching years, I had one horrible day in the classroom when everything went wrong. I recall a helpless feeling. During that moment, I imagined myself having a sail boat on the Great South Bay. This has come true and it opened up my curiosity about Sampawams Creek. The result has been a love affair, a David and Goliath story. This creek is an underdog and I love to root for the underdog.

I moved to Babylon Village after marrying Nancy Keating. She owns a home across the street from Sampawams Creek. I can see Southards Boat Yard from an upstairs window. One day, an old 1929 bay boat showed up in the yard. It had sunk in the creek. Mike, the owner, purchased it, rescued it, and restored it. I watched the process with interest While I was sketching the boat, that classroom dream kicked in.

Read More

Interview With Darrel Ford – The Hempstead Plains

By

On April 28, 2016

In Short Essays

What he remembers of his visits to the Hempstead Plains
May 14, 2015

85 year old Darrel Ford, of Babylon Village, recalls his experiences exploring the Hempstead Plains in the 1940’s. He was a young teenager during the early 1940’s:

“There were several horse liveries at the edges. I’d hire a horse and ride for miles. Sometimes the grass was three feet high. I had the feeling that I was out west. There was no Levittown so to me as a young boy the area seemed huge.I was told that there were a lot of cattle before I first visited. I remember prairie warblers, bobolinks, upland plovers, there were hardly any people. I rarely saw another person. There were panoramic views of the sky with no buildings what so ever. I was told that the Indians burned the area and that led to the exclusion of trees and shrubs. The place was untouched by plow. One of the strangest comments I read is: “It ceased to excite the wonder of residents and travelers.”

He recalled black eye-d Susan, wild indigo, blue vervain, blueberries and blackberries, and birds foot violets.

“I used to see smoke in the distance.” It meant that there were brush fires on the plains in the early ‘40’s”

Beauty – Sampawams Creek

By

On April 28, 2016

In Short Essays

“It was a beautiful stream.” E-mailed John Burnley, nature photographer from Riverhead. Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so John’s statement is debatable.

Our local Native Americans were surrounded by beauty and perhaps didn’t think of the creek that way. They saw the creek as a route of passage to their winter quarters in Dix Hills. Their idea of beauty was the rich food resources and clean fresh water it provided.

I venture to say that today, there are not many places where the public have the opportunity to experience its beauty. Hawley Lake certainly qualifies. As a village park, it is caught between Route 231. Besides the dam and falls at its southernmost end, there is a trail around the lake with a few observation points. During the summer, Hawly Lake has a profusion of white lily pads, swans, and Canada geese.

Read More

A Visit To Gardiners County Park

By

On April 27, 2016

In Medium Length Essays

I decided to honor the first stanza of Mary Oliver’s poem titled HOW I GO TO THE WOODS:

“Ordinarily I go to the woods alone,
with not a single friend,
for they are all smilers and talkers, and therefore unsuitable.”

I grabbed my camera, note pad and drove to Gardiners County Park. I found a way to avoid the pets and pet walkers. I’ll take lesser-used trails or bushwhack. This was a last minute decision. I could wander as I please and, pause when I felt like it.

Read More

Litter

By

On April 27, 2016

In Poetry

litter
Splotches on sacred ground / a passing vehicle / tossed out a window / accidentally dropped by a walker / it doesn’t belong / put it on your dresser, kitchen table, bathroom cabinet / it dishonors our ultimate Mother, with a capitol M – our planet / It is disrespect / Intrudes on what we ought to see, namely beautiful, uninterrupted landscape / it desecrates / where is there a cigarette butt-free place? / the punishment? / nothing / litter piles up under signs that say $100 fine for littering./ the sign doesn’t care / will the girl scouts will solve this problem? / no, they know better / who picks up our litter? / Minimum security county prisoners out on Sunrise Highway with orange bags and pointed sticks? / It’s a form of low grade terrorism / “Let the goats eat it” He says when I confront him / all litter is my litter / garbage, crap / call it what you will / I call it shit!
Litter is too nice a word / look at that…it’s such a shame…why do people do that?” aha, I’ve got one; they just threw a Wendy’s bag out the window. I’m going after them / I shout YOU LITTERED STOP PICK IT UP STOP YOU IDIOT. / he speeds away and I get me a middle- finger / fast forward
technology comes to the rescue / in each cigarette a hidden microchip to trace butt flippers / the Marlboro box warns: DO NOT BUTT FLIP – A FINE/COMMUNITY SERVICE/ JAIL TIME FOR OFFENDERS. – that’s bull shit he mumbles and flips his butt / a minute later, a litter patrol officer confronts him / he knows the time, the name has a photo/and genetic information that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt / a positive identification / a butt flipper has been apprehended / citation issued / appear before the judge / “You are charged with butt flicking” this crime carries a punishment of 40 hours of community service bending over picking up litter or a $350 fine” / we have uncontestable evidence, how do you plead? Guilty or not guilty? “but but but Judge, It was only an itty, bitty cigarette butt.” / if you plead not guilty, you either hire a lawyer or we appoint a lawyer, fee $1,000. How do you plead?” “Guilty” / since this is you first offence, I sentence you to 25 hours of community service.”
“I suggest you quit smoking.” See the clerk. Next

Dwarf Pine Barrens Hike

By

On April 23, 2016

In Medium Length Essays

Mark, John, any me met at Sunrise Highway and Route 31. John wanted to show us a section we knows about that he calls “the pure” dwarf pines. These are true dwarf trees. “This is the last stand of the pure trees. All the others areas have changed. With no fires, tall trees have grown within the dwarf pines.” John wanted to see this last stand before it too changes. “Without fire the dwarf forest will cease to exist.” This is one more example of how human species have changed the delicate balances of the natural world. I suspect that Long Island is the capitol of examples of damaged habitats

John brought a pair of loppers to clear overhanging branches. He is preparing to pay several visits to this area to photograph the beauty and strangeness of the dwarf pines.

Read More

Notes on the 46th Anniversary of Earth Day

By

On April 22, 2016

In Short Essays

This is the only day of the year when some people think of Earth. The date was chosen in the first trimester of spring to celebrate rebirth both of Earth and hope. World Environment Day and Arbor Day are the only others. Ground Hog Day fits as well.
What fascinates me is how many “days” there on the annual calendar that celebrate human days. Here is the list:

Mothers day Fathers Day Memorial Day Labor Day Thanksgiving Christmas Valentines Veterans St. Patricks
Universal Childrens World AIDS Pearl Harbor Remembrance Human Rights Bodhi Religious Freedom New Years Freedom Martin Luther King Holocast April Fools International Womans Womans Equal Rights May Anzac Bike to Work Victoria Armed Forces St Jean Baptist World Refuge Canada Independence Bastille Indiginous Peoples United Nations All Saints Patriot World Suicide Prevention Grandparents International Day of Peace Constitution Citizenship World Teacher National Coming Out World Mental Health Election International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women Human Rights Bill of Rights National Wear Red Presidents Leap Read Across America World Autism Paraprofessional Appreciation World Health National Library Workers Workers Memorial National Teachers National Nurses Flag Parents World Population ( and probably others)

Read More

William Floyd Estate – Hike Report

By

On April 21, 2016

In Hike Reports

We found ourselves on a trail that parallels the Forge River. Dead low tide produced rivulets of fresh ground water that tricked toward the river. Mark spotted an osprey and a person on the opposite shore with binoculars looking toward the forest edge of the estate.. I heard that a bald eaglewas nesting from an Audubon Newsletter. I had seen an eagle at the Morton Wildlife Refuge a year ago. Sightings are rare. If eagles return to Long Island, as Opsreys have, this is encoruraging. We kept our eyes open.

We came to a trail that was blocked. The sign on the fence said: “Closed. Do not enter.” We knew immediately that the eagle nest was somewhere inside. We obeyed the signs and headed back toward the buildings.
Most of the trail to this point on walk was forested on both sides. However, we encountered changes in scenery as we entered open fields. The fields have been mowed in order to keep them from eventually succeeding back to forest. We enjoyed passing through these light-flooded meadows the variety was a welcome change from continuous tree canopy. Maintenance crews are mowing to keep these open to replicate the farmland 200 years ago. Occasional red cedar trees cast globe-shaped shade on the ground. I love cedar trees because they look like they’ve been sheared into neat pointed shapes.The texture of the bark and dark color of the foliage also attract me. Here on the estate, there are many cedars who for me, qualify as models. The scenes are charming. I felt like I had been taken back to the days when farmers worked with horse and plow.

Read More

Monster Jam Rant

By

On April 21, 2016

In Rants

Big-tired fat-ass trucks crushing other trucks …for fun! / kids with their dads \dads being dads / quality time with kids \ Out to get monster jam moments / These are not dump trucks/when airborn, they look like momentary clouds passing overhead \ These are not built to carry passengers \ These behemoths are big bouncing bumping extravagances wrecking ball hulks of muscle-bound bombastic monstrosities \ dinosaurs with internal combustion engines \ watching them become air born, to flip, to crush / it’s a rush, a thrill, an outright blow your mind experience \ oh baby dig this action / you might hear your kid say “ get me one daddy”

Page 28 of 30

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén