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Philipstown Watchdog Has Too Many Tics
To the Editor:
Russ never sleeps. Cusick is still at it. His latest masterpiece of my property on East Mountain Road, complete with soundtrack and all, is on YouTube for all to see. "Killing of a Hudson River Tributary, Parts I, II and III" are priceless, albeit amateur.
I grew up on Old Sleepy Hollow Road in Westchester, in a community of archaeologists, paleontologists and anthropologists, most all of whom worked for The Museum of Natural History.
My father worked for 40 years as an artist for this fine institution as well. As one of four children, I spent hours in the Museum watching him paint dioramas and wandering the halls. I hiked and camped in my wooded neighborhood, climbed all 46 mountains in the Adirondacks, most of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and have SCUBA-dived around the world for the last 49 years.
It was heartbreaking for me to take my own four children back along those same paths in recent years. There were no more red newts or leopard frogs along the railroad cut in Sleep Hollow. Swan Lake and the Pocantico Reservoir are no longer teeming with blue gills, pickerel, yellow perch and large mouth bass. They are polluted. The brook trout that I caught in Avalanche Lake are no longer there - acid rain.
I've been working on my little haven on Trout Brook since 1995. I have no intention of destroying its beauty; in fact the home I've built there with 83 windows brings the surrounding landscape right where I want it - inside.
It seems to me that it's been hard for Russ to gain anyone's ear, with his animosity and accusations. He polarizes all in his wake. Assuming that he knows more than I do, I invite him to my home so he can tell me what I should do to make it more environmentally friendly. I am an old dog but I can learn new tricks.
Russ can bring with him anyone he engages with his paranoia and my offer. He can come and drink our stream water, which I've had tested twice and have been drinking for years with no ill effects. He's welcome to photograph the mink family that lives just down from the main waterfall, the red fox on our north border, the Virginia White Tail that come down regularly to drink or the dozen wild turkey eggs that are deposited when I let a brush pile linger. He can count the brook trout and crayfish in our backyard or measure the twoand a-half foot copperhead that feeds on leopard frogs at the front of the house, observe the common water snakes in the brook and the abundance of garter snakes everywhere else. We live in harmony with all of these creatures.
Who knows…if Russ really has something to say, it's possible I can use his services elsewhere. As a builder, currently with two major projects - one on a lake and the other on swampland - I have many world-famous clients who have deep enough pockets for a knowledgeable environmentalist. So let's see if Russ takes me up on my offer. My cell number is 914-906-0305. Personally, I think it's more polite to visit when you're actually invited.
William Scherer
Philipstown
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