Adirondack Forest Service

06/27/2024

Being a parent & balancing giving your kids freedom & support while keeping them safe…encouraging them and nurturing after failure…oh to be able to bottle life lessons!

School is out and summer break is on!
Happy Wednesday.

05/07/2024

02/04/2024

The old grapple woke up from a year long nap and functioned great…unfortunately some over due maintenance on the battery box, on my tractor, resulted in the battery jumping out while skidding!! On the plus side the look on Tucker’s face while I was holding the battery next to the running tractor was priceless!!

A little ingenuity with some plywood and mechanics wire this morning got things back in order and moving wood.

The is getting some bonfire 🔥 wood ready and pre clearing new trails. The sun this weekend is a welcome boost and hope everyone is enjoying February.

01/02/2024

Happy New Year & here’s to an amazing 2024!

The last few days I had the pleasure of working on a gift, made from some butternut lumber that I milled years ago. Working with (sharp) chisels and using a hand plane, brings me so much joy.

Many years ago I had a brief, but impactful experience with a master carpenter & log restoration expert. The value of sharp tools with precision measurements was the lesson learned.

It’s been awhile since I’ve worked on a detailed project, that would qualify as “fine carpentry” & I decided to add several twists to the design, just to keep it from “getting done too quickly”😂😳!

Willow helped along the way & I look forward to more projects with her in the future. I will post some completed pictures once the gift has been handed off so no surprises are ruined.

Here’s to more woodworking in 2024 & mornings that start in the most gentle & rewarding way!!

11/28/2023

On Monday 11/27/23 Andy Blanchette passed away.

One of the most humble and thoughtful people I’ve ever known, Andy lived a life of defying the impossible and making the most of what you were given. Not quite a saint, with some strong opinions that he wasn’t afraid to share, Andy’s integrity and character were second to none and it was an absolute privilege to call him one of my best friends.

Andy was my first supervisor for NYS DEC and we met in, his hometown, Newcomb about 23.5 years ago. When I walked in, on my first day of work and met him, I didn’t know the profound impact he would have on my career and the friendship we would develop. I got to work with and learn from him during 3 summers of Trail Work.

Without a doubt, they broke the mold when it came to his work ethic and conscientious approach to his craft. He stands head and shoulders above any other supervisor I’ve ever had and is the benchmark that I chase, in trying to lead others and approach my own craft.

The building blocks and details of Andy’s life could fill the pages of a book. Though not as flashy as Nimsdai Purja “Beyond Possible”, Andy overcame obstacles that would shatter lesser people and made a life for himself and family in Newcomb… A life to be proud of and a life you could hang your hat on!

Though I only knew Andy for about 27% of his 85.5 years on this planet, I have met dozens of people that knew him (or worked with him) at different points in his life and there is always a common respectful connection…most of the time also a reference to the incredible size of his left hand, given Andy’s smaller frame!!

Born with a crippled right hand, Andy’s accomplishments become even more legendary, when you think of him doing it all without 2 functioning hands.

A lifetime lover of animals, woodsman and dedicated husband, stepfather, grandfather and friend to many.

The Town of Newcomb and those who were lucky enough to know him, lost an amazing human yesterday.

I hope to share more about Andy, in the near future, but wanted to pay my respects to one my HEROS.

11/23/2023

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Tucker turned 15 earlier in the month! This week was parent teacher conferences and a boatload of gratitude for all the amazing comments about my eldest. He is a caring and attentive human, regardless of what I experience trying to wake him up!

Random adventures, the lad cutting a tree…Dad leaving some fiber on the stump I cut 🫣

Finley will be sporting some new specs!

Tuesday was a doubleheader of amazing experiences. A great field day for work and new lessons learned and then a chance to see and visit with my dear friend Andy and he got a haircut! That man is awesome and will share more in another post.

Enjoy your day, your friends, your family.

This year has so much to be thankful for and the friendships and connections make it even better.

With love,
Tate, Tucker, Finley and Willow

11/04/2023

Someone had a BIG week.

Sunday the big First Lost Tooth Milestone was reached 🦷! She ripped that loose tooth out on drive home Willow was super excited.

Friday, when she came in the door, from the bus, she was a ball of excitement!! Couldn’t wait to pull out her student of the week certificate🥰.

Really proud of you Willow…good character is important.

10/21/2023

On Thursday, I had the chance to walk in the woods, revisit old projects, scout some problems and build camaraderie with a peer.

Back in 2000, I first visited Moose Pond, while on Trail Crew and this week was the first time I ever got to enjoy sometime time there, take in the view and enjoy a shoreline break, it was amazing.

With the colors, smells, temperatures, sounds and feel of Autumn, it was a great field day and true reminder what stretching your legs can accomplish!!

We are 1 month into my favorite season and it is the season that has the most depth and character. Hoping you all get to enjoy it and soak up some of the beautiful moments.

09/05/2023

On the left is the is the first circular saw, which my Dad gave me, over 24 years ago. It is a Master Mechanic from Fortunes (the best hardware store…ever).

On the right is my cordless circular saw, which I have had for 4 years. Quite an amazing piece of engineering and tool design.

I’ve built so many things with that old corded saw and it has sat under the tool bench for years. Today we ran out of batteries after 3 days of work and pulled it from the sawdust to make a few final cuts.

Fundamentally the same tool…however the ergonomics, design, efficiency and everything is night and day.

Great work Milwaukee!!!

07/14/2023

Thanks and for the multipurpose products to help with our “Poor-man’s personal hot tubs”.

Jumping from pool to warmer waters and back and forth is making the day more fun.

06/22/2023

Happy Summer Solstice

The FB Memory Machine gave me this when FD fell on 6/21:

3 years ago,

~3 months into COVID,

3 kiddos that mean the world to me,

3/4 of the reason I worked a FT job and ran a (almost) FT side hustle for so long,

Starting Our 2nd summer focused on Family Fun, thankful for all the hard work that set this up…don’t miss burning the candle at both ends…but also grateful to have earned it all;-)

06/03/2023

The Adirondack Forest Service T-shirt Willow is wearing has been worn by all 3 kids and is about 12 years old. It was the 2nd generation of AFS shirts and first batch from .

Believe it or not, this wasn’t staged, Tucker put his shirt on after school, the boys went to do a task and Finley changed his shirt and Willow ran to get her’s before we sat down to eat.

These kids are the reason…they create 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
























General Related

05/18/2023

What a great surprise in the mailbox today from the Willow was super excited and Finley too, though he didn’t want his picture taken.

Willow is looking forward to defending her 2022 win at the Chasm Chaos MTB race in a few weeks.

Thanks for the follow through and running a fun event.

05/06/2023

Willow loves her 🥕 vegetables🥦 & her seed selections exceed the greenhouse & house beds…The Rt 9 Garden is back in 2023!!

6/28 this year marks 10 years since we bought The Connor Homestead. That first summer was spent getting settled in the house & pushing back the forest that socked in the house.

We really wanted a garden & despite 76 acres we had less than 2 acres of cleared land in 2013.

In early spring of 2014, Amy & I expanded an open area a few hundred feet north of the house, for a garden. I spent a few days milling 6” Timbers for 4 garden beds 4’x 40’ (~750 linear feet of Timbers 6” x 8”-12” wide). They were older logs I had cut a year or 2 earlier so. 4 or 5 loads of compost in the dump trailer & some black dirt & we were ready for assembly.

Fast forward the beds are starting to age, the first bed’s soil was taken for beds by greenhouse & yard stuff last spring. The garden had slipped lower on the list as pregnancies, babys, other projects & work delayed a water supply & other aspects, but each year it grew veggies!!!

Willow’s garden ambitions are big this summer so preparing beds & ground.

For those who’ve been watching the side of Rt 9 all these years, hopefully you’ll see a bountiful crop😉 again!!

In the meantime if anybody need rocks…please reach out!!!

04/30/2023

Ticks,
Trail Riding
and
Type 2 Fun

Our first trail ride of the season,
first family ride at Thrall Dam
and
Finley’s first trail ride on a 27.5 bike!!!

14 year old on a full suspension bike compared to a 5 year old on a 16” wheels, is quite a span…it provides opportunities to practice balancing on your bike or time to jump off and throw branches off the trail.

My parents were very supportive of all my activities growing up and carted me around to all sorts of things. However they worked full time and ran a business as well, so I don’t have a ton of memories of doing “my activities” with them. Very thankful for my upbringing and the work ethic and responsibility of life they instilled and the awareness of the value of doing with kiddos…when Willow can whip around the trails…I hope I can still keep up then!!!

Hope you all had a great weekend and want to put the gratitude out there for my parents and all parents that are doing with your kids!

04/23/2023

A soggy Sunday morning, here in Lewis, NY.

Took my backpack blower for a little hike and cleared a portion of some bike trails at Thrall Dam park.

This is a great resource the Town of Lewis has. Not as big and gnarly as nearby Blueberry hill trails or as expansive as the Chasm Trails, but great for kids and people getting into trail riding.

Yesterday was Earth Day and this is the perfect time of year to give back to some of Wildland Recreation areas you enjoy throughout the year.

Mud season and warm weather are a conflict as we transition from winter to warm weather activities, as we impatiently pause on getting out there, find ways to get out for the benefit of annual maintenance.

Lots of groups doing work and hosting volunteer days, so please consider.

If you can’t volunteer thanks for your restraint as we wait for things to dry and firm up.

Now for that cup of coffee!!☕️☕️

Groups who have volunteer days coming or can connect you with future opportunities:




https://www.facebook.com/chasmriders?mibextid=LQQJ4d

04/02/2023

The weather pulled an April Fool’s joke & we enjoyed full sunshine and 50/60s temps, then something AMAZINGLY memorable happened for us yesterday.

I am a proud Daddy for the various personality traits that shown through, during an epic final ski run.

On the last top to bottom run, after a day of slow skiing and heat zapping energy, the kids and I all did a first together. Tucker had went down The Rumor once earlier and asked Finley to go with him. Dad was not ready for the 14 year old to take the 7 year old on a double black diamond alone. This combined with Willow at her last nerve and not wanting the family to split up again, provided an opportunity for consideration.

With soft and slow snow, warm conditions and the kids asking, we decided to go for it.

A quick discussion about risk & plan for Tucker & I to be near a kid, we came to the headwall.

Willow had some emotions but started down. Her inner strength is an unparalleled independent strength. After Tucker & I switched kids, Willow basically went for it, following her biggest brother.

Finley is a good skier & he is a technical thinker, but the headwall was daunting for him. After going across the slope, his first 180 degree turn presented him with realistic consequences. I skied to him & he was nervous & was able to articulate that too me. Great work buddy. I positioned myself below him, we talked through it & he executed the turn, it was rough. With each traverse he got more confident & linked it all together.

Tucker the teenager understood the responsibility & risk and not only got himself down & Willow, he engaged her as they waited for us & pumped everyone up on success.

Halfway down we linked up again, looking up at the headwall the kid’s pride grew.

The remaining run was everyone together, interacting & easily the best run of the year.

Completely exhausted at the bottom, their smiles “best day ever” comments overfilled my cup.

Very proud & very thankful.

02/20/2023

1 yr ago, I had a profound experience, that changed my life for the better.

While working my business, family was @ home, after skiing day before. 2 jobs, next to each other & things were ahead of schedule!

During my walk around (2nd job), I was struck w/ a life changing moment of ACCOUNTABILITY. An intense feeling of Self Awareness flooded & I was overwhelmed w/ emotion.

I chose to live in ALIGNMENT w/ how I had always felt, to stand w/ LOVE & release built up resentment & frustration…seconds later CLARITY (OWNERSHIP) flooded me.

I jumped on tractor, drove back & said we were DONE. We would come back 1 single day to clean up & I canceled the rest of my jobs.

For the proceeding 9 yrs, working a side business was a focal point & NEED to provide for family & became a sense of duty. With the pandemic, business tripled & we were finally able get ahead, after years of groundwork. My wife & I had plans for business pivot, but it was an abrupt & needed CHOICE, to help me get back MY TRUEST SELF.

For 3 months, I was living my best life, focused on family & charting our future.

Since then it was difficult, but my PURPOSE & Love of family remains steadfast.

Since Tucker was young (Finley & Willow) has been told that telling a lie will always get them in more trouble then what they actually did. Whether people enjoy my directness or not, my integrity has been a trait that guides me & some of that is others keeping me ACCOUNTABLE. My mind works on long-format facts & reasoning & though my beliefs can be challenged, at the end of the day, ALL we have in life is OUR WORD & when we give it to another that creates a bond.

Being completely present w/ kids has truly been a gift & has reset life to before I became swallowed up by responsibility & burdens of stress that came w/ trying to balance.

It’s not all SM smiles, & time is less than I want, but sharing their joy & the privilege to pass on living a life of Integrity & standing w/ LOVE is all that matters.

11/13/2022

Teaching the kids about fire and enjoying it, is one HUGE benefit to owning acreage!! So grateful that the kids have unlimited access to learn how to make real fires in the woods and we never have to “pay for” campfire wood.

Before the rain came and cold hands sent us in, for lunch, Tucker and I got the ridge beam up on the playhouse and framed in the upstairs window and door (where a cat walk will go to swing-set).

The tarp went up so they can enjoy the cozy factor this afternoon, playing outside.

Roofing will get ordered tomorrow and the next project is Rafters!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.

11/12/2022

Willow’s Playhouse (AKA House 2.0) has finally started to take shape. Today’s lack of rain was was a bonus for building!

Everyone’s getting a chance to help with the building and so far not too much fighting over “helper status”!!

10/15/2022

These 2 weren’t even a thought or possibility A lifetime ago (10 years this month) when I built this contraption to tow behind an ATV to try and reduce raking efforts for a project. It didn’t work as planned, so we kept hand raking…lessons learned!

For 9 years it was in Our Woodshed waiting to be repurposed. Today it went to the side of the road as an offering to a future owner, along with dozens of other treasures.

227 days ago, AFS was shutdown and not one day has gone by, where I question/regret that decision and I appreciate being more present, less stressed and having more time, than any stretch of the decade since I started that project.

Ultimately, all the work, time, driving and Efforts I poured into Everything, during the fall of 2012, opened doors that allowed me have 2 more children and be in the position on 3/2/22 to close that chapter of AFS.

Never thought getting rid of 5 rakes secured to some lumber would’ve stirred up this much nostalgia and gratitude?

Thank you Willow and Finley for coming into my life.

09/25/2022

Willow Elizabeth Connor my 1 and only daughter.

Happy National Daughters Day to all!

Since the moment I caught you at birth, you’ve been providing lessons, love and a lifetime of smiles and trials!!

She combines the strengths of both Mommy and I into a personality that is uniquely hers🥰

Everyday you bring a smile to my face and snuggling you at night is a reminder of the great privilege being a Dad is and why there isn’t anything more important.

Love all my kids equally AND I only have one Baby Girl!!

09/14/2022

Last week Willow got to start kindergarten and she was over the moon. Willow is our third child to go through the program and I’m thankful to be able to provide this opportunity for all my children.

Third picture with Tucker’s first day is before the sign was up, otherwise it would be a 1:1 with Willow, Finley and Tucker.

Tucker in 8th, Finley in 2nd and Willow in the Waldorf school will make for a packed year of transporting, events, new experiences and the full spectrum of school aged kiddos.

Looking forward to all that is ahead and very, very aware of the message in that last picture as our oldest marches toward 14.

Their smiles provide me more value then anything in life and I’m appreciative to have been able to do the extra work I’ve had to over the years to get to a place where I can give them more time and focus.

08/27/2022

Cats N’ Concerts

Over the last 6 months I’ve attended move live music than any other time in my life, and it has been a transformative experience to share with the kids.

Early this week a former client called with a request to help with their stranded cat. Harley the Cat spent 3 days in a Spruce Tree. With the help of “The Cat Whisper” the cat was successfully returned to the ground. I haven’t climbed in 8 months and never been as light weight as I am right now. Climbing felt easier than ever thanks to Intermittent Fasting 2 .5 years in.

Friday we headed to to see in concert. Along the way Finley discovered (by trying something new) that he loves Chicken Wings just like his big brother.

Armed with Glow Sticks, snacks and a built-up sense of adventure we had a blast! The kids met their tribe in the little family area and they played hard and smiled ear to ear.

Willow and I got to dance and she enjoyed her special perch on Daddy.

Within 10 minutes, on the drive home, everyone was asleep and I got to reflect on how lucky I am for the past 6 months to reconnect with myself and family, since the shift with business. Balance in your life brings your happiness!

07/03/2022

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

The AFS Super Crew worked on expanding our home bike park to start off the weekend.

After some riding we capped off the evening with fire and a small light show.

Belated Happy Canada Day to our friends in the north.

A big virtual hug and support for everyone given the sad state of reproductive rights in our country.

Hold your family close this weekend, tell your friends how much you appreciate them and take a moment to enjoy what you can control.

05/28/2022

Since high school, this weekend has always tugged at me. Hiking and Camping was squeezed out by wood chopping (in WV after college) and then visiting family and then working and family time.

On this weekend in 2013, 2’ snow fell on Whiteface Mtn. I stayed home to finish a big lumber milling order, while Amy went to the 1000 Islands. In Lewis is poured and it was pretty cold, I finished the milling but was pretty beat up and miserable.

Tucker and I squeezed in some mountain biking, before the rain, after work yesterday. Holy smokes it was fun and he got to be “the expert” and show Dad some stuff. Can’t wait to do more with our family.

Last night I was a proud papa as he and I worked together, cutting up and stacking camp wood. Tucker using a chainsaw is the continuation of passing on wisdom and skills to kids, a privilege and responsibility I don’t want to fail at with my children.

This morning Tucker will head off to his Mom’s and I will turn to the sawmill on this weekend for one final time.

With more JOY than I would have imagined possible, I get to fill my final lumber order for the most amazing customer I could have asked for.

Willow was promised a playhouse during the pandemic and Daddy is going to mill out the lumber so we can build it next month.

On Tuesday the mill is sold and it will bookend 13 years of milling as a business. I am thankful to have the skillset and experiences of milling. We have 3 children, we have stabilized our finances and it is time for this weekend to be only about what the family wants to do;-)

On Memorial Day please don’t forget why we celebrate and hold your family close.

Have a great weekend everyone, I have to go keep my word to my Willow🥰