Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #21 for 2022...

"A Stab in the Dark" written by Lawrence Block, published 1981.

Matthew Scudder #4.

Cover Images

Walk Lily at night for 1-mile.

And from the Archives...

 August 30th, 2020 - Nipmuck Trail

Bigelow Hollow to Gurleyville Grist Mill Marathon

Time to Marathon:

Bigelow Hollow to the Gurleyville Grist Mill, through Union, Eastford, Ashford, Willington and Mansfield, Connecticut.

Shuttled cars with Wuzzam, he and the Old Goat would be starting five or six miles away from me.  I hoped to catch them by mile 22 or 23.  This did not happen.

I felt really good until around 17 or 18-miles.  From that point on, I slowed from a 4.5 mph average to a overall 4.3 mph.  Ended up running 6:03:00, with another 5 or so minutes of stopped time to fill up water.  Wuzzam and Karl finished about 7 or 8 minutes before me, doing around 20-miles.  I hit right at 26.2-gps measured miles....  this was marathon #60 all-time for me.

Nipmuck Trail

DHD (Dark Heart Duo) record release on Bandcamp.

Everyone Who is Alone in the World

Walk Lily at night for 1-mile.

Up early to trim our butterfly bush for DL, and then meet K2 for our 3rd consecutive weekend run in Granville.

Completed 8.6-miles in just a minute or two over two-hours, running hard during the second hour.

Work-Shift in the afternoon,

Walk Lily at night for 1-mile.

Early run in Granville, totaling 4.5-miles.

Late afternoon shift at work.

Walk Lily in the evening for 1-mile.

Also, on this day, I've finished two marathons...

In 2008, Tippi and I finished Metacomet II, which began at Phelps Road in Suffield, and covered north to Route 57 and south to Route 20.  Running time of 5:32:00.  This was my 39th and Tippi's 13th completed marathon.

In 2009, Wuzzam joined Tippi and I at Tunxis II (South), which meant we ran from Route 219 to Satan's Kingdom, and also north to Roberts Brook I believe.  Our time was 6:04:44.  This was my 44th and Tippi's 15th marathon.

Early morning run in Southwick from the Gorge.  Completed 5.8-miles.

The old well I had stumbled upon last year, today looked more like a chamber.  I need to photograph this structure better.

Work-Shift from noon until 3, then a Covid Booster (Phizer).

Walk Lily once in the late evening for 1-mile.

Interesting video...

Walk Lily 1-mile in evening. 

Information from you tube presence "Sasachiminesh", on "If you are recording a stone prayer, or you think it may be one, here's some tips":

• Take a GPS longitude and latitude if you can (with a field handheld or good download program).
• Take a photo of the Grandparent from 4 sides.  If you live in MA, don't bother notifying the MHC - just notify the THPO of United South and East Tribes (USET) or THPO Narragansett Tribe, or nearest tribe in your state.
• With a compass, see if there are any other prayers and what direction they form as a line or as many lines.
• Not the number of visible stones, their size and shape.
• Note the construction style and shape of the grouping.
• Not the type of stones used and if they are local to the spot and all the same or not.
• Look for nearby stone walls, cellar holes, wells, etc. and note their positions.
• Look for nearby springs, seeps and intermittent streams and note their locations.
• Note what parts of the sky are visible (direction) and what parts are not.
• Note what lies visible to the immediate NE, Se, SW, and NW of the grouping, both on land and in the sky.
• Note if they object can be recognized as any American farming form _ a well head, a cellar,  a cow pen or sheep pen wall, a street wall,  field clearing heap, etc.
• Note all stone groupings, how far away each is from each other, their direction, and the details of each grouping.
• Read Hoffman, or Harris and Robinson in Northeast Anthropology, or Moore and Weiss in Ohio Journal of Archaeology,  or Cachat-Schilling in Bulletin of Massachusetts Archaeology or Archaeological Society of Connecticut and learn the types of stone prayers.  Then note if the stone grouping matches any of the named stone prayer types.  Amorphous piles are also sometimes a stone prayer, word of caution.
• Take note of the soil type, plants growing nearby, type of terrain, slope, moisture of the soil, and potential use for farming or grazing.  Soil surveys are general and large-scale, so you will have to note actual soil at the location yourself.
• Take note of any traces of old logging roads, or new log skid damage.
• Take note of elevation and direction of exposure (if a slope, which direction(s) does the slope face?)
•  Mark the time of year and if it's near dawn or dusk, mark the position of the sun relative to the grouping.
• Mark the position of any visible ridgelines or valleys, and notable vistas.
• Mark the position of any visible hilltops,
• Look around the perimeter of the prayers for a single-stack stone on a larger stone/boulder - usually near old trail or road.

Part-Two of the Bent Tree Limb info:

Walk Lily 1-mile late evening. 

Bent Tree Limbs are something I have been paying attention to.  Found some info online:

Walk Lily 1-mile in the evening. 

Run 7-miles in Granville with K2.

Afternoon & early Evening Shift at work.

Walk Lily in the evening, 1-mile.

Run 4.7-miles in Granville, followed by a shift at work, and finally a 1-mile walk with Lily at night.

Run at Granville for 3.6-miles, with a 1-mile walk with Lily at night.

Still working a weekend shift - late afternoon to early evening.

Weekly Weigh-In = 212.7 lbs.

DHD (Dark Heart Duo) record release on Bandcamp.

Cleansed Spirits

Walk Lily in the evening, 1-mile. 

DHD (Dark Heart Duo) record release on Bandcamp.

Contradictions

Walk Lily in the evening, 1-mile. 

"High Points" along trails during July 2022... 

• Pine Cobble, Clarksburg State Forest / Williamstown, MA
• Intersection of Mt Prospect Trail and Appalachian Trail, North Adams, MA
• East Mountain, Appalachian Trail, Clarksburg, MA
• Holden Hill, Granville, MA
• "Nick's Hill", Metacomet Trail, West Suffield, CT
• Sweetman's Mountain, Granville, MA
• Sweetman's Mountain Lookout, Granville, MA
• Mt Williams, Appalachian Trail, North Adams, MA
• Mt Fitch, Appalachian Trail, Adams, MA
• Mt Greylock, Appalachian Trail, Adams, MA
• East Sweetman's Mountain, Granville, MA

Walk Lily once in the evening, 1-mile.