Local Lake Monsters and Mascots

 

Upstate New York, home of the Finger Lakes; created by the glaciers of the ice age long before any human ever settled down here. The lakes got their name based on how they look on a map, each of the lakes has been named after a local Iroquois tribe.  Somehow it seems that a dinosaur like monster has been seen in the lakes for as long as people have been keeping track. When I was young and at scout camp we all told stories of the lake monsters; the most well known one locally actually appeared in the newspapers of 1897 (i think. i need to double check that, will update as I write this) when a local steamboat crashed into a basking sea serpent. The story goes that the monster died on impact, people on board the boat tried to rope it up to bring to shore with them but the beast sank; all I can think of from this story is Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea took place in Seneca Lake.

 The college I am currently enrolled in has a lake monster as our mascot, Finger Lakes Community College  Lakers (with that sweeeeeeet Lake Monster graphic for the mascot). Seeing the lake monster around campus inspired me to write this!

Researching this blog entry I ran across tales of the local monster Old Greeny in Cayuga Lake, the lake I live closest to; as a Boy Scout we called him Greeny. I learned to swim in Cayuga lake, my dad was a life guard and he would get me to dive in and swim to the safety of the ladder, many times something slimy would touch my legs and I always assumed it was a lake monster when in reality it was hopefully just a carp or trout. A couple years later I was a boy scout having camp outs at the Cayuga lake state park; around the campfire we would tell tall tales of Greeny eating swimmers, knocking over boats and drowning people, a couple years later I lost a friend of mine to boat accident and I put Greeny out of my mind.

coming from another blog i found this: Cayuga Lake is over 38-miles long  and runs at at depth of about 435-feet, making it one of the deepest lakes in North America. It is known for its pristine beauty, wonderful fishing, excellent wineries and, according to some, a pair of predatory eel-like monstrosities with a terrifying taste for human flesh.
Although not much is known about these aquatic anomalies, the first widespread report was printed in the January 5, 1897, edition of the Ithaca Journal. According to the account, the year marked what was considered to be the 69th annual confirmed report of the creature, which would mean that the sightings began in 1828. From the original article:

“The members of The Journal staff have been living in daily anticipation of the monster’s appearance, and have actually shunned assignments which would take them near the water’s edge for fear of being compelled to shudder and tremble at the sight of him.“

While legends of a large, serpent-like creature dwelling in the mud darkened waters of Cayuga Lake actually date back at least to the early 1800s, it wouldn’t be until 1929, that people began reporting not one, but two creatures cavorting simultaneously along the Lake’s Eastern shoreline.
The animals were described by “cottagers” — folks who spent their summers living on the shores of the lake — as being approximately 12 to 15-feet in length, and local journalists speculated that they might be:

“…members of the Seneca Lake sea serpent family that found their way into the local waters through a subterranean channel which is believed to exist between the two lakes.“

This is a theory to which Loch Ness researchers are no strangers, as if has often be proposed that Loch Ness is not only connected to other lochs, but also the Atlantic Ocean via a vast network of underground caves. That having been said, there are even less verifiable accounts of anomalous, aquatic animals living in Seneca Lake and no evidence what-so-ever of a channel linking Cayuga to Seneca lake.
Beyond a doubt the most horrifying account ever associated with these alleged animals occurred in the summer of 1974. In the summer of that year a teenager named Steven Griffen was attacked by what has been described as an “eel-like” creature — perhaps akin to the LAKE ERIE CHOMPER — while swimming in Cayuga Lake.
According to the report, this toothy AQUATIC ENIGMA lunged at Griffen’s arm,  snapping its jaws down with such tremendous force that it actually broke the bone. One can only suspect that this discouraged the young man from anything but pool swimming from that day forth.
The most recent confirmed account of this creature (or creatures) hails from the spring of 1979. It was then that the owner of J.T. Marshall Professional Diving Service, Jack Marshall, claimed to have seen a huge serpentine beast floating on the surface of the lake.
Marshall claims that he was boating with some friends on the lake, when he spied what he believed to be a log in front of the boat.
Marshall shouted for the driver of the boat to stop before he collided with the debris and as the vessel drifted to a halt, they all watched in horror as what they described as a 30 to 35-foot “creature” — which, no doubt unfamiliar with historical accounts of the beast, he dubbed “Cayuga Katie” — submerged before their eyes. According to Marshall:

“There really is something there. I never used to believe it, but Cayuga Katie made a believer out of me.“

On December 4, 2009, a report was published online regarding the claims of an unnamed resident of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who asserted that in the early part of the 21st Century he had a run-in with Cayuga Lake’s hometown monstrosity:

“I’ve been face to face with Old Greeny; not more than 100-feet away from me as I stood on the northern shore of Lake Cayuga looking south across the lake; eight or nine years ago. It raised it’s triangular-tooth-filled jaws with aquatic plants hanging from it’s half-open mouth to break surface for only about three seconds before once again submerging. I will never forget that large, unblinking eye staring to the west at nothing in particular; never acknowledging my presence. Don’t let anyone tell you I saw a floating log or a beaver! I know I saw an animal that is not supposed to exist! By what I observed I can tell you it was standing on the bottom when it raised it’s head for me to see; not swimming; but stationary!”

While there’s no way to confirm the veracity of this anonymous report, there can be little doubt that it adds yet another frightening layer to this intriguing anomaly, second-hand accounts of which have sporadically filtered into American Monsters throughout the 21st Century.

(http://www.cryptopia.us/site/2011/07/old-greeny-new-york-usa/ © Copyright Rob Morphy 2002 — 2011)

((more to come. i need to get back to work.))

frankenfoot status update

after 20 months of almost no movement in my left foot I have started to be able to wiggle my toes and I now have limited movement of the foot itself. I had not been able to ride a bike at all at the gym, the motion just wasn't there but for the past two weeks I am riding an hour a day on the bike (with my foot strapped to the pedal). I'm able to reach a comfortable 3mph on the treadmill but nothing like when i could run 11-12mph sprints before. But it is progress; considering I had been told I would never walk again (well my family was told i was going to be a vegetable or dead but when i woke up from the coma they said i would probably never walk again) so me walking again is a big deal. Two weeks ago I quit using my ankle brace after it cut me pretty bad; so I have literally force my foot to work again.

So i give you some motivation from my gym's wall.

the meaning of life and reality as we know it.

Time is not a linear line, we perceive it that way because of our senses; but we can not perceive the vibrations of light or sound as they truly are. How can I say this and be so sure of myself and my idea of this? Because i have seen it first hand and experienced it.

Imagine if you experiencing your entire life in a moment; every decision you ever made and the resulting timeline; now imagine every other decision that could have been made and those timelines, down the line with an infinite number of dividing pathways. The best way i can describe it is you are at a store with a wall of televisions; imagine you are at walmart in electronics looking at tvs, the picture on each screen is another wall of tv's and you can see everything on every screen simultaneously. Now imagine you are not just seeing everything but you are experiencing everything all at the same time; every taste, touch, smell, sound, sensation and the emotion all at once, not just your emotions but the emotions of every single person you have ever interacted with. Everyone you have ever had any interaction with you are tied to in some way; in fact we are all connected. Outside of your SELF, outside of you, there is a lot more and when you touch this greater sense you realize it; you can never turn back because now you are awake in a world of sleepers. "this is all a dream within a dream" is one way I would describe our reality. The meaning of life? you can jokingly say it is 42, because there is no solid answer other than the emotional impact everyone has on each other. Like I said this is not a timeline of moment A and moment B but it is everything and all the potential everythings; LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT. Space, Time, and personal experience is pretty much FUBAR to try to explain in any sort of form because it is entirely a personal experience; therefore reality is not the same to any single person. Your perception of a minute might be different than mine, it is entirely up to our internal system to determine.



I need to back up a moment and explain something, I have hinted at this. May 23, 2014 I was found dead, well basically dead. Four heartbeats a minute, cold and grey; turns out i had been in this state for 17 hours before medical attention. In truth, I had overdosed after a really painful breakup and divorce. I was at the end of my line and the only way out I saw was to die; but I did not intend to go out like that, the overdose was an accident brought on by my self-destruction. I am not proud at all of that time in my life, I would do anything to stop others from making the choices I made, but my time out of my body experiencing what I can only describe as a near death experience changed me. No one is worth dying over, at the time though I was so heart broken it only made sense to me but coming out of it I understood that it was better to break things off than to both be unhappy. i will write more about the experience of dying and the physical, emotional and mental recovery I experienced at a later time.

For now i was merely trying to explain the fractal sense I experienced of what we perceive as reality. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Be kind to others. Think before you speak, you shouldn't try to hurt anyone. There is a singularity that we are experiencing in another form; so try not to be an asshole.

i probably forgot to include some details. like oh shit this one is important.

Simultaneously to my experience of infinite realities as a singularity i experienced the entire universe, the multiverse really. TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. I saw it all expanding out to infinity and then contracting down to a single point of light over and over and over and over and... this happened an infinite number of times in my experience and every time i experienced everything on every world and every star, the entire experience of everything, every emotion and experience of every being. I WAS AT THE ONE, THE GOD HEAD, THE MOMENT OF CREATION AND DESTRUCTION AND EVERYTHING WAS ONE AND THE SAME; I HAD LOST THE EXPERIENCE OF SELF SEEING EVERYTHING AS THE SAME. The is no forever, forever is not forever; everything is one. Let go of your SELF and be at one.

The is comfort in the idea of self though, so enjoy that experience. Being back in my body I have become hyper aware of emotions of those around me, I need to shut that down sometimes and block all that out. It becomes overwhelming in large crowds and I pick up on things I do not want to experience; the emotions of others are bitter and are not fun to experience.

who am i and why do i have a frankenfoot to blog about

Hello reader, I have been a lurking paranormal researching for a while; I mean that I have been reading books on the topic for most of my life and have had many experiences that i will get into at a later time when i feel more comfortable talking about them. The thought of starting a paranormal blog started a while back, May of 2014 I had a near death experience, when I woke up from my coma I wanted to talk about what I had seen and my experience (that is also a topic i will get into here at a later time). While i recovered in the hospital I read some Nick Redfern, listened to Darkness Radio and many other paranormal podcasts, and I learned how to walk with a walker.

Here it is almost two years later and I finally came up with a name for the blog; (thank you Red Pill Junkie) i had sent a tweet about how electric stimulation to my nerves had started to make my mostly useless left foot start working more. RPJ tweeted some fire at me about how i missed a good hashtag opportunity... and with this tweet this blog was created.

My left foot has not fully recovered since my near death experience; full disclosure I had been "dead" for about 17 hours, the lack of oxygen to my extremities caused the nerves to be extremely damaged; when I woke up from the coma only my right arm worked and the last rites will need to be read one more time hopefully many many years from now. Recently my toes have started to be able to move, that is a big deal. I want you to wiggle your toes, there you have more control of your left foot than i have. Now i want you to flex your foot down, great I just recently started to be able to do that comfortably. Now flex your foot back up, that is the thing I can not do, that is why I need to wear a big ankle brace with special shoes; I need to make my foot work like a normal foot, like your foot probably works. When you lose something physically, you never knew how good you had it until it is gone; my left hand and foot have been on fire since I was able to start feeling them again. Nerve pain is basically as bad as it gets.

The physical therapist got me a TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) Unit to help with the nerve recovery; although I did not use it as much as I could have it was not until playing Deux Ex: Human Revolution a cyberpunk/futurist game backed by actual science... I fell down a YouTube hole; I saw a name on a door in the game. Will Rosellini. I had heard that name before but I wasn't sure where, so I searched his name and I came across a TED talk he did (then i followed more and more videos down the suggested videos list until i came across a video about TENS style electrics being installed under the skin, directly on the nerves).

So i guess Will Rosellini is partly responsible for me using my TENS unit more, for my foot starting to work more and for RPJ telling me to use the #Frankenfoot hashtag more. The foot is working more.

But absolutely nothing here is really that paranormal, i mean other than my near death experience that I have not talked about here and I will not discuss yet.
I want to talk about things that I have been interested in for years and things I discover as this blog goes on. Ghosts/hauntings, UFOs, Cryptids, shadow people, near death experiences and things like that.

I'd really like to research local things, but when i was in the hospital my cousins and i had decided we should go to Gettysburg and go ghost hunt there.

okay. i rambled, did not proof read or really plan this out. I will be working on this blog more often.