Collecting Tidbits Along The Moordener Kill

I have been attempting to take advantage of the warmer late fall early winter weather. This has been extremely above average in temps and weather. So recently I was exploring along The Erie Canal near Canastoda NY and The Moordener Kill George in Castleton NY area. I managed to fall into both. Sometimes I fear that I am becoming somewhat of what Kurt Vonnegut remarked about himself in Slaughter House 5......"an old fart with his memories and his cigarettes." Anyway , did not find much this time out except junk. Discard from past lives . Even though archaeology thrives on left over stuff left behind to tell what was I spent much of my time picking up discard. An old stereo speaker circa late 80's early 90's. An old tire , glass beer bottles perhaps left by a careless fisherman , a busted cell phone and an old  Stetson aftershave bottle as well as an old fishing reel  as examples. Some of this stuff may well have come down from when Irene came thundering through last summer and caused ample flooding. So , my clean up of the gorge made a decent sized pile. I built a small fire along the rocky river bed  shore to warm myself. No one was around so I enjoyed the peace and quiet as I set on a log. Because my wife Beth was over 140 miles away I sneaked a smoke. Ah. Anyway , nothing remarkable about what I had in front of me. The beer reflected modern trends , Coors Light , Sam Adams Cherry Wheat ,  Newcastle Brown Ale.  The cell phone , a flip phone , large buttons pre -app type. Been here for a while. It is amazing how fast technology changes. The phone 10 to 12 yrs ago was state of the art the stereo speaker , appx three ft  tall by one foot wide could once hold a multi watt signal. Now Bose can make a speaker one tenth the size with better fidelity. These tidbits do tell a tale. A need to get rid of junk , fast moving technology,  careless discarding. But they don't belong in this beautiful gorge. I fed  my last starter stick into my flames. Took some notes of some possible sites above the gorge for future exploration as I enjoy this area. My basic archaeology hobby is often being a collector of as I call them Tidbits. Small little items that serve as an evidence trail of where I and others have come from. You as well.  So anyway I ended up trucking this stuff  out of the gorge , into my car , and stopped by the dumpster at the back of Maple Hill High School. Sorry tax payers you footed the disposal fee. Soon I will be off on another project. Be seeing you.