Weird Local Street Names pg.36 Spooky Haunted House Tales pg.34 A TIMES UNION PUBLICATION
Making Up after a Blowup pg.62 OCTOBER 2014
Two Families. Two Choices. The decisions in pregnancy begin at inception pg.24 By Claire Hughes
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518Life is published monthly. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of 518Life magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or email magcirculation@timesunion.com. For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358. 518Life is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Rd., Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2014 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher. Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.
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Rt. 50, Glenville 399-1703 Rt. 9, Clifton Park 371-0126
Rt. 7, Latham 785-7701 Rt. 20, Westmere 456-7954
Rt. 9, Saratoga 580-1205 Rt. 4, East Greenbush 283-2159
Feura Bush Rd., Glenmont 439-8169 Quaker Rd., Queensbury 792-3638 Photo by Peter Bowden
CONTENTS 518 LIFE MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2014
10
What’s Online
12
Editor’s Note
Up Front 14
Trending
18
Where & When
22
In Other Words
Features 38
What’s in a Name? The origin of Guadalupe Pass — and other quirky street name stories
44
That Summer Feeling Enjoying the Cape Cod vibe all year long
50
October in the Garden It’s time to put the garden to bed. Here’s your checklist
54
Fall Flavors It’s autumn! Let’s decorate.
60
Prosecco Comes of Age Still the answer to your party dilemmas
pg. 34
62
Do you see dead people?
24 34 56
Belly Busters
Ghostly tales from the Capital Region, including a guide to famous local haunts
Cider Belly Doughnuts is making downtown Albany less grumpy
Trainer Tips Headstand with John Smrtic
Two Families. One Midwife. Their stories. Spirits in the House
8 518 LIFE
How to make up after a blowup
67 The choices in a pregnancy begin at inception
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
73
Sand? Kale? Body Floats? They’re all part of what’s new in local spas
78
FYI with Christel MacLean On the Cover Photograph by Lori Van Buren Cover design by Colleen Ingerto
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What’s
ONLINE 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM
GALLERIES
more
ONLINE On the Edge blog.timesunion. com/ontheedge What we’re talking about in the 518.
youtube.com/ TimesUnionMagazines Check out our tutorial videos on food and exercise and more!
Twitter @518LifeMag The best tweets this side of the Hudson. (Either side, really.)
Mmmmm. Doughnuts.
House Proud
Drool through the story on pg. 56. Then slobber through the gallery of even more photos online.
Want to see more of this beautiful house (featured on pg. 44)? Head online to our galleries.
MORE STUFF
Facebook facebook.com/ 518Life Pictures and events and videos and more!
On your Smartphone m.timesunion. com/518life Flip through our online extras from your cell phone!
Pinterest pinterest.com/ timesunionmags How to tell the difference
Talking to a Ghost Guide
It can be hard to tell which is which. Read this to help figure out if you’re freaking out or dying (or both).
Go read our spooky stories on pg 34, then head online to hear one ghost-tour guide tell of his own spooky experiences — like at the Cherry Hill Mansion (pictured above)
10 518 LIFE
Check out our home, life, garden and food boards!
Photos: Cider Belly Doughnuts, Emily Jahn; Baker home photo, Vincent Giordano; heart attack illustration, Bosca78/GettyImages; Historic Cherry Hill, John Carl D’Annibale/Times Union archives.
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Editor’s Note
Spooky Stories P
eople seem to fall into two camps when it comes to ghosts: They either believe or they don’t. I fall into the former, partially because, just as with the possibility of other solar systems and sentient beings, I just don’t believe this is the only dimension. I also believe, however, because I’ve heard firsthand ghost stories from people I know and trust. I lived in a haunted house for a while when I taught English at a boarding school. Thankfully, the ghost stayed out of my apartment and only checked in with my good friend who lived upstairs. For the most part he was benign — moving photos and furniture in the
middle of the night. He did show up at the foot of her bed one night, however. Our daughter also lives in a house that might have at least one other occupant besides her partner, their daughter and two cats. She tried one night, repeatedly and unsuccessfully, to shut their bedroom door, a door that normally easily shuts. Every time she pushed on the door something else just as determinedly pushed back. Don’t even ask what the cats were doing while this was going on. And that’s just one story. We’re visiting them this weekend. I’ll let you know what we find. In the meantime, happy hauntings in the 518!
JANET REYNOLDS jreynolds@timesunion.com
Three things you’ll learn in this issue: 1. The length of time to fry a Cider Belly doughnut is two minutes. pg. 56 2. Eddy’s Lane in Troy is named after Titus Eddy, who invented the special ink used in dollar bills. pg. 38 3. Fifty percent of On the Edge readers fight with partners over money. pg. 62
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#TroyCrazy We saw this license plate on Hoosick Street in Troy last month. Glad to see some dedicated local pride!
Some of the top-rated restaurants, according to Yelp: Schenectady
Troy
Fear Factor Do you live in Troy? Some of us do. And thanks to the summer spate of shootings, stabbings and arson, our paranoia has been peaking in the nighttime, right before bed. We started thinking about what our chances are of becoming victims of violent crimes in this city.
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Ahem. Your chances of being a victim of a violent crime in Troy are a nice, odds-sort-of-in-your-favor 1 in 150. According to NeighborhoodScout.com, Troy has a crime index of 6. (100 is the highest, safest rating you can get; so basically Troy is only safer than 6 percent of other U.S. cities. Yikes.) Let’s not put it all on Troy, though. Schenectady’s crime index is a whopping 8 percent. But you have a 1 in 106 chance of being victimized in a violent crime. (The index factors in all crimes — violent and property.) Albany matches Schenectady’s 8 C.I., and you’ve got a 1 in 122 chance of getting beaten up or raped or murdered. Which is nice.
Karavalli (Indian) Mio Posto (Italian)
Cheesecake Machismo (dessert) New World Bistro (American)
Hungry Spot Cafe (Deli)
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14 518 LIFE
Saratoga Springs enjoys a cozy 30 C.I. and a 1 in 1,034 chance of getting your ass handed to you. Good odds, and much better than the New York State average, which is 1 in 246. Hey, at least nobody can say we’re not tough. Or interesting. We’ve got character. Just … lock your doors.
Photos: License plate, Brianna Snyder/518Life; Tara Kitchen, Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archives, Nighthawk’s Kitchen, courtesy their Facebook page; Karavalli, Luanne M. Ferris/Times Union archives; Cheesecake Machismo, courtesy their Facebook page; crime scene sketch, mustafahacalaki/GettyImages.
TRENDING #518
TRENDING #518 Weird Laws: Hey there, scofflaw! We found some obscure laws you might care to take note of.
Local Spirit Maple Amber Beer MADE BY: Chatham Brewing, Chatham, Columbia County WHAT IS IT: A rich, medium-bodied amber beer that is slightly sweet and lightly hopped. It starts life as the brewery’s regular amber but gets finished with a dose of Columbia County maple syrup for a sweetness at the front of the sip.
“It is illegal to congregate in public with two or more people while each wearing a mask or any face covering which disguises your identity.” (This law apparently was passed in 1845 after a number of tenant farmers, upset at the lowering price of wheat, dressed up as Indians in order to attack the police anonymously. Apparently Halloween and other appropriate festivities are exempt.)
HOW TO USE IT: Pair Chatham Maple Amber with anything from the grill, especially if the dish incorporates barbecue sauce. The beer has a natural affinity for pork belly, too.
WHERE TO BUY: For a list of stores and online retailers, visit chathambrewing.com. — Steve Barnes
Other laws listed at the same website that we can’t confirm or deny but find entertaining include: • A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. • It is against the law to throw a ball at someone’s head for fun. • The penalty for jumping off a building is death. • New Yorkers cannot dissolve a marriage for irreconcilable differences, unless they both agree to it. • A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket. • Women may go topless in public, providing it is not being used as a business. • While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door. • You may not smoke within 100 feet of the entrance to a public building. • Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 p.m. source: dumblaws.com 16 518 LIFE
Happy Endings You got married in style … shouldn’t you get divorced in style, too? You and your lame-duck spouse should head on over to the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs for that hotel’s luxury Divorce Package. For a $5,000 flat fee, you and your unbetrothed get separate rooms and a weekend of mediation and lawyers — plus! spas, swimming pools, hiking and tennis courts to help you relax through this stressful process. By the time you leave on Sunday, the hotel promises, you’ll be a free bird again. blog.timesunion.com/business/local-hotel-to-hostdivorce-weekends/61543/ Never has divorce been this romantic.
Photos: Mask, Andy Crawford/GettyImages; Maple Amber Beer, illustration by Emily Jahn; Gideon Putnam, Skip Dickstein/Times Union archives.
HOW MUCH: $5 to $6 a pint at select area restaurants, about $11 per growler at beverage centers and the brewery in Chatham.
“A person is guilty of adultery when he engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse. Adultery is a class B misdemeanor.” A class B misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail or a $500 fine. (The law is rarely enforced, but about a dozen people have been charged since the 1970s. The law took effect on September 1, 1907.)
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WHERE & WHEN #518
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Experience this What the hell is “Dralion,” you ask? It’s a portmanteau of “lion” and “dragon.” This Cirque du Soleil is a tribute of sorts to both the circus traditions of the East and of the West. The story of the spectacle is centered on the elements — earth, wind, fire and water — as well as a special child with mystical powers. Come for the contortionists. Stay for the Chinese dragons. CIRQUE DU SOLEIL’S DRALION, Oct. 2-5, Times Union Center, Albany, www.timesunioncenter-albany. com/events/Cirque-du-Soleil--Dralion-p188.html
Capital Region chowder-lovers get excited because Troy Chowderfest is going into its eighth year on Oct. 12. Over 30 restaurants including the Albany Pump Station and Brown’s Brewing Company fill Riverfront Park to offer their best chowder recipes to the public for a dollar for every cup of chowder. Live music will help get the party going, and prizes are awarded for best seafood, vegetarian, most original and overall favorite — judged by a secret panel of local restaurant critics. Festival-goers are able to vote on the coveted People’s Choice award, too, so … eat your heart out. TROY CHOWDERFEST, Oct. 12, downtown Troy, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., downtowntroy.org/special-events/eventscalendar/22-featured-events/887-chowderfest.html
Color This Ever get bored running a 5k? Well when Color Me Rad hustles into the Capital Region we promise there won’t be a dull moment — literally. You’ll start off the race with a pure white shirt and throughout the run, onlookers will coat you with “color bombs” of blue, green, pink, purple, and yellow until you come to the finish line where there’s one last showering of color. Wondering what constitutes a color bomb? Don’t worry; it’s non-toxic, non-rash-inducing, gluten-free, colored cornstarch. So mark your calendars now. COLOR ME RAD, Oct. 5, Saratoga Spa State Park, colormerad.com/race/albany-saratoga 18 518 LIFE
Photos: Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion, Daniel Desmarais; Troy Chowderfest, Paul Buckowski/Times Union archives; Color Me Rad, Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archives.
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WHERE & WHEN #518 Meow This Check this out. The Spectrum is hosting the “First (and Probably Last) Annual Capital Region Feline Film and Video Festival for Humans.” Hey, man. If the cats are good enough to occupy all our time on the Internet, it’s about time they got their moment on the Big Screen. We are NOT missing this. FIRST ANNUAL CAPITAL REGION FELINE FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL FOR HUMANS, Oct. 7, Spectrum 8, Albany, spectrum8.com/2013/08/02/october7-the-first-and-probably-last-annualcapital-region-feline-film-video-festivalfor-humans
Australian singer Courtney Barnett’s EP How to Carve a Carrot Into a Rose came out last year, but we’ve been playing “Avant Gardener” — that record’s single — for months. Barnett’s an indie/alt rocker — funny, cheeky, smart. Her tunes are catchy and fun and she’s coming to Clifton Park, so head to Upstate Concert Hall and check her out. COURTNEY BARNETT & SAN FERMIN, Oct. 23, Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, upstateconcerthall.com/calendar/courtney-barnettsan-fermin
20 518 LIFE
Boo This Throughout October, you can go freak yourself out at the Liberty Ridge Farm’s Harvest Haunt. For $21, you get 5 different frightening experiences: the Farmer’s Haunted House, the Forest of Fear, the Field of Screams(!), the haunted Fort HuntD [sic] and a 3-D haunted attraction called the Shady Rest. Not recommended for kids under
10 (it’s that scary). And if you’re not into spooks, Liberty Ridge Farm has some milder entertainment, too: campfires, corn mazes, snack bars, and more. (You can even rent a cabin if you’re inclined to make a time of it with some pals.) LIBERTY RIDGE FARM’S HARVEST HAUNT, Fridays and Saturdays in October, Liberty Ridge Farm, Schaghticoke, libertyridgefarmny.com
Photos: Feline Film & Video Festival image courtesy of Proctors; Courtney Barnett, Aurelien Guichard/Wikimedia Commons; Harvest Haunt, courtesy of Liberty Ridge Farms.
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In Other Words
BY AKUM NORDER
Smashing Pumpkins
S
ometime in the month of October I end up stepping, or driving, over chunks of pumpkin. And it never fails to piss me off. OK, on the scale of bad human behaviors, pumpkin smashing ranks pretty low. But it’s one of those things I have never been able to wrap my mind around. That jack o’ lantern could have been a child’s. You’re gonna make a kid cry? What kind of person does that? If this means I’m a grouchy old lady, then I was born that way, because I’ve never understood how being mean could be fun. My neighborhood loves Halloween. We all dress up — kids, parents, all of us — and tromp around in a merry mob of pirates and animals and literary characters. I have enough costumes in my attic to supply a small-town elementary school. So at our house, you’d think decorating for the holiday would be second nature: Bring on the spiders! the skeletons! the disembodied hands clawing through the faded garden mulch! But we’re on the walk-home-from-the-bars route, so our street gets a lot of foot traffic. We’ve been on the receiving end of the pumpkin-smasher’s boot. We’ve been egged and had our decorations pulled off our porch. It doesn’t happen that often. But when it does it’s enough to make me say, forget it. I’m not decorating next year. And that brings me to 1905, and Albany’s All Halloween Carnival. People flooded into Albany by the tens of thousands in late October of 1905 for the festival, which city merchants and organizers hoped would become an annual tradition. It was promoted across the state as the Mardi Gras of the North: “Nothing like it ever has been attempted in this part of the country!”
22 518 LIFE
one newspaper writer enthused. Strings of electric lights spanned Albany’s streets. Competing for decoration prizes, downtown buildings were nearly hidden behind cornstalks, pumpkins, and streamers of orange, white and green. On October 30, a “ghost parade” wandered the streets until it found the mayor and “bewitched” him into turning over the keys to the city. The next day, these were presented to the carnival queen as she was crowned on the Capitol steps.
“
AKUM NORDER Akum Norder is an Albany writer.
sprinkled their feather dusters with pepper, or mixed pepper in confetti before throwing it in people’s eyes. Someone shot out a post office window. Tickling people under the chin? Hee hee hee! Shoving your feather duster into someone’s mouth? Not so much. “I am against any more such celebrations for strong moral reasons,” said William Keeler of Keeler’s Hotel, “and I believe that this last carnival was a disgrace to the city and that by all means it ought not to be repeated.” During the carnival, newspapers had said
What a tradition it would be if we’d found a way to keep a Halloween carnival all these years.
Then the real party began. Dressed as Dutch burghers, fairies, even Cinderella, merrymakers tossed confetti, blew horns, and tickled strangers with feather-dusters. People egged each other on with signs that said, “I dare you.” The morning after, confetti lay inches deep on downtown streets. The merchants who threw this party reaped the spoils: Hotels were all booked. Stores sold souvenirs. You couldn’t even get near a restaurant at lunchtime. The papers tried to present it as fun for all: The saucy young woman tugs on the disapproving old man’s beard, and even he gets into the spirit. The crotchety matron is coaxed into a smile at last. But not everyone saw it that way. After the festivities ended, a swelling of Albany’s more conservative voices urged that 1905’s carnival be the last. Stories circulated that some revelers had
”
there were few arrests and “little serious roughness or disorder” — but after the event ended, disapproving voices were louder. The opinion spread that “hoodlums” had spoiled Albany’s fun. “Rowdyism” became the carnival’s story, repeated in every tale told about the event. It was never held again. What a tradition it would be if we’d found a way to keep a Halloween carnival all these years. The stubborn part of me hates to see the hoodlums get to set the agenda. Gathering with others is an act that implies, “I trust you more than I mistrust you.” That’s true whether people are coming together to celebrate at a festival, or to live together as a neighborhood. It’s an act that strengthens a city — and, by extension, us. So I’ll put my spiders and skeletons out again this year. It’s my way of saying I stand on the side of trust. And if some jerk smashes my pumpkins again? Screw him. This is still a great neighborhood.
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Two Families. One Midwife. Clockwise from top left: Allison & Jared Tallman with daughter, Claire; midwife K. Michelle Doyle; Rebecca & Chris Williams with sons Joey and Malcolm.
24 518 LIFE
A
single decision can change a life. Some you anticipate making: Who you marry. Where you live. Whether you go to college. The kind of work you do. Whether to have children. Others you are forced to make because life tests your mettle: What you do when your spouse has an affair. How much you ask doctors to intervene when a parent is dying. Whether to carry a disabled baby to the end of a much-wanted pregnancy, or to end it. Increasing numbers of couples face that last decision, as technology and our growing understanding of genetics offer more information about a baby’s health earlier in a pregnancy. A test called MaterniT21, done as early as 10 weeks into a pregnancy, can search for tiny pieces of genetic material from the fetus in
mosome — that can cause rare and complex conditions such as DiGeorge syndrome or PraderWilli syndrome. Yet while the amount of information has grown, the emotions it provokes and the ethical questions it raises remain largely the same, says Dr. Bruce White, director of the Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Med. In the mid-20th century, debates ensued over whether expectant parents should undergo a thennew test called amniocentesis, in which a sample of fluid is removed from the uterus to test for genetic abnormalities — strictly Down syndrome at that time. The controversy, at a time when most abortions were illegal, revolved around whether it was beneficial for parents to have this information in advance of birth. “People were scared in learning that information back then,
Fall
is in The Air!
Their Stories. The choices in a pregnancy begin at inception BY CLAIRE HUGHES | PHOTOS BY LORI VAN BUREN
the mother’s bloodstream to detect more common chromosomal abnormalities, according to Ginny Sack, a genetic counselor at Albany Medical Center. A microarray analysis that looks for extra or missing chromosomes across all 23 gene groups — expensive and usually uncovered by insurance unless a serious problem is suspected — can be done at any time during pregnancy. The data that’s available to expectant parents will likely only mushroom. The MaterniT21 test recently expanded to look for less common chromosomal abnormalities, such as trisomy 16 and trisomy 22, which can cause first-trimester miscarriages, Sack says. It can also detect microdeletions — missing pieces of a chro-
just like people are frightened with the thousands of possibilities they can know about today,” White says. Here, we tell a story about the Williamses, who went through emotional upheaval through their pregnancy two years ago, until they decided they would have no more tests. Rebecca Williams gave birth to a child predicted to die. Another couple, the Tallmans, ended their second consecutive troubled pregnancy so they could try again for a healthy family. The couples were connected by a midwife who cared for them, and came to question her role in the events that unfolded. Their choices transformed the way they look at life.
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Doyle left a large doctor’s practice in 2009 to start Troy-based Local Care Midwifery, focused on home births. When filmmaker Victoria Kereszi approached her about making a short documentary about her practice in 2012, Doyle saw it as a great way to promote herself and the midwife’s holistic philosophy. She chose Rebecca Williams as one of the documentary’s key “supporting actors.” Then all hell broke loose. Midwifery isn’t all about attending a life’s beginning. Pregnancy and childbirth are messy. They can bring grief and sorrow as well as elation. “There’s so much that can happen,” Doyle says. “It’s never neutral.” Still, October 2012 was exceptionally trying. Doyle had three patients undergo trauma in their pregnancies that month. To get
K. Michelle Doyle, midwife
M
idwife K. Michelle Doyle provides more than medical guidance to the couples she guides through pregnancy. She’s available to help with emotional needs as well as physical ones. She accompanies couples to stressful medical tests, if they want, and stays overnight in their homes when they need support, even after the baby has arrived.
26 518 LIFE
Birthing pools are one way to have a more relaxed birth, proponents say.
two calls from a radiologist in two years was nearly unheard of in her practice; that two came within 10 days was shocking. One came after Rebecca Williams’ routine mid-pregnancy ultrasound on the 15th, the other after Allison Tallman’s on the 25th. Between those dates, Doyle went with Rebecca and Chris Williams to an amniocentesis. On the 31st, another patient, a Jewish woman named Abby, went into early labor. On the way to that patient’s home, Doyle passed a Jewish cemetery where a family was gathered for a funeral service; she saw it as a bad sign. (“You can see this,” she told herself. “You just can’t feel it right now.”) At Abby’s house, Doyle’s stethoscope picked up no heartbeat, and she knew immediately the baby was dead. Doyle accompanied Abby to the hospital,
Local Care Midwifery Started: 2009 Location: 35 Dearstyne Rd., Troy Website: localcaremidwifery.com Number of births she has assisted with so far in 2014: 25 Surprising fact: “Nothing surprises me anymore.” Other people are often surprised that home birth is legal, and that not all planned home births occur at home. What she loves: Women, babies, families, education, empowering people to make personal choices, helping bodies work the way that they are supposed to, the intimacy of birth.
where an ultrasound confirmed the death, and Abby delivered her stillborn daughter. By Nov. 9, Tallman was having labor induced to end her pregnancy. On Friday, Nov. 16, the Williamses received the news that their son was not likely to make it through the pregnancy. They had to decide over the weekend whether they would terminate. Rebecca texted Doyle on Sunday, while she was in church, to say they would continue the pregnancy. Firmly pro-choice and supportive of whatever the Williamses wanted to do, Doyle was surprised to find herself crying with joy over their decision. Months of her hands on Rebecca’s belly had gotten Doyle attached to Joey, too. “I just really liked Joey
from the get-go,” Doyle says. That fall Doyle questioned herself as a person and a medical practitioner. She wondered if she’d missed signs of trouble in the mothers she was meant to support through their pregnancies, if she should have been able to prevent one thing or another. She pondered what she calls “that big spiritual question”: “Am I drawing shit toward me and thereby infecting other people?” In a conversation at the farmhouse outside Troy where she lives with her husband and had her office this summer, Doyle laughs generously when she poses that question. “I’ve decided that it’s really a probably self-centered question and the universe is probably not all that interested in me,” she says. Doyle, now 53, considers it lucky timing that she’d learned to take care of herself by the time she had to cope with the care her patients needed in autumn 2012. She was getting regular acupuncture treatments, massages and craniosacral therapy, a type of massage that focuses on the brain and spine. She also drew on the support of midwife friends, her three adult children and her husband. She’s his first wife, but his second midwife, she jokes (he dated another midwife before he met her), so he “gets it.” Plus, attending births keeps her rooted in the present. “I try very much to stay in the moment rather than jumping too far ahead or too far behind,” she says.
Into Loving Hands, directed by Troy filmmaker Victoria Kerezi, is a work in progress. The scope now includes additional filming of Joey and his family’s life, Kerezi says in an email exchange. She hopes, with additional crowdsourcing help, to finalize editing and animation this winter to begin distribution at documentary film festivals, as well as to women’s health centers this spring. For more information, go to intolovinghandsmovie.com.
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The Williamses
T
he concern obsessing Rebecca Williams at the beginning of her pregnancy is common to mothers carrying a second child: Will I be able to give this child the same spirit-expanding, all-encompassing love I felt for the first? Is that humanly possible?
“The heart is not finite,” Williams’ midwife, K. Michelle Doyle, assured her. But Williams remained steeped in doubt. It would turn out to be among the smallest worries of her pregnancy. In the summer of 2012, when then-36-yearold Williams learned she was pregnant, she and husband Chris were a professional couple who worked in the computer industry. They tackled their personal and professional lives by analyzing data, considering options, making plans. With well-paying jobs, they lived in a beautifully maintained (well, the porch needs work), three-story, 100-year-old house in Troy’s Eastside neighborhood, and sent their 2-year-old son Malcolm to a Montessori school. When Rebecca came to Doyle pregnant, the midwife asked her to be in a short film to promote her practice. Rebecca was a natural choice: she’s photogenic, smart, honest and expressive. And the couple had a wonderful previous experience with Doyle, giving birth to Malcolm at her home. The couple was quick to say yes to support Doyle’s work. “We expected to be in the background,” Chris says. “We both do very, very well in the background,” Rebecca says. No one — parents, midwife, filmmaker — understood that they would be documenting a pregnancy marked by medical trauma and life-altering decisions. Filmmaker Victoria Kereszi began tracking Rebecca’s pregnancy and was at the routine mid-term ultrasound on Oct. 15 to check on the baby’s growth. Rebecca couldn’t wait to see whether the baby was a boy or girl. Her intuition was leaning toward girl, and she was thinking things like: “We might have to pay for a wedding someday. We wouldn’t have to if the baby is a boy, unless he’s gay. And then I guess maybe we would.” Rebecca and Chris had fun watching the screen as their baby, a boy, flipped around fast. “This guy’s gonna be trouble,” Chris recalls thinking, in a playful way. “We were getting very goofy and silly,” he says of himself and Rebecca. In retrospect, he recalls that the test took 28 518 LIFE
“
The growth that he is putting us through is pretty crazy.
”
a long time, and the technician was quiet. Rebecca was in her car with Malcolm, in the parking lot at Fresh Market in Latham the next day when Doyle called. The radiologist who reviewed the ultrasound had concerns. He could only see one ventricle in the heart, instead of two. The brain had swelling around it. He recommended they get a more detailed test at Albany Medical Center. As the words sunk in, Rebecca began to feel her emotions adjust to a new reality. She refers to this as “internal shifts.” “I definitely didn’t process everything at that point,” she says. They went back to see Doyle. The midwife moved a stethoscope around Rebecca’s swollen belly, but could find no heartbeat. Sadness washed over them. They began to grieve the child who wouldn’t be. On the way back to Samaritan Hospital to get ultrasound confirmation of the death, Rebecca started obsessing over a new question: how would she get the baby out of her? But the brutal decision — whether to have an abortion — had been lifted. “He’s made the decision for us,” Chris says, recalling that he felt a little relief. At Samaritan, the technician put the probe on Rebecca’s belly and “There he is!” Rebecca says. “So, big sigh of relief.” On the way out, in the parking lot, they received a call from Albany Med that there was an opening the next morning for the detailed ultrasound. At Albany Med, it was clear the baby was very much alive but not well. His physique was unusual, with disproportionately short arms. The right ventricle of his heart was tiny. He had water on his brain and was lacking a corpus callosum, a nerve bundle that connects the brain’s right and left hemispheres. The radiologist, Dr. Camille Kanaan, was kind and direct. He thought it likely the baby wouldn’t live through the pregnancy. He recommended an amniocentesis, which would determine whether the cause was a chromosomal abnormality that was hereditary and could affect other children the Williamses might later conceive. An amnio provides information on all 23 pairs of chromosomes — it detects where there’s an extra chromosome, or one missing. Kanaan seemed to lean toward the possibility a third chromosome on the 13th or 18th pairs, Rebecca thought. Trisomy 13, or Patau syndrome, causes severe intellectual disability and physical abnormalities, including heart defects, brain or spinal cord defects, poorly developed eyes, extra fingers or toes, cleft lip or cleft palate, and weak muscle tone. Many
infants with the condition die within days or weeks after birth. Infants with trisomy 18 also rarely survive long after birth, if they make it that far. The condition is marked by slow growth, defects of the heart and other organs, and unusual physical characteristics, including an abnormally shaped head and clenched fists with overlapping fingers. There was also the possibility of trisomy 21, or Down syndrome, a more common, more familiar chromosomal condition. Its features can include slowed intellectual development, low muscle tone, small stature, an upward slant to the eyes, and a single deep crease across the center of the palm. They had the amnio, thinking they were getting information to help plan for end-of-life
care for a baby with trisomy 13 or trisomy 18, and to decide whether to get pregnant again. When the geneticist called the next week, it was to say the baby had Down syndrome, and to ask them: Did they want to terminate? They were thrown, and realized the question was different in light of the unexpected diagnosis. There were more internal shifts, but a sense of anticipation quickly won out. The relief of knowing the baby didn’t have trisomy 13 or 18 was huge, Rebecca says. She’d been reading loving stories about families with children who had Down syndrome. A friend came over with pizza that night, and they ate on the floor on a blanket with Malcolm — an indoor family picnic. Doyle joined them in the evening, and by the time she got there, Rebecca was asking, “Are baby boys with Down syndrome as cute as baby girls with Down syndrome?” They decided to have a fetal echocardiogram, a special ultrasound to check the baby’s heart, so they would know how to plan for his medical care. They would have to wait a couple of weeks for the baby to be bigger and the test to be accurate. “There was this couple-week buildup of excitement, and knowing that we were going into this fetal echo to plan care for Joey,” Rebecca says, using the name they would give the baby. “It was very exciting, really, like: We’re having a baby who’s going to have Down syndrome who needs heart surgery. Awesome.” Doyle, meanwhile, was checking in regularly, wanting to support Rebecca but also temper her enthusiasm. The echocardiogram was still ahead, Doyle would point out. The heart problems looked severe. The brain had water on it. The Williamses remember the quiet of the fetal echocardiogram on November 16. “They don’t say anything,” Chris says of the medical professionals in the room. They wondered what was on the screen. Rebecca again recalls Kanaan’s compassion, the sadness in his voice as he told them what he saw. The news was not good. There isn’t a clear-cut diagnosis to cover all the things wrong with Joey’s heart, Doyle explained. But the defects were serious. The biggest was that the right ventricle, which typically pumps blood into the lungs, was so small it was nonfunctional. In the words Doyle wrote on Rebecca’s medical chart, the 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 29
fetus was “incompatible with life outside the womb” and “not a candidate for surgery.” The radiologist gave them choices: terminate the pregnancy; see a cardiologist, though he didn’t think much could be done; or let the baby die on his own. If the baby made it through a full pregnancy, he would not live long after birth, they were told. “So it’s not what we were thinking these last few weeks,” Chris says. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving. They were ending the 21st week of pregnancy; if they wanted to terminate, Albany Med’s limit was 22 weeks, two shy of the legal state limit. The approaching holidays further narrowed the window for having a legal abortion. “I wanted to go get a drink, but I was very obviously pregnant,” Rebecca says. “What would they say to me if I walked into a bar?” Saturday, they were parenting Malcolm and didn’t talk much about the decision hanging there. But Rebecca was quietly moving through a major internal shift. She was left with a void that she now recalls as a gift. “Hope was completely gone,” she says. “And I just surrendered to where we were. The clarity of being in that spot versus trying to grasp onto hope, is so much stronger. “The best news I ever received was that my baby was going to die,” she says. “It changed my life completely. Because it put me in a position, where the decision that I had to make, I could come at it from one of two places. I could come at it with fear — my brain trying to rationalize things. Or trying to make that decision from my heart, and what actually felt right to me, and in my body. “It was like one of those times when your heart breaks completely, and only after that breaking can it become full, truly full,” she says. “And that happened before Joey was born. That happened, thinking that my baby was going to die.” On Sunday, the couple came together to make their decision. Something had changed for Chris, too. Usually content to defer to Rebecca’s decision, he insisted on giving his opinion first so he wouldn’t be influenced by hers. He’d been thinking about the first ultrasound, and how happy Joey looked, flipping around. “I think we should go forward with the pregnancy,” he said. “But no more tests.” They started planning for a delivery, and Rebecca says her pregnancy began to feel normal and wonderful. All they could hope for were a few minutes with Joey — 10, maybe 15, if they were lucky — after birth. Because there was no hope that any medical intervention would save Joey’s life, there was no reason to give birth in a hospital. They decided to stay at home, as had been their plan in the beginning of the pregnancy. 30 518 LIFE
“I just wanted him to feel loved,” Rebecca says. They began withdrawing from all but close friends. They didn’t want to make small talk or give explanations to people compelled to fuss over a pregnant woman. How do you explain that you’re planning for your baby’s birth and death at the same time? There were arrangements to make. Midwives are not allowed to sign death certificates, so a physician had to be on call. So did a funeral director. Rebecca went into labor 39 weeks and one day into her pregnancy — full-term. Most women welcome the beginning of labor on some level — however painful, they know their baby is coming. But for her, delivery meant Joey’s death was near. “I wanted to be pregnant forever,” she says. Her labor was slow, as her emotions fought her body’s natural urge to deliver. But all pregnancies end, and Joey did arrive. He was crying and “shiny and gross,” Rebecca says, beaming. “All I remember is how delicious the back of his neck looked.” Those moments after Joey’s birth were calm and peaceful, the Williamses say. They cuddled him in bed. They told him they loved him. They gave him permission to leave this world. Then Malcolm, who had been with Chris’ grandparents, came home, and Joey started to turn blue. Then Joey turned pink again. This would happen three times over the course of a few days. Joey was at cardiologist Dr. Eric Spooner’s office at 36 hours old, but he was not seen right away. Spooner apologized for the wait due to a couple of emergencies. The Williamses had a spirit-lifting epiphany: Joey was not an emergency. Spooner’s assessment of Joey, according to the Williamses, was even more shocking: Joey’s heart was somehow functioning despite the defects.
A week later, it was a different story. Joey turned blue and did not return to pink. They got him to Albany Med, where emergency room doctors had trouble stabilizing him. Spooner said he would need a specialized surgery that is done in three stages. Joey got two surgeries, in May and August of that year. He spent months in the hospital recuperating. Again for reasons no one can explain, his heart seems to be functioning fine without the third surgery. The baby who was expected to live no more than minutes is, as of this writing in August, 17 months old. When he met this writer, he stared with bright intensity. Asked to high-five, his hand went up. “He doesn’t really fit a mold,” Rebecca says. The change Joey has brought to the Williamses’ lives cannot be overstated. His wellbeing takes work: small trips to Albany Med and longer ones to Boston Children’s Hospital. Regular CT scans and physical therapy. Oxygen service. Three medications, twice a day. Care for Joey is so time-consuming that Rebecca no longer works. Joey’s medical expenses have cost the couple at least $20,000 in out-of-pocket costs, by Chris’ estimate. They have declared bankruptcy. The bank has begun to foreclose on their house, and they are just crossing their fingers that they can sell it before the process is complete. Their goal is to move to the Boston area, where they’ll have easier access to services for Joey. Chris explains their current situation with clarity and without sentiment. They’re not overanalyzing, trying to predict too much, look too far ahead or fill in their plans with lots of detail. Rebecca marvels over what Joey has taught them, about love mainly. “He is here to very silently kick our asses, right?” she says. “The growth that he is putting us through is pretty crazy.”
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The Tallmans
A
llison Tallman seemed to be having the pregnancy every expectant mother wishes for: No morning sickness. No nausea. No negative symptoms at all. Still, she couldn’t shake a funny feeling that something was wrong. “I felt like I wasn’t pregnant,” Tallman says.
It was the then-29-year-old Watervliet resident’s second pregnancy, beginning in June 2012. Her first pregnancy had ended in miscarriage about four months before. The first was anembryonic, a pregnancy in which the embryo never develops. Tallman expelled the fluid-filled gestational sac after about three months. She bled so much that she fainted and ended up in the emergency room, close to needing a blood transfusion. Anxious from her first experience and wondering why she felt nothing the second time 32 518 LIFE
around, Tallman wanted information early. She had a nuchal translucency screening at around 12 weeks to check for a fluid behind the baby’s neck or the absence of a nasal bone. Either symptom could indicate Down syndrome. During an ultrasound, the baby has to move into just the right profile position for an adequate reading. It was tough to get, but eventually the technician was able to get the needed measurements. Tallman, an ultrasound technician herself, was uneasy about how difficult it had been.
The results came back normal. But they didn’t put Tallman at ease. At work at Bellevue Woman’s Center in Niskayuna, a fellow ultrasound tech would scan Tallman’s belly periodically just for fun. For reasons the friend wouldn’t share, she urged Tallman to have a routine mid-pregnancy ultrasound early. It’s usually done between 18 and 22 weeks; Tallman decided 15 weeks was long enough to wait. Due to the timing, Tallman expected the baby to be on the small side. But not as tiny
“
”
I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.
as what she saw. Tallman, despite her experience reading such scans, couldn’t detect the four chambers of the heart. She remembers the baby’s fists were clenched. Even though she’d suspected trouble, “It was surreal,” she says. “I felt like it wasn’t me.” She was referred to Albany Medical Center for a more detailed ultrasound, which showed that the baby was way too small, and had multiple anomalies: an enlarged heart, a thick bowel, unusually shaped fingers and toes. An amniocentesis showed Tallman’s baby had an extremely rare condition called triploidy — three chromosomes everywhere there should be a pair, or a total of 69 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. No baby known to have triploidy has ever lived a full year. Tallman knew of the condition from textbooks. But she couldn’t immediately take in that it was real, and that her baby had it. She returned to work and cried. A genetic counselor later called her and said the condition was neither hereditary nor caused by anything Tallman did. It was a fluke. Only one woman ever had the diagnosis in two pregnancies, Tallman says she was told. Tallman was caught between disbelief and anger. “It’s just ‘wow.’ Now’s my time to hit the lottery,” she thought, referring to the slim odds she had hit. And, “Really? I have to go through this again?”
The bad news hit her much worse this time. The pregnancy was longer. She had felt a baby moving and was feeling an attachment. Yet she quickly decided to terminate the pregnancy. She couldn’t move forward pregnant with a child she knew would not live. She wanted a chance at being a mother of a healthy baby. “I just wanted to move on and wanted it to be over with,” she says. “Because there’s nothing you could have done for the baby.” Given the condition of the fetus, everyone supported her decision, she says, even her father, who continues to strongly oppose abortion. Tallman made the unusual decision to have labor induced and deliver the fetus rather than the more common choice of a surgical procedure called dilation and evacuation. In a D&E, a woman’s cervix is dilated, the fetus is given an injection that stops the heart, and the fetus is removed. Tallman had seen these procedures, though, and they made her queasy at times. She’d attended an abortion where the injection failed to stop the fetal heart. Sometimes, especially later in the second trimester, the fetus is not intact, but removed in more than one piece. She went into the hospital for the procedure on November 9, 2012. She remembers leaving the house very early on a gray and chilly day. At the hospital, some of the nurses and aides were clearly uncomfortable with her decision to deliver; their discomfort was
something she felt she shouldn’t have to endure. She asked for an epidural; she wanted to be numb. She wondered if she was doing the right thing, making the decision to end the pregnancy rather than let nature take its course. She cried. A nurse hooked her to a fetal monitor. No heartbeat. Her baby had died. “I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Tallman says. She pushed the fetus out along with the placenta and sac — it all stayed together, and she couldn’t see the baby. She considered herself lucky. When she got pregnant again a few months later, her decisions were all different. She wanted a hospital birth, not the one at home she’d planned the first and second times. She no longer felt strongly that pregnancy is a natural event that should be kept free of interventions. “It’s funny how you experience things in your life and your opinion changes,” she says. Her third pregnancy had complications and was stressful. The three pregnancies ran back to back over almost two years. “I felt like I’d been pregnant forever,” Tallman says. But in the end, she gave birth to baby Claire immersed in a labor tub, drug-free and euphoric. Claire is a healthy, happy baby, who brings only the usual complications — more to do, less time to sleep. “It feels great,” Tallman says. 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 33
“After a couple of hours I said, ‘Ma, can you turn the lights back on now?’” BY BRIANNA SNYDER
34 518 LIFE
Photo: Stepan Obruchkov photography/GettyImages
“I had a lamp that was flickering in my living room. And I thought to myself, Why is that lamp flickering? I just changed the bulb. Why is it flickering? So I said, ‘Ma, if that’s you, make all the power go out.’ And just as I enunciated the ‘t’ in ‘out,’ the whole house went black.
V
icki L. Robinson, an Albany psyVicki L. Robinson chic-medium (thealbanynewyork “I get a feeling it’s a lot of people” who psychic.com), has those experiences hang around her house, says Vicki Robinson. with her late mother frequently. She One of them, she knows, is her mom, who says they bring her comfort. died in 2006. Robinson’s got the gift of precognition. She “She didn’t pass in the house, but I thinks started noticing she had a finely tuned sixth she just wants me to know she’s OK.” She sense when she was about 17. “I would go into says even her dog sees the spirits in her home, a trance and I would see something before it and if you look up “Vicki L. Robinson” on would happen. An event,” she says. “This is YouTube, you’ll find video there of her dog called precognition. I didn’t know what this reacting to floating orbs of light. It’s definitely was back then because I was so young.” startling if you’re not used to seeing that kind Robinson — who has other family memof thing. bers who also work as psychic-mediums — Robinson says she notices most activity was raised with an appreciation for what during a thunderstorm and when she’s near she calls “the verynormal.” She thinks people water. Both electricity and water are conduits don’t let themselves experience the spiritual for spirits, she says. “Oftentimes when I’m world because they’re afraid of or unfamiliar washing the dishes I feel a spirit behind me.” with it. And she thinks everybody should start If you sense spirits in your home, Robinson learning about spirits at an early age so that advises not being scared. Just talk to them. they aren’t freaked out by that other world. “They hear every word you’re saying. Ask for “I hate to use word ‘paranormal’ because the signs.” [spirits are] not freakish,” she says. “It’s very Chelsea Sitcer normal. I like ‘verynormal.’ I believe precognition should be taught in grade school.” Chelsea Sitcer shares her home with two Whether or not you’re taught precognition, spirits: a “mean old man” and a little girl with many of us see or have seen spirits in our pigtails, whom a medium said was probably homes and in other old, odd spaces. That’s tortured and held captive by the mean man. unavoidable, she says. You should engage The Coxsackie house was built sometime in these spirits. Ask them for signs, Robinson the 18th century and its spiritual stirrings says, and you’ll probably get them. have been frequent occurrences over the 10 years Sitcer has lived there. he Capital Region is home to lots of When a Colorado-based medium came to 19th- and 20th-century architecture, Sitcer’s home to help her figure out who was so we’ve got no shortage of ghosts — or at in her house, he sensed a child right away. Sitleast ghost stories. Renee Mallet’s Ghosts of cer, who has no children, went to correct him NY’s Capital District: Albany, Schenectady, before realizing he was referring to something Troy & More chronicles the many haunted else. Sitcer and her various family members (or “spirit-occupied,” as they’re now formally who were there for the action followed the called) places in our region. Websites are demedium up to the attic, where he asked the voted to cataloging spiritual encounters Capighost child to spin a bag that was hanging tal Regioners (see box) have had and you can from the ceiling. The bag spun. He asked the call the Albany Paranormal Research Society girl to stop the bag and spin it in the other di(who declined to comment for this article) if rection. It stopped and then spun in the other you suspect your own house might be occudirection. Sitcer’s mother “started crying and pied. And don’t forget about the many ghost left the house,” Sitcer says. tours you can find in the area (read about one Sitcer says the little girl likes to play. Out of such experience in our sidebar). nowhere, one of her dogs’ balls will roll, on We talked to a few people in the area who its own, toward the dog for the dog to play. share their homes with spirits, and this is But the Mean Old Man causes trouble: what they told us.
T
READ ABOUT MORE LOCAL HAUNTINGS AND SPIRIT OCCUPATIONS HERE:
• albanynyhistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/ handful-of-hauntings.html • thefreegeorge.com/thefreegeorge/ haunted-places-albany • theshadowlands.net/places/newyork.htm
Sometimes Sitcer hears the little girl crying. And there’s a musty room in the basement that, when photographed, shows hundreds of light orbs, which the medium interpreted to mean the little girl may have been imprisoned there. (Sitcer says she refuses to look up the history on the house. “I don’t want to learn that a little girl was murdered here,” she says.) One time she woke up, unable to breathe. Her fingers were turning blue because she couldn’t breathe. She banged her head against the bed and felt the tension release. Later her young nephew, who’d spent the night, complained of a dream he’d had that a man was buried in her backyard. Most chilling is this story: Sitcer kept her dog in her bedroom, which has a separate room and a bathroom attached to it, while she was at work. One day she came home and discovered she couldn’t get the door open, though the door didn’t have any locks on it. She called her brother to help and he knocked the door in. What they found was blood. Everywhere. But the dog was fine.
Wanda Lubinski Wanda Lubinski lives in the South End in Albany. She’s been in her 19th-century home for almost 20 years. The first time she heard footsteps upstairs, she thought she had an intruder. She called the police, who found nothing. “I said OK, I know I’m not crazy,” Lubinski says. She continued hearing footsteps upstairs and even once they came down the stairs, which startled her. But “it never bothered me,” she says. Friends took pictures of the house and pointed out those telling orbs of light, which Lubinski says with a shrug must be spirits. “It’s not scary. I believe that spirits go on after we pass and they’re all around us,” Lubinski says. “So they don’t scare me. As long as they’re not doing anything dangerous or harmful, I leave them alone.” A couple of years ago she urged the spirit to “go to the light” and “move on.” She hasn’t heard from the spirit since. Flip the page to read some local ghost stories
• nightterrorshauntedfarm.com • wgna.com/best-scary-haunted-housesin-the-albany-area • alloveralbany.com/archive/2010/10/21/ capital-region-haunts
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Ghostly Tales of the Capital Region
The House on Ten Broeck Street This Arbor Hill house has reportedly been haunted for more than 100 years. You can see its ghost sometimes on the top floors — so they say — but it’s not clear who he is. He wears clothing of a 17th-century Dutch soldier and it’s thought that he may have died in the 1600s and was buried about a mile and a half away.
The Stockade The New York State Capitol Considered Albany’s best-known spirit-occupied site, the Capitol houses at least three ghosts, according to Paula Lemire’s local history site, AlbanyNYHistory.blogspot.com. One ghost is William Morris Hunt, an artist who was commissioned to paint murals in the Senate Chamber. But his work was lost when the building needed construction. He was so distressed that he drowned himself in 1879 and now some say you can sometimes hear “William Hunt is behind the door.” Another ghost, Samuel Abbott, was a Civil War vet. He was a night watchman who was the only fatality when the Capitol caught fire in 1911. And the third is a man who jumped off one of the staircases, killing himself. Lemire says she’s heard a male voice say “William,” she’s smelled smoke and wet ash near where Abbott was found and she’s felt a “sudden cold current of air inside my coat sleeves” near where the suicide happened.
Loudon Cottage in Loudonville This was the summer home of Clara Harris, who was sitting with Pres. Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated. She saved her bloody dress from that night in the closet of this cottage, and one day she saw the ghost of Lincoln staring at the closet door from a rocking chair. She was killed later by her husband.
Sixty people were murdered here in 1690, when the French and the Native Americans raided the Stockade settlement for weapons. People in the Stockade in Schenectady say they’re awakened by screaming in the middle of the night. When they look out the window they see figures of Colonial men, women and children running down the street. You can also hear horse hooves hitting the pavement.
The New York State Education Department The ghost hanging around the State Education building is named Jason. He was an Italian stone mason, according to All Over Albany, and working in the constructor area of the building, which is now its basement. Jason fell into a spot where other workers were pouring concrete and the job site’s foreman — who was unsatisfied with Jason’s work — said “keep pouring” as the man struggled. 36 518 LIFE
Check out our Q&A with an Albany ghost tour guide online.
Photos, Capitol building, Nathaniel Brooks/The New York Times; Ten Broeck house, Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archives; State Education building, Will Waldron/Times Union archives; Lincoln illustration, KarSol - Fotolia; Lawrence the Indian, Michael P. Farrell/Times Union archives.
Here are some of our area’s more famous local spirit-occupied spaces.
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n Colonie, you can take a trip down Memory Lane and end up on Easy Street. Or, follow Career Path to Wall Street and perhaps make your way to Miracle Lane — named for Maria Miracle, who married Philip Rockenstire, hence joining two prominent 19th-century Colonie families. In Clifton Park, you may find yourself on Blue Barns Road or meandering along Sugar Hill Road and wondering about the story behind those unusual street names. Meanwhile, Plank Road was named for the wooden planks entrepreneurs placed over the dirt turnpike in the 1840s to make it passable after heavy rains or in the spring mud season. As for Moe Road, “I tell people it wasn’t named for one of the Three Stooges,” says town historian John Scherer. It was named for the town’s clerk from the early 1800s, Abraham Moe. And if you get lost in the town’s Clifton Knolls development, brush up on your Spanish before you traverse Guadalupe Pass, Par Del Rio, Casablanca Drive and Santa Lucia Court. In Troy, you might travel along Eddy’s Lane — named after Titus Eddy, who invented the special ink used in dollar bills. If you turn onto Spring Avenue, drive carefully because there’s an actual spring that runs along it, which is how it came by its name. In Schenectady, you may happen along Governor’s Lane, named for Joseph Yates, seventh governor of New York. Yates’ 18th-century house still stands at the intersection of Governor’s Lane and Front Street — so named because it runs closest to the Mohawk River in the city’s historic Stockade section. If you’re taking a road trip to Gloversville, be sure to steer clear of Skunk Hollow Road, a pungent street name that requires no explanation. Bono & U2 famously sang of “where the streets have no name,” but in the Capital
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GUADALUPE PASS
SUGAR HILL ROAD
Region, Albany has 718 streets and each one has a name, as do the more than 1,000 streets in Colonie and the thousands more emblazoned on street signs in communities large and small across the region. Many streets are commemorative in nature, named after historical figures or prominent citizens. Others delineate noteworthy landmarks, such as Foundry Road in Guilderland or numerous Mill Streets scattered about the area. Also, many streets in centuries past were a kind of badge of status conferred upon families with large farms or vast land holdings, such as Schuyler Street in Albany or Van Rensselaer Boulevard in Menands. Embedded in other street names are the political persuasions of those in power, the aspirations of civic leaders and the zeitgeist of a certain time and place. Street names are not carved in stone, after all, and are as mutable as the English language itself, prone to cultural shifts and the tastes of various eras. After the American victory in the Revolutionary War, for instance, Albany’s Common Council members voted in 1790 to erase the memory of English control and therefore switched King to Washington, Queen to Elk, Prince to State and Duke to Eagle. More changes came with an 1847 resolution adopted by the Common Council that banned the “willy-nilly” of naming streets in favor of a staid process. It decreed: “The name of a street, avenue, lane, alley, court or public place should lift up our city in the estimation of the people.” The city followed a national trend that favored flora and fauna in a grid that gave north-south streets names of birds (Eagle, Hawk, Swan, Dove, et al.) and eastwest streets names of mammals — only Elk remains, while Wolf and others were
… and other quirky street name stories
Adirondack Names When it comes to place names, political correctness and cultural modesty often take the color and starch out of those bestowed by a more permissive era. Gone in the Adirondacks, for instance, are “Ass Ridges” and “Buttocks Hills” and “Maidenheads.” Still, a few risqué names slipped past the Puritan-era censors and remain today, such as “Nippletop” and “Bitch” mountains. These and other intriguing etymological nuggets are contained in Murray Heller’s 1989 gem, Call Me Adirondack: Names and Their Stories (The Chauncy Press, $14.95). “It’s like stamp collecting,” Heller explained. “I collect the names from old maps and ask how a name came to be by reading old town histories and Native American stories to learn the changes and variations. I get a sense of the whole cultural atmosphere of the time through the place names.” Originality was not always prized. Among the 30,000 place names in the Adirondacks, there are 43 Mud Ponds, 16 Clear Ponds, 14 Lost Ponds, 14 Rock Ponds, 13 Grass Ponds, 21 Long Ponds and eight Long Lakes. For the early Adirondack settlers, names took a Biblical turn as they reflected their search for a Promised Land and places were christened accordingly: Balm of Gilead Mountain, Galilee, Jericho, Jerusalem and even Sodom. Rough-hewn lumberjacks opted for macho nomenclature: Grog Harbor, Drunkard Creek, Grizzle Ocean Pond and Poke-O-Moonshine. “Place names are like slang, always evolving,” Heller wrote.
Illustration: mustafahacalaki/GettyImages. Design by Emily Jahn.
What’s in a Name?
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dropped. The Wolf Road in Colonie, for the record, is a much later vintage.
I
n more recent decades, with suburban sprawl and a high-volume demand for generating new street names, some developers indulged a streak of egotism by naming cul-de-sacs after family members and even beloved pets. Other sub-divisions were created around thematic concept nomenclature such as wine grape varietals: Riesling Road, Cabernet Court, Concord Drive and Tokay Lane off Colonie’s Lisha Kill Road — named, incidentally for a creek (kill is Dutch for creek). It was originally called Lysiens Kill and local lore said Lisha was the name of a Native American woman buried along its banks. But we digress. So, what about Blue Barns Road in Clifton Park? It was named in the 1930s for an old barn at the intersection with Ashdown Road that was painted a striking cobalt blue and remains that way today. It is located near railroad tracks and the hue matched the official color of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. “Originally, I think the owners of the barn either worked for
the D&H or stole some of the railroad’s paint,” says town historian John Scherer. As for Sugar Hill Road, Scherer has heard two versions. It was named either for a woman who lived in a farmhouse at the top of the road. She did a lot of canning of fruits and vegetables and rode often to purchase more sugar at the general store in Vischer Ferry (Vischer Ferry Road is named for patriarch Nicholas Vischer’s son, Eldert, who opened a rope ferry across the Mohawk River there in 1790). Or, it got its name after a large load of sugar being carried in a truck tipped over and spilled all over the road. “I tell people who live on Sugar Hill Road they were lucky it wasn’t a load of manure that tipped over,” Scherer says with a laugh. As for that cluster of Spanish street names in the Clifton Knolls development, they came courtesy of Vincent Secada, better known as Jimmy. When he sold his family farm to housing developer Robert Van Patten, Secada declined Van Patten’s offer of a new suburban ranch home as he had built for other farmers who sold land to him. Secada, a bachelor, asked instead for an apartment in the clubhouse of the Van Patten Golf Course that was under construc-
tion. He also negotiated to be allowed to name the streets where his farm had been and Secada chose names related to his Spanish heritage. Thanks to local historians for sharing their knowledge of street names, including Albany’s Tony Opalka and Jack McEneny, Kevin Franklin of Colonie, Don Rittner on Schenectady and Troy, Alice Begley in Guilderland and Clifton Park’s John Scherer. “There’s a lot of intrigue and drama to many of the street names and they reflect a lot of interesting history,” Opalka says. As with the weather, if you don’t like a particular street name, wait awhile and it might change. In Albany, Henry Johnson Boulevard (named for the African-American World War I hero) has had five names. They were, in descending order, Northern Boulevard, Knox, Swallow and Gage (named after General Thomas Gage, a commander of English forces in the Revolutionary War). “Street names reflect their times,” McEneny says. “I’m not sure what it says about us today when developers name streets after their kids. It displays a lack of imagination if nothing else.”
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Enjoying the seaside vibe all year long BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTOS BY VINCENT GIORDANO
518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 45
The sunroom is especially evocative of Nantucket, with light, bright creamy colors and a gorgeous sand-dollar medallion featured prominently on the center wall. McCormick says plantation shutters are popular now, and you’ll find them on the sunroom windows, too, painted a soft white. The furniture came from Kincaid Home Furnishings in Latham, and McCormick offers this tip: “To keep the cost down, I’ll buy local furniture but then I’ll provide a custom fabric,” she says. The fabrics she uses are Kravet Couture (kravet.com).
N homeow ner Megan Baker
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antucket. That’s the vibe Megan Baker was going for when she and her family — a husband and five kids — moved to this Loudonville home a year ago. “We love New England,” Baker says. “We love Nantucket. When we go away for the summer, we usually go to Rhode Island or the Cape so we really wanted the house to have that feel.” Megan and her husband Frank were looking for a home with enough space for fam-
ily time and private time. A sunroom was a big project, and Baker says she loves the final product. “The sunroom is a must. That’s my area,” she says. “My husband and I can get up in the morning, get a cup of coffee. We can come together in that room and have our alone time.” The house is still a work in progress — they’re working on the kitchen and the master bedroom — but with help from interior designer Paula McCormick, of PMI Interiors in Loudonville, the home is well on its way to being finished.
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48 518 LIFE
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October in the Garden It’s time to put the garden to bed. Here’s your checklist. BY BRIANNA SNYDER
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In order to get ourselves and our gardens organized, we talked to Denise Maurer, a master gardener in Brunswick, and also an interior designer (Denise Maurer Interiors). She gave us a list of tasks to ensure our gardens rest well for 2015.
Photo: Holly Hildreth/GettyImages.
t’s that time. Time to say bye-bye to your perennials. Time to prep your tropicals for a winter’s sleep. And time to plant yourself some spring surprises. Now is the time to ready your garden for next year.
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Changing the quality of your life! 1
Plant your spring bulbs: tulips, daffodils and hyacinth, for example. “All those bulbs need to get planted to set bud,” Maurer says.
2
“October is a great time for cutting back the garden,” she says. Cut back your perennials to 3 to 4 inches tall.
3
Clear all the debris out of the garden to ward off infections and diseases during the cold.
4
“Figure out what you want to keep for winter interest,” she says. Those might be purple cone flowers, black-eyed Susans, ornamental grasses, or other hardy plants that’ll stay nice during the coldest months.
5
Pull up your annuals. Best to do it now, rather than in the spring. You’ll thank yourself later.
6
“Once the weather drops to a low point of 45, all of your tropicals should be in the house,” Maurer says. “I move them into my garage so I can clean out any spiders, mice and bugs and critters that might be
living in the soil. I also spray them with insecticidal soap to get rid of any insects.”
7 8
Repot your tropicals and bring everything inside.
“This time of the year is also a good time to use weed killer on your ground ivy and any other weeds that are in your grass or flower beds,” she says. “It’s also a perfect time to patch your lawn if you have to get any grass started.”
9
“Another thing that can be done in the fall is to have your soil tested,” she continues. “Because if you have to make any amendments to the soil to improve the pH, it takes three months for that to happen.” So if you treat your soil in October — whether with sulfur or lime — then it’ll be ready for you in the spring.
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Prep new garden beds you’re planning on for spring. Get the soil ready and prepped. Trust us, you’re doing yourself a big favor come springtime when it’s time to start digging again.
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Fall Flavors
It’s autumn! Let’s decorate.
D
ecorating your home for fall is like seduction — the subtleties are often more alluring than putting it all out there at once. “If you’re going to do table runners, please no pumpkins on table runners. I don’t need to see a picture of pumpkins. Go with a texture. Pick a pretty burlap,” says Maria Bortugno, owner of B Designs in Latham. “I don’t need a picture of a pumpkin on the table runner to know it’s fall.” She also says a vast collection of pumpkins at your door says “farmers market,” not home. Hay bales are for horses. And wreaths that say the word “fall” are too literal. Instead, think color and texture. The transition from summer to fall is a big one for nature — green fades, days shorten, the night air chills. And so it’s natural that we start thinking in warm, earthy tones, that we light candles and pull out cozy throws. But first, edit your space, says Patricia Green, owner of Hudson Valley Design Inc. in Albany. Lightweight fabrics and cool or bright summer accents need to be put away. “Hopefully, your painted walls are more neutral, and with that, that allows you to change all the colors up seasonally,” Green says. “Naturally in the fall, you’re looking toward warmer colors, rusts and reds and pomegranate.” While you’re adding earth-toned throw pillows, layer other fabrics in as well. Bring out cloth napkins, table runners and placemats in your dining room. A throw adds instant warmth to a living room or bedroom, Bortugno says, and it serves the practical purpose of being there when you want to snuggle up on the couch. People who put area rugs away for the summer, should roll them back out for fall, the designers say, adding another layer of texture to the home and keeping toes warm on cool mornings. Draperies should also be added or switched out from light sheer fabrics to denser ones meant to seal in the warmth. And light bedspreads should be replaced by heavier weight fabrics. “A lot of the rules of clothing and fashion apply,” Bortugno says. “The same thing
54 518 LIFE
BY JENNIFER GISH | PHOTOS BY EMILY JAHN
that you’re going to do to your body, you’re going to do to your house. In the winter and fall, you want heavier. It’s sweater weather. Think a sweater in the form of a blanket for your chair for your sofa.” Candles also add an element of warmth to the interior, and indoor lanterns are a popular design trend, Bortugno says. Instead of hardwiring one into your home, find a lantern that holds candles to add mood lighting to your decor. Harvest color and texture can also be found in other elements. Baskets, wooden bowls, dark metallics and earthenware pottery add an autumn feel. Pottery doesn’t just have to be pretty to look at, either, says Barry Richman, owner of Pearl Grant Richmans at Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany. His store carries numerous handcrafted pieces from American artists that are microwave-, oven- and dishwasher-safe. A line by Ray Pottery in North Carolina comes in an autumnal cranberry color perfect for serving dinner parties this time of year. And an elegant and nutritious way to say fall harvest is to fill a wooden bowl with seasonal fruit and add it to your tabletop or counter. “I do like all-natural items that you can find at fruit stands, good country fruit stands — large bowls of apples, large bowls of pears, putting them in 20-inch flat baskets,” Green says. “And pears come in all beautiful colors as well. Go to Honest Weight [Food Co-op] and just have fun with all the fruits and vegetables you can find seasonally.” Don’t forget we’re starting grape harvest season as well, Richman says, which means anything wine-related is also appropriate for the fall months. That’s good news for those of us who are looking for an excuse to add a little more Shiraz to our lives. Nuts, gourds and mums also provide a fall touch without the heavy-handed message of a pumpkin, which is better on a porch (in limited quantities) than inside anyway, Bortugno says. Jennifer Gish is the Times Union’s features editor.
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A. Michael Aram Olive Branch Wine Coaster Set with Stopper $99 B. Maple Leaf at Home Serving Board with Wrought Iron Handles $125, Small Easel $42 C. Abelman Artglass Enchanted Forest Crimson Vase $210 D. Ray Pottery Soup Mug $32, Coffee Mug $30 E. Michael Aram 4x6 Twig Photo Frame $129 F. Chevalier Aerating Wineglass Gift Set $68 (All items pictured can be found at Pearl Grant Richmans in Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany.)
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F 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 55
Green Matcha Rasp-Belly
BY STEVE BARNES | PHOTOS BY EMILY JAHN
Belly Busters Cider Belly Doughnuts is making downtown Albany less grumpy
Cappuccino
Maple 56 518 LIFE
“Everybody
leaves here with a smile on their face,”
says Jennifer Jones Novak, who over the summer opened the gourmet Cider Belly Doughnuts shop in downtown Albany. “They may not come in with a smile on their face, but they leave with one,” she says. “That’s one of the best things about working here and finally being open.” Novak, 41, and her 39-year-old brother, Peter, opened Cider Belly in early August, four months later than they’d hoped. Construction, most of which they were doing themselves, lagged, and cost overruns mounted. Although the shop has only two fryers for doughnuts and no stoves, the configuration and ventilation needs of the space occasioned numerous go-rounds with city officials. To meet code requirements, the exhaust hood and fire-extinguishing system, for which they’d budgeted $800, ended up costing $24,000. “We were really running out of money toward the end. We were borrowing it from anybody we could,” Jennifer says. And so the shop opened minus a few key things, including a sign on the building and a commercial-size mixer. (They make doughnut batter in a pair of countertop mixers meant for home use.) They also didn’t have any employees at first, instead cycling through a half-dozen relatives for 12-plus-hour workdays during the first week. Doughnuts are a Novak family affair: Jennifer and Peter’s sister owns two shops in New Hampshire, also named Cider Belly, and their father is a partner in the Albany location, as is Peter’s girlfriend. Jennifer, Peter and their father each live on one of the floors of the family’s rowhouse in Albany’s Ten Broeck Triangle. Though their commute is but a 10-minute walk, after early mornings and long days making doughnuts, it can seem like miles. “After the second day, I got home around 6 [p.m.] and slept straight through to the next morning. I didn’t move,” says Peter. The base doughnut batter contains apple cider, and the six regular flavors — plain, cinnamon-sugar, maple-glazed, chocolate-
glazed, vanilla-glazed and cappuccino — are made fresh from it throughout the day; more often than not, walk-in customers receive doughnuts still warm from the fryer. Specialty doughnuts, which have flavorings added to the base batter and thus require cleaning of the dispenser that squirts batter into the conveyor fryer, are made once, in the morning, and are gone once they’ve all be purchased. One morning during opening week, 12 dozen lemon doughnuts sold out in less than an hour.
In the first weeks, when there was no sign to guide people to the new Cider Belly, customers followed their noses. The exhaust hood vents toward the sidewalk, and the front door was often open, sending out clouds perfumed with cinnamon and sugar. “It’s great advertising for pedestrians, and it’s free,” says Jennifer. She expects the smell will be especially alluring to kids on their way to or from school, who use a bus stop just steps from Cider Belly’s door. 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 57
The Cider Belly crew (from left to right): Brittny Swain, Peter “Andy” Novak, Cherril Young, Jennifer Novak, Ron Novak, Chris Stenzel.
The Novaks say they don’t notice the cinnamon aroma anymore, though Jennifer says people smell it on her clothing and exclaim happily, and Peter suspects cinnamon’s documented properties as an appetite suppressant have affected him. “I actually lost weight while we were getting ready to open even though we were tasting all the time,” he says. The doughnut shop is a second career for Jennifer, who worked in environmental and outdoor education, and Peter, who took time off from his job as a furniture designer to open the shop and planned to cut back to part-time work as Cider Belly expanded. “Lots of people like their jobs, but how many get to make other people happy while doing it?” says Jennifer. “Albany is a pretty grumpy place. We thought, ‘We gotta bring doughnut happiness to Albany.’” 58 518 LIFE
Cider Belly Doughnuts, by the numbers August
5th
Doughnut portion size
1/4 375°
2 4 $ 1 $800 Opening day
ounces
months behind schedule
Cider Belly doughnut price
Original projected cost for ventilation
$24k Actual cost to meet city approval
$1.07 Dunkin’ Donuts doughnut price
temperature of fryer oil
520
doughnuts an hour on max fryer output
2
minutes to fry a doughnut
INTRODUCING INTRODUCING
REIGN REIGN fall/winter fall/winter2014 2014
W
ithin days of opening, Cider Belly had received standing large orders for companies, some as far away as Schenectady. Jennifer predicts she will add delivery drivers as well as delivery in the immediate downtown by foot and bicycle. “The lawyers — they’ll come in, but they’d rather have us bring it to them,” says Jennifer, adding that financial projections call for at least 50 percent of the shop’s business to come from deliveries within the first year. She also expects to add savory doughnuts, a growing trend elsewhere in the country, to the array of traditional sweet flavors. Among those under development are Thaijalapeno and bacon-cheddar. “That’s really the next big thing — savory doughnuts,” Jennifer says. “We’ll see if Albany is ready for it. If not, we’ll always have cinnamon-sugar and glazed.” Although Cider Belly is one block from Dunkin’ Donuts, which has more than 11,000 locations in 33 countries and annual revenue of nearly $7 billion,
YOURCOMPANY COMPANY LOGO AND YOUR LOGO AND STUYVESANT PLAZA CONTACT INFORMATION HERE CONTACT INFORMATION HERE
1475 WESTERN AVE. ALBANY, NY 12203 518.489.0038
the Novaks are confident a market exists for gourmet doughnuts made fresh, by hand, from natural ingredients by the people who developed the recipes. After all, they say, Dunkin’ employees often stop at Cider Belly on their way to work. Also: A doughnut from Cider Belly is cheaper than at Dunkin’.
5798 Route 80 Cooperstown New York
Dorothea Lange’s America N SEPT. 18 -DEC. 31 See loads more gut-busting Cider Belly photos online at 518LifeMagazine.com.
Dorothea Lange. Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936 All works are from the collection of Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg. This exhibition was organized by art2art Circulating Exhibitions.
FenimoreArtMuseum.org
OW ON VIEW
Sporting Wines
STORY AND PHOTO BY ALISTAIR HIGHET
Prosecco Comes of Age
T
he Italian wine world never sleeps. It is always in motion, and I suspect that was true as far back as the Etruscans, who probably continually changed the rules governing whatever wine they made, long before the Romans came along and changed the rules again. Which brings me to the remarkable success story of Prosecco, Italy’s cheap, dry, enlivening sparkling wine that has pushed its way onto the shelves, and now become a stalwart of the brunch cocktail. Hard to believe that this wine from the Veneto region — which Pliny the Elder is said to have admired, was a favorite of the Romans, and which is named after a castle near Trieste — didn’t even reach the American market until 2000. Now there are dozens of bottlers to choose from — though it must be said, at heart, a brut Prosecco (meaning very dry) doesn’t differ that much from producer to producer, and $13 is about as much as you should pay. They are grapefruit pale, with a mineral-water pop, slight bitterness, pale pear, crisp apples and lemon flavors. They disappear in your mouth. If you have yet to try Prosecco, you should. It is often considered the alternative to Champagne in that it is dry and sparkling and crisp, but costs about a tenth of the price. We are talking about it now because the “holidays” are stretching before us. Those parties. Those celebrations. If you want to splurge on Champagne be my guest, but unless your guests are very picky I doubt they would notice or care. Prosecco is so much more carefree — if simpler and less complex. Now, it used to be said that Prosecco was made from the “Prosecco” grape. But in order to protect the whole “Prosecco” idea from becoming something anybody could make, the Prosecco producers in the region advocated using the word “Prosecco” as a protected designation for wines of the type made in the region, with various other bylaws. So as of Jan. 1, 2010, the grape variety itself is now called Glera. So when you see “Glera” on the shelves
60 518 LIFE
Still the answer to your party dilemmas
now, it is what used to be called “Prosecco.” Another distinguishing feature of Prosecco is that it’s produced using the Charmat method, as opposed to the Champagne method, of creating sparkling wines. Simply put, Champagne goes through secondary fermentation in the bottle itself, which is why it is such a delicate process, and why the bottles are so thick. In the Charmat method, the wine goes through secondary fermentation in a stainless steel tank with added yeast, a process that takes about two months, before being bottled under pressure. It should be drunk young, and at 11% alcohol, in liberal quantities. While it is wonderful as an aperitif, which is the way it is most often served here, Prosecco is a refreshing food wine in my opinion. I had a couple of glasses the other day with a pork chop and sautéed spinach and it was delightful. It would work with oysters, pate, and light salads too. I was particularly pleased with the Enoteca Bisson Prosecco Glera 2013 ($18), unusually offering a vintage date, a refined character with a pop-bottle top. Very pale, with granite and even peat notes, a fine delicate mousse, a final snap, and fresh pear notes. Here are some others. Alistair Highet is a former editor, restaurant manager, and vine dresser, and has written about wine for over 20 years.
Il Colle Prosecco, $15 Peppery, with lip-pursing astringency, bitter herbs, green apple. Prima Perla Prosecco, $10 Lemony and creamy, with a fresh minerals, refined and classic. Gran Duca Prosecco, $13 Pale pear, lime, grapefruit, with a dry austere mouthfeel and pleasant fizz.
Sorry Hardest Word seems to be the
How to make up after a blowup
BY KRISTI BARLETTE
62 518 LIFE
Photo: artpipi/GettyImages.
Y
ou had an argument. Hurtful words ping-ponged, voices were raised, tears flowed. And now it’s over — sort of. The yelling stopped, but the uneasy feeling is still there. Now what? “Any time there is a fight, it’s usually from a misunderstanding on one point or another. Someone is hurt, angry, feels they weren’t heard,” says Marjorie Gross, a holistic mental health counselor in Albany. It’s important to understand disagreements happen, especially between romantic partners. The person who is yelling assumes the other person disregarded what they said, says Gross. They think “They don’t care enough about me.” Or “What’s important to me isn’t important to them.” But that’s not always the case. Sometimes an argument is a matter of miscommunication. Proper communication is a key step to making up. And that conversation is about much more than an “I’m sorry,” say experts, although apologies are important — and necessary.
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“It’s really important to talk about what happened — the fight and the underlying issues,” says Diane Lykes, owner of Synergy Counseling Associates in Albany. When you regularly argue about one thing — say, taking out the garbage — usually something else is going on. Perhaps she always forgets to take out the garbage, and often neglects to do much else around the house. She may have scheduled a girls’ weekend for the same date as your boss’s wedding, too — forgetting you, again. So what’s really bothering you is the fact she’s been rather negligent and a bit selfish. The garbage just happened to be the breaking point. While her behavior seems obvious to you, she may be unaware of how you feel. So you need to tell her about the garbage — and everything else. “It’s important for couples to talk to understand the deeper issue, but they need to be calm,” says Lykes. “If you are still pissed, it’s going to be nasty.” Part of the makeup process is understanding you’re fighting because you’re having unmet expectations, says Mark Hillman, a psychotherapist in Clifton Park. But, part of a healthy relationship is also realizing not every expectation is reasonable. “If I start saying what a dirty, no good nitwit you are, your expectations of me treating you with respect aren’t met,” says Hillman, adding that name-calling is not excusable or acceptable in a relationship. “Your ego is bruised and you feel hurt and disappointed.” Instead talk about what you expected and then the reality of what happened. Explain — calmly and without name-calling or accusations — why you’re upset that things didn’t go the way you planned or hoped.
But before you place the blame entirely on the other person, understand arguments take (at least) two people. An important part of making up is understanding what you did to contribute to the fight, says Lykes. Couples counseling is a significant part of her practice and one of her requirements is that clients own their part of a fight. She has each person share what he or she did — not what their partner did — to lead to an argument or hurt feelings. Now let’s go back to that garbage fight. Saying “We had an agreement. You were going to take care of the garbage and I was going to take care of the groceries. It’s been sitting there all day. Can you take it out,” is more effective than screaming “You forgot again!,” says Gross. The latter puts the person you’re yelling at on the defense and, because you’re yelling, makes you lose credibility. Also, let the other person talk — without interruption, experts say. Even if you don’t agree with what your partner is saying, defend yourself after he or she has expressed how they feel and why they did (or did not do) what they did. Feeling heard is important, says Hillman. Sometimes, just being able to express our feelings verbally, and feel the other person hears us (even if they don’t agree) can be an important step in making up. So, too, is knowing when it’s your turn to go first, to open the lines of communication. “Say ‘honey, what’s wrong? Tell me what’s going on. What made you so angry,’” says Gross. “Apologize and show you understand why you are apologizing.”
Ending the Fight A cooling-off period is OK. This doesn’t mean storming out of the house and peeling out of the driveway, but rather retreating to another room, or even the backyard, and returning to have a conversation in a mutually agreeable amount of time. Once you’ve both cooled down, talk about how to best communicate your displeasure in the future. For example, if you forget the garbage — again — what’s a way for your partner to bring it up that won’t make you feel attacked? Know disagreements are part of any relationship and sometimes you have to both be willing to understand you have different perspectives. Timing is everything. If one (or both) of you is especially stressed about work, money, the kids or something else, you’re more likely to be on-edge and feisty for a fight. Don’t be afraid to apologize, but know that an “I’m sorry” doesn’t say much, but an “I’m sorry because…” followed by what you can do to help curb such an argument in the future can be effective.
Sources: Marjorie Gross, a holistic mental health counselor in Albany; Diane Lykes, owner of Synergy Counseling Associates in Albany; Mark Hillman, a psychotherapist in Clifton Park.
2% Religion
Couples argue.
4% Politics
And, according to experts, the same topics or issues spark those disagreements each and every time.
9% Jealousy 11% Other 18% How to spend free time
We polled readers of the Times Union’s On the Edge blog to see what they and their partner fight about most often. Readers could select more than one answer.
19% Parenting 21% Family/in-laws
Chart design by Emily Jahn.
25% Work (too much time spent at the office/not working hard enough) 27% Sex 36% Household chores 50% Money
518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 65
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Trainer Tips
BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTOS BY LORI VAN BUREN
Supported Headstand (Salamba Sirsasana)
with John
Smrtic
John Smrtic is an advanced certified jivamukti yoga teacher (bhaktigrooveyoga.com). He demonstrated for us the salamba sirsasana, or a supported headstand. He recommends before you try this on your own for the first time, consult a yoga teacher to make sure you’ve got good form and your spine is properly cared for. Salamba sirsasana has many benefits, including stress relief and the strengthening of the arms, legs and spine.
1
BEFORE YOU CAN DO THE HEADSTAND, YOU NEED TO SET UP YOUR FOUNDATION. Pay attention to your alignment. When your hands go on the floor, your fingers are interlocked with your thumbs touching each other. Keep your elbows shoulder-width apart. Your head will touch the floor about an inch or two behind your hairline, but that will depend on what you’re comfortable with. Monitor the natural curve of your spine. Your hands will be on the floor near or even touching the back of your head. Don’t put too much weight on your head at first — Smrtic recommends 5 percent of your weight or less. You should be able to lift your head off the ground and hold it there. Finally, mind what’s called the shoulder girdle: Your shoulders should be completely engaged — they are what’s supporting you. Not your head.
2
DON’T JUMP YOUR LEGS UP INTO THE POSE. That can hurt your spine. Once your foundation is set, lift your knees from the ground and extend the legs by pressing back through the heels. Walk your feet to the point where they could lift off the floor. Lift one knee to your chest and then calmly bring the other knee into the chest.
3
BRING YOUR KNEES TO THE CEILING AND THE HEELS TOWARD YOUR BUTT. Then extend your legs, one at a time, up to the ceiling. Your ankles will be in a line with your knees and shoulders.
4
HOLD THE POSE, REMEMBER TO BREATHE EVENLY. Work toward holding the pose for 5 minutes or more. When you start, you may only be able to hold it for a few breaths. Don’t get discouraged.
TOP TIPS: DON’T move your elbows out too far. DON’T spread your palms too wide. (You need them close for stability.) DON’T put the crown of your head flat on the floor.
518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 67
It’s Not Magic Diet and exercise top the list of ways to get — and stay — healthy in middle age and beyond
Photo: Klaus Tiedge/GettyImages.
BY TRACI NEAL
68 518 LIFE
I
t usually hits us around our mid-50s, give or take a few years. That’s when we realize that the body we’ve neglected, abused or taken for granted for the previous five decades is starting to fight back with bone-cracking, joint-grating intensity. “A lot of people in their 50s and 60s are looking at being active through their retirement,” says Latham personal trainer Jenny May Clermont, whose clients at Fitness Together Latham average age 52. “But they’re noticing they don’t have the flexibility they used to have, or they’re getting winded going up stairs or they can’t keep up with their children or their grandchildren.” Menopause, she says, can start to slow women down. “As we age, our bones lose density, our muscles lose muscle mass and our joints become stiffer,” precursors to osteoarthritis and chronic joint pain, says George Zanaros, an orthopedic surgeon with Capital Region Orthopaedics in Albany. “When you’re looking at maintaining independence and your ability to function, these are the things you have to pay attention to.” In addition to the pain, these issues often lead to balance and mobility issues and falls, says Kurt Gorrell, a personal trainer at Omni Fitness Center in Albany and an instructor at the Pilates Principle in Latham. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2.5 million older adults are injured in falls every year. “When you’re not moving, your flexibility and your joints start to go,” he says. “You get aches and pains so you’re sedentary and your muscles atrophy even more.” This bone and muscle deterioration often leads to more significant health problems. Osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus and fibromyalgia collectively affect 52 million Americans today. But even more alarming are conditions that over the last several decades have become global
epidemics — chronic and growing health concerns such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. World health agencies predict that by 2020 more than half of the American population will have diabetes or pre-diabetes. “I hate to paint a grim picture,” says Jean M. Bigaouette, an Albany nutritionist, registered dietitian and diabetes educator in private practice, “but obesity, high blood sugar and high cholesterol make one more prone to a heart attack. Having extra weight and/or diabetes makes you more prone to developing high blood pressure too. So they’re all connected.”
“
It really is like a cliché … but stretching, exercise and diet really are the bottom line.
Whatever neighborhood you’ve called home, there is an Eddy Senior Living Community right around the corner.
”
— George Zanaros, orthopedic surgeon
With few exceptions, health experts agree that many of these preventable conditions — which cost our country billions of dollars a year — can be controlled, even reversed. And a cure is not all that complicated. Here are some tips and inspiration for getting or staying healthy in our 50s and beyond, provided by area experts in fitness, nutrition and health.
Honor thyself: “So many
people put themselves after everything else,” says Marianne C. Romano, a certified nutritionist and registered dietitian at Albany’s Romano Nutrition Consulting. We put ourselves after our careers, our families, even our housework, Romano says, but we “have to continuously remind ourselves that this is our only [body] and we need to honor it and honor ourselves.”
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It’s never too late: Clermont’s oldest client is 98 but she was in her 80s when she first came to Fitness Together. “It’s definitely never too late,” says Clermont. “I see all kinds of people who don’t start until after their 50s to take on an active lifestyle. You’d be amazed.” If you’ve been living a high-stress lifestyle, not eating right, spending [your week] sitting down, “you’re going to have back pain and knee pain,” says Clermont. “A resistance program pretty quickly takes a lot of that pain away. It’s totally possible; we see it every day.” Seek a pro: Sometimes people need motiva-
tion, says Bigaouette, “from someone who’s trained in healthy eating and who can better advise a person so not only will they learn better habits but they’ll learn habits they can live with the rest of their lives.” Everybody “slips,” agrees Romano. “And that doesn’t mean you’re giving up. You can go back and start again.” But when slipping becomes bingeing, “that’s where you need to get some support to get rerouted back on the track.”
Ditch the butts: “Over time tobacco
products really affect the aging process,” says Zanaros. “The way you recover from surgery, the way wounds heal, are generally affected by nicotine.”
Stretch: A stretching program keeps joints
flexible and helps maintain muscle mass,
while decreasing the risk of osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones and often leads to fractures — most commonly of the wrist, hip and spine, says Zanaros.
Start slow: While we can’t reverse the effects of arthritis, Zanaros says by making small changes, we can affect the rate at which our joints wear. “Someone that has a sedentary life, like an office job, I’ll tell them ‘Go for a 15-minute walk at lunch, take the stairs, and after work take the dog for a walk for 15 minutes,’” he says. “It all adds up.” Romano agrees: “Small, incremental changes add up to big changes over time so it’s important to stay the course and not get discouraged,” she says. “It’s better to walk 10 minutes than to not walk at all.” The gym itself can be kind of daunting, says Gorrell. “People worry that their knee pain or whatever is going to hurt even more,” he says. “They should express their concerns and they should start slow.” Low-impact workouts, like walking in a pool, light swimming or water aerobics, tai chi or yoga can often result in quick changes in the body, says Gorrell. Hang in there: “We all want to go back to that comfortable feeling of whatever we had as a bad habit,” Romano says. “But as you’re changing habits and becoming more cognizant of what you’re eating, you’re becoming very self-aware” of the effects food has on your body, and good health becomes easier to manage. “Getting healthy requires changing habits — which are difficult to change at any point in
Epidemic, by the numbers 30 million
have or will be diagnosed with diabetes in 2014
By 2020, more than half of American adults will have diabetes or pre-diabetes
71 million
have high cholesterol
70 518 LIFE
life,” says Bigaouette. “But you can control your blood sugar by being active and by how much you eat, and that will also have a positive effect on your cholesterol, your blood pressure and your joints.”
Know the cost: Diabetes alone cost the nation nearly $250 billion in 2012, according to the American Diabetes Association, and people with the disease spend more than twice as much as healthy people on healthrelated costs. “People might think, ‘Well, I’ll just get medicine to control my blood pressure, my blood sugar, or my pain from osteoarthritis,’” says Bigaouette. “But losing weight helps to make [these] better and may even result in not requiring medication. I see it all the time in my office. It’s easier than a person might think to improve blood sugar or lower blood pressure by changing what you eat.” Eat “clean”: One can maintain a reason-
able weight by most of the time having a good diet and eating clean foods,” says Bigaouette. By “clean,” she means foods that aren’t highly processed and that are made with limited or no salt, sugar and fat. “Processed foods make you want to eat more, and more often,” she says. “Most processed foods have the fiber removed and have added sugar, salt and fat, all of which contribute to gaining weight and overeating.” Romano says she often recommends a Mediterranean diet, with its emphasis on vegetables, healthy fats and even some animal protein from lean poultry and fish.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association, in the United States:
67 million
have high blood pressure
86 million
including half of those age 65 and older, currently have pre-diabetes, a higher-thannormal blood glucose level that’s not high enough yet to be diagnosed diabetes
Illustrations: rhoon/GettyImages.
Zanaros agrees. “I tell people, ‘You have one chance at this world so you’ve got to treat your body right,’” he says.
Need Help? “You want to have a mix of protein and carbs at a meal and select a lean protein like tofu or fish and then have a nonstarchy vegetable with it, like asparagus broccoli mushrooms, peppers or salad,” she says. “You’re going to have a better effect on your blood sugar.” Avoid the soda, candy and snack aisles, says Bigaouette. “You’re just tempting yourself.”
Check your D-fense: Vitamin D
should be checked annually, says Romano. “Many of us are low in vitamin D,” a hormone that promotes the absorption of calcium and phosphorus to strengthen bones. Get vitamin D into your diet by eating eggs; fatty fish, such as salmon; fortified milks (including almond and soy milks) and juices. Also check calcium and vitamin B12 levels during annual physicals. “If you can eat a diet varied in vegetables and also some fruits you’re going to be getting your vitamins,” says Romano, recommending a diet with “a lot of color.”
Make a muscle: “Whenever you create muscle mass you reduce fat mass and become more efficient at burning calories,” says Romano. “You’re creating a more efficient body.” Clermont agrees, going a step further and calling muscle work “the fountain of youth.” “A lot of people think, ‘cardio, cardio, cardio’ but after age 40 we tend to lose muscle and that’s where we need to begin,” she says. “Building muscle really is more than just looking good and burning calories. A lot of time that’s the mindset,” but besides the aesthetic benefits, strength training can improve or eliminate joint pain, she says. Control your destiny: “The body is
an amazing thing we tend to take for granted, and then we get upset when it doesn’t perform for us,” says Clermont. In truth, she says, we have a lot of control over what’s going on in our bodies. “Most people want to feel better,” Clermont says. “They want to be able to move better, or not hurt every time they get up out of a chair or go for a walk.” As we age, she says, maintaining our health isn’t about our reflection in the mirror, “it’s about the quality of our life.” What we put in it, she says, “determines what the body can and cannot do. People are limiting their own body’s ability to repair itself by not eating the proper food.”
Here are some regional events and activities for healthy living: Tai chi for arthritis: The Albany County Department for Aging sponsors eight-week sessions taught by certified tai chi instructors at four sites in Albany County. The ancient practice has been proven to reduce pain and improve mental and physical well-being. Call Lorraine Noval or Marta Banks at Asian Arts Tai Chi School, 518-489-1458. Showing of the film, Going Blind, and panel discussion about living with vision loss: Oct. 24, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Bring a lunch. Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Ave., Albany. For more information call 518-427-4303. Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid: This program for caregivers, part of a series sponsored by the Albany Guardian Society, takes a look at programs for seniors and what they cover. Oct. 31, 9-11 a.m., Albany Guardian Society, 14 Corporate Woods Blvd., Suite 102, Albany. Free, but registration is required. Call 518-434-2140. Congregate dining: Seniors meet at various sites throughout the county for a dietitianapproved hot meal and nutrition education. A service of the Albany County Department For Aging, 518-447-7177. Transportation: The Department for Aging provides transportation to doctor’s appoint ments, grocery shopping and to the congregate dining sites. Call 518-447-7177.
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Massage photos were taken at Complexions Spa for Beauty and wellness, by Michael P. Farrell. Eminence product shot courtesy Eminence.
D
ay spas can be counted on for offering the staples women and men are always seeking: massage, facials, hot shaves, manis and pedis. But local spa owners say they’re continuously offering new services, responding to both trends and client demand. Denise Dubois, owner of Complexions Spa for Beauty & Wellness in Albany, says she constantly scouts for new offerings at spa conferences around the country. Dubois tweaks her menu at least once a year, and is rolling out new services since she opened her new location in Saratoga Springs in August. “The ancient sands massage is an ancient tradition known as ‘psammo therapy’ performed on our alpha quartz sand table,” Dubois says. “This new service removes toxins, alleviates pain, reduces inflammation, and improves stiff joints. The chakra balancing massage incorporates the use of Tibetan singing bowls that creates sound waves and vibrations which resonate throughout the body.” As the seasons change and autumn rolls in, the challenges to rejuvenating the skin are unique according to Dubois. “Seasonally, we have special offerings that focus on the seasonal environmental factors that influence various skin conditions,” Dubois says. “Fall is usually geared toward repairing sun-damaged skin, gentle exfoliation,
correcting pigmentation, etc.” “We also like to take advantage of the benefits of seasonal ingredients like peaches in August, organic honey in September, and pumpkin in October,” Dubois says. For men, taking care of themselves includes keeping their backs in great condition. “A back treatment is a lot like a facial but for the back,” Dubois says. “It’s a very good option for break-outs on the back often associated with working out. In some cases we also do a waxing to remove all unwanted hair.” At Rumors Salon & Spa in Latham, the coming fall weather marks the time for clients to request facials and body treatments. “People are looking to slough away layers of dead skin cells damaged when they got tans over the summer,” says Nico DeMeo Teta, spa manager. DeMeo Teta says the new “super foods,” such as kale and foods containing vitamins C and E, have recently been incorporated into their skincare line. “Clients always ask for something new,” DeMeo Teta says. “I’ve heard they’re doing butt facials in Los Angeles and New York City; I don’t think we’ll go that far.” At Kimberley’s A Day Spa in Latham, the newest offerings are three services — massage, bath and massage, and pedicure, from the ELEMENTS line, that incorporates trace mineral soaks rich in magnesium, potassium and other minerals.
The chakra balancing massage, shown above at Complexions Spa for Beauty and Wellness, incorporates the use of Tibetan singing bowls that create sound waves and vibrations which resonate throughout the body.
“Super foods” such as kale and foods containing vitamins C and E, have recently been incorporated into the skincare line at Rumors Salon & Spa.
Anti-gravity treatments are also all the rage. Kimberley’s offers Dry Float Immersions. Clients lie on a specialized table from Europe. The first part of the treatment is to exfoliate the body, followed by a shower, then back to the table for an application of hydrating body butters. “You’re then wrapped in a cocoon-type state, and the compressor lowers you slowly down into the float,” Comiskey says. “You are surrounded with 100-degree water, however you never get wet because the water is contained in a bladder, so you float and are weightless. This is the ultimate relaxation, guaranteed.” Sanctuary Spa in Saratoga Springs was purchased at the end of June by board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Ridha, also of Saratoga Springs. Ridha will be offering chemical peels and laser treatments. “There’s a huge demand for aesthetic improvements that are non-surgical, less invasive options,” Ridha says. “It’s a new arena. For us, it’s about keeping in touch with skincare research and staying abreast of the constant evolution.” At Spa Cascada in Saratoga Springs, owner Amy Snider offers photofacials, a 45-minute laser treatment for skin tightening and rejuvenation. Snider says the treatment promotes reformation of collagen and elastin, reduces skin damage, reduces the appearance of capillaries and red areas and even removes stray hairs. “The main trend is using lasers for more results,” Snider says. “We deliver the most advanced, trendiest treatments that have proven results.” With social media and other outlets providing a barrage of info about the latest and greatest spa treatments, more women and men are speaking up about what they want “Clients do so much more research than they used to,” Snider says. “They do the research, and spa owners need to always stay ahead of the curve.” 518LIFEMAGAZINE.COM 75
A DV E R T I S E M E N T
Have you heard about this new technology that is FDA cleared, and non-surgical treatment for back and neck pain?
Herniated Disc?
Non-surgical spinal decompression may be the last back or neck pain treatment you will ever need. And you may be able to forget the pills, getting endless shots, struggling through exercise programs...and...risky surgery...because with this amazing new technology...if you are a candidate... they may be a thing of the past. You’re about to discover a powerful state-of-the-art technology available for: Back pain, Sciatica, Neck pain, Arm pain, Herniated and/or Bulging discs (single or multiple), Degenerative Disc Disease, a relapse or failure following surgery or Facet syndromes. Best of all -- you can check it out yourself for FREE! CALL 518-300-1212
I
magine how your life would change if you discovered the solution to your back or neck pain. In this article you’ll discover powerful new back or neck pain technology that has the potential to be that solution for you. This incredible technology is Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and the DRX 9000. Here’s the amazing story how it was discovered and why it has a chance to help YOUR back pain...
How Science Helps Back and Neck Pain The lower back and neck is a series of bones separated by shock absorbers called “discs”. When these discs go bad because of age or injury you can have pain. For some the pain is just annoying, but for others it can be life changing...and not in a good way. It has long been thought that if these discs could be helped in a natural and non-invasive way, lots of people with back and leg or neck and arm pain could lower the amount of pain medication they take, be given fewer epidural injections for the pain and have less surgery.
Recent medical breakthroughs have led to the development of advanced technologies to help back and leg pain and neck and arm pain suffers!
Through the work of a specialized team of physicians and medical engineers, a medical manufacturing company, now offers this space age technology in its incredible DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression equipment.
The DRX 9000 is FDA cleared to use with the pain and symptoms associated with herniated and/or bulging discs. . . even after failed surgery. What Conditions Has The DRX 9000 Successfully Treated And Will It Help YOU? The main conditions the DRX 9000 has success with are: • • • • • •
Back pain Sciatica Neck pain Arm pain Spinal Stenosis Herniated and/or bulging discs (single or multiple) • Degenerative disc disease • A relapse or failure following surgery • Facet syndromes A very important note: The DRX 9000 has been successful even when NOTHING else has worked. Even after failed surgery. What Are Treatments On The DRX 9000 Like?
After being fitted with an automatic shoulder support system, you simply lie face up on the DRX 9000’s comfortable bed and the advanced computer system does the rest. Patients describe the treatment as a gentle, soothing, intermittent pulling of your back. Many patients actually fall asleep during treatment. The really good news IS... this is not something you have to continue to do for the rest of your life. So it is not a big commitment. Since offering the DRX 9000 in my Colonie office, I have seen nothing short of miracles for back and neck pain sufferers who had tried everything else. . . with little or no result. Many had lost all hope. Had herniated disk operation 8 years ago another disc became herniated. Doctor wanted to operate have arthritis from 1st one (did not want to go under knife again) very grateful to DRX9000 (thank you Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC) Very happy camper. Raymond F Niskayuna, NY Age 55 This treatment was a miracle for my cervical disk herniations. Only other alternative was surgery, which I no longer have to face. William I Schenectady, NY Age 63
I was told by a doctor I wouldn’t be able to work. I cannot afford to not work so I tried Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC, and not only did the pain go away but I never missed a day at work. Rick S Clifton Park, NY Age 42 I would love to shake the hand of the person who invented this machine. It was a life saver for me and a lot better than going under the knife. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with chronic back pain. Dawn H Colonie, NY Age 49 Before the DRX 9000 treatment. I had no quality of life. Couldn’t do anything for myself. Thank God for Dr. and the DRX machine. I can live again. Yvette K Schenectady, NY Age 47 I suffered for three years, before I received treatment on the DRX 9000. Today, I can sleep and get out of bed like a normal human being. Before, I couldn’t even drive my car because the pain in my hips, legs and feet were so bad from the sciatica nerve being pinched by my Herniated Disc L4 and L5, which also prevented me from sitting in a chair or even using my computer lap top at any time. Today things have changed due to advance technology therapy on the DRX 9000. They always try
A DV E R T I S E M E N T
to regulate the treatments that work. What is up with this taught process???? The world is changing and so have I. Frank A Troy, NY Age 52 Before receiving the DRX treatments, my quality of life was very poor. I could hardly do anything other than going to work and going to bed. After the DRX treatments my quality of life has improved 90% which has resulted in me being able to go for long walks without a cane and go shopping. Anne P Burnt Hills, NY Age 70 I am so appreciative of this method of therapy because when I came to the office I had to use a cane and had muscle pain in walking. After 2nd treatment sciatica nerve pain was gone in my left leg. Judith W Albany, NY Age 64 Prior to this treatment my only options appeared to be invasive pain management, or surgery. After receiving 24 sessions on the DRX, I am markedly improved, relatively pain free and am able to function as I had in previous years. Highly recommend to anyone with disc issues. Alan P Scotia, NY Age 53 I would choose this therapy again! Painless treatment that gets your life back to
normal. Stick with it-it works! Linda G Broadalben, NY Age 53 I am so happy I came to Dr. Guerra. I was in a lot of pain and after being on the DRX I tell you I do not have pain. I feel wonderful and the staff are very nice. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is wonderful. If you are in pain try the DRX it really helps. Edith C Schenectady, NY Age 71 I think more people should know about this procedure before considering any surgery. Medications help the pain but they don’t cure the cause. I am back to my old self again. Lorraine B Scotia, NY Age 78 I highly recommend this machine. I had my doubts but it really and truly works. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is a wonderful doctor and his staff is great too. Linda D Clifton Park, NY Age 46 I was extremely skeptical at the beginning of treatments - Progress was slow in coming - But... then it worked! What a relief!!! Joan K Delmar, NY Age 71 I had no where else to go with this problem. The DRX 9000 was just what I needed. Many thanks! Burton S Mechanicville, NY Age 50
I would definitely refer people to your office. Dr. Guerra and his staff have made this experience a pleasure. Ed H Hoosick Falls, NY Age 70
ification consultation. It’s absolutely free with no strings attached. There is nothing to pay for and you will NOT be pressured to become a patient.
Pain free, numbness in the left foot is gone. DRX 9000 is GREAT and does work. Sal L Niskayuna, NY Age 50
Here is what you will receive:
I’m able to go on long walks and get all night sleep (I’ve had 3 surgeries since 2006) Without the DRX I would be in for a 4th back surgery. I’m getting back to doing activities with my 10 year old son. Lisa V Catskill, NY Age 45 I wish to thank you very much for all the help I received with the spinal decompression therapy. Your entire office was very helpful and compassionate. No longer do I sit at night with my heating pads, moving them from sore spot to sore spot. My knees are no longer on fire and I’m able to go up and down the stairs much easier than before. Mable D Ballston Lake, NY Age 68
SPECIAL OFFER Call Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC’s office at 518-300-1212 and mention to my assistants that you want a FREE back or neck pain/DRX9000 qual-
• A consultation with me, Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC to discuss your problem and answer the questions you may have about back pain or neck and the DRX9000 • A DRX9000 demonstration so you see for yourself how it works! Due to current demand for this technology, I suggest calling today to make your appointment. The consultation is free. We are staffed 24-hoursa-day, 7-days-a-week. Call 518-300-1212 right now!
It’s absolutely FREE with no strings attached. There is ONE Big Problem: My busy office schedule will limit how many people I’m able to personally meet with...so you will need to act fast. Call 518-300-1212 right now...to be sure you are among the first callers and we will set up your free consultation today. We have the phones answered 7 days a week 24 hours a day so call now... 518-300-1212. (Free consultation is good for 45 days) 2016 Central Ave., Colonie www.albanyDRX.com Like us on Facebook: Healthsource of Albany North
FYI with
Christel MacLean
You won’t find this serial entrepreneur twiddling her thumbs
BY BRIANNA SNYDER | PHOTO BY CINDY SCHULTZ
S
erial entrepreneur. That’s the term Christel MacLean uses to describe her happily busy life. MacLean grew up in New York City, made “a quick stop” at the Joffrey Ballet and spent 10 years as an investment banker, all before moving to Saratoga, where she, with her husband and business partner Colin, currently owns three popular and acclaimed restaurants — the Circus Cafe, the Crown Grill and, most recently, the Saratoga Juice Bar. And it doesn’t stop there: Colin and Christel also own a “boutique realty company,” as she describes it and they’re starting a consulting venture, Curved Line Living. “Curved Line is based on our philosophy that life is not a straight line,” she says, “and that living and thinking entrepreneurially is the future.” With Curved Line, MacLean says she and her husband hope to help people maximize their creativity and potential and implement their ideas. We asked her a few offbeat questions, and here’s what she said. Who was your last text from? My husband. [Laughs.] I bet you guys text a lot. Yeah, we do. What is your current mood? Optimistic and anticipatory. Full of anticipation. And exhausted! We just got our 11-year-old off to middle school today. If you could go back in time and change something, would you? Hmm. No. No. When was the last time you cried? Probably at a TV commercial. I’m one of those people. We’re big TV commercial criers. Other than that, we’re tough as nails. [Laughs.] Who is your hero? I have a lot of heroes. My 95-year-old grandmother in California, who I love. She is a ray of sunshine. She is as with it as you can possibly imagine. She sounds like she’s 50 and she’s 95 and she’s out and about every single day. She has a million friends. Her phone never stops ringing. She’s an eternal optimist as well. I love my grandma. I love my mom. I love business people. I follow business leaders, so I have lots of those. Oh, and Oprah. We got to meet her when she came to the Crown Grill. That sounds amazing! It was amazing! We obviously left them alone while [she and two
78 518 LIFE
local Skidmore students] had dinner. Then at the end I gave them gift certificates to the Circus Cafe and T-shirts that said “I tame lions.” She said, ‘That is so fantastic! That is so amazing!’ She gave us hugs and the whole thing. Oh, my God. I love her. Yeah! So I guess I would say my grandma, my mom and Oprah. And entrepreneurs everywhere. I love reading about other people who are doing awesome things in business. What was the last thing you ate or drank? Sea bass, roasted sea bass. And a Saratoga Mule, which is our Tito’s vodka/ginger beer drink in a copper mug. What makes you mad? Who was it that said I have a Cajun temper even though I’m not Cajun? I would say that obstinance for just the sake of obstinance. And pettiness. Obstinance and pettiness and kind of anything mean-spirited. I love collaboration and I love open-mindedness. And so anything that’s not that, when people dig in their heels, it drives me crazy. TV series you’re most addicted to? I love House Hunters International and I love Selling New York. Describe your life in one word. Multifaceted. If you could choose how you’ll die, what would you choose? In my sleep at 105! With all my faculties. If your grandma’s 95 I think you’ve got a good chance of that happening. I know. I’m working towards it. That’s why I drink juice from our juice bar. What are you grateful for? I’m grateful for being an optimist and having an entrepreneurial spirit. That’s really something to be grateful for because not everybody has that. Oprah once ate at Christel MacLean’s restaurant!
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