Fletcher sits nonchalantly as Mike Parwana pounds red-hot metal over an anvil. The dog appears accustomed to the racket made in the craftsman’s shop.
The Chicken Coop Blacksmith Forge sits hidden in a field in Queensbury, N.Y., near Glens Falls. Behind a door featuring a rooster painting, Parwana and his wife, Jeanette Brandt, contort metal into just about anything.
Nearly gone are the days of blacksmiths making functional everyday items. Now the finesse in metalwork has taken an artist approach. This is the case with Chicken Coop Blacksmith Forge.
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Upon pulling into the parking lot, the intoxicating aroma of fresh-boiled maple syrup permeates the air. The owner greets customers at the door with a smile and a back-country style. The scenic country location amidst the Adirondack Mountains and fields of farmland allow for a country-neighborhood breakfast location. On the way there, diners are directed on scenic back roads with signs to the restaurant, located in the middle of fields and farmland. This helps to emphasize the country feel, but makes it a little hard to find Rathbun’s Maple Sugar House Restaurant. This eatery, which began its maple endeavors as a family sugaring business, is now part of the New York State Maple Producers Association. Bill Rathbun began his business tapping trees and hanging sap buckets with his children. When the sugar house was built, they began serving homemade breakfast along with their New York maple syrup.
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Hell on Earth. Those are some of the words that the ever-growing Spartan Race website uses to describe its annual event.
The first Spartan Race event took place in 2010 in Williston, Vt., and has now grown by taking place all over the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
The Spartan Sprint is the easiest level, with a minimum of three miles and 15 obstacles; Super Spartan consists of at least eight miles and 20 obstacles; The Spartan Beast is a bit more intricate with an expected 12 miles and 25 obstacles; and the most difficult of them all is The Death Race. Only about fifteen percent of participants finish this level. Read more.
