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Body, Mind & Spirit: Acupuncture and Chinese medicine here in our backyard

In Health & Wellness, Health & Wellness - Greenville, The Greenville Pioneer
September 6, 2023
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By Pat Larsen

For Capital Region Independent Media

Headshot of a female named Pat Larsen
Pat Larsen

Purely by chance, I happened upon a gifted practitioner, Ms. Hui-Hsin Liu, while looking for alternative medicine practitioners close by.

I knew that acupuncture would be a great additional resource to facilitate my healing after surgery and that was the support I was seeking. I was both surprised and delighted to learn of Ms. Liu practicing Chinese medicine and acupuncture right here in Greene County.  

It was very encouraging to find out that she had specifically chosen our area to bring her talents to, with her focus on the aging population and the needs within this age group.

How fortunate for us! 

Ms. Liu (pronounced Lou) had begun seeing patients in Greenville under the name of Willow Acupuncture at Catskill Valley Chiropractic: A Center for Wellness, in June 2023. Before I share my  personal experience with Ms. Liu, let me share what I learned about her background. 

You can also visit her website to see the total scope of her expertise.

Born in Taiwan, presently in her mid 40s, Ms. Liu  studied her craft, became licensed in Traditional Chinese Medicine (aka TCM) and acupuncture, then practiced in clinics in her region for nine years. 

After several years of graduate research in Japan, she completed both her medical degree in internal medicine and a Master’s degree in several other specialties that would be very relevant to treating the “whole” patient.

Ms. Liu moved to this area with her husband. Her goals have always been to treat a variety of health problems.

She is fluent in English, Mandarin and Japanese. All of her impressive credentials and experience is truly going to be a gift to our community as more and more of us seek out her services.

After a thorough demographic search, she knew that working within the senior community here was exactly what she felt compelled to do. She explained that acupuncture offers solutions that plague those who are aging and experience all sorts of inflammatory issues that then adversely impact lifestyles.

She has specialty training in women’s health,  as well as ophthalmology. With  the use of fine needle-like filaments on certain points of the body, she is able to  help the natural flow of energy to restore healing. 

I met Ms. Liu after that fateful day of finding her web page and scheduling an appointment within the same week. As I’ve written often, I was seeking relief from the difficult healing process following my total knee replacement in April, coupled with a complication of my heart health issues. 

What a godsend this practitioner was on that day and to this day as well, as I continue to see her every so often to improve my health issues.

Many times, an illness or surgery can lead to offshoots of  unexpected medical complications, and my case was no exception. Ms. Liu is helping me with anxiety, insomnia and joint pain. Overall, the general improvement in my condition, along with the support and knowledge that Ms. Liu offers, is the reason I felt I had to share this news with my readership.

Please check out the Willow Acupuncture website to learn more about this valuable asset to our community.

Better yet, please join me at The Shamrock House in East Durham, where I will host Ms. Liu in a special informational program introducing the benefits of this medical practice and to meet her. The event will take place on Thursday, Sept. 21. Space is limited. Contact information is listed below.

To reach Pat Larsen, call or text 518-275-8686 or email pelarsen5@aol.com.

Pat’s fitness classes and educational programs are Mondays and Thursday mornings, designed for seniors and Baby Boomers. Please join us.

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Police Blotter

In Police Blotter, Police Blotter - Greenville, The Greenville Pioneer
August 4, 2022
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Editor’s note: A charge is not a conviction. All persons listed are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Charges can be amended or dismissed.

STATE POLICE

  • Robert Majors, 38, of South Cairo, was arrested July 9 at 10:05 p.m. in Cairo and charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Dynasty Armstead, 29, of the Bronx, was arrested July 9 at 6:40 p.m. in Coxsackie and charged with first-degree prison contraband, a class D felony. Armstead was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Peter Iglio, 51, of Cobleskill, was arrested July 10 at 10:41 p.m. in Durham and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Wilfrido Cajilema, 29, of Albany, was arrested July 11 at 10:36 p.m. in Catskill and charged with aggravated driving while intoxicated/with child, a class E felony; endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor; and driving while intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Claire Brandon, 31, of Hudson, was arrested July 11 at 8:27 p.m. in Hunter and charged with driving while intoxicated and aggravated driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. She was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Robin Maggio, 27, of Catskill, was arrested July 12 at 1:04 a.m. in Catskill and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. Maggio was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Melissa Strack, 55, of Acra, was arrested July 14 at 2:23 p.m. in Catskill and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Michael Johnson, 36, of Hudson, was arrested July 15 at 3:32 a.m. in Catskill and charged with manufacture of drug-related paraphernalia and three counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, both class A misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Jessica Collazo, 32, of Catskill, was arrested July 15 at 3:32 a.m. in Catskill and charged with tampering with physical evidence, a class E felony; manufacture of drug-related paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor; and four counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Clyde Wilburn, 48, of Catskill, was arrested July 15 at 3:32 a.m. in Catskill and charged with manufacture of drug-related paraphernalia and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, both class A misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Ethan Bass, 28, of Downsville, was arrested July 8 at 8:56 a.m. in Cairo and charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a class E felony, and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use, a class A misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Burke Armstrong, 59, of Catskill, was arrested July 18 at 3:30 a.m. in Catskill and charged with first-degree operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Lindsey Palmateer, 40, of Athens, was arrested July 17 at 8:14 p.m. in Athens and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. She was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Mitchum Lyons, 32, of Oneonta, was arrested July 17 at 9:17 p.m. in Tannersville and was charged with third-degree bail jumping, a class A misdemeanor. He was issued cash bail in the amount of $2,500.
  • Carl Neal, 72, of Catskill, was arrested July 18 at 5 p.m. in Coxsackie and charged with driving while intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was released to a third party.
  • Kevin Carmichael, 30, of Selkirk, was arrested July 18 at 9:43 p.m. in Athens and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Edward Conti, 34, of Saratoga Springs, was arrested July 19 at 2:20 p.m. in Cairo and charged with third-degree bail jumping, a class A misdemeanor. He was released on his own recognizance.
  • Joseph Lomio, 54, of Coxsackie, was arrested July 19 at 7:20 p.m. in Coxsackie and charged with petty larceny, a class A misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • John Prosser, 53, was arrested July 20 at 8:10 p.m. in Cairo and charged with first-degree burglary with a dangerous instrument and first-degree robbery with a dangerous instrument, a class B felony. He was held.
  • Moses Doctor, 60, of Cairo, was arrested July 21 at 10:20 p.m. in Cairo and charged with first-degree burglary with a dangerous instrument and first-degree robbery with a dangerous instrument, both class B felonies. He was held.
  • Cody Voorhees, 28, of Prattsville, was arrested July 22 at 9:44 a.m. in Prattsville and charged with second-degree criminal trespass, criminal mischief/reckless property damage and fourth-degree criminal mischief/preventing an emergency call, all class A misdemeanors. He was released on his own recognizance.
  • Joseph Reynolds, 44, of Cairo, was arrested July 23 at 12:28 a.m. in Cairo and charged with driving while intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was released on his own recognizance.
  • Hanlon Lowell, 23, of Wyckoff, New Jersey, was arrested July 24 at 12:06 a.m. in Hunter, and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content over 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Gabrielle Perea, 35, of Lake Katrine, was arrested July 23 at 1:26 p.m. in Catskill and charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance/narcotics and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance/cocaine, all class D felonies; and three counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, both class A misdemeanors. Her arrestee status was not reported.
  • Isaac Falcon, 41, of Lake Katrine, was arrested July 23 at 1:26 p.m. in Catskill and charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance/narcotics and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance/cocaine, all class D felonies; and two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, one count of criminal possession of cannabis, and one count of acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, all class A misdemeanors. His arrestee status was not reported.
  • Brandon Ferguson, 41, of Palenville, was arrested July 24 at 5:43 a.m. in Coxsackie and charged with third-degree sexual abuse, a class B misdemeanor, and endangering the welfare of a child, a class A misdemeanor. He was released on his own recognizance.
  • Devon Thomas, 25, of Coxsackie, was arrested July 26 at 9 a.m. in Coxsackie and charged with first-degree possession of dangerous contraband in a prison, a class D felony. He was held.
  • Isiah Rose, 48, of Catskill, was arrested July 26 at 11:09 a.m. in Cairo and charged with third-degree criminal tampering and reckless endangerment of property, both class B misdemeanors. He was released on his own recognizance.
  • An unidentified 17-year-old, of Catskill, was arrested July 27 at 2:43 p.m. in Catskill and charged with second-degree menacing/weapon and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon with intent to use, both class A misdemeanors. The individual was issued an appearance ticket.
  • Lisa Merwin, 45, of Hunter, was arrested July 27 at 11:50 p.m. in Hunter and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket.

Be a Better Gardener: Shopping for topsoil

In Lifestyle, Lifestyle - Greenville, The Greenville Pioneer
June 8, 2023
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By Thomas Christopher

For Capital Region Independent Media

When it comes to buying topsoil for your garden, it’s a “let the buyer beware” situation. Contributed photo

As a gardener, when I find soil that’s lacking, it’s my preference to work with what I find on-site, adding amendments and mulching with some organic matter and then waiting for the worms to transform what they find below. However, this approach can take months or years to complete itself.

That’s why so many of my gardening friends prefer to just have a load of topsoil delivered. That’s an expensive fix, but a quick one in many situations, from patching bare spots in the lawn to filling a raised bed.

Or I should say that topsoil can be a fix, depending on what the vendor delivers. As Dawn Pettinelli, the director of the University of Connecticut’s Soil & Nutrient Analysis Lab, told me recently, shopping for topsoil is a definite case of “let the buyer beware.”

To begin with, Dawn informed me, there are no legal standards governing what a topsoil is. The common definition, that it should come from the top layer (or “horizon” as Dawn called it) of the soil, means that it will vary dramatically in composition depending on where you collect it.

In a sandy field, topsoil will consist of sand; in the floodplain of a river, it is likely to be silt. And because of the lack of legal standards, unscrupulous vendors may pass subsoil harvested from a construction site through a screen to remove rocks and debris to temporarily fluff it up, and market that as topsoil. 

To be safe, many gardeners will buy their topsoil from a farm, because farmers certainly know their soils. Yet even that can be problematic. If the farmer has been applying herbicides or other pesticides to his or her crops, toxic residues may be in the topsoil they sell, and that isn’t something you want to introduce into your home landscape.

After alerting me to these possible problems, Dawn shared some shopping tips that will help to ensure that you get good quality, healthy topsoil.  

First of all, she encourages the shopper to ask the supplier where they got the topsoil, and to ask if they may inspect the product before it is delivered. I suggested that we might try to obtain a sample and submit it for analysis to a lab such as hers. Dawn replied that could be tricky if the vendor is sourcing his or her soil from different sites.

Still, inspecting the vendor’s stockpiled soil can be revealing. It should be free of glass, plastic and other trash, and free of large rocks. If it is dark in color, that commonly indicates a soil rich in organic matter, which is desirable in most gardening situations.  Check, however, that the soil was not dredged from a wetland – such soils may be dark in color but are typically very acidic and have a poor texture once they dry out.

At the least, Dawn told me, it would be a good idea to get whatever is delivered analyzed for lead before you spread it in the garden. Lead was for many years an ingredient of most types of gasoline and many paints, and it is commonly found in soils near roadways or older homes. It may be present even in rural soils, as lead arsenate used to be a popular insecticide, especially in apple orchards, throughout most of the 20th century.  In fact, Dawn says, fully a quarter of the soil samples submitted to her lab in Connecticut test for levels of lead that make the soil inadvisable for use in growing food crops.

Selling topsoil is often an income source for farms, which commonly mix the soil with composted manure or some other decomposed organic material with their product. Aside from the chance of contamination mentioned above, such improved soils generally make a good addition to the garden.

Finally, before you make a purchase, be aware of simply spreading a layer of new soil over whatever you already have on site. The abrupt transition from one, presumably richer, soil to a poorer substrate can impede water drainage – the moisture tends to collect at the point of transition, creating a “perched” water table that will keep roots from penetrating deeper into the soil.  It’s best to mix the new soil with the old by tilling or digging.

To hear more of Dawn Pettinelli’s tips on shopping for topsoil, listen to our conversation on the “Growing Greener” podcast available for free download on the Berkshire Botanical Garden website at www.berkshirebotanical.org.

Be-a-Better-Gardener is a community service of Berkshire Botanical Garden, located in Stockbridge, Mass. Its mission, to provide knowledge of gardening and the environment through a diverse range of classes and programs, informs and inspires thousands of students and visitors each year. Thomas Christopher is a volunteer at Berkshire Botanical Garden and is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Nature into Art and The Gardens of Wave Hill (Timber Press, 2019). He is the 2021 Garden Club of America’s National Medalist for Literature, a distinction reserved to recognize those who have left a profound and lasting impact on issues that are most important to the GCA. Christopher’s companion broadcast to this column, Growing Greener, streams on WESUFM.org, Pacifica Radio and NPR and is available at berkshirebotanical.org/growinggreener.

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