Things ain’t what they used to be

 Much time has passed. Things have changed. People have changed.

This, thank goodness, is not in the Catskills. That Washington Bridge is not the GWB. This Washington Bridge spans the Harlem River (“The crossing, opened in 1888, connects 181st Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, Manhattan, with University Avenue in Morris Heights, Bronx. It carries six lanes of traffic, as well as sidewalks on both sides.”). The Cross Bronx Expressway has begun from th Alexander Hamilton Bridge.

   Expressway is very much a relative term, as anyone who has driven on it knows; it is not much of an exaggeration to describe that infernal road as the world’s longest parking lot.

That picture is from mid-July 2026 at 8 in the evening — that red is traffic moving slowly, if at all, at eight p.m. — there was no traffic, as you can see.

A walk on the Rail- Trail

 A handful of us met at the Boiceville terminus of the Rail-Trail on a humid Saturday afternoon.

Christmas flood (almost, luckily not)

 Rains fell, and fell. Our local creeks swelled, but we dodged a bullet. Whew!

After an inch and a half of rain

 Stoney Clove Creek swollen after the rains:

Three days before the rains

 Calm before the deluge:

Early autumn

 On Stoney Clove Creek:

In Concert at CPOA

 On Saturday evening 20 August 2022, we were treated to a concert by the renowned artist, and our fellow CPOA member and neighbor, Robert Burke-Warren. It was a wonderful evening of music, and included a personal request of a Johnny Cash song (I walk the line).

How to Identify the Only Two Venomous Snakes in the Hudson Valley

 Interesting article

 

Sweet Sue’s is open

 Finally, it has reopened. For now, only a standup and takeout area, soon the dining room, too. Looks good. A work in progress. Nice to have it back.

Water receding

 Compare the creek today (Saturday 4/9) to yesterday, following Thursday’s rainstorm:

Friday:

Saturday:

Massive rain storm in early April

 Albany got over 2 inches of rain on Thursday 7 April. Chichester is estimated to have gotten around 4 inches. There was thunder, too. Quite a storm. Stoney Clove Creek grew, but stayed in bounds.

Our driveway:

Ostrander Bridge did fine:

Another snowstorm

 It has been a rough winter, so far. On Friday 2/25/2022, over half a foot of snow fell in our environs. The Daily Freeman published some photos:

Ice Cream Sunday

 What fun, ice cream in the afternoon.

Phoenicia: Movie-Worthy Mountain Getaway

 Story in Upstater.com on July 19, 2021.

When he wasn’t slugging homers, Babe Ruth could be found at the Sportsman’s Bar on Main Street, slugging beers. Alcohol also brought the notorious gangster Dutch Schultz to Phoenicia, where he lived and set up stills during Prohibition. Legend has it that shortly before being gunned down in Newark by rival gangsters, Schultz buried millions of dollars in a safe by the Phoenicia railroad tracks. Or under two pine trees. Or under a skull shaped rock by the banks of the Esopus. Ok, look, there’s a lot of legends floating around about where exactly Schultz buried his loot, probably none of which are true. But that hasn’t stopped treasure hunters from continuing to show up in the Phoenicia Library on Main Street to comb through old maps, looking for clues.

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Robert Burke Warren in concert at CPOA

 

Brandin, our 4 year old grandson, loved it, too. Great evening.

Ach, that bridge!

late afternoon, 8 July 2021, after yet more rain:

Later, same afternoon:

Will it ever stop raining?

 In between rainstorms, 7 July, at Shandaken Democratic caucus, Lexington (Route 42, off Route 28)

Summertime swimming

 1 July 2021

Getting swimming hole ready

 24 June 2021

Is Dutch Schultz’s Treasure Chest buried in Phoenicia?

 A story from the renowned Yonkers Times discusses Dutch Schultz, famed beer meister and smuggler, and his missing treasure chest. No one really knows where he buried a 2 foot by 3 foot treasure chest filled with gold, diamonds, cash and bonds as a getaway bundle of funds if he had to leave town at a moments notice. That value of the chest and it contents is now estimated between $50 Million-$150 Million. Dutch was gunned down in 1933. Thus, no one really knows where the loot is.

The long held tale was that Schultz buried the chest in the Catskills, in Phoenicia NY, a town that he spent time with. The PBS documentary mentions Phoenicia and a house in Bronxville NY, on the campus of Concordia College, as two other possible locations. 

 Tantalizing.

 

After the storm

 From the Facebook page of the Town of Shandaken:

Rainstorm in the Catskills

 A week after 20” of snow, over 3” of rain.

Snowstorm in the Catskills

 Forecasts called for a foot of snow, maybe a foot and a half.

It was a massive storm:

And we did get a lot of snow:

late December afternoon

 A very mild day in mid-December.