J.M.W. Turner's "Chichester Canal" at the Tate Gallery, London

Monday, August 13, 2018

The Tell

On Sunday afternoon, 12 August 2018, Linda I. Meyers read from her published memoir, The Tell. The reading took place on the second floor of The Golden Notebook (9 Tinker St, Woodstock, NY 12498). In the audience were many fellow CPOA members and neighbors. A fascinating story told with verve and elan, and quite a sense of humor.




Linda I. Meyers was 28 and the mother of three young boys when her mother, after a lifetime of threats, took her own life. Staggered by conflicting feelings of relief and remorse, Meyers believed that the best way to give meaning to her mother’s death was to make changes to her own life. Bolstered by the women’s movement of the ‘70s, she left her marriage, went to college and received her Psy.D., raised a family, and established a fulfilling career.
Written with irony and humor and sprinkled with Yiddish, “The Tell” is one woman’s inspirational story of before and after, and ultimately of emancipation and purpose. With stories ranging from witty to heartbreaking, “The Tell” showcases Meyers’ talent as a gifted storyteller. She chronicles her experience coming of age in a dysfunctional Jewish family during the ‘40s and ‘50s, her summer romance with a boy who grew up to be fashion designer Ralph Lauren, the rise of feminism, and running a family acting business that led to her son landing a memorable role as young Alvy Singer in Woody Allen’s Academy Award-winning movie “Annie Hall.”


Monday, August 6, 2018

Rain, rain, rain

Everyone knows it rains in the Catskills; a lot. And there is no such thing as climate change, right? (ahem). But it has been raining A LOT this summer.

July 29:

August 3:

August 6:

What is the outlook? Oh, no! Thusderstorms.

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Kayaking the Stoney Clove Creek

That much rain fell; the Creek had rapids and some whitewater. Three adventurers took the chance to shoot the rapids in Chichester. Amy Lerner took this picture:


Wednesday, August 1, 2018

No water shortage here, thanks to an atmospheric river

From a  story dated 24 July 2018 found on the website NewYorkUpstate.com:


Upstate New York had the heaviest rain in the Northeast in the 24 hours ending at 8 a.m. today.

 Almost 7 inches of rain fell Monday in the Catskills as a rainy week kicked off in Upstate New York.
A weather observer in Phoenicia, in Ulster County, measured 6.68 inches of rain, according to National Weather Service reports. That was the highest of more than 200 Upstate locations reported to the weather service.
More than 5 inches fell in neighboring Greene County as thunderstorms dumped torrential rain Monday. Farther to the north, Albany and Fulton counties had reports of more than 4 inches. 
The "atmospheric river" of Atlantic Ocean moisture was funneled through eastern New York and parts of the Southern Tier Monday. Much of Western New York and the North County got a half-inch or less.

Shandaken seeks NY state grant for Phoenicia Water District

Story from the Daily Freeman 31 July 2018:

The town is seeking a $750,000 grant from the state Office of Community Renewal to address longstanding problems that have prevented the Phoenicia Water District from working efficiently.

The application was submitted last week.

“We’ve run into some issues during the environmental review,” Shandaken Supervisor Robert Stanley said. “Doing an archeological survey, we found some bedrock, which may need to be blasted. We also ran into some issues with the water line crossing the Woodland Valley bridge, so we had to retract the previous grant and close that one out.”


The additional work has resulted in the town seeking nearly $300,000 more than the amount of a grant awarded nearly three years ago.

Friday, July 27, 2018

Rusticalia

I didn't even know it was a word. That's a beautiful feature of our English language especially the American vintage, I'd say: the invention of words. Some of those words still give me trouble (thru instead of through just does not work for me, although it is easier to figure out how to pronounce). But, there it is: rusticalia.

I found rusticalia in a story in Chronogram about funky clothing stores in the Hudson Valley: Vintage Clothing Stores in the Hudson Valley  Your Guide to Rockin' Retro Threads Upstate.

Mystery Spot Antiques: 72 Main Street, Phoenicia, NY 12464.

Its Instagram page describes it as: The Catskills' shrine to clutter. Seven rms packed w/ vintage clothing, vinyl, oddities & Rusticalia.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Phoenix, NY?

In an article Tanneries hurt the environment in the 1800s, but the Catskills eventually benefited, published in the website Hudonvalleyone.com, Violet Snow discusses the work of Paul Misko, who researches and makes presentations on our corner of the Catskills. It makes for interesting reading, including this tidbit:

An avid hiker since childhood, Misko has researched the remnants of human presence he often stumbles across in the woods. He explains how Phoenicia received its name, based, as many town residents know, on the Phoenix Tannery, once a mainstay of the local economy. Not all of us have heard that the tannery’s name came from the rapid rebuilding of the structure when it burned down in 1839, soon after it was first constructed. The town was called Phoenix until the postal service was getting established. Because there was already another Phoenix, New York, local residents picked the new name, hearkening back to the ancient Mediterranean culture.


Sunday, April 15, 2018

Big Muddy

This is a video of Stoney Clove Creek from 15 October 2011 after heavy rains.


Saturday, February 10, 2018

Onteora school officials working to trim budget

Story in Daily Freeman on 10 February 2018.

Onteora school district trustees are reviewing a draft $56.21 million 2018-19 budget that would increase spending by $1.92 million, or 3.53 percent.
At a Board of Education meeting Tuesday, officials said they would either have to reduce spending or find more revenue for the budget to meet the 3.63 percent state tax levy limit.
Above that limit, voters would have to approve the spending plan by a supermajority of 60 percent of ballots cast.


Sunday, January 14, 2018

Woodstock Brewing opens at Phoenicia Plaza

Story on Hudson Valley One from 14 January 2018.

Parabolic, Between Two Points, Permanent Midnight, Rhetoric, and Entropy are the heady names of the five beers, brewed on-site, that appeared on the taproom chalkboard at Woodstock Brewing on opening day, January 5. Despite its name, the microbrewery is located just east of Phoenicia on Route 28 at the Phoenicia Plaza, which is finally filled up after a fire damaged the stores two years ago.

website: Woodstock Brewing.
Facebook page: Woodstock Brewing

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