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.”

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.

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:

No water shortage here, thanks to an atmospheric river

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

 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.