35F at 8.30am, brilliant sunshine with scant cloud like cotton wool balls. A light, frigid breeze. A thinly spread, easily broken sheet of ice on the pond where the beaver has been beavering.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.20am
40F at 8.30am with a sky dappled with cloud, rising to 43F by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski 11.30am
© J.N. Urbanski
Today is the first day of hunting season for shotgun users and I’ve been hearing gunfire echo over the mountains for the last month in preparation. The past few weeks of hunting season have been strictly for bow users only. Over the next month or so, there’ll be a plethora of camouflaged, gun-toting neighbors creeping around in the woods that abut my property, and sitting in makeshift deer stands. My husband saw a crossbow wielding neighbor stealthily striding out of the woods last week and felt like I had dodged an arrow.
As a new country lass, the first experience I had with a hunter was when I was hiking. Rounding a corner, our group chanced upon a man; perfectly still, holding what looked like an AK-47, looking like a stocky, camo-version of Bruce Willis in Die Hard. The gun made him look at least eight feet tall. He stared. We stopped. He silently crept towards us and then passed us without so much as an excuse me. We kept calm and carried on.
© J.N. Urbanski
A mink has moved into my neighbor’s yard and my dog, desperate as always to make new friends, was a little overly zealous in his introduction. My dog almost made friends with a bold, friendly deer once, and for a few minutes they chased each other around, but I ruined it by getting in too close for a picture. That’s country life. We left the mink in peace and haven’t seen him since.
© J.N. Urbanski
A beaver has moved into the hood, specifically the woods at the end of my road, and now I realize why the term “eager beaver” came into existence because he’s highly prolific. In his new habitat, a roadside pond, he has downed nearly ten trees in the short space of a week and was spotted yesterday, clearly from the road, swimming around on his back, surveying his work. One of the trees he felled looks to be about a foot in diameter. The town excavators who were clearing out all the gulleys in the area last week may not have noticed his handy work, but it looks like the over-achieving beaver is building the Empire State Building of dams and this could be a problem for the small stream that drains through the pond. He swims late in the day when the sun has warmed the pond, so I’ll be back around 4pm to see if I can catch him.
34F at 8.30am with hazy sunshine, quickly rising to 38F by 9.30am and warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
© J.N. Urbanski
Back in August, during the Fleischmanns Art Fair, I was given a pinhole camera by Wanda at The Painter’s Gallery in Fleischmanns. Like so many other exciting projects I intend to start, it went on the back burner, but the results have been published in their website and that has given me the impetus to use the camera. It’s new home will be on a tree in the forest for the next two weeks.
45F by noon, clear skies with a light breeze. Warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
55F at raining by noon. Overcast, blustery and humid.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.30pm
43F at 8.30am, partly cloudy, sunny and breezy. 50F and cloudy by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.20am
40F by 8.30am, a layer of frost, clear and sunny with a dash of haze on the horizon. 46F by 2pm with frost lingering in the shaded areas.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.20am
45F at 8.30am with mist rolling off the mountains to reveal a hazy sunrise. Update: 55F and warm in the sun by 2pm.
© Jenny Neal 8.20am – Usage prohibited without consent
45F at 10am with brilliant sunshine and wispy layers of cloud, rising to 48F and warm in the sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm
An inch or two of overnight snow, cloudy misty and 32F at noon. Fall seems to be officially over in these parts. Nevertheless, it’s technically still Autumn until December.
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
© J.N. Urbanski
William Duke and Madonna Badger, owners of the gorgeous Willow Drey Farm in Andes, New York, are keen to make use of their beautiful barn between weddings and events. The idea is to create a space for artists to gather, collaborate, cogitate, create and exhibit in an inspirational environment. From 1pm to 4pm tomorrow, Saturday November 14th, for their first group show Wide Open Art Exhibit, the public is invited to come and view watercolors, oils, wooden sculptures and tiny scenes of glass forest sprites inside acorns (pictured below by Michael Pereira. The above chandelier was made in one night by William Duke and artist Peter Mayer (who painted the colorful, smiling Avatar below) and they’re calling it “post-apocalyptic modernism”. There’ll be watercolorist on site painting small works outside if it’s not too cold (your humble writer). Join us.
45F at noon, overcast and gloomy. Mid-afternoon rain with bone-chilling winds.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm
50F by 11am, clear and sunny. 53F by noon, with long strips of passing cloud cover and warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
44F by 1pm, cloudy and overcast. Some scattered showers that rolled in with new cloud cover and sunny periods when the cloud cover parted. Mostly sunny by the end of the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm
65F at 9.30am, gusty, cloudy and humid, rising to 70F by noon. Rain mid-afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 11am
59F at 8.30am, still and enigmatically overcast. 69F by 2pm, cloudy and still but for the occasional breeze wafting leaves to the ground.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
63F at 8.30am, clear skies with a hazy horizon. The Catskills are experiencing a welcome warm spell. 70F and clear by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 8.45am
58F at 9am with hazy sunshine through thin cloud like gauze and a light breeze. A glorious 71F and mostly clear skies by 1pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm
42F at 8am, mostly clear with fine wisps of cloud, rising to 58F by 1pm. Bright, and warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
A relatively balmy 55F by 1pm, breezy, partly cloudy but warm in the sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 3pm
45F at 11am with hazy sunshine. 46F at 3pm with a murky veil of hazy cloud casting an ethereal glow on the landscape.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.20pm
Overnight rain had stopped by morning. 42F by 11am and overcast and blustery, rising to 45F and virtually clear skies by the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 2pm
63F at 9am, humid and cloudy after continuous overnight rain that had started at 3pm yesterday. Gulleys running like waterfalls. More rain mid-morning, cloudy, windy and 58F by 1pm. Showers in the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am
© J.N. Urbanski
JN: What brought you to the Catskills?
JM: I guess a love of the forest and the outdoors. Nancy and I used to ski a lot up in Hunter and Windham, but we didn’t want to be in a ski-town, so we looked further afield. Plus, we figured that a lot of the open space here would be protected because it’s in the New York City watershed and won’t be highly developed which is what we were trying to avoid.
Where were you living before you lived in the Catskills?
We were down in Long Beach, Long Island.
I have friends there.
The reason I wound up in Long Beach first is because I was born in Brooklyn, but I was big into surfing and fishing and all that, so I found a little studio apartment in Long Beach overlooking the ocean. It was very expensive at $70 a month. [Laughs]
When was that?
A million years ago, but it was great. I was 21, or whatever, and all my buddies would be calling me and asking me if the surf was up. Plus, we would go fishing.
43F at 8.30am with overnight rain continuing into morning and sodden trees waving in the gusty winds. 50F by 3pm, with misty cloud and strong winds blowing throughout the afternoon.
© J.N. Urbanski 3.15pm
© J.N. Urbanski
It’s been another spectacular fall with vivid, fiery reds and yellows transforming to their final phase: brilliantly rusted shades of amber, bronze, tan, copper and gold. Tourism is the Catskills’ most lucrative business and it’s a given that many friends and neighbors fall out of touch over the summer, engaged in the reception and entertainment of visitors from all over the world. For those not in that business, summer was a time to fix up the homestead: new boiler, woodstove, siding and perhaps a window or two. Summer is our busiest time, and quiet moments snatched in between interminable chores and work in the glorious warmth of the lush summer season, are few and far between.
But, winter is coming… Winter is coming and it’s a chance to gather with everyone and entertain each other. It might get so cold that it freezes the balls off a brass statue, but our entertainment is just warming up. Join us for some Catskills culture as we kick off November with a week of art, literary and eclectic musical events.
Some forthcoming cultural events in the Upstate Dispatch sphere next week are as follows:
The Spillian Scribblers:
© J.N. Urbanski
It’s National Novel Writing Month in November and Upstate Dispatch is chronicling the life of the writer with guests on WIOX on alternate Mondays in November (2nd, 16th & 30th) at 9am. Furthermore, the Scribblers, a writers’ group that started last month after a myth-writing workshop run by Leigh Melander, will meet on Tuesday, November 3rd at Spillian in Fleischmanns. Convening In the majestic splendor of a historical Catskills landmark by a cozy fire, we read each other’s works aloud and offer comments over cake and booze. Spillian has a cash bar. If you are a writer and wish to join in, please email [email protected].
35F at 9.30am, with a thin layer of frost and a chilly stillness. 53F by 2pm with hazy sunshine.
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
36F at 8am with the rising sun bathing the landscape in an amber glow. Warm in the sun, rising to 50F by 2pm with cloudless skies.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.50pm
Yesterday’s late afternoon rain continued throughout the night and into the morning leaving the landscape sodden. 50F at 11.30am, cloudy and blustery.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
© J.N. Urbanski 1pm
© J.N. Urbanski 10/31/14 9am
Halloween is a treasured time at the end of summer, a time where we all get together after having been out of touch for so long, after a hectic high season in the tourist industry that sustains the Catskills. Take a ride up Route 28 and join us for these events during the forthcoming week. The Upstate Dispatch Halloween weekend will include the following:
UPDATE: An earlier version of this post included Friday night drinks at the Phoenicia Diner Lounge, but the Lounge has closed for the season. This will make the long wait for Spring even more arduous. It’s a good thing that Mike Cioffi, owner of the Phoenica Diner is working on a new bar after buying property in Woodstock. Meanwhile, we are working on a list of great bars in the vicinity of the Lounge in a new post. Watch this space for a link to the list of places to drink on Friday night. Of course, there is also our beloved Peekamoose as detailed below. Friday night drinks at Peekamoose Tap Room are everyone’s favorite way to decompress after a hard week. The bar and restaurant is further up past Phoenicia by about ten minutes on Route 28 in the town of Big Indian.
Still only 34F at 9am with serene, satine clouds over a burnished, golden landscape and blustery winds. 42F by 1pm, but pleasantly humid. Time to crank up the woodstove for the second time this month.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.30pm
A frosty 37F at 8.30am but mostly clear and warm in the rising sun. Update: 48F by 2pm and breezy, clear and sunny.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.40pm
© J.N. Urbanski 9am
56F at 8.30am, warm and cloudy with another enigmatic Catskill’s sunrise. Update: a balmy 67F by 2pm with a sprinkle of rain.
© J.N. Urbanski 9.15am
52F at 8am, with breathtaking skies ribboned with marbled cloud. 65F at 1pm and humid. A sombre dulling of the northern Catskills’ peaks.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.40pm
45F at 8am and cloudy with the breeze swirling the leaves, rising to 64F by 2pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 2.15pm
20F at 7.30am with the landscape caked in frosty snow and chilly, rising to 43F by 1pm and sunny with clear skies. Warm in the sun.
© J.N. Urbanski 8am
© J.N. Urbanski 2.20pm
35F at noon with morning snow and blustery with fast-moving clouds and periods of sunshine. A bitterly chilly day. Update: 38F and snowing by 3pm.
© J.N. Urbanski 12.50pm
38F at 10.30am and a flurry of sleet. Windy with furious clouds and a dash of sun. Update: 50F by mid-afternoon and a bit nippy.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.30am
© Peg DiBenedetto Self-Portrait
JN: How long have you lived in the Catskills?
PD: I was born in Margaretville, so I’m a lifelong resident except for five years that Michael and I – the year after I got married, I was very young – we moved to Texas. We lived there for five years so we could finish school for basically free. Then came back and started raising our family here in the Catskills. So we moved back to my Dad’s farm and he gave a piece of it to each sibling.
Nice.
So my children grew up climbing on the same stone walls that I grew up climbing on and also my grandchildren are [doing that] as well. My brother and I used to bring the cows from the barn down the road up here to this field and then take them back again at the end of the day to be milked.
48F by 8.30am and cloudy rising to 52F.
68F at 9am with a thin streaks of cloud stretched taught across the sky, rising to 72F by noon. Cloud moved in mid-afternoon with some rain.
© J.N. Urbanski 10am
© J.N. Urbanski
JN: How long have you lived in the Catskills?
BH: I was actually born here and then I moved away for college. I lived in New York City for a while and Boston for a while. I came back here and practiced law for a bit and then moved to the Finger Lakes area when our first child was born. I lived in Dutchess County for a while and came back about four years ago, right after Hurricane Irene.
So you like to travel?
No, I actually don’t like to travel, but my first wife was a navy brat and she did like to travel, so we did.
I was having a conversation with somebody else about that, about how young people are moving away and how we can keep young people in the region.
And that’s been an issue ever since I went to school here. I can remember the Rotary Club had about eight of us come down from my class in 1976 and asking us what would it take for [us] to come back here, but in being 18 years old, we didn’t really have an answer at the time.
60F by 8.30am, with clear skies rising to 74F by 2pm. A gorgeous fall day for apple picking and pressing.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.45pm
Another gorgeous, breezy fall day: 62F, cloudless skies and very warm in the sun by noon.
© J.N. Urbanski Noon
50F by mid-morning and sunny with wispy clouds, only rising to 54F by 2pm but warm in the sun. A glorious day.
© J.N. Urbanski 1.15pm
58F at 9.30am, gloomy and overcast, with overnight rain having made the landscape soggy and wet and showers continuing into the morning. A day only enlivened by the multi-colored confetti been strewn around in the breeze.
© J.N. Urbanski 10.50am
© J.N. Urbanski The view south from Black Dome Mountain
Climbing Blackhead Mountain is like driving to New York City via the Tappanzee Bridge for the first time. By the time you’re more than halfway there it has become ridiculously difficult and you’re suddenly slightly afraid. You’ve got vertigo and you want to turn back, but you’re on a mission and survival is obligatory. The worst part about climbing Blackhead is the realization that, once you get to the top, if you want to be part of the Catskill 3500 Club, you have to return and repeat the experience in the winter. Four peaks are required hiking between December 21st and March 21st for entry into the club – Blackhead, Slide, Panther and Balsam – and Blackhead will require crampons, snowshoes and an ice pick – or all three. I already have a superb set of crampons from Hillsound, which I will be testing out on all four peaks.
