S'No Fair!!

In the past month we have had some amazing spring/summer weather. So I didn't think I would have to write about snow falling in the valley again this season......but I was wrong! Although it seems to be melting fast, we got about 2 inches overnight. Just enough to pull all of my daffodils over and bury them. Ugh!! I wait all year for them to come! And they were just about to hit their peak. But now I am not sure the biggest of them will stand up again. The same thing happened last year (minus the nice weather in between) and it pretty much stopped the show. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.

Getting Here From There

I use my smartphone for many things but just last weekend I realized that I would have to add "stand-up comedy" to the list of services it was capable of providing.

I had gone to a friend's birthday party down in Yonkers and although I was fairly sure I could navigate out of his neighborhood onto the Saw Mill Parkway, I thought I would use the GPS in my phone just to be sure. Since it is always dangerous to try to type and/or text while driving, I put the phone on my dashboard and used the voice recognition feature to enter my destination. I hit the button to speak and clearly stated, Phoenicia, NY.

A message came back to me "DID YOU MEAN SHIMMY SHACK, NY?" LOL!!! Is there really a "Shimmy Shack, NY"? If there is I think I might just have to move there. In my imagination living in any place named Shimmy Shack requires wearing a fringe dress everyday and playing a lot of stripper music. But I probably wouldn't get a lot done so maybe I should just go home to Phoenicia.

Anyway, I laughed for quite a while before I was able to pull myself together and hit the voice entry feature again. This time I enunciated very distinctly "PHOE-NI-CIA, NEW YORK". Another message came back saying "DID YOU MEAN SODDY S#%T, NY?" (since this is a family site I replaced some of the letters in the second word but I am sure you all know what I mean). Well, that was just too much for me! I had to pull over!! I laughed until I cried. And deep down I had to admit that "Soddy S#%t" might be somewhere close to Phoenicia.

Then I realized that the voice recognition software is an excellent way to entertain yourself but if I wanted to get home sometime that day I would have to figure out something it would understand. So I hit the button a third time and said Woodstock. I felt this was a bit of a cop out on my part but I made it back to my house just fine. But next time I need a laugh I am just going take out my cellphone and see how many other interesting ways this device can interpret Phoenicia. Hey, it's cheaper than a comedy club.

The Weather Is Blooming Crazy

The weather in the valley has been crazy in the last few weeks. First it was cold, then unseasonably warm (hitting 80 degrees a couple of days in a row) and now it is back to being cold again (in the 20s last night). Many of the trees and flowers are blooming early. My daffodils will probably peak about 2 weeks before they did last year. The forsythia is in full bloom this week and looks gorgeous. I was nervous last night because I thought that the cold might kill all the beautiful blooms. But, although the daffodils were a tiny bit worse for the wear, there didn't seem to be any major harm done. The temperatures are supposed to warm back up slowly and get back to normal spring time levels by the end of the week. That would be a good thing indeed.

Who was Ray Smith?

I received the announcement below from WCA member Mike O'Neil. He is very involved with the angling collection at the library as well as being Troutmeister and piscatorial Grand Pooh Bah of Woodland Valley. Since there are so many fishermen here in the valley I thought some of you might want to plan on attending. Read on:

The life of hometown flyfishing hero, Ray Smith will be celebrated at the Phoenicia Library on Saturday, March 31, 2012 from 11-1. Friends and family members of Ray Smith who passed away in 1975 will share their stories of this avid dry fly fisher in the second floor room of the Jerry Bartlett Memorial Angling Collection. Ray was a licensed guide who was very well known in the Esopus Valley, both for his fishing and fly tying expertise. This informal remembrance of his life appropriately takes place on the eve of the 2012 trout fishing season which begins opens April 1. The library is located at 9 Ava Maria Drive opposite the Phoenicia post office.

The Angling Collection was established in 1995 in memory of local angler, guide and conservationist, Jerry Bartlett and his contribution to the cold water fishery of the Esopus. Although the fire at the Phoenicia Library destroyed more than 800 books, some artifacts have been restored and the Library is rebuilding the collection of books through donations. The lend-a-rod program is available to anyone with a mid-Hudson library card. Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program provided support for this event. For more information see http://phoenicia.lib.ny.us/.

Rick Altman Trio This Sunday in Woodstock

For those looking for a way to spend a relaxing Sunday evening, The Rick Altman Trio will be playing in Woodstock at Harmony Music. Check him out if you have the chance!

Great jazz at Harmony Music in Woodstock
with The Rick Altman Trio
jazz classics and original compositions with vibes, bass and drums
Sunday, March 25th, 8-11pm
Donation
Harmony, 52 Mill Hill Rd., Woodstock

http://www.rickaltman.com/

Spring is Busting Out All Over!

Due to the strangely warm temperatures here in the northeast, both the daffodils on my hillside (see above) and the coltsfoot along the side of road (see below) have started to bloom in the valley. They are both about 2 weeks early! Temperatures have been in the 60s and 70s for most of the week. We reached a high in the low 80s yesterday. Very odd.....but I must admit, it is very enjoyable!

Eugene Ruffolo on the West Coast

For any of you who find yourselves on the west coast in the next few days WCA member Eugene Ruffolo will be performing at several venues over this coming weekend. The details are below. Check him out if you are in the neighborhood!

MARCH 24 'Words and Music" Vaughn, Washington http://www.watermarkwriters.com/

MARCH 26 SoHo-Santa Barbara, California http://www.sohosb.com/ (with Doug Ingoldsby and Jenai Huff opening the show)

March 29 Zoe's Ventura , California http://www.zoeyscafe.com/ (with Doug Ingoldsby and Jenai Huff opening the show)

Sloan Wainwright at the ESRM

WCA member and ESRM President Dakin Morehouse will be on hand to host the Flying Cat Music Series as it launches it's 2012 season. Sloan Wainwright will open the series this Sunday night at the museum on Lower High Street right here in Phoenicia. Here are the details:

Flying Cat Music Presents
Sloan Wainwright in Concert

Sunday, March 25
7:30 p.m. (sharp), door at 7:00
Empire State Railway Museum
70 Lower High Street, Phoenicia

Admission $18 or $15 w/RSVP
to flyingcatmusic@gmail.com

For information email as above
or call 845-688-9453

Links for music and artist information:
http://www.myspace.com/sloanwainwright
http://sloanwainwright.com/

Power Outage Today in the Valley

Starting about 9:00 am there was a fairly brief power outage here in Woodland Valley. I am not sure how much of the valley was knocked out. I had to leave about 10:00 am and still didn't have power by then. I saw some neighbors who live on Fawn Hill Road on my way to town and they said they had never lost power. I called my phone machine at 11:45 am and it was back again. I am not exactly sure when it came back on. I never did figure out why we lost it in the first place. But all's well that ends well. Just thought you should all know.

Phoenicia Library Rises From the Ashes

Yesterday, the board of directors of the Phoenicia Library broke ground at 48 Main. Kurt Boyer, chairman of the board, wrote that the event was "signifying the beginning of the rebuild of our beloved library". Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the fire.

The Wolf Family Visits Bali

Last month WCA members Leonard Leivitan and Sylvia, James, Lam, and little Maya Wolf all took a trip together to visit the beautiful island of Bali. Here are some great photos that they sent back to share. Looks like everyone had an awesome time!!

Electronic Recycling

I don't know about the rest of you but I like to recycle everything I possibly can. But last fall I was having a hard time finding a place that would accept my old (non-flat screen) television. Finally I found Cheryl Schneider of Mac Works who does recycling events periodically in Kingston. I took the television to the event and it was no problem. They accepted it and hopefully now someone else is using it or at least the parts have been repurposed. Cheryl and Mac Works are sponsoring another event coming up in 2 weeks. Here is the information I received yesterday in an email. There is one day for business recycling and one day for residential. If any of you have old electronics you need to get rid of this would be the perfect opportunity! REUSE, REDUCE, RECYCLE!!!!!!

It's Time to Recycle Your Business and Residential Electronics for FREE!

FREE Business Electronics Collection Friday, March 30, 2012. 12-4, Kingston. Registration required.

FREE Residential Electronics Collection Saturday, March 31, 2012, 9-1, Kingston. Just show up.

Just in time for Spring Cleaning! Flyer with all the details at www.themacworks.com/recycle.pdf

Sponsored by The Mac Works (a woman-owned business) and Ulster County Region Chamber of Commerce.

Plant Hardiness Zone Map

The US Department of Agriculture has recently updated it's plant hardiness zone map and put it online. This is the first interactive map from that agency. It reflects the newest data on the warming trends in our country. I thought that the gardeners among you might be interested to see this. Many of the zones are now 1/2 to 1 zone warmer. People in those zones can rethink the kinds of plants that can be grown in those places. It is all very interesting.

The map also lets you zoom into your state and county to see more precisely how the zones break out over a geographical region. So if you are a gardener or grower you can use this to get a better idea of how warming weather is affecting your specific area. Check it out!

Click the link below to get to the map.

Plant Hardiness Zone Map

More Poetry For Trudy

After I posted the first poem in honor of Trudi Miller I got another message from WCA member and Roxmor resident Mike O'Neil. Here is what Mike had to say:

"I thought highly of Mr Wetterau's poem for Trudi. It made me want to share this poem I wrote about her too."


Trudi's Elixir

It was good, towards the end,
That I could do something to help Trudi,
that dear woman, my friend since childhood.

Besides the breathing, and the moving,
Eating had become a troublesome thing.
"I seem to have a house full of bad food," she said.
The visiting cook from the hospice
tried tempting her with chicken pot pies
and other culinary dainties
and failed.

I showed up at her kitchen door with a pot full
of her favorite summer soup.
Vichyssoise—that agreeable pureed emulsion
of fresh chicken broth, new dug potatoes,
blanched heart of leek, cream and butter,
With floating snippets of bright garden chives.
Good for what ails you.

And for a time she consumed it
to the exclusion of all else.
She ate it morning, noon, and night—
Begrudging her husband even the smallest sip
of that summertime elixir.
For a time, but only for a time.

Mike O'Neil
October 3, 2003

Remembering Trudi Miller

I wish I had known Trudi Miller (daughter of Paul and Alice Miller). So many people in the valley have told me that she was a fantastic person. And many of the men I have met who knew her have told me they had a crush on her. She must have been very special to inspire all that ardor.

Recently I got an email from a man named John Moncure Wetterau. He had come upon the blog by accident and found many things that stirred his happy memories. He wrote the poem below for Trudi after her death in 2003 and wanted to share it with us. She was his first love.


Trudi 1941-2003

Across the stream,
trees, gradual climb
to the ridge,
snack at the lean-to,
steeper scramble,
smell of balsam,
thin clear air,
the Ashokan
blue below,
behind:
green valley after valley,
your ashes, you—
the long sweet silence
of the mountains,
summer and winter.

It's Time for Phoenicia!!

Here is a great new video pep rally from the Phoenicia School in preparation for the district dodgeball game. This video makes me laugh and dance in my seat!! Phoencia Rocks!!!!!!

Local News and Weather

I have been so busy these last few weeks that I haven't had too much time to catch you up on local news. So I thought that this morning in addition to the weather I would give you all the 411 on the major town events.

- The Onteora School Board voted recently for the "bookend" plan for the Woodstock, Phoenicia and Bennett Schools. Phoenicia and Woodstock will teach grades K-3 while Bennett School will house grades 4-6. This was apparently the only plan on the table that would keep all three elementary schools in the area open. There were 2 other plans proposed but both of them called for the closing of the Phoenicia School. The vote was 6-1 by the board in favor of the "bookend" approach.

- The Shandaken Town Board approved the Farm Stand Law at a special meeting held recently. The vote was 4-0 in favor of the new law, Alfie Higley did not attend the meeting. If you would like to read a more in-depth article regarding the passage of this law you can go to Kingston Daily Freeman - Shandaken board OKs new law regarding farm stands.

- If you have a Verizon Wi-Fi Network Extender at you home please contact the Shandaken Ambulance with this life saving information!!! The ambulance service would like to compile a confidential list of locations where paramedics can transmit cardiac info to receiving hospitals – while in transit with patients. This can be done by momentarily stopping in front of a business or home and connecting to the extender from the cardiac monitor while still in the ambulance.
Please call or email the Shandaken Ambulance Service if you have an extender.
688-7188 – email: car78@shandakenambulance.org

- On the weather front, it is GORGEOUS in the valley today!! Temps are in the mid-60s and it is sunny. The snow is melting quickly with the warmer temps. We are expecting rain later on today but the nice weather is great while it lasts. If you are coming for the weekend be careful of left over icy spots on the shady portions of some properties. Some folks have patches of ice and snow left that can send you flying if you are not paying attention.

Weather Over The Weekend

I thought I would post a little weather update for those of you who were not in the valley over the weekend. We have had some minor snow showers on and off over the past few days but it never amounted to much. The temperatures have been going up and down significantly. Last night was in the low 20's but today is in the high 30s. It is a bright sunny day here in the valley.

The forecast going forward into the week is calling for temperatures in the 50s and 60s. The snow from last week has continued to melt and, if the weather channel is right about the temps, might be gone by the end of this week. As usual we will just have to wait and see.

"The Woods" In Brooklyn

Coming back to the East Coast for a limited one-week engagement, THE WOODS (WCA member Max Nova is executive producer) opened Friday March 2nd and will be running through this Thursday March 8th at the Rerun Gastropub Theater at 147 Front Street, Brooklyn. Check out the website below for exact dates and times.

Anyone finding themselves in Brooklyn this week might want to check this out!

THE WOODS DO DUMBO

Free Computer Classes in Phoenicia

For all those in the valley who are looking to bone up on their computer skills, The Town of Shandaken, The Phoenicia Rotary and the Phoenicia School are sponsoring free computer classes in the Phoenicia School. Everyone is welcome. Let them know what you would like to learn and they will try and address your needs. Here are the details:

FREE Computer Classes for Adults. Sponsored by Town of Shandaken, Phoenicia Rotary & Phoenicia School.
Schedule: Wednesday evenings 5:30 – 7pm. At Phoenicia School.
April 11, 18, 25 – May 5, 9, 16, 23, 30 – June 6, 13,
Call Town Clerks Office for info or to sign up: 688-5004

That's Ah Moray

Tommy Healy sent me a photo and couple of links to videos he shot on a recent diving trip to Florida. The videos are really beautiful. The first is of a wreck dive on the "lady go diver" dive boat. They explored the wreck of the Sea Empress. That boat is a flat bottomed pipe barge that lies in 70 feet of water a mile off Boca Raton Inlet. Tommy said that the ship reminded him of an under water aircraft carrier. There is a moray eel in one of the videos. Yipes!! Cool looking but a little scary!! Thanks for sending us your videos and photo Tommy. When I can't be diving myself I love to see where other people have gone.