Hi Friends,
The autumn equinox has happened and the leaves have just started to turn, which means we have about 45 minutes of peace before the Hudson Valley Pumpkin Picking-Leaf Peeping-Pocalypse descends. On the up side, the Farmer’s Almanac says it’s going to be a great foliage year. However, this el Nino situation is threatening to rip said foliage off the trees and right into our gutters. Clean them shits now before you get ice dams! High winds also mean downed trees and power lines, so best that we also start making sacrifices to Satan Central Hudson to keep the power on. Oh, to be a local.
Do any arborists, gutter cleaners, snow plowers or covens want to sponsor the newsletter? Hit reply! Not kidding!
Continuing on the theme of frightening weather - It’s maybe more than a coincidence that this is both New York Climate Week and Hudson Valley Slow Fashion Week. Both stimulate needed conversations about the reality of climate change and unbridled consumption. As an event planner and former community organizer, I respect the intent and effort behind both. (God, I’m doing the thing. I’ll stop.). But as those two things, and also as a normie and not tech billionaire, these events leave behind the familiar, paralyzing feeling that we are individually responsible for saving the world - yet our choices don’t matter. Not to mention, our choices seem to be either buying an $80,000 Rivian charged by a $5 million passive solar house or to disavow all plastics and live in a yurt.
Makers & Lovers attempts to offer a third way: pleasure activism. What if we could satisfy our own needs - for friends, for indulgence, for fun - while also moving forward together? It feels really good to eat delicious food, be on a first name basis at your corner bar, and pick up a little treat at your favorite shoppy shop. I’m here to tell you that as much as these things feel good, they also do good. They are the tiny actions that create economically stable, socially interdependent communities - and that’s where the really good stuff gets going. If you’re into that, please join us for cocktails tonight.
The Town of Ulster is taking public comment on the Zena Highwoods subdivision, Oct 13 at 7pm at Town Hall in Lake Katrine. Zoe Keller and Stop Zena Development want every seat filled, so go say your piece for the vernal pools.
The Hudson Observer is paying local writers (a small stipend, but still) for poems, short fiction and play excerpts for its November and December issues. Get yours in by Oct 15.
Harana Market is running four more weeks of preorders through late October, which means you can claim an entire party tray of tofu sisig. Pickups are Fridays 4 to 8 and Saturdays 11:30 to 3:30. Yes, this means you could pick up a hot meal on Friday night and take it to The Catskills Cocktail Club down the road, which would be the most baller IYKYK move.
Is Rosendale the vintage capital of the Hudson Valley now? The soft opening of Mid Hudson Vintage at 430 Main Street is Saturday and Sunday, 12 to 6, with wine and beer. Stop by Clubhouse Vintage and Soiled Dove while you’re at it.
Thursday, September 24