what about the plastic animals?

Cashdollar

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was compelled to stop at a cemetery in Saugerties.  The reason I had to stop was to take a picture of the Cashdollar headstone.  Cashdollar!  Who would have guessed such a surname existed.  A little googling uncovers that Cindy Cashdollar is a well-regarded steel guitar and dobro player who happed to grow up in Woodstock, which is only about ten miles from Saugerties.

Cemetery Quiz

Quiz time!  There are at least two interesting things to notice on the headstones of John and Gerritude (Gerritile?  I can't tell with that crack running through her name) Ten Broeck, what are they?  Answers after the jump.

I got off the Thruway in Saugerties on Sunday thinking I could quickly find an ice cream shop.  That didn't work out too well.  For a reason to be revealed later I had to stop at this cemetery on the south side of town.

Quiz answers and close-up photos below.

Red Art, Blue Sky

Seen at the Storm King Art Center on a beautiful November Saturday last fall.

In the Moodna for a Viaduct

Let's wander into the Hudson Valley.  The Moodna Viaduct was built a little over a century ago by the Erie and Jersey Railroad Line.  It's the longest (3200 feet) and highest (193 feet at the highest point) railroad viaduct east of the Mississippi. 

As the name of that railroad implies, this is how you would have gone from Hoboken to Buffalo in the early 20th century.  That route closed down ages ago but there are still commuters who make the long trek between Port Jervis and Hoboken every day.

Part of the Port Jervis Line was wrecked by Hurricane Irene so no trains were passing overhead when I was there.  The line has been repaired and brought back into service so maybe I need to make a return visit.

I couldn't fit the big panoramic photo above so here you go.

Missing Felon

This photo is a couple month's old so there's a chance that Felon's been captured and reunited with his younger sister, Miss Demeanor.

Miles 12 and 48 On the Albany Post Road

Near the tip of Manhattan, on Broadway between 211th and 212th Streets, you'll notice a lone red sandstone rock among the Manhattan Schist that makes up the wall at Isham Park.  That red rock is a milestone letting travelers know that they were twelve miles from City Hall on the Albany Post Road. 

The milestone has been here (okay maybe it was at 203rd street for a while) since the mid-1700s.  It's placement was supervised by Ben Franklin, who later went on to found a chain of craft stores. 

The writing has worn off only in the last century.  In 1905 C. G. Hines wrote in The New York and Albany Post Road:  "there still exists on Manhattan Island a stone imbedded in a bordering wall along Broadway, and in about its proper place, in the neighborhood of Two Hundred and Fifteenth Street, which reads '12 miles from N. York.'"

There's a whole bunch of milestones along the road in Westchester County.  I happened upon the marker for mile 48 when in Peekskill a couple of months ago.  As you can see that marker was enthusiatically, if not competently, restored by the DAR in 1908.

All Over the Place

Ack!  I think I've bit off more than I can chew.  I'm a bit overwhelmed by the places I've been to and the photos I've taken over the past few months.  There's the trip to Washington and Oregon, a daytrip in the Hudson Valley, an upstate New York trip, and this past weekend's trip to Missouri and Illinois.  There's also photos from several bike rides around town and my sister's visit.  While this is hardly one of life's bigger problems, I am perplexed as to how to put all these photos online in a timely fashion.  As long as I don't eat more of those horseshoe sandwiches (thanks, Marie) I should live long enough to get through them all.

You Are Beautiful

Electric Windows.  On the windows of the old electric blanket factory in Beacon.

Calder Red

Close-up of Alexander Calder's Five Swords at Storm King.

Storm King Art Center

Five Swords, Alexander Calder

Mozart's Birthday, Mark Di Suvero

Endless Column, Tal Streeter

Storm King Wavefield, Maya Lin

While in the neighborhood on Saturday I also paid a visit to the Storm King Art Center.  I especially wanted to see the new Maya Lin sculpture that opened to the public earlier this year.  The late-afternoon autumn light did not disappoint.

Some readers may be familiar with Di Suvero's Old Glory (aka Special K) sculpture in the Willa Cather Native Weed Garden at the University of Nebraska.