Snapping turtle

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A couple of hundred yards from out house is a small dirt road called “Roaring Brook Lane”. It parallels a brook and goes over a small bridge to a dock by the lake. While walking the dog we decided (actually he decided – I merely followed) to go down to the dock. We haven’t had much rain of late and the brook was hardly “roaring”. In fact it was completely dry. As we walked down I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye and decided to “check it out”. It turned out to be a large (I’d guess almost 2ft long) snapping turtle dragging itself out of the dry water course.

I understand from my reading that they rarely leave the water unless they are planning to lay eggs, and that the egg laying season is from April through November. This picture was taken in mid-October so I imagine that the turtle was looking for a spot to lay its eggs.

From its appearance it’s a common snapping turtle rather than an alligator snapping turtle, which I believe is found farther south in the US.

Whichever it was I stayed well away from it and quickly left. I didn’t want to disturb its egg laying and I’d also heard that such creatures can deliver a nasty bite.

Hudson Valley View 2

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This is another in a series of pictures I took in August, 2012. I posted the first one in September, 2014 (see Hudson Valley View).

It was taken early one morning just a few steps away from our house. I like the delicate colors. Normally I don’t like it when people say that one of my pictures “looks just like a painting”. However, in this case I think it does – maybe a bit like something from the Hudson River School.

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX-3. At the time I judged this picture to be too dark and contrasty so I just left it. However, I periodically review my old pictures with the view to deleting some of them. During this process I often come across pictures, which seem to have some potential. This is one of them. Since I took it in 2012 my post-production skills have improved greatly and I could see possibilities, which were not apparent to me when I took it.

Rock cairn

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Taken at one of the beaches on our lake. One of the interesting things about this cairn is that it wasn’t always there. In fact even though I visit this beach every few days while walking the dog I’ve never seen it before. At first I thought that maybe I’d missed it, but I have some other pictures taken from a similar viewpoint and it’s definitely not there. I can only assume that someone has recently piled up these rocks.

It was a windy day and I liked the way that the water was rushing around the rocks.

Dracula on Hudson?

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Visible from Route 9d in Garrison, NY this spectacular building is perched 620 feet above the Hudson. When passing with visiting friends, I’ve commented that this will be my next house.

Actually, it’s Castle Rock, the former home of William Osborn. According to the Huffington Post:

Built in 1881, Castle Rock was the estate of Illinois Central Railroad president William Osborn, who also owned hundreds of acres of land surrounding property. Since Osborn’s death in 1894, Castle Rock has passed down through numerous Osborn generations and is still privately owned by the family. Rumors abound that the castle was writer Frank Baum’s inspiration for the castle in the Wizard of Oz (Castle OSborn?).

Castle Rock was deemed a National Landmark in 1977. Most of the surrounding woodland was donated to the State Parks Council and is now open to the public.

The author of the Huffington Post article was allowed, by the owners, to visit the property and the article provides a number of interesting pictures. The views from the house are particularly striking.

I’ve always been attracted to the building and seeing it here with the trees in all their fall glory all the more so.

Philipstown Depot Theatre

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We recently went to the Philipstown Depot Theatre, which is housed in the former Garrison railway station.

The i Ride the Harlem Line site describes the station as follows:

If you’re looking for attractive views along the Hudson, Garrison might be the station for you. Garrison station is located along the waterfront, and from there are lovely views of West Point on the river’s opposite bank. Due to the proximity to West Point you may think that the name derives from some military installation, however the name is a reference to the Garrison family. The first Garrisons arrived in the area in 1786, but it wasn’t until 1803 that Harry Garrison purchased waterfront property that the area became known as Garrison’s Landing. The name caught on, largely because of the ferry to West Point, established by the Garrisons in 1829. When the railroad arrived, and a station established, the name became permanent – though over the years it has morphed from “Garrison’s” to just “Garrison.”

Today’s train station is located just shy of 50 miles from Grand Central, in the un-electrified territory of the Hudson Line. The old stone station, just north of Metro-North’s station, still stands and is in use by the Philipstown Depot Theatre. Completed in 1893, the station was built by William H. LaDue, who was also responsible for the construction of several other stations in the area. Right next to the old station is the entrance to a tunnel leading under the tracks, built in 1929. The newer platform, used by Metro-North, consists of two side platforms, connected by an overpass. Thus Garrison is one of very few Metro-North stations to have both a tunnel and an overpass.

In railroad lore, Garrison may unfortunately be remembered for the terrible train crash that occurred on October 24, 1897. A nine-car train, containing six sleeper cars, left Albany at 3:43 AM and derailed just south of Garrison station at around 5:46 AM. The engine and several train cars were thrown into the river, and eighteen of the nineteen people that perished drowned in the Hudson. Among the casualties was the engineer, at 35-year veteran of the New York Central, and the fireman, who had been working for the railroad for seven years.

Source: Tuesday Tour of the Hudson Line: Garrison.

I’ve been to this building before, and have always assumed that because of its size (it’s quite small) it was only the ticket office and that the theater was located elsewhere. That’s not the case, however as we discovered when we went to see our friend Paul (see Paul and Family and 
Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore’) direct, and perform in, a one act play – one of a number featuring in a local competition. We discovered an 80 seat theatre and a small refreshments area in this small building. We enjoyed the performances and Paul’s play was one of three chosen to go through to the next phase of the competition.