fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

A connection to earth

by Susan Slotnick
March 6, 2020
in Columns
0
Susan Slotnick

“I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet”

— Conventional wisdom

 

“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”

— Mel Brooks, comedian

 

“Eat your vegetables. Children are starving in Europe.”

— My mother (sometime in the year 1952)

 

From mild inconveniences to serious property damage, we all experienced loss as a result of Hurricane Irene and the remnants of Lee. It’s upsetting to drive past the Flats on the way out of town and see only brown and grey mud instead of cornfields and flowers.

I got off easy. Although I started to prepare for the power outage two days before the event, it never happened. I did take a large garbage bag, filled it with water, froze it and put it in the refrigerator. “This is pretty clever of me,” I thought. I was looking forward to seeing how many days it would take to melt.

In the aftermath, like most people, I endured annoying detours lengthening the time it took to get anywhere. More money was spent on gas than would have been necessary to get from place to place. Worst for me, was that I lost the remainder of this season’s distribution of organic produce from the CSA. I joined last year in great anticipation of providing for my loved ones’ healthful local produce all the way up until Thanksgiving.

Every time I open my refrigerator to make a salad I feel really sad. I keep telling myself that this loss pales in comparison with the deprivation that other people are experiencing all over Ulster County. I think about the “shoes and the feet” wisdom saying and I am appalled that those words only diminish my pain for a few fleeting moments.

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Tags: members
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Susan Slotnick

Susan Slotnick graduated from SUNY New Paltz in 1969. She has been a featured columnist for over 40 years. Her long career has been as a painter, choreographer, teacher and recently she published a memoir entitled Flight: The Dance of Freedom. She is most well known for choreographing full-scale dance concerts for men in prison, which has produced two documentaries, awards and national articles. 

Related Posts

This week’s total eclipse
Columns

Science from your car

July 8, 2025
Blue: Your favorite color
Columns

Blue: Your favorite color

June 24, 2025
How we see each other and ourselves
Columns

How we see each other and ourselves

June 16, 2025
Suddenly summer
Columns

Suddenly summer

June 11, 2025
Outer space clickbait
Columns

Outer space clickbait

June 11, 2025
What the newspapers said 100 years ago
Columns

What the newspapers said 100 years ago

June 2, 2025
Next Post

Band aid

Weather

Kingston, NY
73°
Mostly Cloudy
5:31 am8:32 pm EDT
Feels like: 73°F
Wind: 6mph S
Humidity: 84%
Pressure: 30.06"Hg
UV index: 0
MonTueWed
84°F / 70°F
91°F / 70°F
91°F / 73°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

×
We've expanded coverage and need your support. Subscribe now for unlimited access -- free article(s) remain for the month.
View Subscription Offers Sign In
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing