Walking is primal. Our bodies can crave that motion. Our thoughts sway inside the boat of ourselves as we set sail on a path or road or trail. Sometimes we walk without thinking, and at other times we walk to think. As we move our muscles, however fast or slow, however buoyant or tired, there is this sense of freedom, of becoming unburdened from stasis, of allowing our minds to unravel along whatever ribbons unfold beneath our feet.
Looking for a new exercise to tone and strengthen your core? To improve your posture and flexibility? A low-impact exercise you can do at home or in a class? Something to lessen back and neck pain after long hours at the computer? Have you considered Pilates? There are several Pilates studios in Ulster County, and you can also try Pilates virtually, on a mat at home. Or take private or semi-private Pilates lessons on equipment like a reformer, designed to provide resistance and guide your movements.
Two major regional hospital systems in the mid-Hudson area, WMCHealth and Nuvance Health, have recently launched extensive post-Covid recovery programs, with over a thousand local patients between them. WMC started its formal program a year ago, Nuvance its program this past springtime.
Our towns run on volunteers. They serve on boards and commissions, arts organizations, food pantries and soup kitchens, historical societies, emergency departments, environmental organizations, and many more groups that residents rely on but can’t afford to support financially. All those volunteers must get something out it, or they wouldn’t keep serving the community.
The Mill Brook Preserve was a long time coming, and its establishment required tenacious-yet-delicate negotiations with major landowners and developers on all sides of it. Members of both the Town and Village’s environmental and open space committees fought to keep a tract of land that would protect Tributary 13, the existing watersheds and biodiversity, and preserve the core part of these woods that had served the public unofficially for generations.
According to The Open Space Institute’s Bob Anderberg and Peter Karis, sprucing up the southern section of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail, whose more northerly components already owe a great deal to OSI’s intervention. In 2009, OSI acquired 11.5 miles of the rail trail between New Paltz and Kingston, including the Rondout Trestle in Rosendale, for whose rehabilitation it raised $1.1 million.
Disagreements over what meets the threshold of clearcutting and other recent violations of the Woodstock Scenic Overlay District prompted a scheduled a discussion of the regulations by the Woodstock Planning Board.
Lurking all year in the reservoir’s cool depths, Ashokan brown trout grow to legendary size. It is not unusual to see fading photos of five and ten pounders on the shop walls of mechanics, butchers, and hardware merchants in the towns surrounding the reservoir.
A compilation of events taking place in the Hudson Valley throughout the month of October.
You had the weekend all planned out, taking advantage of the crisp fall weather to enjoy cavorting outdoors among the brilliant leaf colors — but it’s raining. Don’t despair. The Hudson Valley, known for the beauties of its landscape, has indoor delights to offer as well. Many of them are related to history, art, and the printed word.