A Chilly Start To September

Welcome to September 1 and morning temperatures in the 40s for us up here in the hills of northern Columbia County. I sure am glad I risked electrocuting myself by installing a ceiling fan in the bedroom two weeks ago. Oh well, I guess I can always repurpose the fan blades as fire wood.

Here’s my calender for September,

Even the calender looks cold

The Crandell Theater

I’ve always been a huge fan of going to the movies, which means leaving my home and traveling to a movie theater to watch a movie as apposed to renting/buying the movie and watching it at home. During high school and college going to the movies was almost a weekly treat but then, shortly after graduating, I moved to the big city–Jersey City–and eventually over the bridge into NYC.

While living there, going to the movies became an ordeal and unless I went in the middle of the week during an obscure time, the theater would be packed with obnoxious, loud assholes who seemed to be under the impression that they were watching the film in their own living rooms, where taking a phone call or having an outdoor-voice conversation with the person next to them was completely acceptable. City crowds ruined the movie experience for me and I rarely went unless I had a few stiff drinks in me first.

Now I live in the bucolic setting of Upstate New York and going to the movies is like traveling back in time thanks to The Crandell Theatre in Chatham.

The Crandell was built in 1926 by Walter S. Crandell, as a vaudeville house, and not much has changed since then. The stage has been replaced with a screen but they still have one of those soda vending machines where the cup drops into an opening and then fills up with the beverage of your choice. There’s one large screen and all the movies are just five bucks!

I saw the new GI Joe flick at the Crandell on Wednesday and I’m pretty sure I saw a girl in a poodle skirt necking with greaser in the balcony. If you ever have the chance to see a movie here, I highly recommend it.

Here is a lovely little film, made by a local film maker, all about the Crandell. Enjoy!

Columbia County Under Water

Last week’s storms were the craziest thing I have ever seen. Here are a few pictures I took during the storm and the day after.

This is usually a quiet, slowly trickling stream in our woods. There used to be a mess of fallen trees across the stream that we used as a bridge. The water took that mess away.

Another shot of our babbling brook during the storm

The water filled up our basement window well and began pouring in until we got outside with buckets and shovels. In this picture, a family of frogs outside in the basement well are trying to stay above the water level

The campground at Lebanon Valley Speedway

More from the campground

How did the storms affect you?

Notice of Public Hearing for the Town of New Lebanon

For more information: Click anywhere on the red text above or visit www.townofnewlebanon.com

The NY Senate

It must be nice to have a job where you can ignore your work for more than two weeks, then still take your summer vacation without repercussion.