A belated thanks to Lance Armstrong

During the week, I pretty much ride a desk chair and word processor. I've never met Lance Armstrong. I've only seen him on TV and read about him in magazines and newspapers. And I certainly wouldn’t put myself anywhere near him when it comes to achievements on a bike. But I do want to thank him for making biking more visible and acceptable, and a whole lot safer for everyone who rides. Especially a quasi-consistent rider like me who puts in a few hours in on weekends, and any decent-weather weekdays I can manage.

Somewhere around Armstrong’s second or third Tour win, I began to feel a change in the air. And on the road. That was the time he began turning a thin-looking, athletically and culturally challenged European sport into a tolerable endeavor.

Up until then, most motoring folks didn’t seem to care that much about a cyclist's safety or well-being. And many of them -- some obliviously, others by design -- let me know how little I mattered by turning fast rights and last-possible-second lefts in front of me, or dusting past my 160-pound frame and 30-pound bike a little too closely. A guy in a plumbing supply truck once let me know my place on the road's food chain by slowing down long enough to dump fast-food leftovers on me, while others found time to voice their moral objection to men wearing lycra bike shorts in public. My favorite was a particularly vibrant barrage of expletives delivered unwittingly (at least I think) by the father of one of the boys in my Scout troop.

But Armstrong — tight lycra and all — made it highly cool and very OK to ride skinny bikes while wearing loud shirts. And today, after seven highly visible Tour wins and a very respectable return-to-Tour third place last summer, Armstrong helped put biking clearly on the collective radar and, in doing so, made every biker everywhere more acceptable. Now even the worst of the cell-phone addled, SUV-emboldened tank girls and oblivious boys in six-blocks-to-the-gallon Hummers seem to recognize my right to exist.

Of course there's still the occasional close call. Which makes those loud shirts worth every cent. But it has and always will take two parts tenacity, and two parts Manhattan-bicycle-messenger mentality to ride around the New York environs. At least I feel more top of mind in the sense and sensibilities of drivers nowadays. And a tad or two more confident that I'm going to live a little longer, and enjoy biking a whole lot more. Thanks Lance.

Winter Camping

January/February issue, 2009

Cold Weather Cool

Some whys and hows for winter camping in Harriman State Park

By Paul Clark

Without a doubt, some of the coolest, closest and most encompassing outdoor gems of the Lower Hudson Valley are the sights, trails, and everything else in Harriman State Park. I’m a big, forever fan of Harriman. And for good reason.

Because where I grew up in the endless geographic evenness of Illinois, it took a drive well into Wisconsin or Michigan to find enough varied terrain to make hiking and camping more exciting. But even after years of hiking and backpacking amongst the ageless, glacially engraved formations of Harriman’s rock, forest and scenery, I’m still endlessly enthralled and grateful that all this geologic goodness is within a few miles’ drive from home.

Compared with the kind of backcountry trekking you might see depicted in high-adventure magazines, Harriman is not the Rockies. Or anything near requiring oxygen bottles and Sherpas. But with over 46,000 acres in Rockland and Orange counties, it’s the second largest in the New York State parks system.

There are more than 200 miles of diverse, well-marked trails, including stretches of the Long Path and Appalachian Trail. Add in several well-placed shelters and campsites, and more than enough conquerable altitude and adventure and you have everything you need for exceptionally good dayhiking, overnight camping or backpacking for two, three or more days at a stretch.

Not surprisingly, most people prefer Harriman during the warmer, lusher, longer days of spring, summer and early fall. And I’m not averse to that kind of Harriman time either. But on some of those nice long days and three-day weekends, it can feel like each and every one of those folks is right there with you. But I’ve also found that in the colder, starker, far-less-peopled months of winter, Harriman is an entirely different world. Which makes it the perfect season — and reason — to take on a quality of camping you can’t experience any other time of year.

Cold-weather camping in a tent or shelter — even if for just one night — takes a bit more resolve than camping in July. It also requires careful planning and preparation. But it does have its upsides. Hiking in the cold is far more exhilarating than hiking in the heat. There are no mosquitoes or other bugs crawling and flying around your face and food. The absence of leaves on trees puts more sunlight on trails to reveal added dimension and sharper detail in everything you see.

After sunset, that same lack of leaves opens the nighttime sky to expose more stars and constellations, and brighter floods of moonlight. A campfire never felt more warm or welcome. And with a few inches of snow on the ground, the entire environment seems sealed in a kind of calm and quiet you don’t get a chance to listen to very often. But one of the biggest advantages is this: with all that tranquility going on around you, you can also enjoy a better night’s sleep than you’ve probably had in a while.

Upsides aside, however, cold can be cold. And if you’re not properly prepared for, or predisposed to it, hiking on harder, frozen or icy trails can be more challenging, and a night spent outdoors can be less than comfortable. But if you’ve hiked and camped in Harriman during the warmer months and thought about extending your ventures into the colder ones, the best way to make for maximum fun is to plan well, and keep it simple. Here’s a few suggestions:

Know where you’re going and don’t go it alone. Always camp with one or more other people. Be mindful. Many of Harriman’s trails aren’t as safely accessible in winter. Plan on camping within a reasonable hiking distance — 90 minutes or less — from where you park your car. Stay in, or pitch your tent near, a shelter. (A shelter is a good “Plan B” in case tenting doesn’t work out.) If a shelter is “Plan A,” some of them have fireplaces built into them. Those that don’t have an established fire ring nearby. Bring a lightweight tarp along to cover the open front of the shelter to block the wind and retain heat.

Keep an eye on the forecast to avoid surprises, pack the right clothing (nothing made of cotton) and wear it in layers. Equally important, be sure to have a sleeping bag far warmer than the kind you took to summer camp. Come 3 a m, a nice and warm zero-degree or colder-rated bag is worth twice your total body weight in gold.

To a lot of people, though, spending a night or two out in the winter cold is something only Huskies and crazy people do. For me, winter camping is one of the best experiences you can have, and being called crazy for enjoying it makes it feel even better. But like all the other great things you can do in Harriman, it will always instill a greater respect for nature than you ever had before. And a much deeper appreciation for having an incredible place like Harriman so close by.

For more information about Harriman State Park and the New York State park system, visit nysparks.state.ny.us. For more on winter camping, visit backpacking.net/wintertips.html

Time in rhyme: 2008

It seemed to
Take forever
It was over
In a flash
A year of change
And promise
Mixed with
Semi-daily crash

Slowdown morphed
To meltdown
Collapse and
Bailout followed
Recession was
Conceded
Jobs and homes
Got swallowed

Billions spent
Campaigning
Five-dollar gas
Surreal
Republicans
Lost their lugnuts
Democrats
Took the wheel

Obama was
A socialist
And novice
Muslim hick
Terrorist-fist-bumpin’
Anti-Christ
From
Zip Code 666

McCain was
Mr. Maverick
Third reich of
Bush’s crew
A position-shiftin’
Ancient
With more houses
Than he knew

Palin was
Sweet napalm
For the faithful
And the purists
She burned big bucks
On glam couture
And palling ‘round
With manicurists

Biden was
The gaffe-athon
Who uttered
Things arcane
And now as
Joe the VP
Will doubtless
Do the same

iPhone status
Hit 3G
Bill Gates
Hit the road
Bernie Mac
Departed fast
Eliot Spitzer
Ho’d

Paul Newman’s
Role concluded
Iraq year six
Commenced
Airlines charged
For blankets
OJ charged
And sent’nced

More Illinois
Guv corruption
Polar bear ice
Needs help
Somali pirates
Everywhere
Eight golds
For Michael Phelps

Madonna went
For A-Rod
WALL-E
Was a wow
Charlton Heston
Parted
Where’s your
Messiah now?

In all, exciting
And exhausting
A radical
Jittery buzz
Let’s just hope
The year to be
Redeems
The one that was

Catskill Mountain Foundation

November/December issue, 2008

Catskill Mountain Foundation

Securing the future of a rich artistic heritage for everyone

By Paul Clark

Up in the Catskill Mountaintop villages of Hunter, Tannersville and Maplecrest, an exciting, serious, highly ambitious and forward-reaching plan is taking hold. A plan that not only borrows from the past to revive the present, but also to secure the future of of a rich artistic heritage while putting money back into the local economy.

It isn’t the first time that a town or region has turned to the arts to rekindle public interest and growth. But rest assured, you’d be hard pressed to find a plan that could match the scale, scope and magnitude of the one that the Catskill Mountain Foundation began here ten years ago.

The premise was simple. Since the early 19th century, the arts have been a vital part of Mountaintop culture. Painters, poets, playwrights and artists of every other kind, style and medium have been drawn here by its native soul and spirit. Washington Irving found inspiration along its forested roads and trails. The venerated masters of the Hudson River School worked and flourished right here among its peaks, streams and sunsets.

But as the years passed and populations and interests changed, these communities began to wane. In time, the results were closed resorts, empty stores, deteriorating structures and abandoned properties. And for seasonal operations like skiing, a changing climate meant inconsistent snowfall and an uneven flow of business.

By the mid ‘90s, Peter and Sarah Finn — each with strong personal and artistic ties to the Mountaintop region and the New York theatre and entertainment communities — looked around and saw an opportunity. A chance to invoke the region’s rich artistic culture to energize, connect and transform these Mountaintop villages into a national and international art destination centered on the performing arts, art education and sustainable living. And, in doing so, put money back into these communities by creating jobs for residents and by bringing visitors — and revenue — to local businesses year-round.

In 1998, they established the Catskill Mountain Foundation. It was a huge undertaking. And today, as the Foundation celebrates its 10th anniversary, it still is. But in that time incredible progress has been made. To date, nearly $30 million in donations from private sources and public funding from local, state and federal governments, major partnerships, as well as revenues from the Foundation’s own operations have been generated.

With that funding, the Foundation has been able to reclaim and adapt existing structures and turn them into theatres for film and digital media. Construct state-of-the-art performance centers for music, dance, theatrical presentations and concerts. Conduct cultural and music festivals. Create galleries, libraries and museum, cafés, a farmer’s market and bookstore. And establish an unparalleled creative art center where people of all ages can study everything from ceramics and painting to photography, digital media and more.

In the village of Hunter, for example, the Doctorow Center for the Arts was once a market, movie theatre and ski repair shop. Today you can enjoy chamber music and other live performances in its new Evelyn Weisberg Hall. And choose from two movie theatres, one featuring first-run films, the other featuring digital, high-definition independent films, concerts and events. In the Pleshakov Piano Museum, you can see some of the rarest, most time-traveled instruments in the world. Together with his wife, Elena Winther, Vladimir Pleshakov, an internationally renowned virtuoso and musicologist can inform and entertain you with a cultural, technical and romantic history of the piano, then delight

you with his playing of Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Chopin on instruments dating back to the time of Michelangelo and Mozart — some with links to Tsar Nicholas I, Queen Victoria and other prominent people and places.

Across the street the gleaming Hunter Village Square stands where a gas station once did. Here you can browse and shop among original, locally created works of art in the gallery and craft shop, and enjoy lunch in the Fresh Harvest Café and Market. A few steps away, The Village Bookstore, with over 10,000 titles, includes the one area’s largest selections of regional books while also offering a true literary experience with regularly scheduled readings of popular books for children, as well as readings of poetry and prose by authors that have included Francine Prose and Debra Winger. And on the way out you can pick up a copy of the Catskill Mountain Region Guide, the Foundation’s free monthly magazine.

A few miles down the road in Tannersville, a small, run-down 1930s movie house is well on its way to becoming the glittering, totally renovated and expanded, 270-seat Orpheum Performing Arts Center. Scheduled to open its doors next year, it will be one of the very few professional centers in the region with a stage, state-of-the-art lighting, dressing rooms and other facilities grand enough to attract and accommodate the finest professional dance, theatre and orchestral companies and performers.

In nearby Maplecrest, one of the finest, most innovative art education and natural farming programs anywhere is well underway — and still growing. Situated on land donated to the Foundation, this one-time resort is now the Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts. Many of the resort’s old buildings have been reclaimed and modernized to make room for sophisticated, fully equipped classrooms and studios where a full range of courses and programs are conducted. And given new life as well-appointed housing for students and teachers alike.

The Sugar Maples Center provides the perfect setting for students from across the United States to come to the Catskills to live and learn from some of the most talented and accomplished instructors in ceramics, fiber arts, painting and drawing jewelry making woodworking, photography, music theatre, digital arts.

The Foundation also hosts a variety of exciting festivals and special programs. They include the Mountaintop Culture Festival that celebrates Catskill culture through music, film, fine arts and crafts. The Amati Music Festival that gathers some of the best international young student performers to help them practice and enhance their skills for two weeks at a time in the summer.

In the Orchard Project, a student-apprentice, in-residence theatre arts program, participants get the instruction and rehearsal space they need to develop their work. And just this year, the Foundation welcomed the faculty and students of the Hudson River School for Landscape Painting, and its critically acclaimed founder, Jacob Collins. This is the only landscape painting school in the United States that focuses on the work of the Hudson River School masters.

Also at Sugar Maples, just a short walk down the road, the Foundation’s Natural Agriculture Program, in partnership with the Shumei organization of Japan, teaches and practices the art of natural agriculture. Here, no chemicals or fertilizers, including manure, are used. Crops of carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, peas and other foods are grown instead in pure soil and water, enriched only by naturally occurring nutrients in the surrounding environment. As a result of the Shumei method, these crops are more resistant to disease, taste better, stay fresh longer and are more nutritious than those produced by standard industrial farming.

The Shumei philosophy also reveres and promotes a deep, almost spiritual harmony between the work of the farmers who cultivate the crops and those who eat the foods they grow; healthier foods results in healthier people. And because crops grown and distributed locally, their overall carbon footprint is far smaller than crops grown and shipped hundreds or thousands of miles away, all of which creates a healthier environment for everyone.

Under the direction of Kenji Ban, this 4.5-acre farm represents the center of the Foundation’s sustainable living goals. And serves as an educational center of teaching and learning for students and visitors. Other initiatives that the Foundation plans, and, in time, will achieve is establishing renewable energy systems, including solar, to provide locally generated power to the entire 130-acre Sugar Maples campus.

The ongoing story of the Catskill Mountain Foundation is really one big story with many smaller stories inside — all being written at the very same time. But there is still more work to be done, and many more years to go until this tremendous plan is fully realized.

But as it stands now, the Foundation and all of its work and progress in the performing arts, education, natural agriculture and sustainable living — and giving back to local communities — also makes it one of the most exciting , inspirational and entertaining destinations ever created in the Mountaintop region. And with several good hotels and bed & breakfasts in the immediate area, all just two hours away from the Lower Hudson Valley, it’s a place everyone and their families should see, experience and enjoy for themselves.

For more information on the Catskill Mountain Foundation, including all of their upcoming performances, films, special events, courses, activities, The Pleshakov Piano Museum, Shumei and more, visit www.catskillmtn.org.

Note: The Hook expresses its sincere thanks to everyone at the Catskill Mountain Foundation, especially Peter Barker, Executive Director, Pam Weisberg, Director of the Performing Arts and Carolyn Bennett, Director of the Hudson Square Bookstore. And thanks as well to Stefanie Josec, proprietor of the Washington Irving Inn in Hunter for all her hospitality.