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Labor Is A Form of Worship
LISTEN HERE Columbia County Historical Society’s “Shaker Baskets from the Shaker Museum” RALPH GARDNER JR. It’s typically the objects not the wall text that catch the eye at an art exhibition. But a...
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A Novel Performance
LISTEN HERE Performance artist Tim Youd at Thomas Cole National Historic Site RALPH GARDNER JR. I was unaware that when Hunter Thompson was a young writer he typed out “The Great Gatsby” and “The Sun...
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I Brake for Tidal Pools
LISTEN HERE COURTESY OF RALPH GARDNER JR. The Hudson Valley has a lot going for it. But – correct me if I’m wrong – the last time I checked tidal pools wasn’t among them. To access a few required a...
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Where’s My Commemorative Coin
LISTEN HERE CREDIT FACEBOOK: THE WHITE HOUSE GIFT SHOP I called the White House gift shop the other day to find out where my coin was. I’m referring to the Korea Peace Talks Summit Coin, created to...
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Which Way do We Go
LISTEN HERE Liquid filled compass CREDIT NICOLAS KAISER / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Are driving apps a good thing? This is a philosophical question. Also a literal one. The question occurred to me several...
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A Passion for Ponds
LISTEN HERE “Pool Master” Anthony Archer-Wills RALPH GARDNER JR. It didn’t take long for me to bond with Anthony Archer-Wills. No more than ten seconds from the time we met. That’s when he started...
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Strolling Through History
LISTEN HERE An antique postcard of Ghent, NY Gregg Berninger, the Ghent, NY town historian, offered an interesting rule of thumb to determine how Hudson Valley towns came to be, based on their...
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One Tomato
LISTEN HERE The last few weeks were spent traveling in Europe at some cost. Not financial, though that too. The currency I’m talking about is organic, indeed edible. To be precise one heirloom tomato,...
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Birds and Bears
LISTEN HERE Ruby-crowned kinglet WILLIAM H. MAJOROS / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS I read somewhere last winter – I can’t remember whether it was in the informative New York State Department of Environmental...
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The Stinkbugs of Autumn
LISTEN HERE Brown Stinkbug. Euschistus. Heritage Island, Anacostia River, Washington, DC, USA. 23 June 2012. CREDIT KATJA SCHULZ FROM WASHINGTON, D. C., USA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS A friend was telling us...
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Recalling Studio 54
LISTEN HERE Let’s be clear: New York City in the 1970’s wasn’t quite the hell hole it’s made out to be in popular culture — a crime and graffiti-riddled battlefield whose denizens also had lousy...
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Hunting with Hawks, not Guns
LISTEN HERE Falconer Max Zimmerman with his Red-tailed hawk CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR. There are lots of way to burnish your college application resume: play the tuba, be the star running back on your...
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A Thing for Light
LISTEN HERE A Shaker interior from Benjamin Swett’s show That Unruly Sun at BCB ART in Hudson,NY BENJAMIN SWETT We take friends for walks in our woods all the time, though less so during hunting...
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Raising an Environmentalist
LISTEN HEREhttps://www.wamc.org/post/ralph-gardner-jr-raising-environmentalist The author and his daughters, Lucy and Gracie. It might have been a combination of the inspiring political activism...
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And They Called it Pookstyle
LISTEN HERE Kaarin “Pook” Lemstrom-Sheedy and Bob Lemstrom-Sheedy CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR Walk down any street in New York City and you’ll see empty storefronts, lots of them. It’s sad and disturbing...
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Progress is Knocking
LISTEN HERE The freshly polished Kinderhook Memorial Library knocker CREDIT RALPH GARDNER JR My work is done. I’ve performed my annual act of civic virtue. From now until the end of the year I can...
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Portrait of a Town
LISTEN HERE Kendra Martin, 7 years RICHARD BEAVEN Here’s a holiday party throwing tip: if you want to make sure a desired person shows up make him or her your guest of honor. And if you really want to...
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No Tinsel Required
LISTEN HERE Sidewalk Santa, Chicaco, 1902 PUBLIC DOMAN – WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / DN-0001069, CHICAGO DAILY NEWS NEGATIVES COLLECTION, CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY If you’re in the column or commentary...
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An Insomnia Cure
LISTEN HERE I’ve been sleeping with a woman named Anna. She’s even cured my insomnia. And my wife approves. Anna can cure yours, too. Not to be cast aspersions on her reputation, but she’s in the...
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The Clark
LISTEN HERE Friends or Foes? (The Scout) 1902–05 Oil on canvas FREDERIC REMINGTON / THE CLARK ART INSTITUTE I hadn’t visited the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA for a while since my last trip...
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