The Genius of Kaaterskill Falls
[The other day I was cleaning out some files and came across this ghost story that I heard when I was growing up. I wrote it down—to the best of my memory—twenty-five years ago....
Tagged: Catskill Mountains
When Circumstances Are Right
My study is dusty and cluttered, a room jammed with all the items that go with being O’Grady: books lining the walls and stacked on the floor, file drawers crammed with manuscripts, storage boxes...
Mud Meadow
The name of our place is Mud Meadow. I’m not sure how that came about, but it’s what my father always called it. I don’t know if he made it up himself or heard...
A Dead Cat
Stories are like weeds—they come up everywhere and unexpectedly. Sometimes when I’m reading, I’ll nod off and find myself in the middle of a story that hasn’t been written yet. In that shadowy territory...
“Is This the Road to the Edward James?”
The Edward James was a fancy restaurant in the middle of nowhere, famous for its steaks. The building, by all accounts, was an old farmhouse that had been renovated, expanded, and made chichi. This...
Home Repair
Not long ago, a hinge broke on one of our kitchen cabinet doors. My thinking was: “I can fix that!” All I needed was a simple edge plate. It wouldn’t cost much, maybe a...
A Pretty Picture
A philosopher of old said, “The mountains and streams belong to those who love them.” Not long ago, we took a walk up Kaaterskill Creek into the clove. We started in Palenville and finished...
The Earle Farm
His name would have been forgotten by history, had not history shown up at his door. Moses Earle was a laconic farmer in the town of Andes, New York. He was born around 1781...
Following Stones
A long walk out old Barnum Road in East Jewett takes you nowhere in particular. It begins as a trail where the maintained town road ends but soon fades into little more than a...
Weeding the Woods
Paradise Hill. Late spring. Everywhere the garlic mustard “invasive.” I wander eye-entangled woods. Bend pluck toss. Every step is a step, lively. No way to eradicate this stuff—greed hate delusion—best hope “get it to...