You put a spell on me...

Driving through the town of Shady I spied this rather, um, phallic structure jutting out onto the road.

As I got closer I saw that it wasn't at all what my dirty mind had suggested. It was Albus Freakin' Dumbledore!! Apparently with half of Hogwarts stuffed into his wizard hat.

But that's only half the magic. He greets drivers from the opposite side as well. He seems a touch sad that no one stops to say hello.

This is a wonderfully creative example of what to do with a dead tree in your yard. It really is a rooted tree, not just a placed sculpture like you see all over the Catskills of bears and what have you. Kudos to the carver of this magnificent Dumble-duo!

The Eagle Has Landed...

...in Phoenicia!

This majestic birdie is perched at the Rte 28 entrance to Main Street in Phoenicia. His provenance is quite interesting. Over a century ago he and his buddies were guarding the towers of Grand Central Station in NYC.

The Town of Shandaken threw a huge party for his 20th anniversary in the mountains. I'm glad I was there for the fabulous parade and fireworks. It was a blast, but I think the eagle prefers his downtime, silently welcoming visitors to Phoenicia.

For more information about the eagles of Grand Central Station and their current whereabouts go here.

Cold Duck

Huh? What? Let me get this straight. A group of manly hunter men gather around the hearth to discuss the perilous situation confronting ducks and the sport of killing them. Because the ducks' best interest lies in the continuation of the sport, right? This does not compute. We need to ask a duck.

click on the picture to enlarge

Caveat emptor

Driving home from a hike in West Kill, we spotted this cool sign on Rte 42.

Yup, just the sign. No meat market. On the opposite side of the street sits the aptly named Stuff & Nonsense.

That's an old gas pump out front. Peering in the windows, all I could make out was a pile of stuff, a smattering of nonsense and to my great pleasure a sign for the Flowbee haircutting system. The shop appeared to be unoccupied (for decades), unless you count that dapper gentleman, no doubt propped up as a lookout for naive downstaters in search of the perfect haircut.

Hollerin' Hearths

Last month we spotted an angry fireplace on our drive to a hiking trail in Andes. I suppose he's sore that his house done left him.

This was propped up nearby. I like to think that Tommy is the fireplace's name (and he's very possessive of his spread). It was kind of spooky and lonely, and well, I just wanted to get out of there before Tommy started spitting stones and ash at me. Yes, I anthropomorphize everything.

We soon found the trail, nestled in the Little Pond Campground. It's a gorgeous area, yet I couldn't fully enjoy the hike. I had a nagging sensation that something evil was in the woods....lurking....and watching...and seething...and hating....

Egads!