Hudson Beach Combing part 3: Metal

(february...the month for tying up loose ends.  This blog entry should have been posted last summer...)

The metals can be divided into two simple sub-categories: the junk I bring home in my bike basket,




and the junk I must leave behind for future archeologists, like this portable typewriter

and this extreeeemly heavy rusty bucket of railroad spikes.

which was buried deep down in the sand when I discovered it.

Of all my metal finds, my favorite things are these little mystery trinkets:

which appear to be once-molten bits of aluminum (though they feel heavier than aluminum).  Some of them have a sort of liquidy, art nouveau feel to them. (click to enlarge)

I like to pretend the one pictured at right here 

was perhaps once a tiny pocket saint carried off to sea with some WWII sailor, and found its way back up the Hudson over the years.

the "My van Gogh" Show at HOH

The back room of the Hudson Opera House never disappoints. Always chock full of wonderful art by the local school kids. I really love these "my van Gogh"s.

A tree grows, but another old building starts to fall...

                                         2002:

2006:

                                             2009:

                                          2010

                                        
                                         Today, Jan 10 2011:

Roof Gone. Lethal combo of Heavy Snow and Demolition by Neglect?

Here is another Before photo I took in October 2009, taken from the front on Columbia Street.  This is on the 400 block, just a couple doors down from the Cannonball Factory.

...and one more from 2007:

And here it is today:

They're Heeeeeere

Watch And Clock Repair Shop, Warren Street: Ebay ALERT

There's a very nice little lot of Hudson ephemera on ebay right now, which includes a couple of rare interior photographs of a watch and clock repair shop at 331 Warren Street.

 I'm not anticipating putting in any high bids myself-- but I would very much like to see these photos make their way back to Hudson, as they're a great little piece of our history.  (It's likely the watchmaker enthusiasts will be just as interested as any Hudsonia collector, So- I'm putting it out there.)

Take a look at the auction HERE.  It ends tonight at around 8 o'clock eastern time, and already has two interested bidders.

Remembering Joan

Over twenty years ago I tore this centerfold out of a 1989 GAMES Magazine.

I was so struck by its charm and genius ---I knew I would enjoy looking at it for years to come.   I suppose it was one of Joan Steiner's first published dioramas, long before her Look-Alike books started being published in the late nineties. 

Here's another one from 1992:

I initially met Joan in 1996, through a mutual friend who said we had similar artistic sensibilities (I used to make diorama-ish art too).  Then I moved to Hudson where  I'd run into her often, including at the Watnot Shop, where we both loved to treasure  hunt regularly.  

At some point we learned we both loved Scrabble, and got into playing long, drawn-out intense games, every Monday evening,  year-round.  Joan taught me how to keep a balanced rack and--- never open up a triple, unless you're putting down a bingo.  

I probably won't be able to attend Joan's Memorial Service today (3 pm, Dutch Reformed Church, Rt 9H, Claverack), so I am remembering her today by wearing a necklace made of trinkets I got at her studio Sale a couple weeks ago.  (It has served as a Good Luck charm throughout the current local Scrabble tournament).

Rest in Peace, Joan.

"Suitcase" I found at Joan's studio sale.

Fosters

Last night while riding my bike around I noticed that the old Fosters Refrigeration Plant on North 2nd Street is being demolished.

Good riddance; the place was a cavernous, dangerous junk heap.  Not to mention toxic.      

(mysterious dumpster sludge)

It also had a kooky ghost story associated with it.

Click Here to see photos I took inside Fosters in 2006 and 2007.