Granville Daily Photo

Yesterday, Monday morning, my backyard Eastern Phoebe showed up outside my door, singing away, joining a growing chorus of Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Red-winged Blackbirds, House Finches, et al. When I left work today -- the campus of Bennington College -- there were Eastern Bluebirds in song and a chorus of Spring Peepers (frogs). Today was the warmest day of the spring so far, although a rainy one. There's a reason we call it "mud season." And on my commute home up Route 22, about halfway home, an Osprey had returned to its nest platform, one of several built alongside the highway. He or she was not too happy with my stealthy approach and whistled a warning at me before flying a circle from the platform and back.  Welcome back, Osprey, and welcome spring to Granville!

  How lucky am I to live a block-and-a-half from the only dry cleaner in all of Washington County?

I missed a day yesterday, for the first time since I started the blog. To make up for it, here's another view of the covered walkway over the Mettawee River, and the river itself. The Slate Valley Museum is on the right.

This is a photo from the "No Kings" rally in Rutland, Vermont.  The main reason I attended was to hear the band of Krishna Guthrie (second from right), the great-grandson of the famed folk/protest singer Woody Guthrie and grandson of Arlo Guthrie. The last number was Woody's "This Land Is Your Land." Singing along with a real Guthrie leading it was special. As far as politics goes, I am not a big fan of "No Kings." I am not the first to point out that these pleasant rallies do not challenge the nation's status quo. They focus their anger, such as it is, on the moron in the White House and not the system that created him, or the country (ours) that has wreaked havoc and violence on the rest of the world -- and many of its own people -- for most of its existence. As Martin Luther King, Jr., said, we are the greatest purveyor of violence in the world. The "United States" is a deeply broken society. We need to do more than think about our own...

The Mettawee River cuts through the heart of Granville. It originates about 12 miles away, in Dorset, Vermont, and flows northwest, emptying into Lake Champlain in New York State. This beautiful covered footbridge spans the river in the center of the village. The light gray building on the other side is the Slate Valley Museum, which displays the history of -- you guessed it -- slate in this region of New York and Vermont.

  It's not much of a photo, I admit. I don't have the equipment for bird photography. As a birder, I've always put the immediate experience of the bird with the naked eye or in binoculars over photographing, although more and more birders carry around powerful telephoto lenses. Actually, cardinals (Northern Cardinals [Cardinalis cardinalis], to be precise) have been singing since late January, but today was one of the few warm-ish days here, so this male was in full song, joined in chorus by Tufted Titmice, Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and other species.

  From my stopover in Salem, New York, yesterday. The burial ground is said to have the most American Revolutionary soldiers of any cemetery in Washington County. The tombstone below of a Revolutionary War soldier says he "died in the midst of his usefulness." I should be so lucky!

  On my way home from work today, I took a picture of this lovely historic courthouse in Salem, New York, in the late afternoon sun. The building was completed in 1869 and served Washington County until 2003. It now houses a community center. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. I like this colorful detailing with stained glass and the moldings on the exterior. Did I say sun? Yes, we finally had blue skies today, albeit still cold temperatures. I mentioned in my opening post that Granville lies on what I call the Route 22 corridor of New York State, running south to north from the Bronx to the Canadian border and east of the Hudson River. I usually make my end-of-the-day commute up Route 22 from Bennington -- although in the morning I go down via Vermont Route 7. It's the same amount of time either way. Salem is the closest town with something like a town center south of Granville, although the very sparse town of Hebron lies between them.

In honor of "not-spring" in Granville, New York -- another cold, gray day when I am stuck indoors doing my day job -- I have a funny little story. The photos are not mine ; they are taken from Wikipedia (and hopefully are in the public domain).  An American friend of mine who lives in England texted me a few days ago. We used to be colleagues and kind-of rivals, working on the same bird conservation project ("Important Bird Areas") for two different organizations. He's a very nice man and an expert birder. His wife works in nature conservation, too, doing climate change analysis, and is also a classical concert pianist. Here's what he wrote:  My wife, when she is not working on climate change, or practicing classical piano (she is practicing towards getting he FRSM - Fellow of the Royal School of Music with an expertise in Debussy; I am trying to get her to also pick up some Amy Beach) also sings in the UEA choir. They had a concert this evening (Durufle Re...

 

I took a 10-minute drive to one of my favorite places in Granville, Hicks Orchards. Notwithstanding that it's off-season for apples -- their main crop -- there were goodies to be had. Old apple tree against the sky: I stopped to say hello to the goats: Oh, FUDGE! I could swear there were more maple donuts when I started: And a quick stop at Granville's Dollar General for some dish towels. Remember, I said there's one in every town, and maybe more than one!

I searched in vain this morning for a hint of spring color outside -- a crocus or a daffodil or forsythia -- and found nothing. Winter has stubbornly hung on in these parts. So enjoy a snapshot of an Easter tradition: Peeps, yellow-dyed marshmallow treats. (I should say that I don't partake, but they were a cooperative photo subject.) This post will be published exactly at Spring Equinox in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Happy Spring! (Photo taken at Fred's, my local pharmacy.)

It was another cold, gray day here; I had a long day at work; and I was singularly uninspired to photograph anything. So instead, I thought I'd introduce you to a little corner of my personal world: My brother-in-law, Greg Foster, who lives in San Diego with my sister and their college-age son, spent at least a decade producing and marketing hot sauce under the name "Inferno Farms." His lineup of sauces went, as he would say, "From Mild to Wild." The hottest, Volcanus (on the right), is made with Carolina reapers, one of the hottest peppers in the world.  Here's a few things you should know about Greg: He can tolerate an insane level of heat (spiciness from peppers). He has been known to put pure extract (essentially capsaicin, the chemical that gives hot peppers their heat) directly on food. So it may not surprise you to know that he holds several records in the Guiness Book of World Records , including the most raw Carolina reapers eaten in a minute and th...

  Brooke and Tim were among the first people I met when I moved to Granville. They own and operate the largest sweet potato farm in Vermont, and Brooke offers soothing massages in their adroable yellow farmhouse. Their property is just a few miles over the state line from my house, outside the tiny town of Pawlet, Vermont.  It feels like I knew Brooke even before I moved. On the way to my very first visit to Granville to check out the apartment I would end up renting, I passed the massage sign and made a mental note of it. Sure enough, a day after I moved in, having carried at least a dozen heavy boxes of books (the only thing I really hoard) into my apartment, my back was in agony, and I called Brooke for my first appointment. Soon we got to talking, and she told me about two other friends of hers, (also) Tim and Kate, who are birders. We've become great friends, too. I'm sure you'll meet them on these pages sooner or later.

I spend a lot of time going back and forth to Rutland, Vermont, and Glens Falls, New York, for services (especially medical), culture, etc. Like all rural Americans, I'm dependent on my car. At least I drive a Prius, so I feel slightly better about it. (The vast majority of rural Americans drive pickup trucks, according to my unscientific poll.) On my way home from Glens Falls this morning, I passed the eponymous falls -- although depending on your source, they are called Hudson Falls, South Glens Falls, or just Glens Falls. According to the website of the owner of the falls, they generate a little over 74 Gigowatt hours annually, enough to power about 6,000 "inhabitants." (I wonder if that means fewer homes?) The owner of the facility is Boralex, a multinational corporation based in Canada. Unfortunately, Boralex is the company behind a planned solar array that would destroy one of the last and largest contiguous grassland habitats in the U.S., right here in my home coun...

  Dollar stores such as Dollar General and Family Dollar are ubiquitous in these parts. Nearly every town as one or more. I was never a patron, but when I moved to Granville, I found it a lifeline for starting a new life on a limited budget.  Meanwhile, allegedly driven by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, gasoline prices have risen nearly a dollar in two weeks and will likely reach four dollars in another week. Not that I care. The only thing I care about is my country ending its illegal and immoral destruction of other countries. I do not feel a single drop of pride about being an "American." These photos were taken in Poultney, one of several Vermont towns abutting Granville.

Yesterday we attended a wonderful concert of Bach (Magnificat and Easter Oratorio) in Randolph, Vermont, which is in the central part of the state located in the Green Mountains -- arguably Vermont's most distinctive feature. The range runs from north to south the length of the state. It is Vermont's section of the Appalachians. The name "Vermont" is an elision of the French for green mountains. Interestingly, I only recently learned that the reason the major public university, the University of Vermont, is often known as "UVM" is because of the similar Latin phrase "Universitas Viridis Montis" -- that is, University of the Green Mountains. Winter has not quite finished with us here in northern New England, and a steady snowfall made for cautious driving home and beautiful sugar-coated scenery in the mountains. I took a bunch of photos in motion from inside the car. These were my two favorites; I couldn't decide which I liked better.

I'm still feeling "under the weather," as we say, so I'm not getting out with my camera. Here's a photo of my modest plant stand. My favorite, the Shamrock Oxalis ( Oxalis triangularis ), is always in bloom. I can't remember what the green plant on the right is called. And the African Violet ( Streptocarpus ) tucked in below the Oxalis is in need of more loving care. I'm definitely not a "green thumb," but they're mostly hanging in there. +

Forgive the pun ...  Today was a rough day for me -- meetings in the morning, taking my cat to the veterinarian, back home for more online meetings, and the rest of the day spent in bed with a bad head cold. The best I could do was take a captive portrait of Poppy, my black cat with a white bowtie, in her carrier. She was very unhappy!

  The architectural detail on this house in the village appeals to me.

Depending on your perspective, it's a modern convenience or the Devil's handiwork, or maybe both. I read that when Amazon converted a former lumber yard building in Granville into a warehouse/distribution center in 2023, they promised 200 jobs, but it's unclear whether there are currently more than 100 employees there. (I am going to call them to ask.) That's still a decent number for our small town. I am not out of the habit of using Amazon; there are products which are easier to order, and usually less expensive, than driving at least 45 minutes to an hour to a retail center to buy. I read a lot of books on my iPhone Kindle app. But I fully acknowledge Amazon's reputation for terrible, dangerous working conditions, its animosity toward unions, and the damage to our country and the world that Bezos and his ilk do.  Here I go getting political again. And I need prettier pictures. Coming up soon, I promise! Happy one-week Daily Photo bloggiversary to me!!

Telescope Casual Furniture is one of the largest employers, possibly the largest, in Granville. It makes outdoor patio and poolside furniture and employs around 300 people (according to one source). The extensive mural on the front of the headquarters complex stretches for a city block and includes patriotic images and references to the company's and town's history.

Here are some photos I took today that tell you some things about me. (These are once again outside of Granville, this time in Bennington, Vermont, but I promise I'll get back to Granville tomorrow!) I currently work at Bennington College, a small liberal arts college with an excellent pedigree. In particular, many writers, dancers, actors, and artists have attended Bennington, including the famed 20th-century Abstract Expressionist painter Helen Frankenthaler and, in more recent decades, the actor Peter Dinklage. Martha Graham spent her formative years in the 30s in residence here. On my office wall hangs an Audubon clock that tweets a bird song every hour on the hour. There's only one volume setting -- loud -- so it often startles guests in my office, and sometime me! I worked for the National Audubon Society, a leading bird protection organization, for 20 years in a variety of capacities.  Also on my wall are two framed posters of "The Gates," a legendary public ar...

I'm venturing a little outside my hometown for today's post. Granville is almost exactly halfway between the two nearest cities: Rutland, Vermont, to the northeast (population ~16,000) and Glens Falls, New York, to the southwest (~14,000).  Yesterday I was in Rutland with my partner to attend a curling match. There's been an uptick of interest in curling, I suspect, owing to the recently-concluded Winter Olympic Games -- especially after the Norwegian team accused the Canadian team of cheating, and the Canadians uncharacteristically cursed at the Norwegians in return! My social media feed was filled with funny home videos of people sweeping around a moving object; my favorite used a Roomba as the "stone." I learned a lot of new things, such as the fact that curling was invented in Scotland (I thought it was Canada) and that most (or all?) curling stones are produced on a Scottish island called Alisa Craig of a special kind of granite and can cost as much as $16,00...

  There's an uncomfortable road sign that you see from every direction you enter the village of Granville: "Welcome to the Colored Slate Capital of the World." The first time I saw it, I did a triple take. In 2026, seeing that c-word, as innocent as it may have been in origin, induces a cringe. While I have yet to delve deeply into the town's history, there's little doubt that its wealth was built on the mining and manufacturing of slate for roofs and other uses -- and Granville is most famous for its red slate. (As an aside, I played softball during the summer on a rough, badly-maintained field. When I got home, my clothes were always covered in bright-red clay.) Houses such as this one in the village's "downtown" surely belonged to the captains of the slate industry. This is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture sprinkled with elements of Neoclassical (columns, Palladian windows) and the spectacular ironwork of the fence. Plus slate roofing...

It was another dreary day outdoors. I woke up to two inches more of slush and ice. Well, I chose to move north, so here I am. Spring will be a welcome relief this year. This is the front of the house I live in. My apartment is in the back. It's nice enough. My neighbors are good folks. One couple has an 11-year-old boy who was out shoveling and chopping ice at the same time I was. We had a nice chat, and I pulled him out of the snow when we got stuck. (You can see from the mound in front how much snow has been shoveled and plowed this winter!)  The landlord, who lives in Vermont, is nice enough, too. I assume it's his choice to fly the large American flag in front. I'm not a big fan, especially of what we're doing elsewhere in the world, but it's hardly an unusal choice on his part. These being rural parts, the town is pretty "dark red," as we say here (i.e., conservative and Republican-leaning). Our U.S. representative is a Trump lackey; she was slated to...

I live on quiet street just a few blocks from the main village of Granville. This scene out my backdoor is typical of this winter. We have had plenty of snow and cold. The groundhog was correct this year! The view is facing east-southeast. On the other side of the farther row of trees is Vermont. The fence on the left holds in my neighbor's two dogs, Bentley and Mercedes. I am a birder, so I'm always watching and listening for things. I've seen hawks, tanagers, finches, and other birds in their seasons in the beautiful maple at the right. Soon phoebes and blackbirds and other early spring arrivals will show up.

 March 3, 2026 Welcome to Granville, New York, Daily Photo!  Quoting from Wikipedia: Granville is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. The town of Granville contains a village that also bears the name Granville. Granville is properly part of "upstate New York" and is on the Route 22 corridor that stretches east of the Hudson River from the Bronx all the way to the Canadian border. Granville is a historic center of the slate industry, producing colorful slate for roofs, walkways, and other uses. There are still active mines and slate producing factories. Some beautiful homes in the village of Granville attest to the area's former wealth. The region as a whole is agricultural. A major employer in the village is Telescope, a fabricator of patio furniture. I've lived in the town for a little...