Walking to Woodcock Nature Center

My hiking buddy and I have been exploring different paths to Woodcock Nature Center.

One path starts right across the street from my house.

Trees wrapped in cloth stripes identify the trails.

My hiking buddy found an object I couldn't identify.

We found a stone sculpture.

My hiking partner likes to feel the differences in the trees.  This one is smooth.

This tree on the red trail has very rough bark.

 We walked the red, purple and blue trails and we checked out the yellow loop.

Art & Industry

 On the other side of the Lift Trucks store in Croton Falls, a man displays unusual collections:  clocks, gnomes, and skull and head cups.  

And roulette wheels.

Lift Trucks

 At least four galleries and studios occupy a building alongside the railroad tracks in Croton Falls, New York, that once housed a truck manufacturer.

Lift Trucks offers clothing and artwork emphasizing vintage tattoo art.  

The store also offers framed photographs of ghost signs.  

On the side of the building, a man shows a Cadillac from the early 1950s that he intends to restore when he gets some time.  He uses the space as a studio to create his large-scale paintings.

Behind the building, a retired businesswoman has a small shop displaying her pottery.  She's not really interested in selling them.  She just likes showing them and talking with visitors.

North Salem Arts Festival

 The artsy village of Croton Falls was the venue for yesterday's small North Salem Arts Festival.

Mae tended her mother's Lift Trucks NY  booth.  They sell new and vintage goods, including tee shirts with images taken from classic tattoo art.  (I'll show the store tomorrow.)

Even the donuts were artsy.

Artists offered drawings, prints, paintings, glass, pottery and other objects.

There were maybe 25 booths.

Garden plots beyond the tents were full of plants that attract pollinators.  The day was cloudy.  From time to time a few raindrops moistened the crowd, not enough to bother anyone.

 

Bernard's

 Bernard's is a busy upscale restaurant that now uses its side yard for outside dining . . . a side benefit of strategies adopted during the pandemic.  They have also installed a kitchen garden behind the restaurant.

More Dogs

A dog park is at the fringe of the downtown area.

Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue is also at the edge of the downtown.  ROAR is the source of many local family pets and a favorite charity for Ridgefield residents. 

Dogs!

This year an arts group found businesses to sponsor artists who painted dog statues, much the way that West Hartford artists painted cows and Naples artists painted turtles.  

A woman and her dog walked past at exactly the right moment, in front of a dog statue and

 a neon "Bow Wow" sign in the window of RPAC Gallery on Main Street.

The town's first selectman (think "mayor") Rudy Marconi sponsors a dog in front of his home.

Eight agents at Keller Williams Real Estate sponsored small dogs in front of their office.

"Tiffany" emulates stained glass.  

Dogs were chosen for Ridgefield because it is such a dog-loving town.  

Proceeds from their auction will support arts projects.

Snapping Turtle

 A very big turtle was on the side lawn.  I surprised her and she surprised me.  She is a female snapping turtle, who somehow managed to climb high above the little stream behind my property.  She had dug holes in the lawn to lay eggs.  I roped it off so the guy who mows the lawn doesn't disturb that area.

Music at The Aldrich

On Sunday The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum had a cellist and a violinist perform outside by a big pair of Frank Stella's star sculptures.   The musicians changed positions throughout the performance.

 

The Park

One reason to visit Elizabeth Park this weekend was to see the first concert at the new permanent stage, funded by a foundation set up by a member of the Heublein family.  Nat Reeves, a bassist who performs internationally and teaches at the University of Hartford's Hart School of Music, led a jazz quintet.

Tricia has Egyptian tattoos based on themes of feminism and balance.

How do you like Gabriel's derby?

The crowd was big, to the rose garden and beyond.

A little girl -- around three or four years old -- really felt the music and danced alone from the beginning to the end of the concert.  I didn't know the girl and was too far away to ask her parents for permission, so I modified the image.

An outgoing mother and daughter walked out when I did.  They went into a pose.  Of course, I obliged.