Weather Delay

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by Thomas Thorspecken

Albany Airport in New York State, had some very serious security measures. When I went through the full body scan, my crotch showed up as a bright red block on the security screen. I had to be patted down. The security officer explained that he was using the back of his hand when he patted my groin and the inside of my calves. I turned back and front to have my aching leg muscles patted down. It was exciting, but he missed the weapon in my pants. What they really missed was a can of bug spray that I had mistakenly left in my art bag. That stuff is probably a flame thrower. I didn’t discover the bug spray until I got back to my home studio.

The flight out of Albany New York was delayed by an hour because of thunderstorms in Orlando, Florida. While we waited on the tarmac, I sketched. Rather than having TV screens on the back of seats, this plane had adjustable holders for people’s cell phones. People could attach to the internet and play movies on their cell phones. They had to have ear phones however which were not supplied. The two Germans next to me didn’t understand the flight attendant warnings about not playing video audio out loud. They eventually understood and stopped watching the Disney Feature Animation movie, Encanto.

Greenwood Lake 1

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I fought tooth and nail all day long to see this property in Greenwood Lake, New York. Greenwood Lake is a large lake that cuts across the northern border of New Jersey into New York State.

My financial advisor had hooked me up with a firm that set up a pre-approvel form. In Florida that form hasn’t been needed. But in New York, the real estate brokers will not even talk to you until you send them the form.

I found the PDF among all my saved home buying documents and sent it to the broker who was going to show me this house. She didn’t get back to me for several days. Since I was only in New York State for a week, I called her back.

It turns out there is fine print on the bottom of the document that points out that the letter is only good for 3 months. It had expired. I then had my financial advisor write a letter that confirms that I have the funds needed. I thought the issue was settled so I drove the 135 miles to this home. The broker didn’t show up. When I called her she said she didn’t get the letter from my financial advisor. The form he sent was in my email inbox and needed my signature. I was tired of all the red tape.

After I finished this sketch, I wandered of and got a New York Style pizza and a pizza parlor around the block. It was a taco style pizza and it was delicious. After that I wandered through the downtown district and settled down to sketch a historic church. I insisted that another broker show me the home I had waited all day to see. Zulma Rivera let me know that she had an open house at a $700,000 house way up on a hill. That was more home than I need but I met her there. We had a long talk and literally no one showed up to the open house other than her husband and child.

We met back at this property and she showed me around. It tuns out the place was smaller that I needed. It took all day to see it but it was too small to be a working studio. I had to pass. Zulma was the only broker I met who was responsible and communicated. She might help me as I continue my search.

Callicoon Barn Studio

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I took a trip up to New York State for a week to search for an artist studio to buy. I gave myself a week to search for places within a one hundred mile radius of NYC.

The drive to this property from further upstate was absolutely spectacular. Side roads wound their way down the Delaware river and a large lake. For one long stretch, I never had to hit the gas pedal since the car coasted down the mountain valley for about half an hour. My ears would pop as I descended or gained elevation.

This converted barn in Callicoon, New York was the first property I looked at. The barn sits on 3 acres that slope away towards the woods on none side and multiple sloping fields on the other. It must be amazing to watch a sunset form this elevated property.

My broker was a bit late, so I started the sketch. The property owner is an artist and seemed to be a single woman occupying all this space. She shouted at me from the doorway, “Hey, why not come sit up on the deck is is much more comfortable?” I was sitting on a low moss covered slate wall as I sketched. I shouted back, “I am an artist doing a sketch.” I shouted out that I loved the huge skylights. She let me know that the skylights were for her studio. The conversation ended after that since she had to cart off a mattress to a local dump using her Prius.

She left the front door open and when the agent arrived we walked around inside. The place really is perfect, although it is far larger than I need. The upstairs studio is huge. An amazing feature which I have never seen before was a false wall that was set up for the entire length of the room, covering the skylights. The walls were set up with large paneled doors which could be opened in front of the skylights that she wanted to open. Another great feature of the false walls is that they offered tons of art storage space.

The bedroom downstairs which was an addition also had sky lights and it too would make a great studio space since there were two other bedrooms to spare. A bathroom was decorated in a Japanese theme and had a bidet. Grape vines covered the outdoor patio. Everything seemed idyllic and perfect but then the broker pointed out the grey panels that were used to cover each end of the barn. Those panels were asbestos.

I was staying with KC Cali and Bob Szafranski, north of this property. They had moved to New York State two months ago from Orlando Florida. Bob worked in construction for years and he pointed out that removing the asbestos was a very  expensive proposition. He also said that if there was asbestos, you could bet that there would be lead paint inside. Another down side to the property was that there was no cell phone service. When I tried to bring up Google maps to find my way back to KC and Bob’s, the signal didn’t kick in again until I had driven a mile away from the property. Another down side is that the drive to NYC is almost 3 hours which is much further than I am hoping for. Although the property seems perfect in so many ways, I had to let it slide.

COVID Dystopia: An Earthquake Took Out Canada

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This scene had depth maps, a camera move and the animation consists of waving the flag.

I was starting to feel like we were free from these crazy times, but Donald J. Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on November 5, 2024. I honestly can not believe that Americans would elect a convicted criminal to become president. I am stunned and in mourning.

The first thing I did this morning after seeing the news was start looking for countries that are great places for expatriates to live. Spain has the highest number of Americans who have moved there. I was thinking of moving to New York State to set up a studio but New York would be target number one for the presidents “enemy of the people” campaign. New Zealand and Australia handled themselves well at the start of the pandemic.Australia would be as far as I could get from America.

H5N1, or Bird Flu, has killed millions of wild birds, and caused sporadic outbreaks among poultry and an ongoing multi-state outbreak among cows in the United States. While there has been no known person-to-person transmission of the virus, there have been 39 reported human cases in the U.S. in 2024. If H5N1 starts to spread from human to human, we will have the worst leader imaginable at the helm, downplaying the exponential spread. COVID had a mortality rate of about 1.4% which resulted in well over a million deaths in America. H5N1 has had a mortality rate of about 50% among mammals infected. I woke up dreading the next 4 years of life on Earth.

COVID Dystopia is available to be seen at the Virtual Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival happening now through November 24, 2024. COVID Dystopia can be seen in the Eventive – Chiller Theater Block 2 – Shorts online. It can be seen anywhere in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. After you start watching the films, you have 48 hours to complete watching them. Tickets are $18.

Haircut Hotspot

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A hairstylist in Missouri may have exposed 91 clients to Covid-19. After the Missouri governor opened the state including salons to open on May 4, 2020. The worker at a Great Clips in Springfield worked on on eight different days while experiencing symptoms from Covid-19. The worker then tested positive for Covid-19. Since he and his costumers both wore face coverings it is hoped that there will be no new cases. Anyone who had their hair cut by this technician should get tested. The infections began one week after the state opened. The infectious hair stylist also went to Walmart and a Dairy Queen and made three visits to a local gym.

A second hair stylist in the same Great Clips shop also became infected and may have infected 56 other  clients. The two cases came just days after city officials announced plans to relax even more distancing requirements and about a week after the health department started seeing an influx of new travel-related infections. The salon has been closed for sanitizing.

The push by Donald Trump and some state governors to reopen most businesses with some public health modifications, such as social distancing and masks, comes as public health officials warn that relaxing restrictions will certainly lead to new outbreaks. Even if you wear a mask it is not a great idea to let a stranger run his fingers through our hair.

In debates over how quickly to reopen different businesses across the country, barbershops and hair salons have become a political flashpoint among conservative Americans, with some owners reopening in defiance of public health measures. In Michigan, a barber who refused to close his shop despite shelter-at-home orders staged a hair-cutting protest at the state capitol which was dubbed “Operation Haircut”, the Lansing State Journal reported.

A New York State barber also defied stay-at-home orders and continued to “illicitly” cut hair. He has also tested positive for Covid-19, county officials said in a public health notice. Ulster County officials are now recommending anyone who received a haircut from the barber in the past three weeks should seek a Covid-19 test.

“We are taking extraordinary measures to try and minimize the spread of this dangerous disease,” Dr. Carol Smith said. “Learning that a barbershop has been operating illicitly for weeks with a COVID-19 positive employee is extraordinarily disheartening.”  “As much as we would all like to go out and get a professional haircut, this kind of direct contact has the potential to dramatically spread this virus throughout our community and beyond,” she continued. This barber is believed to have infected over a dozen people. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “You know, that is a occupation of close proximity, right? You can’t really socially distance and do a haircut … that is by definition an up-close-and-personal occupation.”

In Texas, a hair salon owner, Shelley Luther, violated a stay-at-home order by keeping her Dallas-area salon open, was sentenced to jail time. A few days later, Texas Governor Greg Abbott modified his COVID-19 executive orders, effectively setting Luther free. She then refused to apologize in court for what she had done, has been championed by Republican leaders.

The Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force asked Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to fight to get salons and barbershops back open. He wrote State governor Ron DeSantis and two days later DeSantis came to Central Florida where he met with hair stylists in OhSoooJazzy Hair Salon in Orange County. Hair Salons had been closes as part of his first phase of opening the Florida Economy. In a surprise move on Monday May 11, 2020, the governor allowed hair salons to open across the state. That excludes the two big southeast counties — Broward and Miami-Dade. DeSantis said, “I mean I haven’t had a haircut in two months, not that that’s the important thing, I am coming on a mullet almost because of how much my hair has grown.”

For my part, I plan to continue to buzz cut my own hair during the pandemic. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Final Stop

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The final stop in our aimless trip around the Northeast was the Delaware water gap. We were going to visit Raul and Cindy Mello. We first met Raul over 20 years ago in NYC. He is now an internationally acclaimed opera singer and Cindy works for nasdaq-amex.. We arrived in the small town of Milford before the Mello’s since they had gotten caught in some hellish traffic leaving NYC. Terry and I wandered the country roads looking for a scenic spot to stop and have lunch. I saw this VFW and had to stop. I leaned back against a shady tree and started to sketch. Terry took the rental truck and went up the road to shop at an antique shop we had passed. She has gotten good at judging how long it will take me to finish a sketch. when she came back I was just putting down the final washes.
Terry and I ate leftovers from the previous nights dinner at Olive Garden. The pasta tasted even better than it had the night before when I had been too full to enjoy it. While I sketched, I discovered I was sitting right on top of an ant mound. They had started to scramble up my legs. I jumped up and stamped to shake them off. I moved a yard away to do the watercolor washes.
From the brass marker I discovered I was in Pike County New York. This UH-1H Dustoff Helicopter’s tail number is 68-15542 and it flew 16 kn0wn medical evacuation sorties for a total of 1,423 flight hours between May of 1969 and February 1970 in the Republic of Vietnam.
The veteran’s parking lot started to fill up. Two SUV’s emptied its load of teenagers. The boys put on backpacks and then the whole pack marched off into the woods. When I finished this sketch, Terry wanted me to go to go to the antique store which she wanted to continue shopping at. It was a fun shop with tons of fun affordable options, though I didn’t pick anything up. I was tempted by a $3 leather monocle holder. But I realized I didn’t have a monocle.

Magic Forest

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Driving into Lake George New York is like driving down International Drive in Orlando with cool crisp weather. Terry and I were visiting my younger sister Carol and her two daughters . We followed the GPS to Chestnut Street, but none of the four homes matched Carols house number. When I called Carol on the cell, she said she lived on Chestnut Road not street. Her directions brought us a few miles south of town. When we drove past the Magic Forest, I knew I would have to go back. This place is pure tourist kitsch, it had to be sketched. Uncle Sam’s face is peeling off and was haphazardly folded back into place. Paul Bunyan was back in the woods and Santa was also keeping vigil in the parking lot. Tourists who entered the lot would pour out of their cars and then snap photos before heading into the park.
The following day was Carol’s birthday. Terry and I treated her and her two daughters, Anna and Kirsten to dinner. Carol took half a day off and she walked us around downtown Lake George. This place is booming with tourists everywhere and little parking. There were several haunted houses and plenty of miniature golf courses. Just south of town there was a drive in theater which had a line of cars waiting to get in. The lake itself was gorgeous with a large paddle boat and several beaches. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water. A guitarist was performing cover songs so loud it was impossible to carry on a conversation. The view across the lake made the location spectacular. A small beach right next to the building was crowded with tanning tourists. It would have been nice to stay longer so we could relax and swim, but our packed travel itinerary had us driving south early the next day.

Vanderbilt Mansion

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Terry wanted to see some mansions while we were on vacation. Our first stop was the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, New York. When we entered the visitors center, we found out a guided tour was $14. Terry then found out that there was a much more opulent mansion just up the road built by the Vanderbilts. Terry wanted to go inside for the tour, so I decided I would use that time to do a sketch of the exterior. I searched desperately for a shady tree with a view.
The mansion is a small place that the Vanderbilts only lived in for six weeks out of the year. The mansion has a grand view of the Hudson River Valley. As Terry’s tour group approached the mansion, the park ranger who was leading the tour waved to me and asked, “Are you an artist?” I sighed and shouted back, with some annoyance, “Yes.” It turns out Terry had put him up to asking this one question, which I cannot tolerate or stand. She got me again!
Terry said that the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC has more bathrooms than this mansion has rooms. She claimed that staff were well paid, and that when Frederick Vanderbilt died, they were paid in the will. Terry and I walked the property when she came out from the tour. I was amazed that there was a constant stream of tourists crowding into the building. We walked a quarter mile or so to the gardens. Roses were in bloom along with a colorful assortment of wild flowers.

Cold Spring

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Terry and I drove up the Hudson River Valley to a small town called Cold Spring. we stopped at a bed and breakfast inn which had beautiful Victorian decorated rooms. The rooms were rather pricey so we walked down Main street to the riverfront. There we found the Hudson House which is right across the street from the waterfront. A small gazebo is located at the foot of a wide cement public pier. A sign indicated that a band would be playing in the band shell so I sat on a wooden bench and started to sketch. After a loud sound check “The Steve Claire Band” started to play, They played a combination of folksy urban rock. A woman in the audience set out a bunch of Hula Hoops and she began to hula to the music. She was good, being able to move the hoop up her arms and around her neck all while moving to the beat of the music. She offered lessons to a friend but the friend moved with a staccato urgency never being able to keep the hoop going for more than a minute. 0thers tried with a bit more success.
Children were playing on the rocks at the rivers edge and families rested on blankets listening to the music. A little boy who had obviously just learned to walk, made his way over to Terry and myself and smiled at us. He then pointed at my boots and started playing with the shoelaces. His father told him not to untie the shoes but he was infatuated and determined. Terry laughed uncontrollably and soon I was laughing as well, though I’m not certain why. I’m not comfortable around children, but they always seem to gravitate to me. This is my own private curse.
The following morning we got up early and had breakfast before walking up Main street. Within a few blocks I sat down and started to sketch the buildings. It was a quiet Monday morning and nothing was open yet. Terry wandered looking in all the store front windows. When the sketch was done we went back down to the waterfront. There we saw the Clearwater which is a replica of a Dutch river sloop. Terry and I met because of the environmental mission of this boat 23 years ago. The sloop silently disappeared behind the concrete pier. As Terry walked away from the pier, she said, “I wish I could memorize this view.”