YakTrax Weather in Hudson

Posted on January 19, 2011 by markorton

Years ago I had a business partner, Sherry Gordon, who was more than a bit obsessive. This included running outdoors year round in New England. One day during an ice storm she mentioned her morning run and I asked how she could keep her feet when cars and everyone else were sliding about?

“YakTrax!!”

Several days later she brought them to show me. Impressive, but I did not rush out to buy.

Recently, Karen and I were in a running store looking for new sneakers for her. While she worked through the selection process I spied YakTrax on the shelf. Well, I had to get them. In fact a His and Hers pair.

Yak Trax weather The last couple of days here in Hudson brought that special mix of snow, sleet, rain and temperatures around 32⁰ that produce ice build ups that demand special care to walk outdoors. We stretched the YakTrax over our boots and off we went. Good equipment can improve even icy footing.

I am sure the orthopods out there are quite happy that so few people know about these great devices. $14 is incredibly cheap compared to a trip to the hospital for broken bones or even hip replacements.

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Post Christmas Snow

Posted on December 27, 2010 by markorton

While we were resting up from the day’s excess at Ed and Meredith’s in Berkeley Heights, we kept and eye on the weather reports. Blizzard conditions were forecast for NJ and metro NYC on Sunday 12/26. So we decamped promptly and drove back to Hudson where identical snow falls and predicted wind levels were just treated as “severe winter weather”. Right on schedule yesterday afternoon, the winds picked up and the snow came.

We entertained ourselves as we usually do on Sunday evenings with a visit to our favorite watering hole, Swoon, where Dave knows to set up two Dewars on the rocks when we walk in the door. Much to our surprise, given the rages outside, the place was jumping.

When we walked home at about 8 pm there was already 5 or more inches on the ground or blowing around in the air.

Here is what things looked like this morning:

View out the back door

Fortunately for me, my timing was just right. Two neighbors came to my rescue with their snow blowers. So I had a relatively easy time with the fluffy stuff.

Down Warren St. before snow clearing

Steve progressing up the street with his snow blower

Then, I noticed the overhang.

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Frequency – Scrabble and the actual frequency of letter usage in English

Posted on September 15, 2010 by markorton

Frequency of letters in Scrabble In counting the number of tiles in a Scrabble game (preparation for the Hudson Area Library Scrabble Tournament) I found this distribution (picture left). Could this really be the frequency of the use of letters in English? Off to Google land. From the Oxford English dictionary website came this interesting chart: Continue reading →

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Authenticity and Hudson

Posted on September 15, 2010 by markorton

authentic |ôˈθentik| (abbr.: auth.)

adjective

of undisputed origin; genuine : the letter is now accepted as an authentic document | authentic 14th-century furniture.

made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original : the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals | every detail of the movie was totally authentic.

based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.

(in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life ((definition adapted from Dictionary Version 2.1.1 Apple, Inc.)

In part because of the vigorous discussion in the various “Signage” postings in the Hudson Business Coalition discussion group and other discussions I have had recently about Hudson, I have come to think that a major feature of Hudson is authenticity. Hudson demonstrates authenticity in all four senses described in the definition above. People who own businesses here, whether in antiques, art, music, and many more, do so from some central personal passion. Visitors experience this directly. Visitors must digest the experience and make it their own. And, many times businesses receive direct feedback about their passions from visitors and not in frequently new perspectives and information about their passions. Continue reading →

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Taste of Hudson – great weather, great crowds, big success

Posted on September 11, 2010 by markorton

Belo3rd’s Taste of Hudson street extravaganza came and went today. The weather was great from beginning to end; lots of restaurants brought their offerings; and lots of people showed up to munch and graze. Here are a few photos of the event.