A historic building three blocks from my home, had a
devastating fire, cause unknown, and then it
bit the dust as a safety hazard. The fire started at 3:00 am last night. Danny heard the fire trucks roaring by for hours. I am a sound sleeper, and dreamed away unperturbed. Sad. Very sad, because it was about to be fixed up, and brought back to life. And now the grand old brick building is gone, forever. The Hudson valley is littered with these splendid old brick industrial buildings, long since abandoned, but now as gentrification sets in, many are being brought back to life, repurposed for needs that fit the times (often community service oriented). No, in the Hudson Valley, you don't just tear these puppies down. In much of Hudson, it's totally illegal, but anyone who had the right to do it, in a zone not restricted, would become a social leper. Those folks need to move to Orange County, CA or something, where they belong, if they want to do such desecration.
One amazing thing in the upper Hudson Valley (north of the reach of the much richer NYC burbs) is that the firefighters are all volunteers, who work for no pay. Amazing isn't it? They are my heroes. I work pro bono as a lawyer for the community (about 20 hours a week now, writing legislation and legal research and the like, and serving on the Zoning Board of Appeals, trying to create a stronger nexus between it and what the law requires), but it is just not the same. I am no hero.
Ah, the search for meaning in life (a topic on another thread). The upper Hudson Valley is a good place to find it - if you can find a way to make ends meet, which is not easy if you don't bring the money in with you.
