bearsville | Travels Revels

I was in New York City till June looking for work, trying this, trying that till I was hired as a bilingual pre-school teacher’s assistant starting in September. I was a bit reluctant, not feeling it 100%, not feeling ready but my life had such little meaning that I figured I would get some equilibrium accepting the offer. Plus it was something I had wanted to do for years but it never came about. So I went for it, signed a contract but wanted to enjoy a nice summer vacation somewhere different in the world, which was absolutely out of my means, sniff!

Therefore I headed upstate to at least not be in the heat and grease of the city and found a job pretty rapidly working at a hip deli in Bearsville, the Cub Market.

The cub has the best coffee in town and the best prices. When they opened 15 years ago or so, they had the most expensive drinks, veggies, sandwiches, but they never raised their price so today they are the cheapest deal in town. The owners, Alison and Frederic are super lovely locals, in touch with all affairs in the hood, super accommodating in helping anyone with anything.

I was still doing little jobs on the side, landscaping or painting houses.

I have been going to Woodstock for so many years, having a mix of delectable times and flat unbearably boring head banging stays, especially when you live there full time, the winters can be quite lonely and cold, long, pointless.

There is always the lovely creeks to take a dip, except that this summer there was a drought and the streams were well pretty much empty. A fun friend had a pool and she would invite a party quite often for food, drinks and laughs. I had no car, only a bike so I was limited in my travels. But my mind was not to run away but to simplify my life and prepare for the full scholar year ahead. Heal in other words!

My favorite bar there is The Station Bar and curio, all others are just a tourist draw from all the new comers, or crowd from Jersey. They have music most of the week, pool tables, chess games, card games, dogs, children, vagabonds, millionnaires, wanna bees, and yellow jackets mostly committing harakiri in your beer.

In addition to all this mayhem, I picked a spot on the cable TV station to have a space where I could invite musicians and play/practice. It was Dog on Patrol, part deux, la suite…

What is always a pros there is that you will meet interesting characters, make friends, gather around fire pits, encounter bears, and it was a fantastic season for bears as they were spotted everywhere with cubs, terrifying some but above all keeping the hearsay alive.

It’s also a great place to camp out, escape the 4 walls and expensive rent…haha if you only knew where I slept. No-one does but me. Success and prosperity is only a matter of perspective.