96- Water

Happy Fourth of July Weekend. It's hot. It's dry. I heard a rumor yesterday that our town supervisor, Jeff Moran, shut off the water to Woodstock's community gardens. I did not see it, but I heard that our weekly newspaper printed a directive from the town: stop watering lawns and gardens, do not wash cars, etc. I can understand letting the lawn go brown, but what about the vegetables? Some of us grow food in our backyards. In fact, I just developed a solar food dryer that I will demonstrate at the Woodstock Farm Festival this coming Wednesday, July 7. I can make sun-dried tomatoes in two sunny days. With a big enough dryer, I can preserve all of my produce. That is worth a lot of money in saved groceries during the winter. The people who tend plots at the community garden enjoy gardening, but I think they also probably rely on their yields to some extent. Is it really necessary for Woodstock to force community gardeners to sacrifice their food crops, while the swimming pool stays open for purely recreational purposes? Please use the comment area to share your opinion.

What is also very, and I mean EXTREMEly interesting, is what I saw this morning in Saugerties. Saugerties is that town about 9 miles east of Woodstock. Saugerties has a population three times the size of Woodstock's population. As I drove into town, there were about 6 girls with big signs advertising a car wash to raise money for the high school sports programs. Here is the photo I took from the car as I left town:

So the first question is: where do I want to buy my new house:

Dead Tomato Town or Shiny Car Town?

Second question is: why am I writing about Dead Tomato Town and Shiny Car Town in a blog about RUPCO's Woodstock Commons? Because, RUPCO claims that Woodstock Commons will be eligible to use Woodstock town water. This is at the very least debatable, and will in fact be debated once the issue goes before the town board, probably this fall. Look, if Woodstock is THAT low on water that the community gardens are required to wither, while the next town over is having a huge car wash, can Woodstock afford to water another 53 households?

The common sense answer is no.