Millbrook, New York, October 2014. By Paul Goldfinger © Click to enlarge
By Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net.
The turning of the leaves. It happens each year, but some years are more spectacular than others. In the autumn, caravans of cars head north through New York State and into New England and they stay in B&B’s all the way up to Canada. But the timing has to be perfect to catch that wave of color as it transitions from north to south—and it is so transient.
Riding north along the Taconic, we saw a moment where the light and the colors came together in a magical way with a backdrop of hills and valleys. It was late morning , but there was no place to pull over. We turned around a gradual bend in the rode, and it was all gone.
Millbrook Diner on Franklin Ave. ©
The village of Millbrook is a picture perfect small town in Duchess County. There is an old-fashioned downtown with an old fashioned diner and happy little shops. One of them sold only goods from Italy that included hand painted ceramics.
It seems that Italian immigrants were brought to Millbrook straight from Ellis Island, perhaps 100 years ago or so, because they were masons and could build the stone houses and mansions found all over the Hudson Valley, owned by families named Roosevelt, Vanderbilt, Mills, and many others.
Italians still live in those parts, and tourist signs in Millbrook are done in English and Italian, and the town has a sister village between Rome and Naples called Fundi. That was the region that those masons came from.
A wealthy family donated Tribute Park which is at the foot of the main street in town. The photographs below and above are taken in that park. It all seemed so natural: the autumn colors, the little town, the farmers’ market, and even a jazz musician/singer performing standards in his own unique style accompanied only by a standup bass.
Tribute Park in Millbrook, dedicated to veterans. Paul Goldfinger photo. Oct. 2014
Farmers’ market bass man: