April 7 – Glugg glugg! and hubba hubba! Yesterday, alerted by a friend to go down by the Lybolt Brook, I came upon a pool of glassy water full of what appeared to be four-eyed frogs. But wait! The little amphibians were going at it, en masse, copulating in plain view, glugg glugg hubba hubba! A sprightly jay, twig in beak, hopped to a hedge nearby and flashed a streak of blue away. A bit further on, a barrel-bellied doe walked out of the forest, surrounded by three growing fawns. It’s spring, and love and propagation hang heavy in the air…

There’s the good and the bad that comes with April. It’s a blustery month so the open fire ban continues. Everywhere you look, crews of men are cutting down trees and branches judged growing too close to utility wires. Nonetheless over the past two weeks I have lost my Spectrum internet connection in Smallwood FIVE TIMES. We pay our local monopoly internet provider—Spectrum—a pretty penny each month to provide us with service. If you are losing Spectrum service, call them at 833-267-6094 and demand a refund for each day you lost even partial service (they are quite good about reimbursement). Have your account number handy: speeds things up. This number can be found if you still receive paper statements or—oops!—if you happen to enjoy internet service.

The upheavals which the pandemic caused in Sullivan County continue to be felt everywhere. Perhaps the most significant local change wrought by Covid was a shift in population densities. Phalanxes of NYC residents left the City to move here permanently. For three years Covid also coaxed vast numbers of people living in NYC’s crowded neighborhoods to visit upstate for a weekend or a week. These people now flock to us each summer in such numbers that Sullivan County receives more tourists each summer than Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks COMBINED. In addition to several large proposed developments (like the White Lake Mansion House and former Swan Lake Golf Course developments), “Short term rentals” or STRs are becoming a matter of great relevance for locals. We want our landscape to retain its rural and bucolic nature—those qualities which brought us or our forebearers here in the first place: fresh air, pure water, lush agricultural lands interspersed with towering forests.

Both the Town of Bethel and the Smallwood Civic Association (SWCA) are now devising plans to better regulate STR’s and their effects on local life. Both sets of proposals are important to everyone who lives here and wants to continue to love our land as we know it and want it to be. Mark your calendar! The Town of Bethel’s Proposed Law #1 of 2023 (obtainable from Town Clerk Rita Sheehan or from www.townofbethelus.us) regulating STRs will be publicly discussed on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:45 PM at the Duggan School Meeting Room. Likewise, the SWCA will soon publish its proposals for members owning STR properties. These proposals will be discussed at its Memorial Day and July 4th General Meetings. More info to follow!