Mustang Hill Graphics

04/14/2026

When things disappear:

Chuckle a little at the insanity that seems to be operating. And follow a slightly different path for a while.

Find another way to help the ties of the cosmos become more clear.

Even if the gone stuff never returns, it's a cool road to travel.

And you never know who or what is watching and chuckling back at you, waiting for the chance to blow your mind.

mj

04/10/2026

Today-amidst other events in a very productive day-I remembered Dad saying a few weeks ago that there was a bin of Mom's stuff (matted prints, some drawings, antiques she'd kept, etc.) sitting in the darkness for at least the past several years, alone and apart from the other boxes and stacks of her work which we haven't yet gone through except to marvel and imagine a future in which...

Not much has happened, is my point.

And that's with the cool stuff I KNEW about. And there's much work to be done in dealing with that but it's closer than the horizon, now. maybe.

But that tote in the dark-the one sleeping under cover of hanging winter coats and a 15-roll pack of paper towels and a suitcase-convinced me today to ask Dad if I could drag it out and look at it.

The asking was a formality. Five minutes later I had it in the sun room.

It was pretty much what I'd expect: lots more of her artwork, some antique mirrors and other cool things she'd collected. A personal heirloom or two.

And this. Or, rather, these.

First, the frame appeared. One of two "modern" unfilled frames in there...

And then, between 2 pieces of cardboard, this 11 x 14 print of the Moose River Hotel.

I'd seen this image before but only in books. I'd absolutely remember this print if only for the words at the bottom of it:

MOOSE RIVER HOTEL ON BROWN'S TRACT ROAD
PICTURE TAKEN ABOUT 1890

BOONVILLE STAGE WITH JIM HIGBY
DRIVER IN FOREGROUND

I almost immediately placed the print in the handy frame and have tried to take a good clear pic of it. This is almost as close as I've gotten to success so far. I took one that was clearer and didn't have the bulb reflection in the top right. I cut-and-pasted it somewhere and have no clue where and would normally search for it until fury ensued but today has been so good in so many ways that I'm not tempted to bother.

So until something better comes along, here's Mr. Higby and his team, across the road from the Fording Place. Moose River Settlement, New York. About 1890.

mj

04/04/2026

In case you're not yawning when the evening grosbeaks show up here:

A couple more pics from probably the 1970s or 80s. (If I could ask for details, I would.)

Until later, here's a bunch of cool birds in Moose River, a while ago.

Credit: Hank Wholihan.

mj

04/04/2026

Four Joneses. August 1946. Earth, I assume. -mj

04/04/2026

It's a heck of a place for a kid to look like he's peddling his papers...even more strange to title it in honor of a song written later...unless Willie was channeling stuff. Who knows anymore? Who ever really did?

Me & Paul. Old Forge, NY. August 1973.

-MJ

04/04/2026

This is a B&W photograph of Arrowhead Park as it appeared on October 1946 showing the old Arrowhead Hotel. The photo was taken by my grandfather Robert Tubbs of Canastota, NY (deceased) and is part of the Polly O’Hern (my deceased mother’s) collection of which I am the current owner.
Regards,
John O’Hern

04/03/2026

Until I return to Moose River (it's down from weeks to days, headed towards hours and less) I've whiled away the remaining wait trying to accomplish things. Easy to say; sometimes easy to do...but what does the idea of accomplishment even mean?

Almost a week ago I found a bunch of old family photos. I've spent two nights scanning about two hundred of them into or onto a hard drive, then tried to remember to back it up someplace, or three someplaces.

Some time in between the first and second night a bunch of photos seem to have disappeared. I don't mean to suggest anyone stole them or that they fell from a pocket onto the back seat of a taxi. The obvious answer (Occam's...questionable tonsorial tool, for all us cool kids in the know) is that I misplaced them.

It makes sense: I distinctly remember one photo I saw last Friday, a 70-year-old shot from the road side of my maternal grandparents's home. I could describe it to you in detail. To my knowledge it's never been thirty feet from where I type this. It makes complete sense that it's among a bunch of other pictures on top of a cupboard or in a drawer, just something temporarily misplaced, something that-given an honest search tomorrow-would be back on my radar, ready to scan and stare at and maybe even write about here.

But...what if that isn't the case?

What if it was here only to capture my attention strongly enough to remember it and wonder where it went?

What if no other person-living or passed-has any recollection of it?

What then?

Anyway...just something to think about.

Lacking any answers, here's a pair of pictures. Get 'em while they're here!

MJ

03/27/2026

Another photo of evening grosbeaks in The Settlement, from the eye and camera of Hank Wholihan.

03/27/2026

I was once fortunate enough to see a pair of evening grosbeaks on the lip of the East woodshed, probably 20 years ago.

Instead of just watching them and appreciating their presence I looked for the camera, couldn't find it, and likely muttered loud enough to drive them away.

The camera was maybe two feet from me, hiding behind a picture on the writing table, exactly where I'd set it.

Sometimes it takes a bit of experience to know things. I'm still learning but think I'm getting better.

Until I make amends or, more likely, happen to be in the right place etc.... here's someone else's pictures of the Evening Grosbeaks in Moose River, New York.

Photo credit: Henry Wholihan.

03/26/2026

Before she'd ever heard of Moose River (much less written several books about the place), Judy Jones had handled many other tasks with efficiency and excellence.

Here she is seen in the early 1950s, protecting her precious Lake Ontario shoreline from rustlers, vagabonds, claim jumpers, and any other ne'er-do-wells who had the misfortune to cross her path.

12/19/2025

We're still at it! :)

Here's a mug with a historical twist that's close to our hearts...after all, Mustang Hill stands a short walk away from the company store where this scrip was used almost 150 years ago.

$18.00 each, shipping and handling included.

Merry Christmas to all!

Ever want to go back to 1876? We haven't figured out time travel, either... But we can offer you this bit of Moose River Settlement history: an...