May 26, 2008
This Is Why…
…I haven’t posted anything new in several days.
I’ve been the house guest of my oldest and most beloved friends and their awesome (and I mean awesome!) family in a heavily wooded town about fifty miles outside New York City since last Monday.
I’ve taken to awakening with the dawn here, and what you see in the above photo is the view from the patio at 6:30 a.m. or thereabouts. Uninterrupted miles of dense forest filled with just about every kind of critter imaginable.
It’s great, sitting on the patio early in the morning, staring off into the woods and listening to a hundred different kinds of birds calling out, the occasional caw of a crow, the staccato ministrations of a woodpecker on a dead tree.
That said, I find it somewhat difficult to devote any attention to the quagmire of modern political issues just now. However, as all good things come to an end, I’ll be returning to Manhattan tomorrow, and after reaclimatizing myself to the city and the unending swirl of daily life, well…
http://hardastarboard.mu.nu/wp-trackback.php?p=887
May 26th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Looks like the Hudson valley.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I too have been away from blogging. Part good reasons and part laziness. I need to change that.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
BB –
It is the Hudson Valley, specifically Putnam County.
Shoprat –
I feel the same way, I’d like to blog more than I have been of late and hope to begin doing so. Sometimes, though, for one reason or another, we can all use a break.
The past week has been a great break for me, far away from any concerns of any kind, surrounded by woods and superb company. I even got to watch my friends’ son and his hockey team clean another team’s clock 8-0.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Sounds like you’re having a great time!
Stay safe this Memorial Day weekend.
May 26th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Wordsmith –
The best time I’ve had in a long time.
Thanks, and you, too have a safe one.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Seth, please give directions so that I may come and join you ! What a view and what relaxation! I can almost feel the breath of air that one feels when they find that moment that allows one to get away from life and enjoy the beauty of America and the rest that comes from getting away from the rat race.
Am I envious ? Absolutly ! Enjoy my friend!
May 27th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Ken –
It’s pretty special here, both the surroundings and the company, and while I hate to leave, I know I’ll be bringing great memories with me, along with the knowledge that I’ll be living in proximity to visit more often.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
My daughter and son-in-law lived on the other side of the Hudson, in rural New Windsor, for five years. Their back yard looked almost exactly like your photo;
terraced verdant hillside, many birds. Remarkable, the
almost solitude so close to a huge metro area.
May 27th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
BB –
Aha! So that’s how you knew!
The feeling of solitude is incredible, especially when considering that when my friend was still commuting to Manhattan to work, it was only a little over an hour’s drive in.
May 28th, 2008 at 8:12 am
gosh it looks downright stunning Seth!
May 28th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Angel –
It is.
I spent an extra day, and am returning to Manhattan this afternoon instead of yesterday, but I’m already beginning to miss it!
May 29th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Until a few minutes ago, I’ve been taking a break from blogging too, but not as nice as this break you’ve been having, Seth.
Mr. AOW and I are lucky in that we awake to songbirds every morning here, where we have a bit of country in the D.C. suburbs. If not for the sound of traffic here, we could imagine ourselves in the wilderness.
The downside of our sylvan existence (somewhat) is that the birds we attract with birdhouses and feedings use our cars for target practice.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
AOW –
LOL!
I know that feeling only too well.
I never had a problem with birds showing their gratitude until I put a bird feeder in the backyard at my place in Charlotte, then “BAM!!!!”, the back deck and the big umbrella over the table there became a bombing practice range.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:52 am
The pic sorta reminds me of the Charlotte Estate, only the bushes are not as well maintained.
May 31st, 2008 at 8:24 am
Jeff –
It’s amazing the difference when an institution employs a full-time staff to maintain the landscaping, isn’t it?
As far as the woods beyond, wild trees would look plastic and it would take away from nature’s own effect if the trees were “maintained”.
Taking one with the other, I’d rather have a slightly wilder look.
Then, of course, N.Y. has only just come out of a cold winter and a rainy spring, and this is about the time people start working on their gardens, etc.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:14 am
Seth,
That photo really is breath taking.
Growing up (questionable) in Northern California, it was easy to take scenery like that for granted, and it wasn’t until I moved to the high desert of Southern California that I came to appreciate the ‘Greenery’. As far as the East is from the West, is the comparison to where that photo is and where we are right now.
I am slightly envious but I’d imagine living in Manhattan is nearly the same in its lack of natural beauty so enjoy your friends and the landscape.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Good for you!
It looks very nice there!!
May 31st, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Gawfer –
Northern California is one of the most beautiful places in the country, I have always enjoyed spending time up there.
New York City is largely underrated for its own green interludes. Manhattan is sprinkled with small and medium-sized green parks of varying kinds, not the least of which is the mammoth Central Park.
At present, I am in the midst of choosing from a number of pics I took of the latter the other day for a post. I thought that I’d be done by now and already posting it, but this is not the case, it looks like it will be a few more days before this happens.
Americaneocon –
It was awesome there, moreso as I was staying with people I love and whom I rarely ever have the opportunity to see.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
WOW! What a gorgeous picture.
Now that’s my kind of vacation
June 1st, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Marie –
It was great in every way.