Author: janaseitz1
-
Take a Hike, Ma
Mothers’ Day is the one day of the year when my family will seek adventure with me. I can nag them into it on my birthday sometimes, but that’s so close to Mothers’ Day that they’re usually still in a recovery position (on the couch clutching an electronic device). Hiking is never at the top of their…
-
Love Among The Ruins
It’s hard to describe the thrill of finding the Garden of Eden right smack in the middle of Yonkers. You just have to trust me and go find it yourself. The man-made miracle of Samuel Untermyer awaits you, a classic Indo-Persian garden as soothing as a balm in Gilead. I corralled a group of ladies…
-
The Storm King
I have met the Storm King, and you don’t wanna mess with him. He guards the gates of Storm King Art Center like the Sphinx from his lawn chair at the bicycle rental kiosk. If you incorrectly answer his riddle for admission, your fate is sealed: expulsion or death. Your choice. I mercifully passed his…
-
Where the A.T. Was Born
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,committed citizens can change the world;indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”Margaret Mead Walk with me if you will in an “It’s a Wonderful Life” way to what Upper Westchester County could have been if some of our George Baileys had never lived. New York is a…
-
Ridin’ The Rails
I have sustained more injuries loading and unloading my bike into the back of my truckthan from any other activity I’ve undertaken. I regularly jab myself in the ribs with the handle bars, schlonk my hips on the derailer and bite my shins on the pokey pedals as I throw my bike in again and…
-
What I Learned at Summer Camp
I have the greatest summer job ever. For six weeks I get to immerse teenagers in the great outdoors. They arrive each morning at the Rye Nature Center for Paddle Adventure Camp and we return them safely each evening, filthy dirty and happy. Sleepy boys and girls of all shapes, sizes and temperaments appear, clutching…
-
To The Sea
When I left NYC with my family on the Queen Mary 2, eastbound on a transatlantic crossing, I had my first true understanding of how connected to the sea the city is, a port town in every sense of the word. Police and fireboats hailed our exit, fishing vessels honked and sailors saluted as our…
-
Beating the Daily Grind
“Only boring people get bored.” At least this is what I tell my kids when I hear the familiar whine. As says Eloise, my favorite children’s book character, “Getting bored is not allowed. Sometimes I comb my hair with a fork…..Kleenex makes a very good hat.” Or in grownup language: one can never get bored…
-
A Look at Christmas Past
Some years preparing for Christmas comes as naturally as breathing; others, it’s a labor of love. When a labor, one relies on repetition and muscle memory to lay the groundwork as it’s been learned by rote all these years. Confident it will all get done, you build and it will come. Sort of like faith.…
-
The Gold Coast
If you put your forefinger and thumb on a map of New York and gently squishWestchester County towards Long Island, pushing the waters of the Sound east into theocean, Rye would connect to the north shore right around Bayville. With a little luckEdith Read Wildlife Sanctuary could slide right through Oyster Bay and into Cold…