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…
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…
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…
Farmsteads
I’ve been fortunate enough to move to Scotland twice with my family, first for 6 monthsin 2010 and again in 2013 for a year. Whilst there, I had twelve hours a day to myselfafter the kids were whisked away by the school bus that would return them at 7pmwatered, fed and better educated than that…
Gardens Abound
I fell in love with rockeries the year we lived in Scotland. To be fair, I fell in love with everything…butter, ice, the sea, silence. Even familiar things took on a patina of newness and adventure, my favorite combination. Our town park was walled and gated, concealing the magic within. When the door swung inward…
Happy Trails
I’ve accidentally established a quaint routine for the end of Darkness. Each year as the clock springs forward to herald the happy fact that we survived winter, I grab my repair kit and some young children and head out to work on the Manursing Alligator, an old log on the side of the road, which…
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem…PA
I have already opened my best Christmas gift of the year, a treasure trove of history I inadvertently fell into last week while following the star of Bethlehem….to Pennsylvania. I went searching for adventure in shopping and returned with a whole new understanding of the spread of Christianity through the New World. I have already…
Fall Fun on Route 301
There is a ribbon of road which runs between Highway 84 and the Hudson River – from Carmel to Cold Spring – which I first “discovered” when finding an alternate route than the Taconic on which boat trailers are allowed. Various adventures brought me back time and again until I finally connected the dots. Route…
Misadventure
For many a moon I have shared my adventures here, but only the successes. As in social media, the losses are usually left out. There have indeed been many failed excursions. When things go wrong (and they do), you should laugh it off, learn what you can and spin a good tale about it. I…
Cowtown (or Eight Seconds in Jersey)
I’ve about decided that New Jersey is the most surprising state of the union. I swear each time I cross those bridges, I discover something totally unexpected: sacred Indian lands, a lavender farm, a mini-Sweden (Swedesboro), a Japanese day spa, swamps to paddle and most recently a classic American rodeo. And not just a rodeo,…
Something Sacred
An image was emblazoned in my mind’s eye when I was a child, that of a Native American man with a single tear running down his cheek as he canoes through a trash-strewn land. The resonant voice in the background read, “Some people have a deep abiding respectfor the natural beauty that was once this…
The Cabin in the Woods
The thing about Spring is she can be cruel, like a gorgeous woman who eludes you at first embrace. Spring Break in the Northeast can go two ways: you can tackle the last of the cold or welcome the first of the heat. I was recently lucky enough to experience both when I headed to…
Adventures in Shopping
It’s that time of year again. To shop. I hate doing it but I love giving, so I’m usually in a pickle about now. I don’t even shop for me year-round, so end up getting myself practical things like socks and underwear. But there’s really no way around it. Gifts must be given to honor…
Treat Her Like a Lady
Well, this may be the longest autumn on record. I feel like I’ve been Falling for a year. The changing leaves don’t hold much sway over me anymore as the gorgeous days just keep coming. I have worn myself plumb out on solo trips and done some super fun group trips. I try not to…
A Perfect Picnic
Happy Mother’s Day! Time to dig out that floral dress and some pantyhose…. As this is the first we’ve been able to celebrate openly for a couple of Covid years, you may be chomping at the bit to be feted or to fete. Motherhood has been celebrated since time immemorial, from ancient Greek and Roman…
Adventures in Worship
I am averse to repetition. It’s a problem and one of my greatest faults. I can do what’s expected as long as I switch up the how and where. There’s so much to see out there that it’s hard to return repeatedly to the same place. I’m a Gemini on the cusp of Taurus, a…
Hittin’ The Campaign Trail
I’ve spent the past three months hiking a trail on which I never thought I’d find myself: The Campaign Trail. I often dream of doing a long stint on The Appalachian, Empire State or Pacific Northwest Trail when the time is right. But The Campaign Trail never crossed my mind. My wish was granted, but…
From Both Sides Now
One of my favorite things to do is explore a place from opposing points of view: by land (on foot, bike, train, car) from water (by kayak, motorboat, sailboat, swimming) or by air (commercial plane, small plane, hot air balloon, hang glider). To study a place from different angles is to know it intimately. The waterways…
Best Summer Ever
I have the best summer job ever…even though I’m way too old for summer jobs. I get to be a camper…and get paid for it. For six summers I’ve hiked and kayaked with teenagers, heading off for parts unknown in the morning and returning each afternoon with hearts full of confidence and toes full of…
Two If By Sea
When my trusty ol’ ski boat I brought up from Texas (“The Come On Y’all”) sank into the mud at the bottom of the Hudson River several years ago, I thought it best to find another way to enjoy the water. I forced myself and Husband to spend a chunk of our vacation on Cape…
Get Thee to a Friary
Oh goodness now I’ve gone and done it. I’ve fallen in love. With a friar. Actually 3 friars….and a retreat guide. Not the kind of love in the movies, but rather a healthy dose of “agape,” the Greek word for a love of everyone, whether family or strangers – God’s love. In a Lenten attempt to…
In The Company of Women
I recently had the honor of going on an upland shoot with G.R.I.T.S., not Girls Raised In The South, but Girls Really Into Shooting. The group was started about fifteen years ago by a Virginian named Elizabeth Fennell, a member of both acronym definitions. The Hudson Valley chapter with whom I shot has a loose…
In The Company of Men
I recently had the honor of duck hunting with my friend Charlie, another redneck in the ‘burbs who is an avid hunter and fisherman. As it was the last day of the season, he invited three guides from a nearby shooting club to come along for fun rather than business. I’m sure they didn’t know what…
The Christmas Miracle of 1776
So this is Christmas. And it’s tainted by disease and politics. And its been hard.But chin up. I share a tale of another Christmas tainted by disease (smallpox) and politics (the American Revolution) which may help put things in perspective. I bear glad tidings: our founders prevailed, as shall we. In my ramblings I’ve covered the…
Crossing The Divide
During the recent trials of our great nation, I hit the road to think about it all, driving south through the cradle of the Civil War to the Eastern Continental Divide in North Carolina. The landscape changed with every new state, as did the radio news: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia,…
Chasing Waterfalls
I got itchy for adventure towards the end of May as always, so I bid adieu to my sleeping babies and headed West from Indian Village to Indian Nation with a map and a goal: Niagara Falls. It’s beckoned to me like a siren on a sea rock since the day we moved here. I’d…
Quarantine Crazy… Get Me Out of Here
Well, here we are. All we have in common is our misery, and the least we can do is share it. No need to wax philosophical on how essential outdoor time is…or how interesting it is that it’s all we have left for now. Let’s make the best of it. I’ve shared some of my…
Ye Old Croton Aqueduct
A marvel lurks just beneath the surface in Westchester. The Old Croton Aqueduct. I hit the mother lode with this one. A walk on the OCA is one through the history of NYC, with something for everyone. Tales of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr who were involved in early searches for water. Sojourner Truth whose church is along…
Another Jersey
There’s a ring of woodlands about an hour from here, the lakes region of northern NJ, due west on 287 until it banks a hard right north onto I-87 to avoid a mountain. In spring and summer, its beauty is evident: lush forest and babbling brooks, wineries and apple orchards, and of course, lakes galore…
Outside, In
Ahhh January. Time for resolution and new beginnings, whether trivial (younger thinner blonder richer) or meaningful (wiser kinder healthier humbler). Let’s focus for a minute on the trivial, just for kicks. There ain’t much happening in the natural world right now to explore. No flora or fauna, snow or ice, so I explored some un-natural things, man-made…
I Am The Lorax, I Speak For The Trees!
I will never again take a Christmas tree for granted. That pretty thing in the corner upon which you hang ornaments and under which you hide gifts is a huge labor of love. I can’t think of a more fitting metaphor for Christmas: a seed is planted, the object grows into a thing of beauty…
Take Flight
The madness which overtakes me each Fall is astounding, a crazy rush of adrenaline I can hardly control, like seasonal middle-aged crazy. I imagine it akin to that burst of life one has before shuffling off the mortal coil, autumn closing in and all that. It’s driven, of course, by the fact that it’s almost over.…
As The Hawk Flies
God’s still the finest painter around, and I love seeing the autumn collection. I followed the color palette north this week to stroll through some landscapes, and stumbled upon a fascinating find: a whole sub-culture of bird lovers, the Hawk Watchers. “ACROBATICS GOING ON IN THE V!” was the call that drew us in. When…
The Truth of Sleepy Hollow
It’s October so naturally I’ve been spending some quality time lurking around old bone orchards, the crown jewel of which remains the Old Dutch Church and Burying Grounds in Sleepy Hollow. Not to be confused with the adjacent 85-acre Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, the Dutch cemetery covers 2.5 acres. The Grounds are the haunt of the…
Breaking S.A.D.
I’ve been handed 18 chances while living in the Northeast to learn that the funk I fall into in winter is bigger than I am, but I’ve blown it every year. As in love and labor, one forgets the pain and jumps right in to do it again. I was born in a hot…