snapshots

last week (or so) i treated myself to a trip to winter. i live in the south. it rarely snows, much less accumulates. i wanted winter. and i have a couple of old school friends (of 20 years) that live up in catskill, ny. they come down south to visit often enough ... but because they have so many friends and family, it's hard to get some quality hang out time.

corbett said, "come in the winter ... for the snow". i said, "of course!"

and snow i got. i got so much snow that my 2nd flight out of newark was cancelled. i was already concerned that i was going to miss my connecting flight as we'd departed almost 40 minutes late. when i arrived at newark, i was kinda disoriented in a sea of what to do now ....


fortunately, i hooked up with some very friendly faces in the same predicament. i met jen and dave. they too were scheduled for my next flight. we contemplated renting a car ... but eventually realized that we could take amtrak to our destination. i tell you what, there is safety and assurance in numbers. we made our reservations, got our tickets, and took new jersey transit to penn station, nyc ... to wait for our connecting train to hudson (me) and albany (them). in the meantime, we enjoyed a couple rounds of beer at a "sidewalk" bar in penn station.


once i was fetched, corbett and i slowly made our way to their shangri la on the edge of the hudson river. we (jim&corbett&i) went out later to a delicious dinner in town, with a puerto rican theme. a good two hours of grazing. every course outstanding!


this is where i slept. i slept like a rock. it was so quiet (compared to my neighborhood). i woke with the morning light (and sometimes the moonlight). sometimes there was the racket of the geese.


the night before my departure, jim cooked up a fabulous dinner! he made gnocchi from scratch, with meyer lemons. that was the main course. we also had roasted veggies, a beet salad, (sausages?), and desert was a polenta cake.


we ate by candle light. and then ... the power went out .....

it had been snowing all day. a big heavy wet snow. the kind of snow that will bring down the lines.


i had a fun time taking pictures of the candle light. it's good we already had candles burning when the power went out.


they have a wood stove too ... so it wasn't long before we were back in the saddle, regarding heat. it was a perfect night. no worries. no stress. the power went out. big deal. we had full bellies, red wine, and friendship.

we tried to make popcorn on the woodstove, but mostly burned it.


corbett&jim played scrabble ... i knitted.

some might think visiting a snowy place (w/o skiing, winter sports, etc) is kinda ridiculous ... but for me, it was the most relaxing time i've had in too long.

seriously?!

oh, the weather outside is frightful, and the cold is SO delightful! oh please let it snow SNOW snow!

but, it won't. it's quite chilly now. and i'm way beyond the christmas spirit, but, i don't have enough free time to enjoy it.

i recently did a swap (knitting-wise) ... and she sent me this card.

so, let's "rejoice!"

i am pissed

that was the subject line of my post on whiteblaze today.

why? the story.

while we were all eating our blackeyed peas and greens, or whatever your tradition, meredith was fighting for her life ... in a place i love. a place i trust.

i wrote this email to a fellow hiker. someone who too knows what it's like on blood mtn.

*************


yes. the story about the hiker pisses me off. it pisses me off on so many levels.

she chose to spend her new years day doing something she loved ... hiking with her dog. so many people kick off the new year with a nice walk somewhere pretty, or a hike on blood mtn.

she did not choose to die that day.

though morbid, i wonder at what moment she thought, "shit, he's going to kill me." ? "fuck, this is IT." all those fleeting thoughts of life, plans, what tomorrow could bring, appts. the following week, friends, family, her dog, etc .....

i wonder a lot about those fleeting thoughts. the point of no return. it's just awful.

i hate it too ... being at the right place, at the wrong time. but, it can happen anywhere. it just takes being in the right place at the wrong time. that moment when you're near someone that thinks "hey, i'm going to do it". someone that means you harm. and it has nothing to do with who or what you are ... you're just a body that they think/know they can overcome, fulfilling that need to hurt or kill. i HATE it!

i hate how it unnerves my sense of security, whether on the AT or hiking in umstead alone, or out at the lake that has a paved greenway around it. i don't want to feel like a target.

and you can't judge a book by its cover. she was last seen talking with this sketchy fucker. that put him under suspicion. but sketchy looking people are a dime a dozen on the trail. you remember 'doc (holiday?)' ... not your typical hiker. but his intentions and heart seemed in the right place. but we didn't really "know" him. we didn't really "know" anyone. you just let yourself trust. what do you do? trust or live in fear? you don't always get a 'bad vibe' from bad people. some people continue to snow others, one after another .....

******************

i am still pissed. immensely saddened.

winter finally ... though elsewhere

at some point, i will get around to the rest of my pictures ... but for now, here's stuart enjoying his first real snowfall ... and of course, he had to make a snow angel!


catskill, ny ... 23 february, 2008

snowday ...

when i woke up this morning, i remembered the forecast. the light on the closed blinds was different. i opened the blinds to a winter wonderland.

how pretty! i hate that most of it's going to melt tomorrow. i've had a great day of piddling, knitting, looking out the windows, etc. i'm still in my pj's. i'm going to finish this one movie (return of the king) and then pop in another. though the snow has stopped, and the sun is shining low ... nearing sunset, it's still a snowday to me. the creatures really enjoyed it too!

let it be a better year

this is the closest thing i've seen to snow this season. these snowflakes are window thingies. you know, the clear thingies you can put on a window, and reposition, like colorforms.



new years day needs to be extended into tomorrow, as i did not accomplish all i had hoped to do. and i hope, that is not an indication of how the rest of my year is going to unfold. making a bloody mary is a cinch. but, i was a novice at cooking the blackeyed peas with the hambone, not to mention the bone was too big to fit in my little crockpot. the peas were delicious nonetheless. i failed to cook my collard greens (that's why i need an extention on the holiday), as my big pot was tied up with the peas.

i also made a big batch of jalapeno cornbread muffins. i diced about three jalapenos for the cornbread, without wearing gloves. i will never do that again. let's just say i rubbed my eyebrow earlier, and it still burns. also, my fingers burn when i wash my hands with hot water. it feels like taking a hot shower with a bad sunburn. tomorrow, i will complete my meal and cook the greens.

this was my view, yesterday or the day before, as i sat at my computer. the sky was just glowing, as the sun went down. then, i was reading something for a couple of minutes, and when i looked out the window again, the magic had passed.