lately

A year of many new beginnings, a lot of hard work, new connections & revisiting old, family histories & adventures. And it's only just begun.

from one end of the world

Just spent a fun & relaxing string of days with family at the cabin in the Northern Adirondacks: good food, great company, kayaking, hiking, cocktails on the screened-in porch overlooking the water, & waking up to the sound of loons calling every morning; no phones, no internet, no traffic noise. I will certainly draw on this in the busy weeks to come...

happy weekend

While our town is besieged by a certain merry madness this weekend, we've opted to take a mellower route & have planned a hike followed by a family cookout, & to take advantage of the relative quiet of the farmer's market & our own garden. Enjoy yours!

the streets of new york

Our week's+ holiday found us in two of my favorite North American cities: Montréal & New York. On our way to Manhattan we stopped off in the lovely little town of Beacon, located along the Hudson River & home to a branch of the Dia Art Foundation, which houses an excellent collection of contemporary art in an old Nabisco box printing facility that was built in 1929.

 

After exploring the museum & grounds, we hopped the train to New York, & landed in Grand Central Station. I hadn't been to New York in a bit, so during our peregrinations about the city (10+ miles one day!) I didn't shoot many photos, but preferred to take it all in in a larger scope, as opposed to the tiny box of my camera's viewfinder. It was invigorating to see bicycles whizzing along the bike lanes, & tulips, dogwoods, magnolias & cherry blossoms exploding everywhere after cold & blustery days up North.

As someone who considers themselves both a city-dweller & rural-enthusiast, balancing the desire for both worlds can be a dance. Prior to Vermont, we'd both lived in cities, & our getaways usually involved going into the wilderness or countryside for a hit of nature & the bucolic. Now that we live in a beautiful small town in the heart of New England, we find ourselves making regular excursions to cities. We've resolved to make it down this way more often, since nothing quite quenches the thirst for the city like New York.

getaway...

The Fourth of July weekend found us just west of the Finger Lakes region of New York State, a bittersweet time filled with family, bountiful food & beautiful countryside.

Western New York State is filled with lush, gently rolling hills, & long, limpid lakes. I went to college not far from here, & my husband spent his teenage years in this part of the world, a place that resonates deeply with him, where his mother's family settled when they first came to the U.S.

We met up with his sister, her partner & a cousin, & attended a memorial service for another cousin, an older gentleman who was their last blood relative in the area. Saturday was spent cleaning out his home, tracing the history of objects that went back a few generations.My husband & his family remember playing in the yard as children, & the many old photos we unearthed brought back memories & stories.

the old farmhouse, & magnificent old maple tree

A stop at the local Historical Society also turned up some family photos, as well as compelling artifacts from the area in general.

This time also marked 15 years of coupledom for us. While in some ways time has flown & it feels like just yesterday when we met & recognized each other, in other ways it is as though we have always been together. In celebration we stayed in a lovely old Victorian B&B & had dinner in a restaurant that was once a grand old library, both in the city my husband spent his high school years playing music & being a teen.

We would love to get back to this region sometime in the near future, to explore the hills & drink some of the delicious rieslings the area is known for, & hopefully next summer for a Singer family reunion.