A pleasant sunny day
with mild SE winds and temps in the low 60s
We’re back home and jet-lagged
to say the least. Although we
managed to get 11 hours of sleep in last night, we can still feel the effects
of the marathon traveling we did yesterday. We decided to take a short trip up to the top of Perkins
Memorial on Bear Mountain to say “we’re back” to the hawk watching group.
Although we did not see any
hawks in our short visit, we did notice how drastically the “look” of the
mountain has changed since we were last here some three weeks ago. In our absence, southeastern New York
has journeyed closer to the winter solstice, has experienced a severe hurricane
and has been the target of a nor’easter shortly thereafter. What had been a beautiful richly hued
mountainside was now barren of any foliage. The sun hung low in the autumn sky in spite of the early
afternoon hour and the shadows of the of the peak were quick to glide across
the lowlands lying to the east.
Having left the rich green mountains of southern New Zealand only a day
ago makes the contrast all the more stark. But this is autumn, one of the reasons we chose to stay here
in the Hudson Valley, and we expect to see changes occurring each and every day
and the changes are in fact usually gradual. It is only when you haven’t seen the evolution on a day to
day basis but rather after being away for almost a month that the metamorphosis
seems so drastic.
We’re glad to be home, we’re
glad to see that autumn is here and glad to know that the solsice will be soon
upon us with all its cold temperatures, white blankets of snow, and early
sunsets.
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