One of the items on my fall fun list was to go see my little brother in upstate NY (he lives about 25 minutes outside New Paltz). I hadn’t been up there in a while, and fall is always a beautiful time to visit. Indeed, my family went up there in both 2021 and 2022 on this exact weekend and the leaves were stunning.
They were certainly pretty this time too. However, I think the dry and slightly warmer weather this year have pushed the color back a week or so. There were fewer blazing reds than in years past.
Anyway, I drove up solo on Friday morning after getting some kids off to school. The trip took about 3 hours and 45 minutes with two stops (so more like 3 hours and 15 minutes or so driving time). They live in a very rustic area with a great view of the cliffs, which my brother spends a lot of time climbing (after a 17-year tech career, he is now semi-retired, freelancing 10-20 hours a week or so). Among his hobbies is sourdough baking, and his wife is on the board of a local CSA and has gotten really into gardening, so I ate quite well and healthfully while I was there! Think pesto made from the basil they had rapidly harvested the day before because they’d had their first frost overnight. After lunch, we went hiking in Minnewaska state park, enjoying views overlooking the lake. That night they introduced me to the Great British Baking Show (I’d never watched it!). Then the next morning we toured historic Huguenot street in New Paltz, and stopped at a farm stand on the way home to get apples, cider, and donuts.
When we pulled into their house, their next door neighbor was out with her horse and buggy (a recreational thing for her – not her regular form of transportation!). She was willing to give me a ride so I went around on the lovely back roads seeing the fall color — an unexpected little adventure. After another amazing sourdough sandwich, I was back on the road to drive home.
Alas, this time it was rainy and there was a lot more traffic so it took more like 4 hours. But I made it, and then took over with the 5-year-old, who’d been with a sitter overnight because on Friday afternoon my husband had flown to Texas with the three other kids for the Texas A&M/Florida game on Saturday. The game turned out well for the Aggies! Many members of my husband’s extended family were there so the kids had a good time with cousins. They all came back Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the 5-year-old and I spent a lot of time together. I had choir rehearsal and church, and our original plan (as he and I had discussed) was for him to go to the nursery during choir practice. But he got to the nursery and decided he was not going in. So…up he came to the choir loft, where he sat nestled into the small space between my chair and the organ. He played games on my (silenced) phone and didn’t make a peep, so it worked. Then he sat there again for the start of the service until it was time for him to go down for the children’s sermon and to his class. In the afternoon we met up with some of his friends at a local Thrillz — the idea was we’d meet at 2, and he’d have an hour before a birthday party we were going to at 3. However when we got there the lines were so long we didn’t get in until 2:30! Fortunately, he was having such a good time hanging out with his friends in line that he didn’t really care. He played for 35 minutes, and then we drove over to a local playset showroom for the party, where he proceeded to jump on trampolines for most of the next two hours. I got to know a few other parents including, as it turned out, a BOBW listener! How fun.
The night brought music lessons and scouts. Now it is a rainy, dreary Monday morning, so I wound up driving all 4 kids to school (nanny is off today). Net result: up at 6:20, not at my desk until 9:20. How’s that for a morning routine?
In the meantime, here’s a fall-ish themed sonnet called “A question”:
I lie beneath October’s big blue sky
A few clouds, past the thinning hemlocks, float.
I dip my feet into the water, try
to catch the swirling leaves. A plastic boat
bobs in the pool, a remnant of July
and sweaty heat — now it’s a fragile sort,
as every night the winds chill deeper, sigh.
The sun warms what it can ‘til it falls short.
I wonder in these last few half-baked days
what lies ahead as all the world soon sleeps?
When spring comes by again, and new leaves praise
the swelling sun, and warmth that slowly creeps
across the landscape, what will they then see?
A bobbing boat for sure, but who are we?