The Saranac Lake Hillbillies

I know it had been awhile since we've been to the barn, and those April -June months are pretty dramatic, but when I pulled up to the barn, I was fairly horrified at the state of affairs. Grass a foot tall, trees down, weeds where there was supposed to be a garden, a random garbage bag on side of house, wheelbarrow askew, fire pit full of debris. Being solo on this trip, I was more than a little intimidated but am tackling a bit at a time.
The storm here was very dramatic and most are sure there was some sort of tornado-type event. I guess we were lucky but we have a few trees to deal with. As much as I am tempted to grab the chain saw, I decided to call Dave the neighbor, who I think was born with a chain saw in his hands (Bill the neighbor calls the sound of chainsaws "Tupper Lake Mating Music"). I tackled most of the lawn, before the rains came again and am now pulling weeds in hopes of planting something. Given the insanity of these last months, I am letting go of my vegetable dream garden and am just going to enjoy a little color and a few herbs. If i need a real garden fix, i'll walk down to Dave and Joanne's..not a garden....small farm?

I am enjoying the solitude and the quiet...and the wine. I now know with certainty that I could happily be a hermit if I could get good coffee and wine delivery. I will need to remember this zen-like state, as next week I will have four boys here. Yikes!

Shhhh

Perhaps because we live, essentially, in Times Square, any activity which I can enjoy without sharing it with 5,000 people, instantly becomes 5x more fabulous. For today's trip to Sandy Hook, I was giddy beyond all reason. Weekday+ marginal weather + good luck meant a day of quiet and very few people. The day didn't start super, as the ferry company canceled the 8:50 ferry. Clarke was murderous that his first day of vacation he could have slept longer. We waited patiently for 10am and then began to realize that the morning fog was not going to clear up and it would probably be rainy most of the day. Undeterred, we decided to go for it.
The ferry to Sandy Hook is not cheap but it is one of my favorite things to do when we need a city break. The round trip is $43 per ticket but kids ride free on the weekdays. You board right at E. 35th and East River. The trip down the East River into the ocean is lovely and not too crowded (today on the way home we literally had the entire ferry to ourselves!) Today we were also treated to the first day of Eliasson's waterfall exhibit!!

We always sit outside on the top deck. The ferry drops you off at this odd historic army base, where there is a school bus waiting to whisk you away to any number of bird sanctuaries, nature preserve, beaches etc. We normally just walk to the closest beach but opted to take the bus to the main beach today, in case we needed shelter. From there, you just enjoy pristine beach, low-key atmosphere, few people and you just make your way back to bus when you are ready to take ferry home. Heaven.

Excitement in the Air

Today is the boys' last day of school. Officially, they have a half day tomorrow but I am philosophically opposed to that waste of time. Each year, I plan a surprise outing for them. Years past have included: Fire Island, water parks, speed boat rides, sailboat, rented convertibles. This year I had planned a white water rafting trip but our schedules are a bit curflooey so we are settling for a day at Sandy Hook beach. You jump on a ferry right on the Hudson and it drops you at this amazing beach; you can see the Manhattan skyline but it is clean and lovely. After that, the boys head to NJ to hang with their grandpa and dad for a week while I head to the barn, to ready for the summer. I am just obsessing, laying in bed making my lists: "Need to canoe right away!" "Is black fly season over?" "Which 46er should we tackle?" "Need to learn how to work propane stove for camping." "Need to see if Wednesday trail runs are on at Hovenburg." "Casa Del Sol!" "Are the blueberries ripe" and so on and so on. 2 More Days!

Behind the Music

One of my favorite things is to sneak up on Clarke while he is knee deep in his music. You can tell the exact moment when he becomes aware I am shooting...

Brooklyn

So 46er Family 2.0 is looking at some new city digs. We decided that it was high time that we included Brooklyn in our search. Enjoy a few shots of the scene. No, that is not a staged shot; we enjoyed the entire trip from midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn in our own private subway car. There was also gymnastics and some relay racing.

Feeding the Beast

Just until I can continue with my ADK waterfall fetish at Split Rock Falls. Look what NYC has come up with.
Very exciting. I will try not to jump in

Outing Interrupted

So this was going to be photos of an exhibit at MOMA and a sundry collection of street shots but, thanks to some boy antics, we only made it through a few streets of Puerto Rican Day Festival. Here's some flavor.

The Looongest Month

Who wants school over more, me or the boys? I am so sick of homework and books and teachers' dirty looks. We still have 3 more weeks. We need air and mountain and water and sky. Hmmm, I sure wish I could travel to some place like that -beautiful and alive with great people. HA! We can't wait to be there! We may have to just pull off at Split Rock Falls and jump in on the way to the barn. I am dying to cut wildflowers for the table, and sit at the picnic table in the early morning and watch the dew burn off. I want to hear the loons and only hear the sound of my canoe paddle on a quiet pond. I want to look at the stars and watch the boys scamper over rocks. I want that exhaustion that only comes with a long, hard hike in the sun, where you can barely walk back to the house. I want that kind of sleep that only comes at the barn.

I Like New York in June

A spectacular day in Central Park with the boys. As usual, Oscar took control 'o the camera.



Sidenote to the Mitchell clan: do these look like authentic smiles? Because they are. :-)