The woods are lovely….

I got to do a little hiking this past weekend.  This is Bear Creek Mountain, in Walton, NY.

Your recommended daily allowance of adorableness

Baby turtles.  That is all.

New views from the High Line

The High Line’s second section is open!  I visited recently and joined enthusiastic throngs of amateur photographers on a cobalt blue summer day.

This is the view towards 10th Avenue from a garden two stories off the ground.  The High Line is one of our newest parks, constructed on top of an elevated train trestle along the far west side that had been abandoned for many years.  Preservationists lobbied for years to have it refurbished as a park rather than demolished.

 

 

I love it for the unexpected view it gives of the city, and for the horticultural ingenuity it demonstrates, how people will try to grow stuff pretty much anywhere in this city.

The High Line is a fascinating testament to the endless adaptability and resourcefulness of everything and every creature in this place.

My unexpected summer vacation…

…in pictures:

This is my ward for the past two weeks, Patches.  We play a lot of frisbee, which he’ll bring and drop at my feet to notify me when, in his opinion, I’ve been reading for too long.  (I love his mismatched eyes, which are a common trait in his breed.)

Journaling with coffee by the pond in the morning.

Okay, I didn’t do this; I only sort of wish that I had.

Watching the moon set from the front porch.  I can never see the moon anymore without reciting the mnemonic “C for Christos, D for Dios,” from The Lacuna, to tell whether the moon is waxing or waning.  (If the curved side of the moon makes a ‘D,’ it’s being born, like God.  If it makes a ‘C,’ it’s dying, like Christ.)

I had not realized how much I really needed this almost total break from the world until it happened.  On Tuesday I’m back to the city and back to work.