Into the Catskills

 
I've moved again, this time to Marie's house where I will be for the rest of my time here.

This meant a drive south through the Catskill Mountains. Pictures taken from the car, on the fly. Not the best quality, but you can get the idea.



I love the way the big houses are shoehorned into the hills. Look ahead of the car.



The Delaware River was parallel to us for most of the driving route.



Hoping to get back on some sort of modified schedule tomorrow. We'll see.

	See Sunset in the Catskills
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Upper Enfield Glen

 
I'm taking you back to a few days ago with some pictures of Upper Enfield Glen in New York. The trails to the most spectacular of the waterfalls is closed for the winter, but this falls is visible from the parking area. They consider it so ho-hum, it doesn't even have a name.



I liked how the snow and moss and ferns were clinging to the rock walls.



This also unnamed falls is on a tributary, Fish Kill Creek. That funny "hood" is an ice cover that formed when the temps were so low and then partially washed away leaving a bridge.



There was a hamlet here, formed around a mill. When I was a kid, the mill wheel was still in place. It's now been removed but most of the gears are still there and visible.



And this mill stone is a study in shapes and tones.



Let's not talk about today's author event. See you tomorrow. I'll be on the move again. Back with Marie.

	See Elaine and Carcassonne
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Elaine and Carcassonne

 
My time with Elaine has ended, but we had a lot of fun.



We discovered a new-to-us game called Carcassonne (named for a medieval town).



It's a world-building game with cities, roads, farms, and cloister.



We liked it a lot and already added some house rules to make it even more interesting.



I'm now on my way back toward another vendor event.

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Schoolmate, Stoneflies, Scalp, Score

 
Another busy day here. All good.

We went to visit Elaine's cousin Linda. This is another schoolmate I hadn't seen for about 50 years. It all seems fairly amazing to me. We all went to the same church as well.



We went for a short walk by the Susquehanna River, and discovered there were hundreds of adult stoneflies running around on the snow. They come out of the water to find a mate and only live a couple of weeks. Don't think I knew all this. Had to get help with the ID. I think this is the first I've seen adults. This is probably Paracapnia angulata



After a nice visit, we went out to eat. On the way home, we had to stop and take a picture of this hill. Looks like a guy with really thin hair. Or maybe a Mohawk haircut that needs to be trimmed up on the sides.



After Elaine and I got back to her place we split a set of Upwords, and then she carried on an old, old tradition by beating the socks off me at Carroms. I don't think I've EVER won this game against her.



Ever. (And Carroms are actually made in Ludington, so it's pretty funny that it's really Elaine's game.)

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Aurora Free Library and Reconnecting

 
We had a lot of adventures today, but I'll show you pictures of the evening program, and later the neat places Elaine and I went during the day.

So, this program would not have happened if it hadn't been for Sharon, a friend from a long time ago. We were several grades apart in school, so really weren't friends there. However we went to the same church and connected more through youth group. Anyway, when I was trying to line up programs in New York, she told me she spent her career at the Aurora Free Library, and thought she could get me a program. She did!

It was great to see her again. We also have one more connection. If you remember the story about my mother's birthday, at Passing On a Birthday, the little girl in that story is Sharon's niece.

It's also appropriate that a picture of us would be surrounded by books.



The library building is full of character!



The librarian said, "We thought we'd do your program up in the Opera House."

"Wow!" So up we went.



She wasn't kidding. There's a beautiful little auditorium on the second floor.



With a really interesting proscenium arch.



I guess I make funny faces when I talk, but that's OK, because I hope some of the stories I tell are funny.



And, at the end, I sold books. Hooray!



A pretty long day, all in all, but a good one.

	See Next Stop Ithaca
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