An early spring hike with my daughter making observations in her Field Notes journal.“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
At spring’s closing and with summer nipping at its heels, the flora and fauna of the Hudson Valley have rushed in. This will be our third spring here and I can’t say I remember there being such an abundance of life awakening around us.
The Dogwoods have become a favorite feature on our property.The trees are taller; an unfortunate circumstance for my garden bed as that means one less hour of sun for the plants but we will welcome the extra shade come summer’s heat. The blooms of our Dogwood trees budded in April and have only now lost their flowers. We discovered a new hiking trail this year populated with wild Honeysuckle; the intoxicating scent arrested our noses before we spotted them along the water’s edge.
Our youngest on her father’s shoulders on an early spring hike.
We had to take a few cuttings of Honeysuckle home to enjoy its fleeting scent for a day or two longer.
Those along with a few other wildflowers we ended up pressing in our flower press kit.
Could it be our mild winter here on the East coast that has all animals thriving? The snakes stretch themselves out during the heat of the day on our stone paths and in our creeping ivy along the hill. The frogs, toads and even baby Box turtles are unabashedly making themselves known by creeping out of their winter homes and into our yard. And back on the trail, we have found newts, unusual fungi, evidence of beaver, and birds aplenty.
I spy a Garter snake in the Pachysandra!
This is an Eastern Newt. They can live for 12-15 years!
The Pickerel frogs have started singing keeping the woods humming at night.
Birding. Can I take a moment to tell you about my new found “hobby” since moving out to the country? When I lived in the city, I loved to sit on a park bench or look out my window and people watch. With very little people watching in the country, I naturally gravitated to birdwatching. And there are SO MANY birds of all types. From your run of the mill—Robins, Crows, Blue Jays, to your winter birds—Chickadees, Cardinals, Grey-Slated Juncos, to my spring and summertime favorites—Eastern Bluebirds, Scarlet Tanagers and lastly, (but no where near complete) my daughter’s favorite the hummingbirds.
Nerding, I mean birding out (pic courtesy of my daughter).
My birding essentials.
But I’ve steered off topic. Birding will often have me do that as I spot a new bird from my window, drop whatever I’m doing and reach for the binoculars in hopes of identifying said bird. I’m digressing again.
Summer begins.What I’m mean to say is that everything is abuzz—trees creak, leaves ruffle, birds sing, chipmunks chirp, my daughters giggle in the sun-soaked yard. Nature awakens with a spirited renewal and I can’t help but be struck by the placidity of it all.
A recent day trip to New York city had me reflect on how my family’s lives have changed in two years. In 2009, my husband and I committed to life as city dwellers with purchase of our first home. And, at the time, it seemed like the right choice.
City newbies, 2005
After all, we had both moved there to attend graduate school; where we met. We made it through the awkward years of finding our footing in the ever-vibrant, ever-moving bright lights, big city. We schlepped our way uptown to school spending many-a-hours researching and writing in the library (me), painting and sculpting in the studio (him), presenting and testing in the classroom (both of us). We came home at odd hours from different jobs that just paid the bills. After scraping the remainder of our funds together, we would commiserate with our friends over drinks, bar and art opening hopping through the city. We lived these years in not-so-great railroad apartments and then in a loft apartment, our first feels-like-home-place together, which gave us great memories.
Our loft apartment in Brooklyn. I loved living here and felt like a true New Yorker in this place.
And then, New York city took hold of us. We found jobs in the art industry that eventually became careers. We weren’t just making ends meet. We got married. We grew up. Careers, interests, and friends had us firmly planted in the city so we took the leap and bought a home in the city.
We had a view of the Manhattan skyline from the rooftop of the home we purchased in 2009.
Fast forward a few years with the birth of our first daughter in 2011, and like countless of other die-hard city dwellers, our love of city living faded. Outings had become a whole lot more involved. We would head out, bags packed with baby paraphernalia. Those bags hanging from a stroller also laden with baby, which we then had to lug up and down crowded subway steps. We would arrive exhausted before we even queued up to buy tickets to the new art exhibition we wanted to see.
Gallery exhibitions and walks through city parks were our usual outings.
My husband and I had also grown weary of the city’s hurried pace and increasingly spoke of the need to trade in the cacophonous buzz of the city streets for the buzz of bees, rustling leaves, and trees blowing in the wind. And we had come to the realization that we wanted our daughter to grow up in a less (much less) frenetic place.
Our current view from our window.
And so, with great effort (it wasn’t easy to make this happen–another story for another time perhaps), we left the city for life in the mountains. With all that said, we still love New York city and remain connected. My husband makes the trek into town for his career and my daughters and I will take day trips in as often as we can. Refreshed from our daily living in the country, we are not daunted by the the hurried city pace anymore. My oldest daughter gets giddy over the idea of these special days—to ride subways, walk city blocks adorned with graffiti walls, visit galleries, swoosh down the slide at the old neighborhood playground, drop in for an “espresso” with Daddy at his work and best of all to see old friends.
City parks hold special memories for her.
Daddy’s office is usually a pit stop to have some lunch and rest our legs.
And back on our old block where the bestie still lives.
We may no longer be city dwellers but we didn’t leave New York city. In truth, I don’t think we could ever leave her. Her lights shine too bright.
daughtersbarrow 