Something very strange happened when I was driving home this afternoon. A deer came out of the woods and ran right in from of my car. Thats nothing out of the ordinary it happens all the time around here. What made this particular occurrence so weird was that the deer was nearly totally white. I dont think it was a true albino I believe I saw a couple of patches of pigmented fur and it seemed to have dark eyes but other than that it was all white. I grabbed for my phone to snap a picture but by the time I had it out and ready the beastie had disappeared into the woods on the other side of the road. I'll be ready the next time...
The other strange occurrence today was sunshine and blue skies. We havent seen that combination in quite a while. The skies have been grey for the past couple of weeks whether it has been raining or not. I hope this means that summer is finally really beginning.
I've been out walking nearly every day but lately the hiking expeditions have been few and far between. Wednesday dawned wet and rainy and the forecast called for a 70% chance of thundershowers in the afternoon. I decided to go for a hike anyway.
This was the first time Id ever climbed Stissing Mountain. The trail up begins in the 507 acre Thompson Pond Nature Preserve. The preserve is home to 387 species of plants, 162 bird species and 27 species of mammals. In addition to most of the mountain the preserve contains two other small ponds and, of course, Thompson Pond itself which is a rare (at least for this area) circumneutral bog made up of soupy peat. The mountain is composed of uplifted Precambrian gneiss-granite, is 1403 feet (427.6 m) in height and its topped by a recently renovated
90 foot (27.4 m) fire tower.
Its not exactly the perfect place to be in a lightning storm. Thank goodness we didnt get one. As you can see from the photos it was extremely hazy and humid. At one point I actually passed through a cloud on the way up.
Thompson Pond
I'm sorry for that whole boring school lesson back up there a ways - it's just a really incredible area. There are actually dioramas of Stissing Mountain and the surrounding area at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I remember first viewing them as a child. I'll have to go back soon and compare.
Stissing Mountain (and fire tower)
On Friday I was in Rhinebeck to check out a parcel of land. That turned out to be a total waste of time. Let's just say it wasn't exactly as described. As long as I was in the area anyway I decided to walk over the nearby Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
It's the only highway bridge I know of named for a Washington Irving character.
Irving wrote the short story while living in England. The story was set a bit north of here in the Catskill Mountains, an area that Irving had never visited.
The bridge is 5040 feet (1536.5 m) in length and is of Cantilever and Truss design. It was completed and opened in 1935.
I've been pretty busy and happy the past week. The M&Ms (mold and moods) had hit me rather hard last month and I wasn't able to enjoy much of anything including reading. I'm fine now and back at it. I'm a bit bummed that I couldn't buy Thomas Pynchon's new book Inherent Vice for my Kindle but, since they didn't want to take my money I ordered it from the library. It should be here on Monday. I can't wait!
I hope that you're having a great summer (or wonderful winter, depending on which side of the equator you're on) and that all is well in your part of the world.
Take care...
*edit* For your viewing pleasure: Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski and Star Wars - Bikini Cinema
The other strange occurrence today was sunshine and blue skies. We havent seen that combination in quite a while. The skies have been grey for the past couple of weeks whether it has been raining or not. I hope this means that summer is finally really beginning.
I've been out walking nearly every day but lately the hiking expeditions have been few and far between. Wednesday dawned wet and rainy and the forecast called for a 70% chance of thundershowers in the afternoon. I decided to go for a hike anyway.
This was the first time Id ever climbed Stissing Mountain. The trail up begins in the 507 acre Thompson Pond Nature Preserve. The preserve is home to 387 species of plants, 162 bird species and 27 species of mammals. In addition to most of the mountain the preserve contains two other small ponds and, of course, Thompson Pond itself which is a rare (at least for this area) circumneutral bog made up of soupy peat. The mountain is composed of uplifted Precambrian gneiss-granite, is 1403 feet (427.6 m) in height and its topped by a recently renovated
90 foot (27.4 m) fire tower.
Its not exactly the perfect place to be in a lightning storm. Thank goodness we didnt get one. As you can see from the photos it was extremely hazy and humid. At one point I actually passed through a cloud on the way up.
Thompson PondI'm sorry for that whole boring school lesson back up there a ways - it's just a really incredible area. There are actually dioramas of Stissing Mountain and the surrounding area at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I remember first viewing them as a child. I'll have to go back soon and compare.
Stissing Mountain (and fire tower)On Friday I was in Rhinebeck to check out a parcel of land. That turned out to be a total waste of time. Let's just say it wasn't exactly as described. As long as I was in the area anyway I decided to walk over the nearby Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
It's the only highway bridge I know of named for a Washington Irving character.
Irving wrote the short story while living in England. The story was set a bit north of here in the Catskill Mountains, an area that Irving had never visited.
The bridge is 5040 feet (1536.5 m) in length and is of Cantilever and Truss design. It was completed and opened in 1935.
I've been pretty busy and happy the past week. The M&Ms (mold and moods) had hit me rather hard last month and I wasn't able to enjoy much of anything including reading. I'm fine now and back at it. I'm a bit bummed that I couldn't buy Thomas Pynchon's new book Inherent Vice for my Kindle but, since they didn't want to take my money I ordered it from the library. It should be here on Monday. I can't wait!
I hope that you're having a great summer (or wonderful winter, depending on which side of the equator you're on) and that all is well in your part of the world.
Take care...
*edit* For your viewing pleasure: Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski and Star Wars - Bikini Cinema
VIEW 16 of 16 COMMENTS
i'm walking more as well
though no giant towers as of yet
Have a great weekend too.