Catskills!

We had a fine time in Olivebridge, N.Y. with my old friend Linda and her husband Paul. We attended a Pete Seeger memorial barbecue and group singing session at the Ashokan Center, a community center that focus on arts, ecology, and community. It was really moving to sing songs of hope like "If I Had a Hammer", "This Land Is Your Land," etc. with others who have loved this music for decades. It felt like a deep connection with our youths, a well needed reminder that dreaming is essential. This is a beautiful area of deep forests and round, rugged mountain ridges that leap up and surprise you. Red efts (bright orange salamanders) and tiny spring peeper frogs are everywhere in the woods, along with the season's first wild fungi. Food coops and bookstores thrive here. There's also an interesting sculpture garden that was inspired by the artist's visits to Mayan ruins in Guatamala. A creative and lovely area, check it out for sure.

Surprises in Lancaster

Contrary to many rumors, this town is anything but a tourist trap. The houses are lovely.. porches, slanted roofs with dark shingles, big front yards. Buildings are Pennsylvania brick architecture, which both of us love. There is a fine and very political food coop, and several good bookstores - one is called Dog Star Books, for the Sirius reader. History is everywhere. Thadeus Stevens, the abolitionist was the congressman from this area, we is buried in an integrated cemetary. They are restoring his house... it's surrounded by the Marriott. Amish and Mennonite folks are around, but they tend to spend more time in the countryside. We did visit a market, where I had a slice of real shoe fly pie. A great walking town. Give it a look!

land of Blue Ridge Mountains and Jefferson

I haven't had time to post much, we've been busy. Charlottesville is a cool town, very connected with Thomas Jefferson. He founded the University of Virginia in the 1820s (I think), it's quite a beautiful campus with old buildings and fine gardens. We hiked near Monticello, his home but were short on time and didn't pay for the tour of his property. Nice trail, but there are many in the area. We canoed one day at a fine county park called Walnut Vreek, a quiet lake with lots of lily pads and forest around it. Shenandoah National Park is mind blowing... huge, ancient mountain ridges covered with hardwood forests rise from fog to stun you. We hiked to the top of Crabtree Falls that is actually a series of cascades- very fine hike and great view from the top. I'm also very taken with the Writer's House, which hosts many readings and workshops for us scribes. There's a very nice downtown mall with an excellent homemade ice cream parlor, and strolling musicians. Of course we had lots of fun with our friends Ben and Sue and Henry, their cat. This is Charlottesville in a nutshell. We're now in Lancaster, Pa., another creative and unique town... I'll try to be more disciplined and make more entries.

Charlottesville, Virginia is an eclectic and colorful town

This is the liberal part of Virginia, a place that has attracted people from many parts of the country. There is a fine pedestrian mall that offers Indian food, home made ice cream, CVS, outdoor bars, pizza, etc. along with strolling musicians. The Ravena trail wanders along the outskirts of town along a stream bank of dragonflies, wildflowers, many birds. We went to a presentation of a group called Wild Virgina which focuses on many environmental issues including fracking. They organize tours where people can visit areas effected by fracking and meet people who have been effected by it. We also talked with a guy with the Piedmont Environmental Council, a group that promotes policies encouraging landowners to preserve open space and not to sell land for subdivisions. On top of all this, we chatted with an oriental rug dealer who is a friend of my colleague Judy with Planet Drum Foundation. This guy is a former Digger who moved to Virginia in the 70s, bringing 12 families with him and setting up a community. He has many wild tales to tell. So yes, an eclectic and interesting town. This remains the south though. We are house sitting for our friends Ben and Sue for a few days. When we drive their car into the driveway today, we realized that an older neighbor had pulled in behind us. He had noticed the Pennsylvania license plates on cars that were here a few days ago, people who were visiting Ben and Susan then. He is from Pennsylvania (like me) and wanted to find out where people lived there. He was a jolly fellow, he told us all about his golden retrievers. He wore an IRA cap, and a t-shirt with an American eagle proclaiming, "I'll keep my guns, freedom, and money, you take the 'change'". We weren't sure he was going to leave, but he suddenly announced he had to go and gave us a friendly goodbye. We had successfully stayed away from politics... bur, it was creepy! Tomorrow, Shenandoah National Park, if it's not raining.

At it again...

We are on an odyssey as part of our ongoing need to figure out where we will spend the rest pf our time on earth. Our journey will take us through Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York, ending in Pittsburgh, and will include time with old friends and family. We are in Roanoke Virginia now, an interesting town in the SW part of the state, near the Appalachians. Interesting town. It originated in the 1880s and attracted industrial workers from the north, so it was never part of the Confederacy. We chatted with a Sierra Club member yesterday. There is a big move to bring wind farms into the area, and to create greenways linking village-like neighborhoods. We walked along the Roanoke River Greenway today. It's really well done, very pleasant. It links neighborhoods and parks, very picturesque ones. Lots of comfortable houses with decks and porches overlooking the river. People here smile constantly. We even had some wonderful homemade ice cream sold by a couple who run a shop near the Greenway. Kate had Mexican chocolate, I had coconut fudge. There is a comfort to being in the east with its lush green forests in summertime. There's much we love about northern California, but it's hot and dry in summer. And dusty! Here, we love the maples and oaks, cardinals darting about, lightning bugs, and many more critters. There's a joy to the cool wind that preceeds an electrical storm, a thrill to jabbing lightning and crackling thunder. Even humidity, with its damp, warm embrace welcomes us. On to Charlottesville, Virginia tomorrow, More to come.