QUIET STROLL BESIDE THE RIVER ANYONE?

The children were invited out to a roller-skating rink this afternoon, leaving the Man and me unexpectedly at a loose end. We did some yard work - there's a neverending supply of jobs to do out there - then made a trip into Albany and visited the Corning Preserve.

It's a park running alongside the Hudson River. A couple of weeks from now, when the trees finally burst into leaf, it'll look quite pretty I should think, though it's a little bleak at the moment.

It's main drawback as a park, though, is its proximity to a huge, busy highway which separates the riverside from the city. The traffic noise is loud and constant. Back in the '60s, when the road system was designed, the Hudson was so polluted I'm sure the city planners never imagined anyone wanting to stroll along the banks. The river has since been cleaned up considerably and could be a fantastic Albany attraction - but until they pull the road down it will never be able to fulfil its potential.