Good things coming to an end

[Written Aug 17th at the airport in Boston, where the WiFi was a little dodgy and wouldn't let me publish the post]

It was ten years yesterday, August 16th, that we moved to the Albany area, and ten years today, local time (we're still - just - in the US) that I first started writing this blog. Of course since then we have moved back to Britain, and the Albaniana blog has become an intermittent enterprise. But here's what we looked like a decade (and also seven years) ago.

Unfortunately our anniversary day began with upsetting news from home. Our cat, out on the prowl overnight, ventured as far as the main road and was hit by a car. RIP Bobo. His life was short but I hope it was happy. We served on his staff for just two years and he seemed to tolerate us pretty well.

The loss cast quite a pall over the rest of the day, but we did our best. The kids as ever had made their own arrangements, so I had the chance to attend Saratoga Race Course with my host, A, in the afternoon, as part of an outing organised by her employer. Racing is certainly a very popular pursuit and the place was packed. But we quickly learnt that there's not a whole lot to the sport if you are not into betting, so we had our share of the included-in-the-ticket-price buffet and watched a race, but did not stay overly long.

Instead we drove all the way back down to Henry Hudson Park and admired the pair of bald eagles that nest there. They put on a fine display of soaring, and it was tranquil sitting by the river. We decided this was much more our sort of thing.

I ended the evening with friend J, a final chance to see her and chew over the latest hair-raising helping of crazy from the White House. We concluded, as A and I had earlier, that these are looking like the end times for Western civilization.

And on that cheery note...

Today (Thursday) has mostly been about packing, saying last farewells, and heading back to Boston. We're waiting to board as I write.

Ms Sociability

Tuesday was packed. The kids were off doing their own thing, leaving me free to catch up with about a million people.

First off, my refugee friends. They took me for brunch at a Chinese buffet restaurant.The eldest girl was just that morning home from seven weeks working as a camp counsellor, and she was full of stories. Soon she'll be in her second year of nursing college, earning money as a homework helper on the side...life is full and good. She and her sisters chatted away in English, breaking into Karen to include their parents. They are all so well settled now, I couldn't be happier for them.

Next, coffee with friend M, who is somewhat of a libertarian disposition and always interesting to talk to. Then I dropped in on the couple who helped us sell our house, for a quick catch-up. From there to a gathering of neighbours, for a a light meal and chat sitting in a screened porch. And from there for one more cup of tea, with M&C, before I collected the kids for the night.

Phew - fun but exhausting.

Cross country hiking

A mixed day - some frustrations over social plans gone awry, which meant a fair bit of time-wasting, but that's just life sometimes. At least both C & J each spent some time with friends.

On the upside, I managed to get in a hike at Pineridge. This is where we used to go cross country skiing. I had driven there many times but never in the summer - but I still managed to find my way there, despite the scenery looking completely different to how it is in winter. The trails, too, of course looked very different. The grass was long in places underfoot, so I tucked my trousers in my socks (against poison ivy and ticks). Hiking the trails, though generally slower than skiing, was much easier up hills and lacked the embarrassment of falling over.

In the evening, while J was running around on a dark field with his mates playing manhunt (hide and seek for teenagers) I caught up with a politically active friend, E, and her family. Of course there was plenty to talk about, but beyond the inevitable hair-on-fire conversation re the present incumbent of the White House, it was also good to chat about the kids and to learn that their son (C's contemporary, and a hugely tall and talented pitcher) is set to get a baseball scholarship for university.

Weekend round-up

Here's what we did on Saturday and Sunday:

J had slept over with a group of friends on Friday. He spent part of the day in the library, re-grouped with his tribe and slept over again Saturday night. Good times had by all. On Sunday I helped him meet up with his buddy and family for the afternoon. I joined the two boys watching a film (The Big Sick) at the Spectrum on Delaware Ave on Sunday evening.

C spent Saturday at our main hosts' house, mostly amusing herself as her friend had work and other commitments. They had fun in the evening though, including a late-night ice-cream excursion. On Sunday we met an inspirational middle school teacher friend and his wife for breakfast, and C interviewed them for a project she's doing. It was great to catch up with them, though like everyone else they are rattled by current US events. In the afternoon I took C to meet our formerly-farm-manager friend, who happened to be at the Russian Orthodox church in Colonie (stunning interiors - it was only built in 2005 but is gradually being decorated in traditional style throughout). I took her on from there to stay again with one of her oldest friends, A, in Delmar.

I met my fair trade friend and partner in projects, M on Saturday morning for an excellent walk at Five Rivers. Halfway round M had a skype call on her phone from family in Turkey, to wish her a happy 70th birthday. Pretty magical to be able to pull her little grandsons out of her pocket like that! I then caught up with a few familiar faces at the farmers' market, and from there called in on my refugee friends. All good news as everything seems to be going well for them at the moment. In the evening I drove my host into Albany. We started strolling around the Corning Preserve, then realised a storm was about to break. We avoided a thorough soaking (I had forgotten about that sort of rain), and when the downpour subsided we managed to find an Indian restaurant.

My Sunday activities mostly involved transporting the kids as detailed above, with a brief run-out to Thacher Park (Indian Ladder Trail currently closed - boo!) between times.

Spanning the area

Yesterday I had to drop C somewhere for a breakfast meet-up, then entertain J until his friends were available (they have summer jobs, studies and sports commitments - or else they sleep in late - which means they are not always around). We did some essential shopping, had brunch at our favourite shiny diner, and checked out the new Five Rivers Visitor Center (I think they are beginning to get bored of seeing me there because I've been turning up every day with someone new in tow each time).

I ended my day having dinner with friends M&V, and I stayed overnight with them. We watched the pundits on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) discussing the Trump's latest pronouncements, and did not feel entirely confident about the future of the US, or indeed the world.

Salvaged

A day with some pleasures (we're gradually working our way through a wishlist of eateries) but also some disappointments. C was due to spend time with a friend, who unfortunately turned out to have had a bout of sickness overnight...so we carefully backed away from her door, promising to come back another time. We decided to head up to Indian Ladder Farms instead, where to our great dismay we learnt that our dear friend the farm manager is no longer working there. We will be looking her up elsewhere, but we left feeling that the farm would never be the same for us.

We managed to fill the next few hours in a slightly less than purposeful way - a trip to shops in town, and some driving back and forth relating to J's arrangements (with the three of us generally wanting to be in different places at different times, and plans constantly morphing, I find I am doing a huge amount of driving out here). Then thank goodness we managed to find friends J&A at home and had some dinner with them, which restored our energy and good spirits just in time.

Impressive

I met friends and took a tour of the new Five Rivers Visitor Center - it's a thing of beauty. It also has many excellent interactive sensory displays - not so many that you need to stay all day, but just enough to make you want to get out and spot the real things in the wild.


I was impressed. And pleased that I got to say hi to several staff and board members who were around, who all seem happy with how things are going. I took a long looping walk around the woods and fields with two friends, followed by lunch.




The next big impression of the day was across the river at Hudson Valley Community College, where NY Senator Kirstin Gillibrand was holding a "town hall" - a meeting for anyone to attend and ask questions. C (future politics student?) came along too.

Questions ranged from healthcare to presidential powers to pension rights, relations with Israel, back to healthcare, the risk of nuclear war, healthcare again... There was also a query about bipartisan accomplishments, which the Senator answered with "I made dinner for Ted Cruz last night..." Senator Gillibrand can handle a crowd and talks sense. She is a hot tip for future President (if, the way things are going, the current incumbent doesn't turn out to be the last).

Finally, an impressive discovery in Cohoes: the most surprising thing I've ever come across in a public library. How did I live in the Capital District for seven years and never hear about this life-size model of a mastodon?

Happy returns

We've been back in the States since, hm let's see, Sunday evening. We being me, C & J (now respectively a young woman and a young man, so no more Girl and Boy, I think).

We spent the first night in Boston, and drove to Albany the next day. The only thing to note about the journey is that Massachusetts has completely gone over to cashless tolls, so there was no queuing for tollbooths, we just drove under a gantry of gadgets which read the E-Z Pass we'd hired with the car - helpful for speed of travel and preventing air pollution, so thumbs up for that.

J had plans with friends. We dropped him in our old suburb and he was off, with barely a "Can I have some cash before you leave...?" C and I went on to our friends' house and settled in to an evening of catching up and cookie-baking.

Tuesday: mostly a day of old haunts and more old friends. Lunch at Panera, where the portions seemed much smaller than I remembered - possibly for the first time ever in America I looked at my plate and thought "That's not very much food". A visit to my favourite public library, tranquil and perfect as ever. I lost C, regained J and joined J's old Buddy and family for dinner in an Irish bar, chased down with treats from Jim's Tastee-Freez.

Real or Imaginary?

The Man writes...a morning of quick and sad goodbyes to friends and kind hosts. A slow busy drive to Boston. A few hours in a noisy and crowded departure lounge. A comfortable Norwegian flight, before being greeted and collected by Albaniana at Gatwick.

Did we dream it all?

Jumping around

The Man writes...I think in the UK if the Young Man's school decide to create a pond for educational reasons it would be about 10 feet across. His first school in the US had bigger ideas:

He and his buddy toured the wonderful grounds and then visited his buddy's new school.

We had dinner at a new Irish pub in Delmar where we enjoyed having to explain strange exotic terms like "Bangers and Mash".  Later in the evening the Young Man joined up with other friends for an extremely energetic evening at SkyZone, a huge warehouse full of trampolines, where even normal games like basketball and volleyball are done in extra bouncy style.

Pine and City Line

The Man writes...I went into my old work place for lunch. They had ordered in sandwiches especially, so we all sat together having lively and wide ranging discussions. In the end I lingered all afternoon and tried to help them out with some issues! I noted my old pot plants were being carefully nurtured.

There was just time to fit in a visit to the Pine Hollow Arboretum, which was as peacefully calming as ever.

By contrast we spent a fun evening in the raucous City Line Grill. Music blared and dozens of screens showed the opening ceremony from the Rio Olympics (on a one hour delay with ad breaks every five minutes of course), and the quinoa burger was great.

Small and Perfect

The Man writes...this is a small Americano from a favourite coffee shop. One day I shall have to order a large just for a dare.

A sociable day for us both: while the Young Man met up with his friends and I had tea with some former neighbours and then dinner with work colleagues in the Bonefish Grill on Wolf Road.

Day on the Lake

The Man writes...I know I post a lot of pictures of Mirror Lake, but one of its fascinations is the way it changes with time and weather. These photos are taken about an hour apart.

Although we have stayed at the Golden Arrow several times, we discovered for the first time a great gym, with a large window overlooking the lake, and even a squash/racketball court. The Young Men made very good use of all the machines. They were kind enough to give us a courtesy key to use all the facilities even after we had checked out, so we spent most of the day using the boats and the beach.

Before leaving the area, we drove out to a famous Ice Cream place known by the Young Man's buddy. Although it is tiny, in the middle of nowhere, and serves only one flavour of soft ice cream, there was a steady stream of customers.

A Placid Break

The Man writes...the Young Man and I picked up his buddy, and we headed north into the Adirondacks.

Our first stop was Cascade Lake:

Then we explored to the bobsleigh run at Mount Van Hoevenburg near Lake Placid:

And finally arrived at the Golden Arrow resort on Mirror Lake. We swam and canoed on the lake,which looked as perfect as ever.

The town is busy for a Lacrosse tournament, and I thought (wrongly) that what I consider an "early" dinner would beat the crowds. Whilst we queued long at 6pm, the restaurant was half empty at 7.30. However, we were extremely fortunate to get a table outdoors overlooking the lake, and to be treated to a free concert of New Orleans blues and jazz on the neighbouring green. 

Old haunts

The Man writes...in a small gap in his hectic social schedule, I took the Young Man around some fondly remembered places, including Empire State Plaza, The Beaver Trail at Five Rivers (very chestnutty), and some favourite cafes.

Thanks to a sign in the library, I also learned how to trap a bat. If you find a bat in your New York home, it must be captured and tested for rabies.

Berkshire Sunday

The Man writes...the small, pretty town of Lenox in the Berkshires is home to restaurants, retreats, and several cultural attractions like the Tanglewood open-air concert venue and the Shakespeare and Co theatre company. Already at 11 on a rainy Sunday morning it was busy with people gathering for a posh brunch and perhaps heading on to a concert. Police were on every corner guiding traffic, and there was barely a parking space to be had anywhere.

There was a long queue at the Haven Cafe, but the shiitake and spinach omelette and kale salad were well worth the wait. Afterwards we strolled around the craft market, admiring enormous gourd birdhouses, and visited some independent book shops.

Then we headed out to The Mount, Edith Wharton's house and garden. Of course Albaniana already described it better than I can. We took House and Garden tours, which were both excellently done.

I particularly liked the grass steps.

In the woods there was modern "sculpture", like a fishing net arranged artfully and on sale for $12000, and open-air Shakepeare was being energetically performed to a see of umbrellas as we departed.

Tradin' Palin

The Man writes...I spent the day moving the Young Man around between various appointments. He was disappointed to find Four Corners Luncheonette did not have their traditional stall at the Delmar Farmers Market, so we rapidly moved on to the real place for Home Fries and toasted sandwich.

We also stopped to buy sunglasses and couldn't resist picking up Pokemon Trading Cards (for old time's sake) and another type of trading card for its "I don't believe it!" value:

In our pack of Decision 2016 ("Politics is the New Sports", "Collect all 110 Base Cards")  we were "lucky" enough to find "Influencers" Sarah Palin and Barack Obama, Dr Ben Carson, and "Spouse" Jeanette Rubio.

The day finished with a sublime barbecue. The other guests were young people who had just flown in from Mongolia and Zambia, whose work and achievements for those in need were inspiring and humbling. 

A long Huyck

The Man writes...I enjoyed a long hike at the Huyk preserve in Rensselaerville. We visited many times down the years, most memorably in winter, but I was able to go much further today.

Charging On

The Man writes...the Young Man had a yen for brunch at the place we will always know as the Shiny Diner. As usual we marveled over the friendliness of the staff, the intensity of the air conditioning, and the American wonder that is bottomless soda.

We went on to Indian Ladder Farms, where TYM met up with the animals, got re-aquainted with the staff, and recognized our old car and some toys in the rabbit hutches which he had made at Camp four years ago.

Then it was time for him to buy provisions for a party tonight with some 20 old school mates. It's great so see how much trouble everyone is taking to welcome him back.

Here is one welcome new addition at Price Chopper since our day...

Another day, another half-built Center

 
The Man writes...like Five Rivers, Thacher State Park will also have a large Visitor Center soon, situated on the escarpment immediately above the Indian Ladder Trail. To be honest, it hadn't progressed as far since last year as I had expected.

As usual there were cute newts in a shady pool on the Trail below:

The day ended at Okinawa in Poestenkill - that pleasing style of Japanese-American cuisine that is common here but I have never really seen in the UK.