Categorically bad

I was sorry to learn today that Saugerties Lighthouse, which we recently visited, was flooded out earlier this week and will be closed until further notice.  Yet another victim of Sandy (such an inappropriately cheery name, that, given the awful destruction it has wreaked).

I've been trawling around putting up lawn signs (with lawn-owners' permission, of course) to advertise the annual Fair Trade Market happening later this month.  I can't believe it's already November (though the chill in the air - not to mention talk of snow - hints that it really is).

The Girl saw out October on Wednesday with some late evening homework.  The Science teacher, bowing to the inevitability of Halloween, had set her students the task of categorizing 25 pieces of trick-or-treat candy.  Well, that was soon done.  How quickly the Girl will be able to demolish the couple of hundred other pieces remains to be seen.

Carved in stone

We went apple-buying and animal-visiting at Indian Ladder Farms this morning.  It was pretty busy there, considering the dismal cold, wet weather and the lack of actual apple-picking.  It was good to so many people out supporting this local business. 

The kids were, as usual, happy to see the kids.

After lunch, the weather had started to clear so we headed south and introduced my parents to our favourite Hudson River lighthouse at Saugerties.  The sun was shining, but it was blowy by the water.

From the river, we drove up into the Catskill Mountains and stopped at North South Lake State Park.  We took the short trail up to the escarpment where the Catskill Mountain House Hotel used to stand, and admired the views across the Hudson Valley.

We gave ourselves a competition to find the oldest grafitti carved into the rocky plateau - Grandpa won when he found 1845.  Bonus points for the Girl, though, who found this marriage proposal:

I wonder, did Kim say yes?

To the Lighthouse

Today, by a happy navigational error, we found ourselves at the trailhead to Saugerties Lighthouse on the Hudson River.  We'd been in the car for a while by then, so we decided to roll out and explore the half-mile nature preserve on a spit of land, with its route over boardwalks and bridges, which took us to the very charming lighthouse. 

Built in 1869, it looks much more like a regular house than the more familiar seaside tower lighthouses - a regular house with a big light on top, that is.  It was decommissioned in 1954 and stood vacant for many years until rescued and restored by local enthusiasts. We wandered around the outside of it (indoor tours won't begin until Memorial Day), congratulating ourselves on our discovery and admiring the views up and down the river.

We were excited to learn, from a sign, that it's possible to stay in the lighthouse as a B&B guest - a little bit on the lines of Landmark Trust properties in Britain.  But clearly we are not the only ones to think this is a very cool idea - the place is booked up until November.  Maybe we'll keep an eye on the website, in case of sudden cancellations.

The lighthouse was not the only stop on our afternoon out, but I'll save the rest for another day.