Lush Green

The Hudson River

41 58.44 N 073 57.15 W

This morning was splendid.   We ate breakfast in the cockpit anchored 100 meters from the Kingston Lighthouse.  The air and the water were totally still and quiet.  We heard voices and looked out to see a racing shell rowing out into the river for early morning practice.    We heard splashes and looked the other way to see a shallow area with lily pads.   The fish were going crazy in this little spot, leaping out to feed on surface insects.  If one had a fly fishing rig, I'm sure that he could catch those fish as quickly as they could be reeled in.

After getting under way toward Saugerties (our destination for today, only 11 miles), I stood on the bow with my camera to inhale all the beauty.   The Hudson River Valley is surrounded by mountains and hills in the background.  The shores are dotted with the remnants of 19th century industrial might.  Ruins, chimneys. some structures, and the remnants of numerous docks and jetties.  High on the hills are the palatial estates of super rich people.  Many of them are very beautiful.  Down at the shore, there are very few houses, but those few are quaint and working class.  Just north of Kingston is a hobo city.  It has persisted in the same spot since we first started traveling this river in 2005.  How's that for egalitarian?

Most beautiful at this time of year is the lush greens of upstate New York.  In May and early June they are at their lushest.   It reminds me of a story.  My father told me that he once picked up a hitchhiker on Route 20 near Auburn NY.   The man was a retired cowboy from Australia.   He said that as a youth he read the stories of James Fenimore Cooper and he was fascinated by Cooper's descriptions of the lush greenness of central NY.  Australia after all offers nothing but shades of brown; nothing but brown.   He dreamed his whole life of someday seeing the place that Cooper described.   Upon retirement, he bummed his way across the Pacific and North America.   Now he was in central New York and the beauty and the number of shades of green visible were overwhelming.    We feel like that cowboy when we return to this area after a year's absence.

By the way, the greens of central New York were much nicer in Cooper's time and in my youth in Manlius NY, than they are today.   Why is that?  Global warming is not the culprit; the decline in agriculture is.   In 1776, the land in Central New York and New England was 80% fields and 20% forest.  Today the proportions are reversed.  Indeed, it might be as little as 5% fields today.   Open fields in hilly country provide wonderful views from many viewpoints, and they also offer infinite varieties in the shades of green. (Think of the opening scene from The Sound of Music.)   Forests block most of the view.  The thing you see most of the time is the nearest trees, plus the wooded slopes of distant hills which tend to be very uniform in color.   I've tried before to suggest that we restore the beauty by cutting down most of the trees.   How stupid of me.   Modern people are very protective of trees.  They are horrified at the idea of cutting any down, regardless of the motive.

Anyhow, the morning beauty and the return to our home areas put us in a very mellow mood today.  There will be thunderstorms this afternoon, but we don't care.  By the way, I have some beautiful pictures of the scenes described today.  I'll post them when I can.