We joined Anita and Nana for an amazing eggplant parmigiana dinner (with homemade marinara!) on Thursday night as clouds cloaked the cabin like a heavy grey blanket. I had looked at the forecast earlier and it was clear that we were in for a weekend of heavy rain. Weather like that is always kind of a bummer, since the Haus has such wonderful outdoor surroundings to take advantage of. Friday proved the forecast correct. Rain, rain, glorious book reading and more misty rain. Colin and I took a hike in the afternoon in the deep woods and stayed mostly dry. I found a decent patch of ginseng near the hunter's cabin, and brilliant red efts dotted the trail. Searching for the next newt was like a really easy (and they have to be easy for me!) Easter egg hunt. Further along down the mountain we came across a new structure being built. It looks an awful lot like a bomb shelter or a bunker. Maybe we have a Prepper neighbor...
By Saturday, the weather had cleared substantially and we took advantage of the built-in-babyitting to revisit our festival prowess at Mountain Jam. Hunter was slippery with the Catskills' signature red clay after enduring heavy rains and thousands of Wellington clad hippie feet. Their grounds crews were constantly spreading hay and it seemed to do the trick. We enjoyed IPAs and crowd watching while listening to Michael Franti, Soulgrass, Amy Helm/Benevento and a little touch of the Lumineers. We had to take a shuttle to and from the venue...about 8 miles...I wish they had something like that in place for Coventry. I think this was the seventh year of Mountain Jam. We had also been the 2nd year and it has grown significantly since then. I'd like to go back...especially to see Phil Lesh or some of the evening headliners. It's a sweet spot for a festival.
We hiked again on Sunday. Since it was so beautiful out (finally), we brought Neil along in an old backpack. It was his first "loop hike" on the mountain and he seemed to really enjoy watching the forest pass by him as he held on to Colin's curls. We saw more efts and green frogs and the three dogs bounced between trail and scent in the wet forest. I wish we could have stayed another week, just to see new wildflowers emerge, watch the blackberries ripen, hear the birds songs' dissipate into the heat of summer, the bullfrogs begin to call. I guess we're always wishing for more time aren't we? To be with our loved ones, to finish a project, to do a load of laundry, to walk with our pets, to cherish our children. As much as I love to watch the world turn and the seasons eclipse one another, I also wish I could freeze time. That for perhaps just one month everything could stay as it is so that I could fully relish the slobbery kisses, sticky fingers and wide grins that have been plastering themselves to my heart these days like bumper stickers of love. It's important to remember this lesson the Catskill House and other special getaways gently bestow upon us...slow down...soak in...enjoy life. And if it strikes your fancy...have that 10:30a.m. Bloody Mary.
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