ACROSS TO CHATHAM

This week Uma journeyed up to New Brunswick to visit with her ailing Uncle; first going down to New Jersey to meet with her cousin so they could make the journey together. Rather than spend five days here in Painted Post alone in the house, I took the opportunity to visit with Richard Green over in Chatham. Those of you who worked at Mental Health Services West will remember Richard who was the IT Manager at one time. It is 18 months since I last visited (on my way back from my cycle tour in Quebec Province) over the Labor Day weekend in '06.
I drove over via the Catskill Region Park crossing through the almost mountainous terrain along a beautiful valley, following happy stream most to the way and passing through quaint villages in which the buildings must go back to 'yonks'. I followed the snow storm that had passed through this part of the work (had to clear three inches of snow off the front drive before I left on the Friday morning) and was in an out of snow flurries and low cloud for a good bit of the journey eventually emerging into fine weather once I had crossed over the Hudson River.
Richard and I share concerns about the impending energy crisis, the industrialization of food, and just what individuals and communities can do to blunt the effect of these impending crises. So we had a lot to talk about.
A high light of my stay was to attend a Saturday afternoon practise sessionof Richard's Blues group (he also leads a Jazz group) that was absolutely inspiring as well as hugely enjoyable. Being in the midst of a group of musicians who are working very hard to get their stuff right and thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process was quite an experience...not at all like attending a public session and I can tell you the music really gets into your soul as they work away and the sound is all around you.
Richard is very talented in many ways, apart from being a dedicated father and a quite passable cook. Speaking of cooks, his wive Gina was away at a yoga training program so I missed her excellent cooking. Here is a picture of Iona, Richard, and Finn at the front porch of the house they are renting just outside Chatham. As you can can see, they are quite the good looking group. The other highlight was to look around the small Quaker Intentional Village project this morning. It was a special treat to visit their communal house where they have a common kitchen and laundry; the treat being to see inside a real timberframe house.
The drive back today (Sunday) was uneventul and entirely pleasant on a wonderfully warm and sunny afternoon. Uma had returned on Saturday evening. Having driven to Texas and back last month and now to New Brunswick and back via New Jersey (some 8,500 miles in all), she declared she has had enough of travel along the highways!
So it looks as if Spring really has arrived, despite the brief return of wintry conditions last week. Hooray!!!
Out of the mundane stuff of this posting I will return to issues of food and energy for a bit next time I write.