So… work shuffles me about the tri-state area (NY NJ CT, as always, sorry PA – you are your own thing), last week my life’s time was spent mostly in this little town, among the “Rivertowns” (for some reason I had not heard this term previously although I certainly had visited these towns), Hastings is much like the other enclaves up there (you say ‘up there’ because you feel quite removed from the seething behemoth that is NYC just a quick jaunt south). Right off the Saw Mill you are presented with a laid out, quite almost Revolutionary American style, Main Street dripping down the hills because it is all hills that eventually pour into the basin of the Hudson river. As the pictures show this all becomes normal – even the huge massive fall in elevation behind the buildings that veritably smile along the main. Unfortunately I was there for work and not play, although I am glad to have had a lay of the land for future use. There definitely was a buzz about, a gladness to being hung in the air, a protected little section of the world which likes to jump up and take a big bite of the apple to then run into the comforting corner to enjoy said bite. I am sure there is plenty of history in this area, but you have google, I am just passing on my experience in the matter.
Intro: Some of the names/details may have been changed to protect the reputation of the participants but the core facts remain in this tale of utter woe and suffering (relative to the situation, which I found myself within just the other day).
So in my workly travels I might stop at a local watering hole (read coffee shop), I quite like strong and bitter coffee, so I was off on my way to Hempstead NY and stopped at the local, well, let’s call it “Starbox” coffee establishment (do not want to infringe on any copyrights after all, savy?), nothing seemed amiss in the LED light-washed down faces sucked into local vortexes, or at least this is not a miss if not the main in this day and age (maybe I am showing my age?), but more to the meat of the matter, I approached the counter, which can always be a puzzle in itself, which side do I go to? is this the line? is this person nose dove into their phone in line? what came first the coffee bean or the egg? I managed to find my way to the ordering type area, almost unaware of the signs (oh the signs) up on the registers, quite hand written (is that still legal), announcing that (warning: if you have small children please have them leave the room) the fancy coffee maker thing-a-majobber (or barista enabler mechanism) is quite broken, how could I not notice this semi natural disaster in the wake, this tsunami of disappointment brewing on the horizon, as I blythely ordered a large dark roast, I only noticed these harrowing words of torment as I awaited my hot cup of goodness (read: caffeine delivery system), the situation was brought more to a dancing bear under my nose by the next in line (poor soul), as he tried (in earnest and with great seriousness) to order some sort of latte, or frappucino, or hell-if-I-know, but whatever it was, it sounded impressive, but only to be shot down like a burning angel cinder, like Icarus himself so close to touching the fiery ball that rules this corner of the great milky way (boy I am glad our galaxy is not named whatchamacallit), I stood amazed, for a moment, at the spectacle, and how deeply felt the blow of the non latte was felled upon my fellow coffee house traveler, and on cried the fraught lad, lacrimonious roar throughout mocha frappa-land, and then as if guided birdboxly into yet another pit of iron rusty spikes he asks “does that (pointing to some perfection looking sandwich thing) come with vegan bacon?”, almost with a quiver in the delivery knowing his hopes are crumbling like so much a mountain in end times exploding, and then with another cold rebuke the answer comes handed down with ultimate thunder “no” (it seemed to echo forever and more)…
immediately the air seemed to escape from the room, surely the temperature dropped precipitously, all light now eschewed by utter doom, what is that poor lad to do in such withering circumstance? (not to mention those gathered in the twitter unison circle)
I felt the recoil, the urge, the itch, first corners turning, “I can not laugh” I think for a moment… but surely my growing, glowing cheshire grin revealing my burgeoning delight, amid the wash of this assumed morass of perceived category 5 dilemma, so with that, before I spilled guffaw right there all over the floor, I routed my route to the escape door, large dark roast in hand content with a spritz of stevia, a dash of cinnamon and the subtle kiss of non fat milk (from a cow of consent), grinning in all the splendor of wading through the casualties of this coffee house disaster. I will not look back and become a pillar.
(exit, stage door, enter car, back onto the belt parkway for work, take a sip, enjoy)
Thoughts, comments and all else is always appreciated, I bow to you O reader with thanks and commons.
This tune just carries me away in the airy feel it allays… plus when it came out I was in the Florida Keys (specifically Islamorada – I will move there in 4 seconds flat if I ever won the lottery, no offense to Key West, no, actually screw Key West, total tourist hole, which can be nice but not my speed at all). Islamorada has it all, great lodging, amazing everything nature wise (preserves and rescue centers), fishing (some of the best in the world), hand feeding huge tarpon @ robbies (by the way have breakfast there), and the water… one of my most indelible memories was watching thunderstorms roll in off the Atlantic, in the tropics thunderstorms are very local, so I could watch the individual pods coming in with lightning lighting up the clear azure water lapping at my feet, it was like islands of thunder approaching the shore all around me, like city states floating in for battle or invasion, all of them missed my particular location, I wish I had a video to share but at the time I was only armed with my memory and flip phones were the norm, but imagine all these floating castles showering thunder and light down from their perch, in different columns approaching your position, but all around you, never towards you, as you sat in the moonlight with your feet in the clearest water you might ever see… yeah, that unreal, like a movie reel but real.
written 6.7.18, I was thinking of her again today so. I also seem to forget about all these things written down these months in my journals (in pursuit of the new shiny thing), and yes, that is a WHAM! reference in there (I am a child of the 80’s after all) – and a Star Trek next gen reference (I’m such a nerd). I think winter is dragging me down a bit, and work has me in loops, I am writing but I don’t seem to be finishing … ya here me my fellow writers/artists? yeah… you’ve all been there. Sometimes going back can inform going forward, well, at least that is what I am telling myself (and you apparently). I had an install in Yonkers NY last night, strange area, kind of nice but kind of not? Totally strange windy roads, total hell in the winter with the degree of the hills. Anyway, thanks for stopping by.
I think I have posted that before but eh.. who cares, I was listening to it today for some inspiration, some came, but not a full boat, oh well, we will see what happens in the morn.
I have not been writing much (I have tons of back log but sometimes they seem like old logs in the forest I have let much moss grow on, I might lichen it to neglect), the muse is cold and hiding somewhere inside my home, where? I do not know, I’ll find the little minx, after all she loves to influence me in not so mysterious ways, so I thought I would just share a random memory of my childhood, let it be said I never know where my blog will go, nor does it matter, do you question the river as it makes it’s way to the ocean ?
and now, the musing (sans the muse, I swear she is around here somewheres): I am not sure if it is a northeast america thing, a New Jersey (pronounced Joizee) thing, or a cultural happening in my circle of growing up thing (but we all seemed to be doing this thing), this thing that I seem to be avoiding naming goes by the name of “sleep away camp”, firstly, we were conditioned prior to this experience with “day camp” (for me Hi Hi Hills in Watchung NJ , boy has it changed!), so the evil plan hatched by my parents to rid themselves of the children for the summer was afoot, I imagine, wait… I don’t want to imagine why they would want to send us away for a time, to knit ? or mow the lawn? yes… that’s it, nothing else biological entities would do, definitely not that, or any of that sort of thing, I am sure of that, that that was not the reason, surely I am a product of an asexual processes, well… I am adopted… so I am going to hold onto that regardless of the merit of actual logic, and the fact that I do not wish to see that movie, not even the outtakes, or even the deleted scenes, or behind the scenes, or hell… even the story board treatment is out of the question, now, where was I? so, day camp was a proving ground, an experiment before the grand experiment, to be sent away to a never ending place of stimulation roughly two hours north of the homestead – for the never ending summer, that inevitably, ended, but it certainly seemed much longer back then, the camp of my family choice was Camp Sequoia which goes by a different name now, but is the same gulag, you see, for the most part I did not love my time among the other fellow travelers, I loved the nature aspect, heck, I took every hiking trip I could (there is nothing better than cowboy stew on a mountain I tell you – OK legit s’mores are a close second), or the time I woke with a porcupine on my sleeping bag on Tabletop (they have bad breath, and huge buck teeth, but love american cheese, no shit, hand fed the little bastard after he climbed up an inadequate for escape tree), but back to the point… um, yes, sleep away camp, a vacation for the parents, there was only one day they visited in what seemed like a forever clip (they did send contraband, which made me feel all sly), in fact it was just basically six weeks, funny how time really is different then and now, of course that is nonsense, my perception of said time is the difference, it almost seems like a different life, disconnected from this one, so, wait, I have to go back to the post origin… part of sleep away camp was “canteen”, our time for free for all, basically an hour in this one hut that had goodies and one arcade game… you waited all day for the prize like a dog giving paw, you walked up to the window with immense anticipation, as you could score a sugar bar (I mean what is candy if not that?) so for that moment I used to score, a charleston chew and then saunter over to the Mr Do cabinet (the only game in town as it were)… slip in my twenty five cents (um, a quarter) and piss off about 30 other kids because I was the real Mr Do deal, life is strange, the things you remember clear as day, I love that game, I do not so much love the cavities wrought by the charleston chews however…
Experience first light in scientist cliffs, maryland… as I saw it a few days ago… I was staying up on the cliffs about 200 feet above the beach… the sun rises up over the bay, slowly, calmly, the waves are beneath, waiting… put it full screen and breath… and then click to look…
I am by no means a morning person, heck, look at my post times, but that said I made a point to wake up and crawl out into the cold (OK, only 40s), but it was an effort, this just shows me everything, it encompasses everything, it is the why I return to this spot every year, if only for a week, I do consider myself lucky to be able to do so, sure there are tropical paradises all over the world, but this is a mere 4 hour drive from me… and besides that I firmly believe in finding beauty wherever you may go…
If you like my posts, let me know, engage and enrage… or post something nice, maybe you don’t blog, or maybe you do ? I would love to hear from you. thanks … in advance and if you don’t react, well… I forgive you (just this once ya know)…
Literally first light, around 6:45am this morning in Scientist Cliffs, Maryland, of course my last day on vacay has the quintessential sunrise I am used to @ the cliffs, getting me up that early is a miracle on most days but I must admit I was energized seeing the sun rise up over the bay, I have video as well of the literal rising sun, post that tomorrow most likely, even in the burgeoning cold this was a sight to behold, and it sums up why I trek here year after year, not to sun worship on a beach, to see scenes like these, it reminds me of why life is worth living, even if alone (for now), how can such a site not make you know.
I am on vacation in a non vacation location (say that 10 times fast), but for me this is perfect, the stars are really wonderful tonight, none of my cameras can capture the low light shots though (it is great to see all the constellations so bright – even if the light that I see is beyond the age of all civilization). But anyway the rain stopped about 3pm so I was able to get out onto the beach, I wandered about in awe like I usually do, this place floors me, it grounds me, I hope it allows me bring this feeling to the world, I mean, isn’t that what it is all about ? I was able to find some cool fossils but also just these views, I am thankful for just that, and I need to remember that… and then there is the great food (sushi tonight: baltimore roll: lump crab, avocado, reverse roll (rice on the outside), rolled in old bay seasoning… oh man, total food buzz. (I also got baby octopuses as an app – they were way bigger than other times I have had them, very chewy, but damn delicious)
please pepper me with questions about this area. I love it here and have been coming here for years now. I think this is an absolute hidden gem of the east coast of the US. Plus if you think there is somewhere like this I should know about .. I want to know!!! (Virginia, Delaware etc etc !!!)
I am off for the week, thrilled to be in one of my favorite places on the east coast, Scientist Cliffs, MD… Sure, the weather is not being cooperative (rainy) and driving down I got stuck behind an accident on 95 that had the highway shut down to one lane, but there is something about this place that speaks to me, this is not some resort/tourist area (unlike Solomons just south of here, plus this is not far from Washington DC), in fact all the locals think I am nuts when I tell them I am on vacation, some even recognize me as that guy who they see every year around this time (if you read any of my blog you can tell I am a different bird so no news there), I am not near any major city which for someone who lives in the shadow of NYC is a treat (to actually see the stars and even cosmic dust/galaxies @ night).
This area is known for Miocene era fossils, you literally just walk the beach and find shark teeth half the size of your hand (see some I have found here), man, in Jersey I have to dig and sift for hours to get teeth half as impressive, also this is a completely private area populated originally by scientists (um, hence the name) and one of their requirements was that the homes are log cabins (literally), now these days that requirement has relaxed a bit (the people I rent from call the house next door a McMansion – it is more modern and they only come here on the weekends), but for the most part 80% of the homes are log cabins or at least very rustic, the particular place I rent (the only rental actually, everyone else lives here) is about 100 years old and was built by hand by the patriarch of the family I rent from… they left the cabin as is (they raised their kids here), so it is like renting from family, all the old photos, kid’s art etc are all here on the walls including a deer head mounted on the wall, which creeps me out late at night honestly, there are these gnarly paths down to the beach as well (I am 100ft plus feet above the bay – which makes for amazing sunrises – my photos here), so last night was my first night here and I just had to go greet the bay, to hear the sound of the waves crashing up against the cliffs, I love the sound, it really just calms me, as violent as it actually is, such a natural rhythm plus the wind, it doesn’t need to be a summer or warm, just the tide is alright by me, so as I was saying earlier there are these totally crazy paths down to the beach carved out of the ravines hiding in the spaces of the cliffs, so last night I filmed my walk back and posted it on Youtube… someone should film a horror flick here, all I need is some creepy breathing or music.
I usually do not write creatively when I am here, although I have been reborn as of last april (I don’t mean religiously, I just felt different after an event in my life, that’s all). I keep journals on me all the time, my car, my backpack etc. So I kind of expect I will write some stuff, but I am not going to force it, well… that is my goal, all we can do is go forward ya know ?
So anyway, I had a rockfish gyro tonight, I don’t especially like Feta cheese, this had Feta, which, to be honest I could have asked before I ordered it (the dish turned out to be very good), but I wanted to get something different than I usually order @ Stoney’s (seriously the crab cakes are just heavenly), but I will go back and order what I usually do, the neptune platter (an assortment of broiled seafood), of course I racked out first with a 6 pack of raw oysters, and I learned something, they serve raw oysters with:
cocktail sauce
horseradish (diced up separate)
lemon
lots of crackers
So… I love raw oysters (actually I prefer clams) but the crackers threw me… what the hell are they for in this application ? So I asked the bar maiden who told me people eat the oysters on the crackers (I thought maybe they crumbled the crackers over them?)! So strange to me, I have had oysters up and down the east coast from New Hampshire to the Carolinas… I have not seen this particular application, ever, I guess I never paid attention here as I have been coming for years but kind of cast off the crackers… did I try it their way? no… I like to taste the oysters, the brine, the grit, I chew them, I like to know the flavor of the water in which they grew, and in this case they are so mild growing in a bay, I was just recently in Cape May and of course the best oyster there is the Cape May Salts, and they taste of the ocean, which I dig, but these were also great, so clean and light, a little smaller than some but a little Tabasco, lemon, and cocktail sauce on the quick dip, and let them melt in your mouth, that is where it is at… well, at least for me, and well, this is my blog after all… will I try the oysters “their” way.. hmmm maybe, I have to be open but I know what I like, maybe just one out of a dozen I might sacrifice to these heathens…
These were written @ Higbee beach in Cape May NJ known for “Cape May Diamonds“, also if you walk far enough south you hit Sunset Beach with the USS Atlantus (a concrete hull ship that sank just offshore), a little ditty about Higbee, I went there to find some new/less used beaches on vacation (when I am on the beach I am interested in walking the tide and looking at nature not sunbathing), so I walked all the way down the beach south (about 1.2 miles) from where Higbee meets David Douglass park (Cape May / Lewes ferry), so, in my infinite wisdom I decided to take the nature trail back instead of the beach… oh boy, first, I was wearing my crocs, and they ain’t walking shoes, secondly I left my sun screen and other stuff out of my pack because this is october and well… I didn’t expect 80 degrees and blazing direct burning sun ! so… I was hella wrong, it was like I was moses trekking through the wilderness, all sand (and if you have tried to hike in sand you know how much fun that is! – not!), sand and scrub brush… and a winding trail more confusing than choose your own adventure books, it was torture, I still have the remnants of blisters on my feet (2 weeks later), winding paths not in the scrub forest, all out in the open in the valleys of dunes just off the beach which I thought I was near the surf (but every time I endeavored to find it I couldn’t), and of course there was no other people on this trail, thankfully I have a good deal of hiking experience from my youth @ camp Sequoia in the Catskills, so after 3 hours of hiking (and cursing) I finally made it back to civilization (the parking lot), man, it sucked…. I am a hard headed person but this wore me down certainly, so maybe that adds to the ingredients of my poetry ? maybe… so here it is…
Upon Higbee Beach, Cape May NJ 10.8.2018
I walk the beach whole
I learn the shore lines
the neighborhoods of waves
the bindings of tides
between dunes and break,
I stride casually
soft wet sand sinking slightly under foot
beach sandals in one hand by straps
walking over footprints fading
as if I’m never there,
passing sun bathers and gazers
wondering what sort of tide brought them in
and from what inland shores
accents and manners float
in and out with a subtle roar
ghost crabs, run to their burrows
horseshoes right themselves
deft barb on tail
turning like clocks in the coming surf
turning to noon out to sea
these ancient ambassadors
far older than these
Upon Higbee Beach (pt 2), Cape May NJ 10.8.2018
the sand, the sound
the tide, the wind
broken footsteps trail off
the sun travels deliberately across the sky
the beach is low, for now, exposed
tide peels and shipwrecks, and their crews be told
left up upon the beach, stranded until tidal moon
or worse yet
found by the mouth of a hunting gull,
time seems to stand still, even within all this motion
Shades of My Garden 