down by the river

It was so quiet... noone else was there until one young man came to sit and listen to the sounds of nature for while, too. The air held the scents of the river life as it waifed by... like a gentle, ever so slightly cool breath, on this warm June night. There were the cries of laughter and rollicking on Esopus Island in the distance (with people looking like little dots on the shoreline rocks there) and the sound of the trains in the distance among the mountains on the west side of the river, and rushing past on the shoreline not far from where I sat, once or twice, looking like black dragons breathing white fire. There was a dog barking somewhere along the river... a cruiser speeding down river to port before dark, and the slowly meandering party boat with its laughter and music on the west side of the river. The whooperwills, meadowlarks, herons, ducks and geese were getting ready to sleep. The treefrogs, an owl, and crickets were waking up for the night. A few BIG fish lept out of the gently lapping water, and the nearby environmental PILOT boat banged against the dock now and then... The river so long and wide. The sky so wide and filled with billowy clouds with an occassional airplane dancing through them... THIS was MY Saturday night... as quiet and peaceful as ALL Hyde Park was when I was a little kid. Down by the river is like being sent back into gentler times... As it says in WIND IN THE WILLOWS... the river: always changing, yet always the same ... HEAVEN on EARTH

from Norrie Point

                           From NORRIE POINT State Park< Staatsburgh, New York, at sunset...



                           A peaceful picture to look upon when the days get really hot and humid...

                          I'll be walking down by the river, somewhere, you can be sure of that...

                          Down there where the water laps gently and the breezes are cool
                                       and the air is fresh with the scent of life;
                                Where my heart is as free as the sky above
                                        as the River sings a song that speaks to my very soul;
                                                                   I'm HOME            

When I was growing up, I spent most of my time outside, in the woods, by a stream, or on weekends with the family at a park with a lake, or down by the river > Dad was never a one to be indoors unless he HAD to be. When he got home for work, just about every night, unless the weather was lousy, we would go to Vanderbilt's or Mills/Norrie and take a walk while Mom made supper. I remember in the Fall and Spring, we went on Sundays too, when noone else wanted to go along. We just went meandering there. Walking and talking. Him showing me things and telling me things he learned in life, and stories from his childhood here. He taught me most of what I learned about nature, and like him, I love it... and there is something special about the river.... yes, there is.

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