A quick summer-time holiday in NY

The trip to New York was really pleasant--Seth managed to get a tiny bit of work done at the public library and I went for a few day trips with his parents. We drove around Seneca Lake one day then Canandaigua Lake another and stopped at a few points along the way; we visited a few wineries, took a walk around Watkins Glen (a rather impressive gorge type thing at the southern tip of Seneca Lake), spotted one of the special white deer at Sampson State Park (there is a herd of about 200 pure white deer trapped inside this old army depot--intriguingly they are not albino but are totally white due to some mutation), and did a bit of shopping, too.

Strawberry picking with Seth's mom at the farm down the road

Watkins Glen State Park

Yesterday was rather eventful. The day started off with finding Dolly, the family's 23-25 year old gray cat who had wandered off in the rain the night before, sitting out on the front steps with a scratched face and a broken jaw, most likely swiped by a car on the busy road. Poor Dolly, showing off her nine lives :o( After our morning run, which was not incredibly nice feeling due to the cresting in the road (which is good in the winter because it helps drain water from the streets but is bad for running because the slanted surface does some real damage to the knees), Seth and I loaded the car and pulled out of the driveway to head back to Waltham. We stopped at the intersection about 100m from the house only to witness an SUV crossing the intersection get slammed by a car it had pulled in front of (the driver did not look left when crossing the street). Not the best way to start a 6 hour drive, but thankfully no one was hurt and everyone kept in good spirits, and we were reminded to drive carefully.

To top it off, yesterday was also the summer solstice, though it really didn't seem like it with the cool, rainy, humid weather the past two weeks. Not being a big fan of heat and UV light, I'd much rather have this than feel the full force of the sun. In fact, so far I have absolutely loved this northern weather--it is late June and still in the 70s. Heaven. Now that the days are getting shorter, it will only get better from here for the next six months :o)