A day in upstate New York

E.W. wrote me this morning asking if I had heard the news about Hamas. I had, but only just. He told me to be careful on my trip, and then we signed off.

At the Barnes and Nobles I looked through all the copies of the Lonely Planet Middle East guide on the shelf to find the cleanest copy. I'm sure by the end of my trip I will have destroyed it.

I stopped by the Macy*s flower show. I hadn't realized that the flowers would be on display in the main room. While people shopped and admired the arrangements, a woman led a tour group, pausing in front of a jewlery counter to point out an orchid of note with a laser pen. Her voice projected mechanically from a small speaker.

I met D.I. to drive up to Storm King Art Center, up over the Hudson River, past Bear Mountain, and into the Catskills. The center is a museum that "celebrates the relationship between sculpture and nature" set on 500 acres of land. The area is serene, though one side is oddly bounded by a highway. We spent a few hours walking around, reaching the far end for Richard Serra's Schunnemunk Fork and Andy Goldsworthy's Storm King Wall. We were told not to sit on the sculptures. A docent well into her sixties asked D. not to touch the wall. She said she would have to break his fingers.

D. told me he was scoping the place out for potential dates. The night before he had had drinks with friends he met at Club Med. A girl told him that Storm King is one of her father's favorite areas.

On the way back we stopped at the premium outlet stores at Woodbury Commons, another place I had heard of but never been. I bought two pairs of pants and a pair of jeans. At a stand I bought a box of girl scout cookies. Each one has a different word inscribed on it. I just ate "Girl Scouting is all about Fun" and "Girl Scouting is all about Caring."

Links: Storm King, Woodbury Common. Posted by eku at April 18, 2004 11:55 PM