Autumn Abstract

Wishing Everyone a Happy Autumn.

Namaste,

Chris

Magical Saturday

This past Saturday was a beautiful day for an "off the beaten track" drive across the Delaware River into New Jersey. The weather couldn't have been better even if it had been custom ordered!!

"Off the beaten track" roads offer more than just beautiful scenery; they offer a quick getaway from the hustle and bustle of traffic, housing developments and the noise that seems to get worse every year.

This particular road, one of my favorites, is hard packed. Just me, my camera and "off the beaten track" taking time to amble down the road on a beautiful Fall afternoon. 

Happy Fall to all!!!

Namaste,

Chris

Kindness

Kindness is the only
non-delusional response
to the human condition.
                     George Saunders

From: afirstsip.com

Namaste,

Chris

Wordless Wednesday

Namaste,
Chris

Winter

 

For more than a few years, we've had hardly any snow and certainly not a good snowstorm. That changed earlier this month when two storms arrived back to back. Finally, some real winter weather! 

In case you haven't guessed, I am a die-hard winter person. Neither cold nor wind deters me when winter weather arrives. 

However, it's been my experience there are more summer people than winter people. Die-hard summer people hate the cold, wind, ice and shoveling snow when a storm hits and leaves us with several inches of the lovely white stuff. 

The following came to me in a recent email from First Sip. It's a perfect explanation as to why I love winter. It also speaks to us during this time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It's from Katherine May and her timely memoir: Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.

Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that's where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but it's crucible.

Once we stop wishing it were summer, winter can be a glorious season in which the world takes on a sparse beauty and even the pavements sparkle. It's a time for reflection and recuperation, for slow replenishment, for putting your house in order.

Doing those deeply unfashionable things - slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting - is a radical act now, but it's essential. This is a crossroads we all know, a moment when you need to shed a skin. If you do, you'll expose all those painful nerve endings and feel so raw that you'll need to take care of yourself for a while. If you don't then that skin will harden around you.

It's one of the most important choices you'll ever make.

~ Katherine May

Namaste,
Chris

Autumn is Almost Here!!

I can always tell when Summer is on its way out and Autumn, my favorite season, is on its way in and that's when the fields around where I live begin to fill with a wild flower commonly referred to as tickseed.

I live in a fairly rural area and the many fields I pass, many make way for these beautiful yellow flowers. They can also be found above ditches by the side of the road. Sadly, their duration is short-lived, probably no more than two weeks but in the meantime they are beautiful to see!

Namaste,

Chris 

Durham Grist Mill & Furnace

Durham Grist Mill

It's another beautiful day on this Labor Day weekend, perfect for a ride in the country. Traveling back roads that meander through parts of Durham Township, we stopped at the Durham post office, which is located in the former Durham Grist Mill, which was built in 1820 on the foundations of the Durham Furnace.

"The first furnace was put in operation in 1727 in an area about one and a half miles up from the river precisely where the present gristmill now stands in the Durham Village center. The water power of the creek that flowed past the furnace was used to operate a number of forges and in working a huge bellows that produced the blast.

Former Entrance of Durham Furnace

"Important product was produced at the Furnace. A stove similar to the famous Franklin Stove was produced in Durham in quantity. The "Adam and Eve" stove was manufactured in 1741 onward . . .. The Furnace also produced shot and shell for the armies of George Washington during the War for Independence.

"The iron ore found in the hills of Durham was not of first class quality and the location of the Furnace vis-a-vis higher quality ore and good transportation lead to its demise, and thus ceased operation in 1791."

(Source: Durham Pennsylvania Historical Society, "History of Durham Township")

Namaste,

Chris