The Adirondack

Clacketty-clack, don't look back. We're riding on Amtrack...

Many things to see. We chose the cleanest spots in the window, and pointed our cameras.

Still on Manhattan island.


Passing the George Washington Bridge.

Breaking out the first breakfast sandwich and strong coffee, hot and hot.



The Hudson the colour of liquid cement...

...freezing up as we moved north.




Moving into lake country.



Schenectady had its detractors.


Anything previously liquid, frozen.

Except Lake Champlain.


Icicles like white curtains on the cliffs.

We sat in the dining car and shared our fried chicken, drinking a Chilean merlot from the bar.



The sunset was long and spectacular.

And after it was gone we sat in the dark and waited for Canadian Customs to send us on our way. I watched The Wire on my laptop.

We nibbled the last sandwich, finished the Gummi Bears, and then we were in Montreal, eleven hours later.

Deep in da snow

This was the terrace early on Sunday morning, around 6.40am. It was very hard to leave it before the sun was up. Snow pictures are the best of all.

Official reports say 10.9", and I remember the record snow of 2006 - imagine how the terrace was buried then.

But, bleary-eyed, we had a train to catch, and set off down the snow-covered steps for the street, where early neighbours were shoveling their sidewalks.

It was easier to walk down the middle of Congress Street. Not bad at all, and nothing like farther south.

My suitcase, Daisy, waiting for her cab to Penn Station.

Our train, The Adirondack, left only an hour behind schedule.

And then the real fun began.

Snow!

What good timing. I love to see snow. We are promised - somewhat optimistically, as usual - an accumulation of 8 - 10 inches. Maybe we'll have to drag our suitcases through snowdrifts on the way to Penn Station early tomorrow morning. Our train will hug the Hudson River for part of the trip north. Then it will be white. We will have thermoses of Danish blend coffee from Sahadi's (and more in our luggage, per request)and soup, as well as pancetta sandwiches and cold chicken. And white asparagus 'fingers'.

It is snowing, the flakes blowing sideways across the roofs in a fine dust like sand on a windy beach. Inside all is in disorder. But it is warm, and about to smell good, with leftover coq au vin warming, wine mulling, the cat mewing for dinner, and pancetta set to fry in the cast iron pan.

Next post from Beloeil, Quebec.

Seasons without and within

The 'herb garden' on the roof today in blue-skyed, -7'C/19'F December. Hard to believe this depressed little collection can fluff out into the rose and catnip of May 2008, below.

Below, August 2009.

We leave soon on a snowy train ride to Montreal, for Christmas with Vincent's family. Then we're back in New York for New Year and his greencard interview, and leave again in the middle of January for sunny South Africa.

An apparently budding novelist will be looking after Estorbo while we are away, and hopefully finding enough solitude to do what writers do.

We are not sure where we will travel once in South Africa, on a side trip from Constantia, where we stay at my parents' house in my mother's beautiful garden, with lunches under the tree, and flowers everywhere. We are thinking of the Kruger Park (thanks Guy, for the tips!), in the north, or the Karoo National Park, in the middle...or maybe we'll stick to the Western Cape. Beauty is not in short supply at the southern tip of Africa. We will post our travels here...

We will come back to this little apartment in very early spring, and to this beloved little terrace. The lease is up at the end of March, and we may or may not move into a new place. A lot of things are up in the air at the moment and changes are afoot. Where they will lead, we know not yet, but we think, and hope, that they will be very good, with flowers, herbs, a happy cat, inspiration and cooking under the stars.

And friends to share the journey, either with us in cyberspace, or with us in person.

Shelterpop

Over at AOL's Shelterpop, my post about seeds is up.

Dim sum

Go! Go!

Sweet vinegar, fresh green ginger, XO sauce, at Dim Sum Go Go on East Broadway. Below, pea shoot dumplings.

Street art

A door on on the north side of Bleecker near the Bowery.

The sidewalk on East 2nd between 1st Avenue and Avenue A.