And so I had to go up to Albany recently for work. The drive up took about 4 hours, and it was a pretty day with a blue fall sky peppered with cotton puff clouds, bright sun, some pockets of red/yellow/orange leaves and purple windflowers blooming everywhere. I managed to get myself out and about and took some pictures. Some of these I took while driving (stopped at a light), the others were taken at two different parks. Albany has lots of parks. Downtown is quaint - there are rows of townhouses (I think that's what they call them) and each is painted a different color from the rest in shades of green, blue, red and yellow. There's a ton of sidewalk shops, and sidewalk cafes. But drive a few blocks out and things disintegrate into factories or slums. Albany is quite a city of contrasts.

Well, so this post is for Chuck. I haven't heard from Chuck for awhile and oddly I've been wondering what he's been up to and then, as if he felt my vibes, he left a comment for me today. It was nice to see him return, and so I thought I should get myself over to his blog (Wuz Up Chuck?) and see what's been keeping him so busy. His latest entry is about how he's had a lifelong search for God, and I wanted to comment but couldn't for some weird server not speaking to server reason, so I thought I'd post my response to him here in the form of a poem I wrote a few years ago. So, Chuck, if you come back again soon, this one's for you. I hope it'll help you in your search.

Speaking Through Him

Think of me as the glint of the sun
on freshly fallen snow. Sense me
when a zephyr caresses your wearied cheek.
See me as a ballet of barley heads
splendorous in gold, bursting with seed.

See my foggy breath cloak the sovereign cordillera,
or hug the mirrored surfaces of lakes and ponds;
and when the days decline and the air grows crisp
see how my blood purifies the leaves
and suffuses in them a sublime palette.

I have not left you alone. I am here,
in all things living and wondrous,
all things unknown, reminding you to wonder
at the beauty of what I am
and of what I have always been
to all my children.

© 2003 by Cookala

Well, for once I had a great weekend. The rains of the last week and then Ernesto stopped Saturday and the sun came out. Sunday we took a day trip out to the North Fork of LI to do some wine tasting and early Christmas shopping, and then had fish and chips (the best I've ever had!!) for a late lunch at the Lobster Roll. Today was finally a beach day, after 12 days of rain, so that put me in a super good mood, too. Ernesto really flattened the beach - it's like it was 15-20 years ago and I love it! Instead of slipping off a ledge into 4 ft of cold water while contending with onshore breakers. much of the sand has been dragged out to create a lovely shallows and tidepools you can get used to the water a bit at a time and avoid the shock of sudden total submersion. What a day. The morning was a 10+ as you can see from the pics, but then the winds picked up and we had to barricade ourselves against it with umbrellas and wind blocks, and then chunks of clouds came in and it would get really cool and then really hot and then really cool and, well, it went on most of the afternoon until we left at 5pm. Still, it was a great way to end my vacation. (ugh, work, that curse word, tomorrow, 5am, ugh! retirement cannot come soon enough!!!!)