Saturday, October 30, 2010

Madame Brett Park

On October 24, my daughter and granddaughter, who live in Beacon, took me to Madame Brett Park, which is located along the Hudson River. The first thing they wanted to show me was the beautiful Tioranda Falls.

After carefully making our way towards the top of the falls (my daughter and grandaughter went all the way to the top), we took photos and carefully descended, working our way around the muddy trail. I almost fell in the mud, but my daughter grabbed my arm just in the nick of time. The pictures were worth it.

Then we proceeded across the parking lot to a wooden walkway along the Fishkill Creek, passing by the Tioranda Bridge, one of the last remaining bowstring truss bridges in the United States, now partially dismantled and unuseable.

The walkway was constructed along old abandoned buildings that had been the hat factory and the button factory in days gone by.
We followed the trail down towards tidal marshes along the Hudson River, returning by way of an upper pathway.
As we competed our walk, we met a woman, a young girl and a man standing on the walkway and fishing in the creek. I inquired about what fish they were catching. The woman told me that other fishermen had caught catfish.
This was a peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable walk, as well as informative. Beacon has much to offer a wanderer on a beautiful Fall day.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Beacon Sloop Club Pumpkin Festival


On Sunday, October 17th, my Grandson and I walked down the hill to the Beacon Train Station (Beacon, NY) where the Beacon Sloop Club was holding their Pumpkin Festival. We arrived toward the end of the day due to his participation in a Soccer game in Brewster, NY earlier. However, we enjoyed walking around checking out the Vendor's booths. There were produce stands, a candle-making table, hand-knit items, a photo booth, and, of course, food and hot cider.
As we walked around, we discovered a woman with a large parrot on her shoulder. When I asked permission to photograph the bird, Peacenik, she immediately placed the parrot on my grandson's shoulder and took our picture. She took my camera and snapped the picture so quickly, I decided that she must receive such requests frequently. Then, I took my Grandson's picture with Peacenik.

When the Sloop Club's flagship, Woody Guthrie, pulled up to the pier, we went to check it out. Unfortunately since it was about 4:30pm, we missed the opportunity to sail on it, but look forward to the opportunity in the future.

Due to my Grandson's patience, I was able to spend time taking photos as well.

Friday, October 15, 2010

A Trip of a Different Kind

I accompanied my daughter to a sonogram of her yet to be born daughter. I actually saw the baby's beating heart, bladder and kidneys, as well as her femur and ribs. To see an unborn baby's heart beating was a very moving experience, to say the least, but to see the kidneys really blew me away. The technician measured her head, stomach and femur. Then he determined the baby's weight. This was the second time I went to the sonogram appointment. The first time, I saw all her features as she tried to put her fist in her mouth.

What an awesome privilege it was to see inside this precious baby. I'm so grateful to her parents for this opportunity.