Wow! ‘Olana‘ — what a place. Though I had looked it up, I was blown away.
I had met a lady, a retired veterinarian, at ‘Staatsburg‘, who INSISTED that I must visit Olana. I had never heard of it. She showed it to me on ‘Google Maps‘. I checked it out that night. I knew I had to visit. I DID.
Boy, oh Goy. Plus, I like HIM! That was a bonus.
Place was closed. That was kind of good. Not too many people. I like that. I did a LOT of hiking. Had to myself for quite a bit of time. Yes, I will post more pictures. Give me time. SMILE.
I first visited it 1967/1968. Have been back many times since then. But, this year, visiting ‘Poughkeepsie‘ (for old times’ sake from my days at ‘IBM‘) I have formed a deep attachment. This was my second visit (for a total of 6 days) in 6 weeks.
It is now May and it is getting TOO BUSY for my liking. But, plan to go back in September. Yes, more visits to the Hudson Valley than Maine. But, NO BOOKS. They have a surfeit & it will take me a few more visits to feel like an expert. SMILE.
This picture was taken at ‘Locust Grove‘ (from THE ‘house’ looking towards the river).
It was WINDY. Blowing a GAIL. Howling. But, I wasn’t sure whether I would have another chance. So, I had to give it a try.
I was HOPING to just walk across the ‘Walkway over the Hudson‘. But, that looked closed and I assumed it was. I was WRONG. So, I ended up walking that too. SMILE.
In the scheme of things I stayed pretty ‘local’. Didn’t go that far. Google says I drove close to 11,000 miles. That sounds right.
I had FORGOTTEN some of these trips. Wow.
So, it was all confined to 4 States (not counting my home state of New Hampshire) — viz. Maine, Vermont, New York & Massachusetts. Lot of NEW places for I. I am glad. I am happy. But, I am always happy. SMILE.
Relevant extracts from the Louis Epstein ‘Cardinalabili list’.
Residential Prelates >> Jose Horacio Gomez (b. 1951), Archbishop of Los Angeles, CA (USA) — cardinalitial see, predecessor has aged out, already bypassed repeatedly.
>> Francesco Moraglia (b. 1953), Patriarch of Venice (Italy) — cardinalitial see, now by passed to a historic degree, predecessor has now aged out.
>> Christian Lepine (b. 1951), Archbishop of Montreal (Canada) — cardinalitial see, predecessor dead, already bypassed repeatedly
>> Eamon Martin (b. 1961), Archbishop of Armagh (UK) — cardinalitial see; bishops’ conference president,which carries weight with Francis, but bypassed so far despite Ireland now having no electors.
>> Corrado Lorefice (b. 1962), Archbishop of Palermo (Italy) — cardinalitial see, a bit young, bypassed repeatedly so far.
>> Marek Jedraszewski (b. 1949), Archbishop of Krakow (Poland) — cardinalitial see, but bypassed repeatedly though predecessor has aged out.
>> Sviatoslav Shevchuk (b. 1970), Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholics — cardinalitial see, would no longer be youngest Cardinal; predecessor dead, has been repeatedly bypassed.
>> Mario Enrico Delpini (b. 1951), Archbishop of Milan (Italy) — cardinalitial see, but bypassed; predecessor has now aged out.
>> Marco Tasca (b 1957), Archbishop of Genoa– cardinalitial see, but bypassed repeatedly.
>> Olivier Jacques Marie de Germay de Cirfontaine (b. 1960), Archbishop of Lyon (France) — cardinalitial see, predecessor resigned.
>> Rui Manuel Sousa Valerio (b. 1964), Patriarch of Lisbon (Portugal) — cardinialitial see by Canon Law. Will Francis honor that?
More to follow. There are a LOT MORE!
Louis Epstein, maintains a detailed and unparalleled Cardinalabili list — and has done so for decades. ‘Cardinalabili’, a play on ‘papabili‘ (i.e., pope contenders), is a term we use to refer to potential cardinals, i.e., those due or likely a cardinalate. There was a time, a decade ago, that I used to publish Cardinalabili lists — primarily Louis’ — on a regular basis.
I haven’t done so in years, and predicting Cardinalabili with Pope Francis is getting near impossible because he relishes not playing by the prior rules and traditions.
But, I asked Louis for this list because it is germane.
*******
Louis Epstein (Putnam County, New York) is a polymath, a walking Wikipedia, a one-time much sought after fact checker for printed U.S. encyclopedias, a keeper of esoteric lists (such as this Cardinalabili list) & a pioneering Internet entrepreneur.
Rowen checking out HER LATEST car. This too is going to be ONE of her cars! She has 3.
370-mile drive today to pick up this ‘Chevy Trailblazer‘ in ‘Greenwich’, New York. Worth the drive. Great dealership.
This is EXACTLY what SHE wanted: AWD, Silver Grey (with white roof) and most of all, a MOONROOF. She is happy. But, she still doesn’t have a license. Maybe, with luck, next week. So, yes, I got it for her ahead of her passing the test.
It was difficult to get this exact model, i.e., color, AWD & MOONROOF. This was the CLOSEST. The next were in New Jersey!
I am getting it (i.e., leasing it) BUT it is not for I per se (though it will be on my name & on my dime (though, alas, the lease is much more than a dime)).
You can work out who it is for.
She (if you can imagine it) is EVEN FUSSIER & PICKY than I when it comes to cars! Not sure where she gets that from.
We had agreed, earlier in the Summer, on Chevy Trailblazer because it was the right size & KIND OF in the right price bracket (though I really can’t afford another car).
Well it had to be AWD (& I was OK with that), HAD TO BE ‘Sterling Gray‘ & it HAD TO HAVE A MOONROOF. Not a sunroof — the panoramic, full-length moonroof. Yes, I have moonroofs in both of mine — so she wanted one too. NONE of this was negotiable. It had to be exactly this.
WOW. WOW. WOW.
Getting one in GREY, with AWD & Moonroof was NOT easy.
We could order one but it could take 4 months (& that is ahead of the looming strike).
Click to ENLARGE. First part of service record.Click to ENLARGE. 2nd part.Click to image to access my April 15, 2023 post.
NOT FUNNY. NOT HAPPY.
But, that was the CASE, alas.
At least the dealership (which will remain nameless for now) was honest enough to immediately, upfront admit that it was all due to an inexperienced, rookie technician.
I guess they thought that a simple software update should be within his training. Well, it appears not.
So, a week Friday they had to give me a LOANER (which to be fair was pretty nice (& a tad better featured than mine)) so I could go to ‘Lake George‘, New York as planned. That trip was a success & the loaner did OK.
I called the dealership Thursday once I got home. They told me the facts & that my car was ready. But, they had also promised to clean a bit before giving it back.
I couldn’t get up there till late Friday afternoon. My car was ready & it was cleaner than it has been in a very long time. That at least was a consolation.
Drove it back. Seems OK. Much to my relief & DELIGHT none of the SETTINGS had been lost. The Sirius XM favorites, the garage door opener etc. etc. all worked. So, that was good. Not sure about any of the stuff they did … like VGM Reload, ECM Reload, TCAM battery recharge etc. Just hope they knew what they were doing.
Click to ENLARGE & read here. Link to original at ‘AllTrails‘.
I live on the side of a ‘Prospect Mountain‘. So, when I saw signs to THIS ‘Prospect Mountain’ I had to try it. I am GLAD I did. I first saw the signs for the autoroad — which was CLOSED for the winter. I then Googled it & found the hiking trail.
Wow. The Catwalk was SPECIAL! I know quite a few people who will NOT make it across. Getting to the top of it was quite a climb too — & I like to climb stairs. I was slightly winded. Not much. SMILE.
The trail was GNARLY. Lots & lots of round stones & exposed, raised roots. Yes, of course, you can hike it — & I did, BUT it was no walk in the park. After experiencing this I will never ever, ever even MENTION that the trails on (my) ‘Bold Coast‘ are gnarly. There is gnarly & gnarly, & this trail was up there.
Only met two people in total — one a trail volunteer who gave me much insights. I am so glad I met him.
Started HAILING & snowing a bit. Wasn’t bad. Just made it slippery. Coming down was tricky. Had to concentrate.
The views from the top are SURE worth it. Glad I did it. I enjoyed it.
