Fog

Yesterday the morning fog was so thick we couldn’t see the first line of trees at the edge of the property.  There was a dense quiet, but when a car crunched over a driveway off Scotch Hill Road it echoed, and sounded like it was 10 yards away. I heard the woodpecker again.  I wonder if he’s been here every morning and I’ve only just noticed.  Aviva says we should hear owls at night, as it’s mating season for them, but I haven’t heard them yet.  And Peter says the birds will start returning in March.

We’ve had warm weather – a stunning 55 yesterday in the afternoon, and predicted to stay above freezing all week.  As Peter predicted, the snow is pulling back everywhere and streams and rivers are running full and brown with the melt. One of our neighbors across Gulf Road has lines up for maple sap.  Charlie is elated to have grass to run on.  He and Jay played ball outside yesterday, and Jay and I sat on the back steps in the sun and had our tea without jackets on. It was the first day I’d been out without a hat and coat.  Lovely.

We went to the sweet little library in Hartwick and got library cards.  It’s tiny, but kind of amazing that a town this size has such a nice little library.  The Hartwick Historical Society meets there on the third Thursday evening every other month.  It’s on my calendar for March.  Fly Creek, just a few miles away, also has a very lively historical society, and one of the ladies in our aqua class is trying to get me involved there too.  There is a lot of history here, a lot to learn.  Gulf Road used to be called Back Road – and Google still has the part of it we’re on listed with that name.  When was it changed, and why?  Dan tells us that at one point Hartwick was the major town in Otsego County, and Oneonta was smaller.  When did that shift, and why?  Hartwick is bisected by State Route 205, and though the speed limit goes down to 35, there’s no stop sign.  Heading for Cooperstown, County Route 11 crosses 205, and it took us a few days to remember that we had a stop sign but 205 didn’t.  Some days we have to wait for a couple of cars to pass before we can cross.

We’ve been here nearly four weeks, and it’s starting to feel like home.  Today Tamar is coming up for the weekend, our first overnight company since Jay and I have been here together.  Tamar stayed over when I came out on one of my trips alone last year, so it’s not her first time here.  But this time, the house really feels like ours, not just like a place we’re staying.  It’s a little odd to have moved into a place that was fully furnished. But by now, it feels like ours.

Jay has made brisket and polenta, and now it’s my turn to get the vegetables ready.