Tuesday, May 29, 2012

weekend in the Catskills


When I was a child in Maryland, our neighbors, who were Quakers, invited me to an outdoor Meeting, under a tree. I thought of that when searching for a phrase more original than "a religious experience" to describe my time outside this weekend. Admiring wildflowers. Wading in the brook. The roar of the waterfall.


An old tree stump takes on a new life as a home for ferns, moss and insects.


A woodchuck popped her head out of this tangle of fallen tree, saw me and disappeared. She popped back out a few times, while I waited quietly, but not quietly enough apparently, because she always spotted me. Selfishly, I hoped to see her venture out and about.


In the store I was like a school child with spring fever. Now that I've decided to close, it's hard to be there, though I talked to friends and met nice people, including several on their first visit to the Catskills. People tried to talk me out of closing, but it's time, I said. 

13 comments:

  1. Hi Jen,

    I am so glad that you are happy with your decision.

    I love this post and the pretty photos that you have published with it.

    Wishing you many carefree days ahead.


    x

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    1. Thank you, Fiona. "Carefree" is the right word for what I want my country weekends to be. Managing the store has become a source of stress, and that is not what a labor of love should be. :)

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  2. Hello Jen:
    The tone of this post would suggest that the time is indeed right for your decision to close your store. We can well imagine that this was not an easy decision to make but one does, instinctively we feel, know when a change of direction beckons. You will always have with you many happy memories of your time in the Catskills but there will, at least be opportunities for other ventures when the responsibility of the store is no longer.

    Wishing you every happiness and success wherever you may now venture!

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    1. Dear Jane and Lance-- As longtime readers you know how difficult this decision was, but the time is right. The store will stay open until the end of summer. I hope to find a space in an antiques collective, no I can have the fun without the responsibility. I have the online store, but it is fun to have an actual physical place!

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  3. Hi Jen, my mum always says when one door closes another one opens and I'm sure that's what will happen in your case.Something else will turn up.I have enjoyed seeing your little store in the Catskills and would love to have visited.Anyway, hope you will continue to blog and keep us posted about your new adventures.

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    1. Hi Anne--I will definitely continue to blog. I love this little community I'm part of.

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  4. There is time of sowing and reaping...something like that(?), though I don't know the phrase in English.
    I know that you love the store and it was hard decision in a way, yet your enthusiasm for the stuffs wont disappear.

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  5. It sounds as though your heart is more carefree. And that's good.

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  6. more time for different adventures. i hope you keep us posted xx

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  7. ah, i had missed that you made this decision. good - you're following your heart.

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  8. great pics...
    XOXO
    http://atravelerjourney.blogspot.pt

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  9. If it's time, it's time. I hope you enjoy your last months in the store with that sense of impending escape and find something absorbing to move on to.

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  10. Beautiful pictures, I love the ferns!

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