Vol.62 A Trip to the Catskill 1

A Trip to the Catskill　１

“Town & Country” is a popular American magazine for people who have
a house in town and one in the countryside, and for those who want to
have them.

My friend, Susan Dennison, lives in an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper
East Side, and has a house in Margaretville, New York in the Catskill’s.
She enjoys life in both places. Susan, who worked many years for textile
company, Schumacher, has now retired.
Now she goes every weekend to the Catskill house she bought 19 years ago,
and visits her many friends in the surrounding countryside.

Today’s accepted theory of the origin of the name Catskill, is that it came
from bobcats and the many streams, called “kills”, in the area.
“Kill” means water or streams. It has nothing to do with killing cats.
The Catskill Mountains are about a 3 hours drive northwest from Manhattan.
On the way, you can see deer.
It means that in the United States, nature has spread near to the city.
Or the city has spread farther into nature.

Susan’s home is a few minutes drive from the city of Margaretville,
which is as beautiful as a movie set. In fact, this pretty town was filmed for
many movies, such as “Stand By Me”.

The area has many charming Victorian (late 19th Century) houses, with steep
gabled roofs, decorative lace-like wooden trim and covered porches at the
front entrances.

A house next door to Susan’s (100 meters away), was built on the river in 1846.
We can always hear the babbling of the river there.

From the veranda of Susan’s other friend’s house on the hill, we can look
out over the majestic Catskill Mountains.

In neighboring town, the white house, like a doll house with a porch,
is very romantic.

Susan’s home is a Victorian farm-style house built in 1864.

Because Susan worked for textile firms, the fabric in her home is very
charming and just right for her house. In the dining room, the windows
and ceiling are covered by a mix of soft, patterned fabric.
The old clock is her grandfather’s – a real “Grandfather’s Clock”.

The bed, in the guest room where I slept, is covered in a pretty floral print.

Her kitchen, which is easy to work and cook in, has wonderful antique lamps.

We ate breakfast – fresh fruit, yogurt and honey – on the veranda
overlooking the backyard, while listening to the chirping of birds.

For lunch, we made a big, fresh salad of vegetables with lettuce, tomatoes,
avocado and mozzarella cheese, which we bought at the Farmers Market.
We also put in a lot of herbs – basil, thyme, parsley, oregano – grown in
her garden.

And for dinner, we eat a lot of seafood with a lot of vegetables.

Although deer are lovely to see, they eat all her flowers, causing damage
to her garden. Deer are not the only wild life to enter her acre plus site.
She has seen rabbits, coyotes and even, a bear! “When I met the bear,
I was, indeed, surprised.
The bear just slowly cut across my yard, so I was OK,”
she said feeling relieved just thinking about it.

This time I did not encounter any bears, I only saw deer and wild rabbits.
But someday, I imagine, that I would (perhaps, just a little bit) want
to see a bear.