Weekend Away!

I spent a whole LONG weekend away from everything in the middle of the Catskill Mountains. It was awesome. I studied go, played games, had long talks with friends and saw fireworks.

 

We hiked every day, not very long hikes, but very pleasant ones. We had mushroom experts with us, which made the hikes even more interesting. And I finally learned about hickory nuts and about the shagbark hickory tree. Do you know that I never ever knew what a hickory nut looked like? Or what a hickory nut tastes like? Now I know and I do. They remind me a lot of walnuts, although it is MUCH harder to get the meat out, not to mention that there is less meat. I guess tomorrow I'll have to google 'How the heck does one open a hickory nut without breaking one's nutcracker???'

 

I drank good wine. One meal I even ended up with a white AND a red wine next to my plate, which was just fine with me. We ate stunning food and it was very nourishing for my soul to be surrounded by many good friends. I found peace, serenity and calmness during this weekend. Let's see whether I can hold on to these.

 

I forgot my camera at home, which wasn't as upsetting as it could be (frankly, how many pics can you make of people playing go?) but I felt free to whine about it occasionally anyway, especially when I saw the pond with all the striking fall colors. My friend calmy reminded me 'Be here now.' which was not a bad advice at all, so the rest of the weekend I did just that.

 

There is an excellent German bakery in the middle of nowhere, just five minutes walk from where we were staying, so on the last day I bought treats for my friend and my kids. Yum! We drove back home with an interesting stop at the Moondog Cafe where we got kicked out but I am not telling why.