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First hike of the season; up Sugarloaf Mountain

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Last Friday morning we had our first hike up a hill. We made the 2 mile round trip up Sugarloaf, a couple of miles north of Cold Spring. Joe and I had gone up the 900 foot high “mountain” last May. Tom Faranda’s Folly: Tom and Joe’s Sunday climb up Sugarloaf

We decided it would be a relatively easy first hike of the spring, just to see how we’d go. It turned out well, with Karen Riner, her daughter Lauren (who’s graduating in a couple of months from Johns Hopkins with a BS in nursing), and first time walker-with-us (but otherwise experienced outdoors maven) Hallie Flanagan Wolfe. Lauren was along to get the average age of the group down … but it was still the wrong side of 50.

Again, Tom with four women. It’s a tough gig, but somebody’s got to do it.

Here’s Karen and Lauren. Or is it Lauren and Karen?

After walking uphill for only a few minutes, the Gang of Four decided they had too many layers on …

A serious crowd –

Here we are at the top, along with the Riner dog, Emi.

At this point, there was a interesting discussion between Hallie and Karen. karen is a fitness instructor, so Hallie asked her about how to do a proper push-up, and Karen asked hallie about composting…

Karen then demonstrated how to do a push-up – not the ladies variety from your knees, but the full-fledged masculine variety, with only your toes and hands touching the ground. She did a number of them, and Hallie then followed suit.

   

Here are some views from the top of Sugarloaf, taken by Karen. The first being the dead tree which is kind of the signature image from the top, as well as Emi’s tongue, and then a view south down the Hudson. the large hill across the river is Storm King.

 

We wandered around for awhile on the top of the ridge, and then the gardener in Hallie took over …

Sugarloaf_climb_31408_055

Here are a few views north. You can just about see the Newburgh-Beacon bridge in the haze in the second one.

 

And of course we then had to head down…

 

A good morning’s walk. A little more sun would have been nice, but otherwise just about perfect.

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Good baseball article: how to throw a changeup

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I’m not a NY Mets fan, but here’s a really neat feature about their newly acquired superstar pitcher, Johan Santana. And he’s a rarity – a pitcher whose strike-out pitch is a changeup. Santana’s Changeup: Hitters Never See It Coming – New York Times Six years after Santana began meticulously honing his four-seam grip as … Read more

A recovery story

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Recovery from sexual assault – from Christianity Today Very powerful – you have to read the whole thing Calling on the Saints | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction Some have suggested that the church was partly to blame for my rape. They have a point. My husband and I had moved into … Read more

Darfur Update: “Scorched earth”

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Lives in the balance – Scorched-Earth Strategy Returns to Darfur – New York Times SULEIA, Sudan — The janjaweed are back. They came to this dusty town in the Darfur region of Sudan on horses and camels on market day. Almost everybody was in the bustling square. At the first clatter of automatic gunfire, everyone … Read more

Birthday dinner last week

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My good friend Paul Novotny had a birthday last week, so last Saturday we went with Paul and Doreen to an Italian place – Lago Di Como – in Tarrytown to celebrate. Top notch cuisine Westchester Restaurants, Tarrytown, Dinner reservations in Westchester : Lago di Como Ristorante, Nothern Italian Cuisine And here’s Doreen and Paul: … Read more

The death of William Buckley

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The magazine he founded has a bunch of remembrances. National Review Online And here’s the NY Times – William F. Buckley Jr. Is Dead at 82 – New York Times Mr. Buckley’s greatest achievement was making conservatism — not just electoral Republicanism, but conservatism as a system of ideas — respectable in liberal post-World War … Read more

Darfur Update; some positive news

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The NY Times had an analysis this morning – China, in New Role, Presses Sudan on Darfur – New York Times KHARTOUM, Sudan — Amid the international outrage over the bloodshed in Darfur, frustration has increasingly turned toward China, Sudan’s biggest trading partner and international protector, culminating in Steven Spielberg’s decision last week to withdraw … Read more

Evangelical Christians and the death penalty

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From Christianity Today – a small rise in the number of people against capital punishment Capital Doubts | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction While the issue before the Supreme Court is narrow, the national mood on capital punishment itself seems to be shifting. New Jersey became the 14th state to outlaw executions … Read more