Upstate New York

Today we visited friends who live near Syracuse, New York and had a splendid day, enjoying the balmy breezes at their home high in the hills there. Looking out at midday we could see Oneida Lake in the distance, glimmering, and then, in the evening, we were greeted with golden light broadcasting long strokes across the tree covered slopes.

It is a glorious location, high up in the hills, south of the Adirondack Mountains.
Nicholas

Much of the land surrounding their home, our cottage and the land we just purchased is farmland. Red barns like these, with their silos alongside, dot the landscape with a symbol I recognise from my childhood. 

Here, tucked in miles and miles of rolling hills and forests, the land was once cleared and someone began a dream of farming, of growing, of raising animals and maybe even a family. 

I think when I see this, I am reminded of one of the phrases Nicholas first used when he spoke to me about me...he said I had "frontier spirit". Being back here once more, I recognise in a very real way what he meant.

We live in a country of immigrants, most of whom dream of a life they will create in this land of opportunity, or who had parents or grandparents who dreamt of a new life in a new land. And, for all its faults and struggles, and they are many, America is indeed a country rich with possibility and beauty and almost unbridled optimism and positivity.

It is good to be home.

Judy