Nothing like a trip to New York to make you miss it, while simultaneously making you sort of relieved to get out of there. It is of course a bit unfair, as all family and friend visits are compressed, so the normal obligations of life there are a little exaggerated, but as this was just a four day trip, there was quite a bit of running around. I did get to spend a little time at the Museum of Natural History, which is really an incredible place, both for the memory of school aged visits standing under the whale or looking at the stuffed bison, but for the era it represents, when men of science killed everything they could, to bring it home and stuff it and mount it. That trip was because the boys came in for a visit, and, at ages 6 and 9, the museum was about the coolest thing they could think of. Although they were really more into going to see a Shark Tale, the bad animated movie, but you can't ask a 9 year old what to do with a rare day in fall in NYC with his uncle.

And speaking of which, the fall leaves were turning, right on cue, and upstate was in prime season. Of course there was the usual work at the farm, which is really coming along. I'm thinking by Thanksgiving it will be almost done. Which isn't bad, considering it was all done in a few mad weekends. Perry almost came up to help this time, though in vintage form, he showed up at 12:45 pm, left a note on the windshield in the hotel that he couldn't find a room, then drove all the way back to Brooklyn by himself. Which is a shame, both because he ran around for six hours for nothing, but also because we really could have used an extra set of hands.

Apart from the hooting of an owl that kept me awake the few hours I tried to sleep up there, it felt pretty good to see the end of the tunnel in sight. Plus I stopped at a farmstand and bought honeycrisp apples, which just by themselves are enough to make a person feel better about almost anything, since they are just the right combination of crisp and sweet.