July

I have often told myself that February is my least favorite month of the year, with March as a close second. Mostly, this is because the weather (at least on the Northern half of the Atlantic coast of the United States) is generally unpleasant, and seems to drag on forever. However, around this time every year, I am forced to reconsider this. I think I would gladly move to a place that was constantly raining or sleeting, in order to avoid temperature norms of 80-90 F at any point in the year.

Anyway. It's been a good few weeks. My internship at the New Castle Historical Society has been fantastic, but I'll talk more about that later. I saw Hamlet in early July, as the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is putting it on this year. I went with Rebz and Sam, and for the first time, without my parents, or theirs. It was a little odd to have that break with tradition, but of course, it was enjoyable as ever.

I've also managed to get some hiking in... Sam and I went (again, in early July) with Susie, and it was really lovely as always. Towards the end, we stopped by a lake, and for once, I went swimming. Sam and I swam/walked out to an island, and were a bit disappointed when we couldn't actually get onto the island, but ah well.

And, of course, as I was saying before, the Historical Society has been fantastic. I now know that I never, ever want to work with anybody under the age of 14 (at the very least), that I'm quite good at putting together power-points, and that I can decipher handwriting that my superiors deem "impossible." I've been helping the archivist put together a slide show for a gala in September, transcribing Horace Greeley's letters (so much more fun than it sounds), and doing research for an exhibition on former farms in New Castle (which has basically consisted of me making copies of maps and circling names, and is also a lot more fun than it sounds). I also just finished working on a joint project with the Chappaqua Library, which I won't bother going into detail with... it was a kids' program, and I'm very glad to be done with it. 

The Story of A Summer, by Cecilia Cleveland (a niece of Horace Greeley's) tells us quite a lot of what we know the Horace Greeley House was like in the 1870s. It was his summer residence-- much of New Castle was still "countryside" at the time. The house is now a museum, as well as the home of the New Castle Historical Society.

Thomas Nast cartoons!

Supposedly, this was Horace Greeley's crib...

The research room (aka: Tasha's new lair).

Some samples of what I've been transcribing.

Anyway. In other news, I now have only 2 1/2 books left to read before getting to Cambridge. So that's something like... 1, 400-odd pages left? So... I need to read 117-ish pages per day? Something like that. In any case. I'm planning on finishing the two shorter ones by the middle of next week, and then getting started on the 700 page one, and hopefully finishing it on the plane.

...we'll see how well that plan goes. 

But really, though. I'm very excited about Cambridge. I'll be at Clare College, by the way. Daria is currently at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and though we haven't heard much from her, she seems to be happy enough. I don't dare make a more strongly-worded guess.

I don't really have much more to say at this point... more to come.

My love to all,

Tasha

I have returned!

Well, to be honest, I returned a while back, but I haven't gotten around to posting in a while... there's so much to write about.

First things first: the White Mountains were awesome, in a literal sense. I had the time of my life. I don't think of myself as a religious person, or even a spiritual one, so what I'm about to try to explain doesn't make much sense even to me, but the mountains changed me. I suppose any and every experience one has creates a change, though one doesn't always recognize it. I feel differently than I did before I left. Susie said I seemed more "confident," and I suppose that could be part of it. I won't attempt to explain further than that.

The week I got back, I went back to working at Hilltop Hanover (the organic farm) at their children's camp, which was just as fun as the first week. Given that I never liked little kids much before, I'm very surprised that I enjoyed working with the campers so much.

This past week, I haven't really been doing much... We had our family reunion, which was as fun as always (and we came up with a plan for discouraging redundant questions about college during Thanksgiving. :P). It's really amazing to see how much my little cousins have grown over just the past year...

My parents and I also went out to do some college shopping. That was interesting. I never realized how attached to my blankets I was until I realized I would have to get new ones. I still need to go clothing shopping, though, as my closet currently consists of stuff that is either too big on me, or is in rags. I'll have to drag Rebz along with me, as I never go shopping, and I wouldn't know the first place to go for clothing. Hopefully she does.

I've been trying to hike as much as possible, between family events and trying to get ready for school. Yesterday, we took Daria along on a hike, and I think she enjoyed it. We went swimming in a lake on the trail, and it wasn't until we reached the parking lot that I realized that I had lost my car keys. I remembered taking them out of my pocket at the lake, and so John (a fellow hiker) and I doubled back to try to find them. No luck. We both searched my bag multiple times, as well as all my pockets, and still found nothing. So we went back to the parking lot, and Daria and I got a ride home from him. It was only when I got home, and searched through my bag again, just to make sure, that I found them in my wallet. So... that was an interesting episode.

Well, I hope everybody is doing well.

-Tasha

Hiking on West Mountain and Timp

Hello all!

Well. I went hiking with Susie, my dad's cousin, yesterday, and it was absolutely wonderful. It was a really lovely day, everything was green, and, of course, one can't fail to mention the good company.

I'm including a few pictures...

By the way, the water you see over there... that's the Hudson River.

Definitely the best way to spend a one's Saturday.

I realized yesterday that I'm really going to miss this place when I leave. I love all the hills, and the trees, and especially when you look at it all from higher up... it's amazing just how much of it there is. It is absolutely beautiful.

I'll be going to the White Mountains in July with Susie, after a music festival. I can't wait! I'll have to start seriously training for it though. So. More hiking to come.