living 10 miles or so from the blue line is a boon. i get to live in the foothills, with university and st. lawrence river and ontario access, in the biggest county east of the mississippi. the blue line, a magic line encircling the adirondack forest preserve has as it's creed forever wild.

we visit, attend concerts and openings, eat, shop, hike, ski there. i learned about lichens crawling around in the woods there. i found a brown shelf fungus that grew on red pines that yielded a lavender dye upon testing.

the birch store in keene valley always has at least one exquisite textile. you find cashmere and linen and textures to dance your fingers over. exquisite items. i used to sell my miniature tapestries and igs, and even some books there. contrast with this place

i don't know joe's story, but his is a place name now (and there's a place called paul smiths where paul smiths college is. one nephew graduated from there). so sunday hannah, wendy, and i took a break and went to the mountains. now, this morning, these foothills look even more beautiful. very few maples had begun to turn color, it's a long hot summer. that top photo: it's a cloud event. another nephew (who also graduated from an adirondack college) used to record these events on whiteface mountain. part of the initial acid rain research.