View from the Seamon Park in Saugerties, in our soon to be former 'hood

After almost 4 years spending half my time in the Catskills area, we are making some changes and staying in the city for a while. I will miss it so much (the house, my lifestyle here, the area, vibe, and people) and the decision entailed thoughts of fully relocating, existential “where am I supposed to be?” dialogues, pros and cons lists, the “we both work from home so it doesn’t matter where we are,” the “we should network more” counter, and the ongoing longing for unlimited finances to be able to do it all.

Once the decision was made to give up the house (which was hard partly because we had such a good deal), I thought of the bright side.  Hopeful to save money, travel, take advantage of the city and see more friends again more often.  And maybe eventually return  here in the near future. Whether full time or half and half with improvements. If we really mist it, we’ll know. I’m attached to both places and being away might provide some insight into “where I’m supposed to be.”  Perhaps somewhere totally new is the next step.  Like Berlin.

We definitely benefit from many things by getting away up here, including more space and less distraction.  The cost and quality of rehearsal and recording space in New York was the original impetus that drove me to find a little house for less than the cost of a music space in the city and our work as freelancers with much of it from home enabled freedom of being both places.  I hope that continues with more consistency (the economy has made some work erratic) or better, for dreams come true and our creative endeavors lead to more opportunities and more freedom.

I won’t miss part of the commute, which is stressful.  The driving and the lugging. We don’t want to pay for a lot near our apartment so we have a multi-step process. Once here though, we were always relieved and happy and we had fun and I was also able to get a lot of creative work done.  My book is done and an album is done.   I’ve  also wasted a lot of creative time because I’ve been such a tourist.  Exploring. Hiking. Checking out towns, stores, shows, restaurants, hiking and biking trails. Maybe this was “feeding my creativity.”

There is still so much to see and do. Places I want to check out again too.  As there is of course in New York.  Which, since we pay to live there, we should do more. I always have a list of places to check out.  It’s overwhelming.   There are thousands of things to do in the city and I do about 1%, which I know is a common lament. Even up here, there is a lot going on.  But, here, we really did take advantage.

As an homage to all I love here, I’ll just start listing over the next few weeks my favorite things in the area:  The rail trail from Hurley to Marbletown, Olana, the waterfront park in Malden, the Saugerties lighthouse park and trail, Christmas lights in Saugerties, ice skating at Kiwanis, the Harlem Valley Rail Trail, Overlook Mountain trail, rolling country roads, playing piano at Colony Cafe, John Street Jam, Target.

More to come. Including the many restaurants.