Breakfast at Red Hook Diner and Departure From the Hudson Valley

I awoke Sunday morning with very few things on my agenda. The main one being breakfast at the Red Hook diner. Just as I was packing up, the entire building suddenly went berserk. And by that I mean a fire alarm sounded and kept sounding. I took a look around the hall and heard no screams nor smelled no smoke, so I just went back to packing up and texting K. and C. about their availability for an early morning breakfast. Eventually all my gear was packed and I proceeded towards the exit closest to the parking lot where my car was located. I guess most folks took the fire alarm far more seriously, including the fireman who held the door open for me and a gaggle of my former classmates, some of whom were in pajamas and draped with blankets. C. and K. were also there and it was decided that we would just get on with it and go to breakfast. This was a very good move on our part. The Red Hook Diner is basically the place to be on any given morning, but especially a weekend morning, and on a reunion/graduation weekend? Come 11 AM that place is packed and you're lucky if you don't have to wait 20 to 30 minutes. We, however, waited about two minutes before getting a spot. When something works you just keep going with it, and the diner's 2 eggs/meat/potatoes/bottomless coffee meal definitely works. And my preferred combo always was (and probably always will be) two poached eggs with the deep fried version of potatoes and sausage links. It was everything I wanted it to be. EVERYTHING.

The diner is right next to the building where K. and I both spent about two years post-graduation. In the two bottom apartments. Those were some transitional years for sure, going from student to semi-kind-of-almost adults. And we both left at the same time too, with K. moving to NYC to attend grad school while I moved on to Chicago, also to attend grad school. And here we were about eight years later.

After that it was pretty much the usual getting out of a place. I tried to track down S. who still had my jacket, but wasn't able to get in touch with him and didn't feel like rambling around aimlessly until I heard from him. So we all dropped off our respective dorm keys, got into our respective wheels and drove off from Bard's campus. I crossed the Kingston bridge and the sun was finally coming out and the way it played on the water and mountains was something to see. Unfortunately you can't really see because I was driving while randomly clicking my camera's shutter. Never a very effective method for really good photos.

But you can't say I didn't try.

And that about wraps up the 10th year reunion of the Bard Class of 2003. The majority of my fears were unfounded and it was quite nice to see some of the faces that I wouldn't otherwise see in the course of my everyday life. Good work all around. Though I hope the next reunion I attend will feature warmer weather.

Bard College Commencement 2013, Dinner c/o Osaka

The next day was just as gloomy, overcast and not terribly warm as the preceding day. I woke up at a far more leisurely hour than I normally do...but then I don't usually go to sleep at five in the morning. L. and I knew that we wanted some delicious Dunkin Donuts coffee (the sheer amount of money, gas and time we expended on Dunkin Donuts coffee during our college years would be astonishing if quantified). I also felt a very strong need to go to the Bagel Shoppe. Of course there is no photographic proof of our doing either thing. But we did. I swear. Then there was a fair amount of lollygagging. C. and L. went to the library to find their senior projects while I tried to take a nap but really just took a lot of photographs of cicadas. Eventually it was getting close to the actual start of the graduation, whose commencement speaker was Gabby Giffords and her husband. That story and how far she has come and how much it reflects the ills of our current gun policies makes her an incredibly effective symbol. In any case, I stopped by the tent but it seemed like kids were still filing in and there would be much pomp and circumstance before the commencement speech. So I wandered on to the campus center to meet up with C., K. and L.

I could have told some stories about all the times I drove to Dunkin Donuts.

When I attended Bard the cafeteria had two sections: the smoking section and the non-smoking section. I can say with some regret and some weird pride that I ate in the non-smoking section a total of perhaps five times. It was a bigger room and the acoustics were weird and so I, like so many others, took up permanent cafeteria residency in "the paranoids" smoking section. Times change and for the better, so that enclosed smoky space has now become just another seating area...it is also where we gathered to listen to the commencement speeches while staying out of the icky weather. Gabby Giffords' husband did the majority of the speaking, and I found his point that he and his wife both are gun owners an interesting and valid one. My opinion on guns isn't going to change anybody else's, but I really just feel like there is a pretty easy balance to be made if crazy people on both sides just kind of shut their mouths. The Libertarian fringe compound guy in Montana needs to understand that while he certainly has the right to bear arms, he doesn't have the right to become his own personal army. The extremely leftist vegetarian activist needs to understand that not all gun owners are the Libertarian fringe compound guy (and that one could argue that hunting for one's meat is a far more noble method of being a carnivore than relying on factory farms). Easier said than done of course. My point is mainly the point he made: everyone needs to make compromises and see the greater harm that could come about if they are not made (like the attempted assassination of HIS WIFE). Moving on.

Then it was time for a more official reunion event at Blithewood. The weather continued to be windy, cold and altogether not to my liking. I also became overwhelmed by the additional new faces that were added to the mix from the night before. I like people and talking to them. But man alive there is a limit to just how many conversations I can enjoy with people I haven't really kept in touch with...especially if it's cold. I also just wasn't feeling like getting totally tanked again, so while many were enjoying the free spirits and beer at the reunion tent, I mainly stuck to one beer and cheese. None of which is photographed because I was getting edgy.

After our reunion photograph I was feeling a little spent. C. was feeling very cold. K. was making friends with everybody, but also wanted sushi. And so our three different states combined and it was decided that C. and I would walk back to north campus to get my car, which we would then drive back down to Blithewood in order to pick up K., and then we would all zoom our way to Tivoli for a meal at Osaka. This plan went well. C. and I ended up getting a bit of a lift from yet another golf cart. K. was about done making friends by the time we picked her up, and Osaka had no line for tables. We all got variations of a maki combination, which came with soup and salad.

I think I ordered the spicy combination, or maybe the special one? I should really track that down, but I am not going to.

So much sushi. So much fun.

After dinner we rushed back in order to see the always spectacular fireworks...but we really arrived just in time to see the end. K. and C. went to see who else was still hanging around, but my decision not to drink and overall tiredness from not getting a proper nap (oh my god I sound like I'm 95, next thing you know I'm going to be talking about the merits of prune juice for digestions) led to a desire to just go somewhere warm and dry. To that end I returned to north campus and the class of 2003 dorm, where I ran into J. and D. and S. and B. and a few other folks. S. insisted that J. and I take a photograph together but he was, shall we say, a wee bit tipsy and couldn't quite take the photo himself. So he asked D. to do it...but D. is like nine million feet tall and didn't really know exactly what S. wanted from a photo. So below are three of many more photographs of J. and I trying to please S.'s directions. 

J. and I were both in the photo program at Bard. We ended up sharing a dark room our senior year...except he printed almost entirely digitally, which meant that really I got a dark room to myself. His senior project was especially clever. I had a total artistic crush on him. No big deal. Now he and B. are embarking on a new venture that is just as much deserving of a crush.

It got kind of ridiculous.

B. jumped in on this one.

My night pretty much ended at this point. I went down to my basement room to regroup but never quite made it back up, though I did hear the ragings of a party for many hours afterwards. I kind of regret not rallying, but really I was pleased with the overall experience and didn't want to mar it by any new shenanigans.

Bard Tent Party and Later Times 2013

While the official reunion events would take place on Saturday, I may have been most excited about the Tent Party, which may be relatively self-explanatory...but I'll explain it anyways. Bard's graduation ceremony takes place under a pretty big tent. The night before graduation that tent is used as a huge dance area for a big ol' party for current students and returning alumni. There is also a beer truck set up where one can get free beer  as long as they have a wrist band. To get a wrist band we just had to say our names, class years, where we lived our freshmen year (trailer 2) and the title of our senior projects (Touch Me Like They Do In the Movies). Here you can see the combined power of the bracelets.

There was also an event up in the cafeteria building. This was for a slightly more mature set, and I guess we fit in well enough.

Two other members of the Class of 2013 have started a solar powered popcorn company. If you ever see this brand, buy it.

Yup.

Times.

We ran into A.F. as well as a random current student whom we befriended for about five minutes. Good luck in the real world random Bard student!

In the tent.

Hugging K.

Photos.

B. from Texas and S. wearing my rain jacket (I brought two because you never know).

This is a pretty awful photo of me and C. but note the creepster in the background. Very typical Bard.

So in addition to free booze, the college also puts out pizza and donuts as the night comes to a close. Basically they get us liquored up and then try to sober us up. It sometimes works.

The beer and festivities came to a close around 2 AM. C., K., B. from Texas and S. had all departed while L. and I tried to enjoy a little dancing. But the music was a little too, uh, youthful? Too many stutters and stops, no consistent rhythm...and just way too many young people making out. If I'm not doing the making out in public, I don't want to see it. Rule to live by. So L. and I then began our own walk back when one of the myriad golf carts driven by student volunteers (or perhaps they were being paid) appeared and asked where we were going and if we wanted a ride. We gave them our location and answered with an enthusiastic yes to the ride. They called out to others in the still crowded donut area, but no takers...so off we went and soon enough we ran into those who started out before us and they joined. There is something pretty fun about riding a golf cart at 2 AM driven by college students while on your own former college campus.

And then the party continued. I don't know who brought the additional booze (I contributed a half bottle of Evan Williams to the festivities) but it allowed the party to rage on for many hours.

H., my first Bard contact of the weekend.

I am not exactly sure who is taking the majority of these photos, though I have a pretty good suspicion that it was L.

C. was about done with the papparazzi and my lack of chin was in full display. I have a chin. I swear.

K. and M. and a girl whose name I don't know. Flying or surfing?

It was an especially late night. I don't think my head hit a pillow til after 5. But if you're going to go to a college reunion, you best go hard...I guess?

10th Year College Reunion Weekend Begins With A Burrito

A subject of some debate in my own mind over the last couple of months has been whether I should brave my tenth year college reunion. At one point, I didn't want to go because I was so down in the dumps about my own lack of progress since the five year reunion, that I just didn't see the bright side of a weekend with a motley crew of folks I knew (or totally didn't) from ten years ago. Then I was optimistic about a job prospect and figured I'd be too busy settling into my new location and function that the reunion would be out of the cards. Eventually, through much cajoling and handholding by a select few, I got over myself and registered for the weekend while also reserving a dorm room on campus. Once that was done, it was just a matter of not freaking out. If an 'Irish Goodbye' is leaving the party without telling anyone, is deciding not to go at all an "Irish Hello'? Because I was definitely thinking about it.

I took Friday off from work so I could drive up on the earlier side and go to a few different spots off-campus before finally signing in and getting down to the reunion part of the whole shebang. This began with an almost immediate stop at the Burrito Stand, which was open despite the terribly rainy and not especially warm weather that plagued the entire two days of activities. I did not hesitate in my request for a burrito with guacamole because that is just how it is done. A delicious burrito, it was. I sat in my car as the rain blurred my window and didn't mind terribly when some of the juiciness of the tomatoes and guacamole and sour cream found its way to my pants. Such are the sacrifices one makes for an incredibly fresh and tasty burrito.

I then went to a few other spots, which included the sheep farm that I had worked at for almost two years after graduating from college, the low-to-the-ground ranch house where I lived my sophomore and junior years, and a few drives down random roads that allowed for country views and the spectacular reminder of the Catskills in the distance. While the weather was gloomy, I kept being struck by just how much this landcape and environment shaped me and how lucky I was to spend nearly six years in a place where every curve of the road provides a new and breathtaking vista.

I then went to campus and found myself doing a few things very akin to the activities of my college days. Mainly hiding in parking lots, looking at photographs in the photo building, worrying too much about who I might see and that kind of thing. But eventually I made it from the Campus Center to the dorm I'd be staying in with many other members of the Class of 2003 and it was fine. I ran into H. who was never a scary Bard person, whom I also enjoyed seeing from time to time back in my Chicago days. Basically he was a really great first person to see because he didn't scare me then, doesn't scare me now and also is just a really funny and friendly guy. I lucked out. There are so many other people I could have run into first where the lack of acquaintanceship or friendliness would lead to a very strange interaction that would probably leave both parties worrying frantically about what they signed up for...but this opening to the reunion gave me confidence and relieved me of some of my neuroses. I took more Instagram pictures of that early afternoon than real photographs and will probably get around to posting them in the next four months.

Pretzel and Wings and Sandwich

I stopped at L. and M.'s on the way out of town to see how much their pup had grown since I saw them over the summer. It wasn't too long a visit because I wanted to stop at the farm and get on the road, but as I left I was gifted a jar of their garden's salsa, a bar of handmade soap, and this pretzel that M. made at the bakery. I thoroughly enjoyed it after my brief farm stop.
And then on the following Tuesday there were darts at McCrossen's, and with those darts came the traditional plate of wings.
Then for my lunch the day after darts, I went with a ham/turkey etc combo from Primo's. Tasty treats.

Parting Scenes From Suminski Innski

After bidding J. adieu in Hudson I drove back south to Tivoli and Suminski Innski. It was still relatively early in the night and I plopped down on the front porch with a glass of wine and a book, content to spend the rest of the evening reading and sipping. But Tim, the proprietor, asked me if I might like to join him and his two friends in a game of Scrabble, which of course I did because Scrabble is one of my favorite things. We sat at one end of a lovely long table in the dining room. Tim showed us some kind of crazy flashlight, and I ran and got my camera so I could take a few photographs of the flashlight's effect on this here chandelier.

Pretty things.
We ended up playing two games. I lost won one and lost one. Good competition. Good night.
The next morning I went back to the river for a few parting shots.
Then went back to the house to enjoy coffee and breakfast. That second night there were other guests, so breakfast was a communal experience. The other folks were up from the city. They had a blog or website, but I can't remember the name of it.
Breakfast was a marvelous mess of egg, cheese, tomatoes, broccoli and I don't know what else. Dill. Tasty.
Oh and sausage too. And bread. And jam.
After I filled myself with breakfast I made my goodbyes to Tim and the others, took one last photograph and headed out of town. I've said it once, but I"ll say it again, this was a really great place to stay for the weekend. The location and views were perfect for me. Tim was a great host. The bed was extremely comfortable and cozy. Oh man, it was just lovely.