in which I go in search of the sites of famous paintings in the pouring rain

Today it has poured - poured - with rain.  I was determined to go and see Kaaterskill Falls, all the same - site of so many C19th paintings - so drove my rental behemoth up through the clouds and windy bending mountain roads with gritted determination.  I can't imagine why anyone would choose a Nissan Armada unless they had 6 kids or a large mobile home to tow - it was all that was on offer, since everything else was down in Westchester fulfilling Insurance Needs after Hurricane Ida (apparently they'd even had to close down all bookings for three days, a little while back).  The site, and falls, were absolutely stunning - but it was too wet for me to feel that I could safely go on the hike down to see them from the bottom, which is of course the classic view - there were a lot of slippery rocks and steps between me and down there.  Maybe the weather will clear and I'll be able to fit in a second chance?

I had a sense that the fall colors were quite spectacular on the way up - certainly, walking through the woods was beautiful.  I drove through Palenville on the way up - billed as "The First Art Colony in America," and also home to Rip Van Winkle.  There's a lot of Rip Van Winkle around here - like the bridge across the Hudson - which made me think what a weird story this was to read at school when I was 8.  I can only think that it was what there was in the book cupboard, like everything else that we read: Black Beauty, The King of the Golden River (my first Ruskin!), The Children of the New Forest ... I re-read it this afternoon, and scratched my head a bit - it's pretty complex vocabulary, which I don't remember finding troublesome, but I don't remember being explained, either.  But more than that - I don't recollect Miss Stephenson explaining the rudiments of American History, either - and the fact that RVW slept through Independence.  And, more shamefully, I realize that I swallowed the tale's terrible misogyny absolutely whole ...

This being a research trip, I also, of course, took lots of photographs of dead or diseased hemlocks.  More about them tomorrow ...