July 24, 2021
We continued to make our way north, farther and farther away from the wonderful craziness of New York City. Our next stop was the Thomas Cole National Historic Site.
Thomas Cole (1801-1848) is considered to be the father of American landscape painting as well as the founder of the Hudson River School of Art.
I got a kick out of these signs. I can see that second one still being taped to the wall four or five years from now.
My favorite thing on the property was this purple gazebo with its fancy Victorian sofa.
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| View of Mt. Etna (1842) by Thomas Cole |
These reproductions of Victorian flip books were fun. They are powered by Victorian clock motors.
The art does not always reflect 19th century sensibilities.
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| Laptoplegzebramussels (2016) by Lisa Sanditz |
On the other hand, put this color wheel in a modern frame and it would look like contemporary art, but it was painted by Thomas Cole in 1834.
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| Diagram of Contrasts (1834) by Thomas Cole |
We saw what we wanted to see in about an hour and then headed to our next destination. Wait . . . WHERE are we?
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| Cardinal (2016) by Portia Munson |
In the front yard, a fallen eastern hemlock is propped up by a large rock and covered in pieces of leather attached with upholstery tacks. The tree was originally planted by Frederic Church himself around 1871 when he was building the main house. He is known for planting thousands of trees to reforest an area denuded by industry. Tannins, the chemicals in hemlocks, are used in leather tanneries, and hemlocks were almost wiped out of this region.
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| Fallen (2021) by Jean Shin |
From the site: "Using original historic tools from the period, the project team ceremonially removed the hemlock's remaining bark and assembled it beneath the salvaged trunk, in its shadow. Shin then crafted a 'second skin' made with offcuts of leather discarded by the fashion industry. The hides, themselves another casualty of ecological destruction have come full circle, protect and adorn the fallen tree."
Frederic Church traveled to the Middle East in 1869, and his fascination with that architecture can be seen in his home here, which he designed himself in consultation with an architect.
The side porch presents a dramatic view of the Hudson River Valley.
Unfortunately, there were no tours available during our time there. I had to sneak this picture through a window.
Found near the house: witch's hat mushroom:
It had been a long day and we were hungry. Bob had scouted out a farm-to-table restaurant pretty much in the middle of nowhere but that sells out every night: Peekamoose Restaurant. It is located in an old farmhouse on the bank of Birch Creek in the Catskill Mountains about an hour's drive from Olana.
The food lived up to the hype. I didn't get pictures of everyone else's food, but here is what I ate:
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| Gnudi (gnocchi-like dumplings) with fresh tomato puree, toasted pine nuts, and parmesan cheese |
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| Cucumber and almond gazpacho |
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| Chitarra (egg pasta) with kale and basil pesto pecorino Romano cheese, and pine nuts |
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| Mesclun Greens with a shallot vinaigrette |
Since we had dinner at 5:00, there was still some light after we were done, so we walked up a trail into a beautiful deciduous forest called Rochester Hollow, part of the Shandaken Wild Forest.
A mossy green stone wall ran alongside quite a long section of the path. It made me think of Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall," which starts:
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun:
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
Andrew, of course, saw and scooped up a few fungi: Caesar's amanita and black trumpets..
Knowing just a little bit about the Hudson River School of Art, it was fun to learn more about them and see where several lived. I loved Peekamoose Restaurant.
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