Damn the risk of braggadocio, and greetings from our new dwelling to yours.
It seems appropriate to use this image to convey holiday sentiments. While not losing sight of the past, our vision is focused on enjoying the Christmas season and also looking forward to enjoying the future.
We're almost done. There are odds and ends that need attention, and the fireplace is in need of a surround superior to the current cement board, but livability has been achieved. We are thankful that the long, strange trip is concluding.
And we just received a Christmas present from our builder. An invoice. Joy to the World!
Not really. However, the two videos provided here may give you some sense of a portion of the experience at Stewarts Landing in the Adirondacks. By the way, video, in general, is a royal pain in the buttocks. What you are about to see, should you decide to invest less than 2 minutes total, took an inordinate amount of time to capture, assemble, distribute, and so on. Thank goodness moving pictures are just another passing fad. In both cases, you can watch right here on this blog, in teeny tiny thumbnail splendor, or follow the link to YouTube, where you can actually see what's going on. But you have to know the secret handshake.
Secret YouTube Handshake
After following the link to the video posted on YouTube, you'll very likely be presented with a blurry mess that will cause you to wonder what possible reason could possibly have prompted posting this thing. Please pause the video and direct your attention to the lower right corner of the video. Click on the sprocket representation to allow the following to appear:
Click on the little arrow to the right of "Quality." You may not be presented with the same setting at the outset. Carry on regardless.
The video is posted at 720p, which is pretty good quality. If you really want to get any benefit from watching, select this setting, or as high as your connection will allow. Auto may select something that is lower bandwidth and not worth your time.
After making the quality selection, another suggestion for improvement is to click on the 4 corner bracket icon at the far right. This will take you to full screen playback. Since there is a lot of detail in the video, you will enjoy it much more if you watch it full screen. Don't worry, you won't be trapped in this mode forever. The ESC key will take you back to the normal view.
If you want to see the second video after this one, just click on the "back" button when you're done. I was unable to make the link open in another tab even after swearing profusely at the screen.
Don't watch this tiny version.
It's an experiment in time lapse photography over a few days. It leaves a great deal to be desired, but is interesting nonetheless. Watch the water in the stream recede as the raised floodgate 1.5 miles away sets the water level to the winter nadir. And lots of other stuff. During this sequence there was also a splendid sunset which prompted the second video.
Don't watch this one here either, unless you absolutely must.
Returning from our day-after-Thanksgiving hike and dinner out, David and I had the same idea. He took the direct route from the car to the water, while I meandered around the back of the house. We met on the low launch-dock and looked west.
The sun had set, but the bright afterglow was persisting. Yellow to orange to pink to blue was the order as we looked from the silhouetted pines near the horizon to the clear sky above. We soon moved rock-to-rock out to ground that the receding water had exposed, positioning ourselves midway between the trees bordering the summer high water. We heard them before we could see them. The geese came from the beyond the bright sky, following the channel, looking for a wider portion of still water upon which to spend the night. We stood and watched as groups of 6 and then 9 and then 20 passed low overhead. Group followed group for at least 30 minutes as the skies darkened. Hundreds passed. The spectacle was one neither of us had been fortunate to behold before. And all the better for me to to enjoy with my son.
