For anyone who is looking for a good place to sled, Susan reports that Simon and Kimi enjoyed the slope behind the pond, down to the tennis court.  She also notes that Butternut has a snow-tubing park, and that there is a good-looking slope “by the school on Rte 7 beyond the shopping center.”  There are also the meadows on the upper loop trail, and the “Falcon Ridge” hill down by the farm to consider.   If there are any other favorite sledding spots, let me know.

Thanks to everyone for helping to make a great picnic in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the community.  It was great to see all the kids (and grown-ups) playing together, and amid the splashing in the pond, soccer by the barn, good conversation, sunshine and great food from everyone, I felt really lucky to be a part of this place.

Here’s a link to some photos of the event — sorry they’re not great — I was so distracted by the beautiful day that I forgot to take pictures until it was almost too late.  If anyone else has pictures, please let me know and I will add them to the gallery.

Let’s do this again soon!  Suggestions for our next community get-together are much appreciated — feel free to post comments here, or email me with ideas.

Faintly, along the shadowed shores of night
I saw a wilderness of stars that flamed
And fluttered as they climbed or sank, and shamed
The crouching dark with shyly twinkling light;
I saw them there, odd fragments quaintly bright,
And wondered at their presence there unclaimed,

Then thought, perhaps, that they were dreams unnamed,
That faded slow, like hope’s arrested flight.
Or vanished suddenly, like futile fears—
And some were old and worn like precious things
That youth preserves against encroaching years—
Some disappeared like songs that no man sings,
But one remained—an ember in the dark—
I crouched alone, and blew upon the spark.

—Louis L’Amour

The community is a symphony in the key of orange lately, with American Redstarts tittering in the treetops and the orioles whistling their sweet theme. Warblers are everywhere, and birdboxes are full of wrens, tree swallows, and bluebirds.  Meanwhile, sugar snap peas are coming up fast in the garden.  I’ll see you all in the woods!  (In the meantime, apply yourselves to Dickinson’s mysterious poem, below. Also, there are minutes of the last meeting posted on the site, and Debbie would like anyone interested in renting their place for part of the summer to contact her.)

To hear an oriole sing
May be a common thing,
Or only a divine.

It is not of the bird
Who sings the same, unheard,
As unto crowd.

The fashion of the ear
Attireth that it hear
In dun or fair.

So whether it be rune,
Or whether it be none,
Is of within;

The “tune is in the tree,”
The sceptic showeth me;
“No, sir! In thee!”

— Emily Dickinson

For those of you who are curious about goings-on in the vicinity of the community, I’ve added a link to video of the Hillsdale Town Board meetings — look in the “current events” section of links in the right-hand column.  Details of the meetings are also available through the Hillsdale Town Website, but the videos seemed worth highlighting.

To cast a wider net, consider tuning in to WGXC community radio in Hudson (90.7 FM, or listen online at TuneIn.com) — local news and a variety of entertaining musical selections, featuring the community’s own Noah Reibel, among others.