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milestone on the road to the grave
Tuesday, September 2 2025
setting: rural Hurley Township, Ulster County, New York
On my drive home at the end of the workday, I stopped at MyTown Marketplace in Stone Ridge to get some provisions, the most important of which was pizza sauce. But I also got thick spaghetti, bagels, and even some beans and other canned goods. As I was checking out, the extremely fat cashier whom I had never seen before asked me if I qualified for a senior discount. I said that no I wasn't, though later I realized I should've said something like, "I only look old because of my lifestyle. Just say no to methamphetamines!" It bears mentioning that this was the first time I'd ever been asked if I am old enough to qualify for a senior citizen benefit, so it's yet another milestone on the road to the grave. In fairness to the fat cashier, she looked to be in her twenties, so I'm sure everyone over forty looks ancient to her. As I was considering this, I realized that so much of my life has taken place in the Hudson Valley that I've gone from cashiers making me show an ID to buy beer to cashiers wondering if I am old enough to get discounted groceries.
Back home on Hurley Mountain, I took Charlotte for a walk up the Farm Road, but she saw something to chase and I lost her up the escarpment to the west. I headed back homeward east of the wetlands east of the Farm Road, noting good pieces of loose bluestone along the way. There's no end of what can be done with that!
This evening while Gretchen was off at pilates, I made a pizza using a lump of dough we'd bought at Trader Joe's early last week. I didn't have great protein options, so Gretchen's half didn't really have any. But on my half I put strips of vegan SmartBacon (and jalapeños!). I also put slices of fresh tomato all over the pizza, along with sauteed mushrooms and onions. The pizza ended up being a winner, at least according to a very hungry Gretchen when she was eating hers.
The evenings are definitely cooler now, though the hot water solar panels are entering their period of greatest efficiency, meaning we have lots of very hot water. So I took myself a nice hot bath even though I'd showered only yesterday. While I was in the bathtub, I heard my brother Don trying to call me for the first time since his recent visit. It seems he's back to being lonely and wanting to tell me the arcane factoids he'd just learned.
A small downy woodpecker I came upon east of the south end of the Farm Road. Click to enlarge.
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