The other weekend we drove an hour and a half to Minnewaska State Park, which was so packed we had to circle the park twice to find parking. When we did find parking, it was like stepping into Narnia. I always forget how pretty upstate New York is--it's absolutely stunning during summertime. We followed a trail and stumbled upon the most enchanting waterfall swimming hole--completely missing the "no swimming" sign. There were a lot of swimmers in the water, well, at least a lot of undecided swimmers, who danced around the edge, hesitatingly poking a toe in the icy water every now and then. We were so hot from our walk we jumped in right away. Kyle of course kept checking various areas of the water to see how deep it was so he could jump off the waterfall. (It wasn't that deep, thank goodness.)
After we walked around the park a little more, we came back and a park ranger was there, telling everyone to get out of the non-swimming hole. The dejected look on everyone's faces proved just how hot it was and how disappointed they were to not cool off. We were also bummed but happy we had been able to swim before the ranger came!
The whole time It kept reminding me of swimming in rivers in the Texas hill country growing up. I'm disappointed in myself for not pursuing nature more since moving here, especially since it felt like I spent a lot of my childhood outside swimming or building forts. I absolutely love NYC, but the longer I'm here the more I notice how impatient I've become, and how quickly I become bored when surrounded only by nature. In a city where they have the best of the best in everything (except Tex Mex), it's easy to always have the highest expectations in every situation, and quickly distance yourself if the pace isn't fast enough, or the wow factor doesn't impress you. Pretty self-absorbed we New Yorkers are, I know, but only those who live here I think can really understand it.
