watching Life on Mars - always such an uplifting show. over the weekend managed to finally get up Bear Mountain. It's a drag that they let cars drive up to the summit - sort of ruins the experience after the hard slog up the Major Welch Trail. the weather was great, the trail was mostly in great condition & the views from the tower were great. I sometimes wish I could just live near a thousand different trailheads & hike every day or at least every weekend. The hike back down was pleasant - aside from the sneaker-clad morons who think going down a mountain via the AT is a good way to take a walk on an afternoon. I saw a few slide down & nearly fall but thankfully (?) no one fell off the mountain. We finished up the hike with a nice long sit by the lake until a scary blond/fat family took over that entire section of lakefront. it's amazing how unaware of their own noise some people are. Sunday was a long-ass haul up to Fort Tryon to take a walk in the rain (!) to look at the river & the pretty flowers and spend the afternoon in the Cloisters cafe writing & reading with the always fabulous MES. Aside from the tourists & the bold little birds who were convinced we had food, it was a perfect place to write - quiet and full of the smells of rain and river and the wonderful gardens.