Blueberries and Blue Haze

Blueberries always slow my pace a bit...

pretty red fungus

So, I chose the cooler day of the weekend for a hike, and decided to take a relatively steep, short, and shaded route (Washburn up and over Bull Hill, to Nelsonville and down Main Street) rather than doing the long walk I longed for.  To avoid the worst of the heat, I set out for Grand Central just before 6 am, and arrived  in Cold Spring at 8:15 am.  It was OK, and I had plenty of water, but I still was wishing I'd left an hour earlier.  By the time I got back to Cold Spring, it was already 86 degrees.  

It was nice by the water, though, where I ate some lunch while awaiting the train.

Apparently, Cold Spring is having their big Independence Day celebration today, with a concert and fireworks.  So they're expecting mobs -- just not on the trails.  

Nelsonville has gotten some trail maintenance...

It actually took me a while to realize why so many shops and homes were displaying patriotic bunting.  It's so fixed in my mind that Independence Day is this coming Wednesday, a day for picnicking and the Cyclones, that it didn't occur to me that many celebrations would actually take place on the preceding weekend.