Walk down Victory Road. The Ramapo Mountains rise above the cluster of Maples around the Mahwah River. Trees line the front yards of the diverse houses flanking the street. They are an aboreal honor guard for passersby. Their sunburst colors in Autumn will arrest you in your tracks. Close your mouth before the flies get in.

Walk the trails of Kakiat Park, a five-minute drive east along state Route 202. Cross the wood bridge over the Mahwah river, stride past the open-air picnic shelter and green lawn. Take a right down one of the county park’s trails, and see the trees snuggle up to you. Your path will soon lead to a tributary of the Mahwah, and you can follow the path up and around. Cross a short, plank bridge and hang a right. Ascend the trail all the way out of Kakiat Park; cross the cleared space made for powerlines and enter Harriman State Park. A brief ascent to an outcropping afords views for miles. You can seeThe High School, the Community College–even the northeasternmost corner of New York City on a clear day.

Walk the sidewalk of the Indian Rock shopping center. It’s like any other outdoor mall, found in any town across the United States. But step off the sidewalk and stroll toward Indian rock. Circumnavigate the massive boulder. Learn of its history as a gathering place of the Munsee Tribe.  Experience the sheer wonder of it.

This vale in the forest of the Ramapo Valley, with it’s back to the Mountains, it’s twenty-odd miles to the Hudson River, is the landscape I call home.

mountain sunset

a cardinal perches

on a maple

#GloPoWriMo2018  / #NaPoWriMo2018 12/30