The traffic is bumper-to-bumper south of Anthony Wayne Recreation Area. A five-minute drive to the first exit for Bear Mountain takes an hour. When we learn the park is closed, due to reaching capacity, we realize we won’t make Oktoberfest.

parked cars
on the highway median
foot traffic

Peekskill’s Downtown Art district consists of a short row of restaurants and Galleries on North and South Division Streets. Fallen, brown leaves litter the sidewalks and street, along with a subtle grime. One grill we enter looks like a Gallery in its own right. But its prices are too high, as is the wine bar next to

clear sky
under a gazebo
a couple kiss

The Flatiron Gallery on South Division is in a building designed like its namesake in New York. Narrow hallways lead to studios: some open, some closed. Photographer Bob Pinch has a show of his work. He explains his process to an intrepid photographer. I show Mira one of his Black and Whites—a view of Rockland and Westchester from Perkins memorial.

watercolors
the jewelry
we don’t buy

Greenpoint Park and the Peekskill Landing Gardens by the Hudson—what Mira had in mind by revitalization. The sun, just above the hills, a broad beam across the rippling tide of the Hudson. A faint odor of mulch. Grasses and perennials out of season. The playground Frankie indulges. The trex decks ot on the water. The path through gardens not yet grown to a gazebo and back

swaying
with the dock
two girls

Photo by Brandon Jean

first published in Image Curve, October 8, 2020