Une Envie de Sel

 OK, try and stay with me here (sorry), but I'm jumping back to NY again. 

On our last day in Woodstock, we all piled into my mum's Subaru and drove to the Rhinecliff train station where we then hop on Amtrack down to the city. It's my favorite way to travel south, and I much prefer it to the thruway (even though, when I was a child, we always drove to the city).

ps - this first photo is for Merisi, because you always offer such a lovely cup of coffee ;)

 We generally try to leave enough time to stop at Bread Alone in Rhinebeck for lunch. We're not all that organized, and we have a three-year-old, so we are usually running a bit late, and most trips we only have time to grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich for the train. But this time we were early, and had time for a sit-down lunch en famille, which I HIGHLY recommend, if you happen to be in the area. I mean, just look at the above photos. Really, need I say more?
Well, I guess I should say that's a three-beet salad with chevre, mache, candied walnuts and a balsamic reduction. Are you drooling? 

 It's also fun to walk around Rhinebeck while waiting for lunch to arrive. Q is one of those people who has trouble sitting in one place for any length of time. She takes after my mother in that respect (they're both Leos, so if you believe in astrology, which I don't particularly, you might make a connection there. It's obviously not hereditary, in any case!)

I myself can sit in one place for long periods of time as long as someone is telling me a story (otherwise I wouldn't get much work done in the studio, now would I?)

But actually, I enjoy the opportunity to walk around and see the sights with Q as an excuse.

 Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with her ;)

 Well-fed and well-coffeed, we bundled up for the long wait on the tracks for our train to arrive. It was unusually long this time since it has been such a cold and snowy winter in NY state, and the trains kept stopping for ice alarms. I'm sure there is a technical word for this aspect of train travel, but I don't know it. So "ice alarms" is the best I can do.

 Q, softened by the mild Colorado winters and with not an ounce of body fat to call her own, got quite chilled during the wait, but she's a trooper and does her best to keep up her good spirits. She was born in a place of extremes. Her part of China is known as one of the "furnaces" of the country, and I can tell you from experience that the heat in summer is something I've never experienced anywhere else. But the winters can be fierce and feral there as well. So I think she's probably made of some hefty cloth.

 Once on the train, we were able to relax and enjoy the ride. This stretch of the Hudson River is spectacular in nearly any weather, and the train was uncrowded and quiet. There are few things more soothing than train travel when one isn't afflicted by crowded cars.

btw I am wearing a wonderful scarf woven with gossamer bands of silkworm cocoons that my mother brought back from a recent trip to Turkey. It was my Christmas present. I love it.

We were able to spread out along an entire bank of bulkhead seats, which allowed Q to take a comfortable nap along the way. Here, a sleepy Q and daddy watching the icebreakers go by on the river. Sigh.