Some children enjoy riding in strollers, and some do not. Claudia's willingness to ride in what she calls the zoom stroller comes and goes. Last fall, when she was approaching one year old, she really enjoyed the stroller. It was a good way to get out and see the world, or at least as much of the world as one can see in and around Annandale-on-Hudson. When the weather turned colder, Claudia was not yet willing to wear gloves or remain properly wrapped. We got out of the habit of running together.
Now stroller running has become a sporadic thing. Her frequent demands to get out and push makes it more trouble than it is worth. We can't just go out for a run anymore; we have to be going somewhere. Saturday's somewhere was the waterfalls on the Sawkill Creek, as it makes its way to the Hudson River. I was planning on racing on Sunday, so I didn't need a very serious run on Saturday anyway.
Claudia likes pictures of waterfalls in books, so getting her into the stroller to see waterfalls was an easy sell. We ran the mile to the Bard College campus then unlike most of our runs together, we headed to the trails. The first set of falls is just at the bottom of a service road. She got out for a while, so we could better enjoy the falls. We then walked the Mills and Minnows Trail along the Sawkill, heading towards the second, larger set of falls. The trail is really too rugged for the stroller, but since speed was no goal, we just kept walking.
The second falls are viewed from a considerable height. It gives me nightmares, but I know that as long as we avoid the trail to the edge, there is no danger. We stay considerably further back than safety requires, but who wouldn't?
We can't take my favorite trail down to water level; we take the gravel road that serves a research station. Having gotten this close, we may as well go see the river. Tide was low, and Claudia was impressed by the mud-flats of Tivoli South Bay. She claims she saw geese. Usually she is correct about such things, though I didn't see any.
After a while, we had done enough gazing out at the river, looking a various critters in the mud-flats, and tossing sticks and rocks. We headed back to the gravel road. I coaxed her back into the stroller, and ran a bit more. We headed past some modular dwellings, past the admissions building, and through the enchanted forest. The enchanted forest path is paved with crushed stone that is quite nice for running and perambulating. Our next destination was the athletic fields. Women from Bard and Nyack College were warming up for a soccer game. I'd never heard of Nyack College, but I would guss it is in or near Nyack, New York. Nyack is in Rockland County, not far from the Tappan-Zee Bridge. As best as I can determine, Nyack means "quaint land of antique stores" in some indigenous language.
At the start of the run, Claudia wanted us to bring the soccer ball, but I convinced her to leave it home. How did I know we would have use for it? As we ran past the field, Claudia demanded, Out!. I had two choices, pick up the pace, or let Claudia get out and run around. Being in no hurry, we stopped.
We ran around a bit, climbed a hill, watched the women kick balls around, and found a stray ball to kick. We left before the game started, but Claudia enjoys the warm-ups better anyway.
The run home was good. We saw squirrels, chipmunks, and most excitingly, we saw a black snake sunning itself in front of the library. It was a good run.
Steven Cangemi
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York