Estuary Daydreams

A chilly reception on our return to Piermont, NY.

Come, have a seat, we found this nice bench to chill on overlooking the Hudson River.

Photograph by Tom Bland.

Yes, that’s right, we went back to Piermont, NY. Instead of mild temperatures and the heavy fog Tom experienced last time, we were greeted with sun, cold and some serious wind. This north wind was so assertive that it could whip up the river (even at low tide) and lash it at that bench, rocks and nearby vegetation on the pier, leaving it shellacked in ice and dripping with icicles.

Photograph by Tom Bland.

If you read closely you might have seen “low tide” and wondered what is she talking about? This is the Hudson River! But this post is entitled Estuary Daydreams so believe me, tides have a role to play here. Do sit back and enjoy Tom’s photographs interspersed with wherever the tides of my own writing take me.

Photograph by Tom Bland.

We live surprisingly close to the Atlantic Ocean as the seagull flies but too high in elevation to feel the sea breeze – though the same can’t be said of Piermont, NY. The Atlantic finds its way there, journeying up the Hudson River with high tides.

Apparently the salt line of the Hudson is 40 miles further north up in Newburgh, NY. I wonder if the residents of Newburgh know that the Atlantic Ocean comes to visit? The Mohican people certainly knew, their name for the river is Mahicanuck which means ‘the river that flows both ways’ or ‘the river with waters that are never still’.

Same view, different days. Photographs by Tom Bland.

I’m reminded of the Bosphorus that connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea in Turkey. My maternal grandparents and ancestors lived along those waterways where the cold freshwater currents from the Black Sea come down the Bosphorus and the warm saltwater comes up from the Sea of Marmara, the waters teeming with fish in this unique estuarine environment. Interesting, to me anyway, that my DNA went from one dynamic estuary to another.

Photograph by Tom Bland.

It’s only now when we’re about to leave the area that I realize what a grounding influence the river has been in my life. It’s my North-South reference point, and besides always giving me my bearings, I have crossed it so many times to go into New York City, or to Connecticut, coming back home again over the George Washington Bridge or through the Lincoln Tunnel, maybe the Tappan Zee Bridge or if we’re heading to the Berkshires perhaps the Rip Van Winkle or Bear Mountain Bridge. My dad’s grave at West Point even overlooks the Hudson River.

It’s been a constant, for so long.

Same tree, different days. Photographs by Tom Bland.

Can we still claim this beautiful, powerful river connecting the Adirondack Mountains with the Atlantic Ocean as a constant in our lives going forward? In my mind, our move to the Berkshires is oriented two hours up the Hudson and then make a right into Massachusetts. The highways and river crossings taken to achieve this can vary, but this is how my brain makes sense of the geography and where we will be in relation to where we have been.

[end of daydream]

ART DROP #9 CLOSES TONIGHT FEB 7, 2024

This is a last call for our prints from Piermont, NY with no further plans to produce these for twelve months from now. We ship our prints worldwide and offer framing to collectors in the USA.

Piermont Marsh, Diffused and Reeds in the Hudson by Tom Bland.

We’ve got some exciting shoots lined up this month so we will probably be spoiled for choice when it comes to releasing Art Drop #10 on March 1. You’ll be hearing from us then. Thanks for reading and looking!

Bye for now.

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Tom walking towards Piermont Marsh. Photograph by Diana Pappas.