New York Roots

New York is not just the Big Apple.  There is another part; upstate, agrarian, and bucolic.  That's the part Norman, my (Jeff's) dad, hails from.  A hidden gem nestled in the very southwest corner where the natives like to say they have 4 seasons  -- June, July, August, and winter! 

Farmland all over the country is reverting to forest and the family dairy farm is mostly a museum exhibit.  But also, the "plain people" (Amish and others) continue family farming and are buying up farmland in sizeable numbers. 

family barn (now sold)

Our family is still there, as is the land.  From my cousin Randy and Aunt Audrey's yard, you can see the family farm; the barn still stands across the road.  The house where my grandparents lived and died is within sight on the crest of the next hill.  On the knoll beyond that house is the house where my grandfather was born.  And over the next crest is the homestead of great great grandparents.  Returning there, to the Town of Busti, gives me a since of belonging, connection with our past.  And on that rare summer day, when the breeze blows clear from Canada across the lake, there is no better place to be. 

Norman and Randy run the tractor

Amish family at the village crossroads