Driving up the Deegan

At 6:35 am, the sun, not yet over the horizon, bathes the heights of northern Manhattan in golden peach. The university on the hill, the projects, the 40 story apartment buildings, glow in early morning light. The limestone wall dividing the south bound lanes from the north bound lanes blocks my view. By the time the wall recedes, the light leaves the city in its more normal gray.

On the way home, wild turkeys and deer graze at the side of the Saw Mill. One morning, driving up the hill that by-passes Reader's Digest's grounds, near the woods near the school, was a stag -- his full set of antlers crowning his head.