June 14

  As promised, here are some pictures of New Paltz, a college town of roughly 12,000 people about 15 miles from where I live. The more I see it, the more I like it. I would've lived here, but the rent is about twice what I'm currently paying.

  I'm feeling a little more upbeat today, ever since I figured out how to use the stove at home. Of course you light it with a match -- what was I thinking? 

  

  Anyway, have stumbled upon a foolproof policy to keep the landlord at bay: speak quickly and with a lot of hick. Rambling non-stop in a vaguely southern accent ensures that he will neither understand the major part of what I'm saying nor ask any questions. This also seems like the best thing to do when confronted with my accidental infractions of any policy regarding recycling or what can go down the kitchen sink. 

  But I digress. Here are the pictures. They explain everything much better than I ever could, including what may be the key to the North's foreignness -- it was settled by people other than the Scots or Irish.

 I forgot to mention how almost every town, river, or landmark ends in "kill" here; we passed Fishkill, Peekskill, and Walkill, not to mention the Schuylkill River.
  And they say the South is violent.

View from the library down Chestnut St. to the mountains.

At this point, I had some serious England deja vu. NP is laid out like a European town and built for walking.

In the village part, there's a group of original and/or just old houses and a church. None of which appear in this post. Maybe later.

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   The strangest things are the small ones, like the differences in plants and wildlife. As in, plants can actually grow here in summer because it never tops 85 degrees. I stopped at a gas station on the way back from dropping my dad at the airport, and in the abandoned lot across the street, there were otters running around.

  Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore...