My dilemma now was what to do. I wanted to get to Oneonta so I could go see Iron Man, but if the sky cleared I would still have some time to take a few more photos of the West Branch. I saw a sushi restaurant, but I wasn’t sure how good it would be—after all I was in Delhi, New York—so I started to drive out of town, then figured I should stay around just in case the clouds cleared. The sushi restaurant was a pleasant surprise, but the clouds remained. After dinner I drove to Oneonta, and saw the 8:15 Iron Man. A decent movie and I was ready to see anything.
I had thought to go to Bennington, Vermont, for a day, but after checking the weather it was clear it would be no better in Bennington. I decided to stay in New York, which would mean a lot less driving and I would be able to head back through the northern Catskills, an area I have always been fond of.
Sunday morning I practiced my sax in my truck for 20 minutes then tried downloading the photos to my computer and then to the disk I had to send to the editor of Kaatskill Life. It went surprisingly well and in less than a hour I had everything done, with the disk ready to mail tomorrow.
With my work accomplished, I went for a walk on the SUNY Oneonta campus and though it was windy and cold, I enjoyed the walk on the early spring grounds. After my stroll I went for lunch at the Autumn Cafe, savoring a salmon Eggs Benedict, then headed out of town toward the northern Catskills. The terrain was scenic enough, rolling hills covered with the early pastel green of spring, but the weather was very cold and windy. I had given up my hopes of playing golf, but to my amazement, I saw a place called Jams Indoor Golf. It was so unexpected that I had to turn around to visit and even then I was half expecting an indoor miniature golf course. However, when I walked in, it was clear that this was real video golf. No one else was there so the friendly owner stayed with me after setting me up and it turned out to be a very engaging experience. I shot poorly the first nine, but once I got used to it I was able to shoot a 46 on the back nine and I really got a chance to swing my clubs. It was my first time but I am sure I will do it again.
I am now watching the Celtics/Cavaliers game at the T-Bar Saloon and Restaurant and I may even try fishing for a while before it gets dark. When I was younger in New York, I fished frozen rivers, casting into ice-free riffles in January. In Virginia, I remember hiking up to the Cascades, a well know spot near Pembroke, in a blizzard in mid-winter. No one else was in the large parking area and when I got to the large pool below the falls, I put on my waders and cast away. I didn’t catch any but I had a thoroughly good time.