River Picture

This is what the Hudson looks like from Roger's Island, about 8 miles from my house. If you click on it you can see it full size. It's like the anti-Arizona. I've been taking pictures from this spot for almost 7 years now. I go visit during the four seasons and watch the river flow. This is approximately where they will be dredging up the PCB left over from GE's decades-long dumping. They claim it will not disturb the beauty of the place, but I suspect they lie, so I try to record the passage of time in this wondrous place. I moved from Phoenix around this date back in 1978. Big culture shock, but I fell in love with the river. When the Witch of the East, my second wife, was screwing every old boyfriend she could locate, this being her home town, I stood on the bridge overlooking this spot and considered dropping in. The cold water would have enveloped me, chilled me, put me to sleep and the pain would have stopped. I watched the water for several minutes and then a car pulled up and a man opened up the passenger door and asked me "Going somewhere?" I told him "Not really." and he sat there with the door open. I climbed inside, embarrassed that he most likely knew what had been in my mind. We drove around that night while he told me about how his life had changed some years ago. Seems his wife had been cheating on him openly and all his friends knew it. He had been pretty down then, he said, but in the end he had decided not to "let her win". He'd gone home, gotten his things and he left her. He said things got better in time and now it hardly seemed like such a big deal. She was just some slut he had had the misfortune to believe. When he was done with his story he pulled over and let me out. We were back at the bridge. Not the first time a stranger had saved my life. I survived, I left with my things and I concentrated on my artwork and the beauty of the river.