Pain woke me up early this morning, and it was severe enough I couldn't get back to sleep. My leg was so stiff I couldn't easily walk, and I was genuinely worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy going to
Storm King. I slammed some coffee, paced around my apartment as much as one can pace around a small studio, got on my boots, and headed out.
It turned out that walking through fields and along gently sloping hillsides and breathing very fresh air at the absolute apex of autumn beauty for a few hours was what I needed to do to get my leg on its way to feeling a lot better.
Ice packs help a lot, too.
The art itself was astonishing in its scale, and being able to walk around and underneath the pieces and look up at them from all angles and get your hands right on the metal goes a long way to understanding the intent and purpose behind their creation. The way the shadows fall on the grass, or the sounds the pieces make as they move in a heavy breeze, or spotting the edge of something through the trees. Looking at it close up, and then from far away, and being surprised by it when you look over the hills at just the right angle. Everything about the place was precise and deliberate. Not even the grasses planted around one sculpture had been left to chance, but had been meticulous in the planning to make sure that when they grew in, it would be to maximum effect for framing the art.
There was also no small amount of forest left on the grounds, with pretty much every tree in every direction participating in the fall color pageant. It got absurd after a while, especially when the sun came out and hit the leaves from behind against the clear sky, or when the fast-moving clouds were keeping tune with the rustling branches.
The most I did for Halloween this year was go out to the woods, and I can live with that.
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