“Gifts from Quarry Farm” (A Quarry Farm Testimonial)
I arrived in the afternoon and was met by Steve, the caretaker at the farm. Steve toured me around the house and clued me in on a few housekeeping bits of info I needed to know. The rest of the day was for “settling in.” Unpacking clothes and food, getting my bearings, outside and in. That was not a simple task, especially inside this large house that had many additions added on over its early decades. I found myself turning the wrong way a few times, thinking I was going toward where I wanted to be but realizing I should have turned the other way!
That very first morning also revealed another gift. There was a slight mist in the air and as I walked around the southeast corner of the veranda the early morning sun’s rays dispersed in beams through the mist and branches of the small tree. A moment of visual enlightenment.
The view from the veranda takes in the sloping long grassy lawn, with woods beyond and far off distant dark hills stretching south into Pennsylvania as far as the eye can see. In Mark Twain’s day, the view took in the city of Elmira and the Chemung River, which today is blocked by the forested landscape. I spent many hours on the veranda, when I wasn’t exploring outside taking photos or inside writing. Morning tea and breakfast, evening dinner, at night with the veranda lit by a few lights. A comfortable, beautiful space to sit quietly, take in the surroundings, have a few contemplative thoughts.
“A dead Northern Short-tailed Shrew”
“A moment of visual enlightenment.”
A couple of days later we held a workshop with about a dozen writers and one painter, organized like the previous years, by Casey and the ARTS Council. No food or whisky this time, but writing and sharing, once again, on the veranda as dark settled in.
Besides the gathering of writers, my wife Carolyn spent two nights at the house. Tamar, one of the six writers who came for the day, stayed overnight as she came all the way from New Jersey. Casey also spent an overnight in the house. It was a very special experience for each of them.
“I invited six poet freinds to join me for a day of food, conversation, and creativity.”
Inside, I worked in various upstairs rooms. Each had its own special charm. A room surrounded by books. Another off to the side, adjacent to a bedroom. My favorite place to work was actually the most rustic. It was a dormer room centered above the veranda. It contained a card table, two wooden chairs, a sofa bed, round rug and a potted tree. The view was similar to the view from the veranda, but from higher up. A fascinating little tidbit of information I discovered about the room was that sheets would be waved from here to communicate with family at the Langdon house in the city below. Of course that was way back then, before the trees took over the landscape.
“My favorite place to work was actually the most rustic. It was a dormer room centered above the veranda.”
Also nearby, Virginia Creeper plants were climbing up trees and have started turning red. Mark Twain referenced the plant in a letter:
”On the peak of the hill is an old arbor roofed with bark and covered with the vine you call the American Creeper. Its green is almost bloodied with red.” (Letter to Dr. John Brown. September 4, 1874 at Quarry Farm)
“I tried to imagine what it was like when the children would play at Ellerslie…”
“Virginia Creeper plants were climbing up trees and
have started turning red.”
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