“Tree hugger” is the contemptuous label for environmentalists, conservationists and those folks who love nature in all its complex but available beauty. Well, HG is a happy tree hugger. HG/BSK’s five-acre New Mexico property is filled with trees: Cottonwood, ash, Russian olive, locust, elm, blue spruce and more. Despite being high above sea level, the Jacona/Pojoaque valley (15-minute drive north of Santa Fe) where HG/BSK live, is green and fertile. There are many small farms (some are generations old). One of HG’s delights during HG’s pleasant self-isolation is to enjoy the cocktail hour seated on the portale (roofed veranda) and gazing at a favorite tree–a majestic cottonwood. The backdrop for the tree is an organic farm and Las Barrancas (rugged mesas). The slightest breeze sends the cottonwoods leaves into gentle movement. The sun adds glitter, from shining dark green at the top of the tree to flashes of gold and yellow on the lower branches. HG never tires of this sight even as HG’s gaze takes in other trees and calm meadows. For many years, urban HG paid little attention to trees and other foliage. However, there is one happy sight engraved in HG’s memory. HG/BSK had a wonderful dune house on Fire Island, the famed Long Island barrier beach that stretches for miles between Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. No cars on Fire Island. It is reached by ferries from Bay Shore, Sayville and Patchogue. Ferries run from March to October. When HG/BSK and children reached Patchogue to board the first ferry of the year, they were confronted by masses of bright yellow forsythia in full bloom. A happy sight. It meant that a joyous summer of sun, sand, sea was on the way. Constricted by apartment living in New York, the kids welcomed the freedom to roam (but, no swimming without an adult watching).
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