Castile

Once again, we have returned from our yearly trek to Castile, New York. My wife and I along with her parents have been making this trip to visit with her uncles for more than ten years. I’ve so fallen in love with this trip, and it never ceases to amaze me new discoveries can be made each year.

Castile is located in western New York southeast of Buffalo and southwest of Rochester. This area is farmland. Acres and acres of corn fields line the roadways and hundreds and hundreds of milk cows inhabit the vast expanse of open rolling hills. No mountains here to obstruct a person’s view of the green palette that reaches out and up toward the blue sky. In the evenings, along the trees that line the rivers deer come to feed. I’m not talking about one or two oh no. Entire herds of deer to numerous to count materialize in the fields of alfalfa. It’s really difficult to believe they must have gathered on the fringes of the trees just waiting for their chance to trot out into the open for their meal.

This made the second year my wife and I have stayed in Geneseo. When we arrived at our hotel, our welcoming party was already busy at work. On the little rise behind the hotel, two young deer decided to have dinner. They walked around and ate and then rubbed on each other briefly before returning to the grass. It was quite a site.

Several years ago we drove around off the road we normally travel and came to a lake that had hundreds of Canadian geese taking a respite. To me, it seemed the entire surface of the water was a living mass of birds, but they still paddled their way to and fro across the lake and back as if they too were enjoying the Labor Day weekend. I guess they also need to decompress.

On Saturday night, before we left, a train whistled in the distance, and we walked down to the road to wave as they it roared past. The crisp breeze that rushed against us felt so nice. The rhythmic click clack of the train wheels put a smile on my face, and I marked this down as just one more thing that makes the trip worth making.

This year, on our last day, as we spent a few relaxing hours on the patio talking and laughing, we looked in the distance, to see two hot-air balloons rising up from the tree line and floating gently into the blue evening sky. Soundless and carefree they slipped off toward the west’s fast approaching sunset.

In years past, we’ve commented how long the weekend seemed, but this year the days raced along, and before we knew it, we had to return home. As we said our good-byes, each member commented how much they enjoyed this visit and looked longingly forward in anticipation of the next. Many of the things we’ve grown to love about our trip will be waiting for us when we return, others may not. I only hope the sweet smell of fresh cut alfalfa on the cool morning air greets me when I make my next trip to Castile. If so I’ll take a deep breath and smile knowing this trip was worth the making too.