Narrows at West Point, Storms at Storm King

On Wednesday, Carrie Rose passed through the narrow cut that the Hudson has been able to carve out of old hard rock. It took millions of years to make it wide enough for a large tow and us to fit through together. When coming from the north the Hudson is quite wide, almost like a lake and then it dramatically narrows.

In fact, The Narrows are narrow enough for George Washington and the boys to pull a wrought iron chain across to stop the progress of British ships during the Revolutionary War. There is still a piece of the chain at West Point and in fact, this is where West Point is located. It appeared just as we negotiated the turn south out of the Narrows in an area called World’s End. There it is, looking like a grey granite replica of the Buddhist temple in Lhasa.

Thursday we rented a black Dart. Nice car, well appointed, peppy, handled well in the surprisingly twisting roads. I am not sure why the surprise about the roads. To get to Storm King Art Center, Bear and Storm King Mountain need to be driven up, over, around, and down. Storm King Art Center has been a destination for me ever since I first saw David Smith’s sculptures displayed there in photographs.

David Smith — blue-collar welder turned abstract expressionist artist — welded delicate steel sculptures. He was a big burly guy often shown with a cigar in his mouth wielding a cutting torch while staring at a mass of steel.

I am not sure why but most of the abstract expressionist had a death wish, as did many of the poets and the photographers of that era. But so far, Charlotte and I have managed to avoid death wishes, and thus we will continue to wander a little further south.