i'm really so amazed about this internet google instant gratification 21st century party...a recent tribe posting linked to the gutenberg project, [what a find! i didnt know it existed!] many kind souls out there in the world are putting out-of-copywright books on the net, by scanning, typing, proofing, etc...well, i no longer have my copy of george mc donald's "lilith", nor does the library, but the web site does ! i downloaded it and am reading / savouring it...one of the themes is you cant go out or come in until you have a home to do it from...now , where IS home ? [very esoteric book, so take it literally AND metaphorically]. anyway, home is something i've never really had and something i've always craved... you know, unloved daughter thing...but...home....somehow here i am in poughkeepsie, and you can see the bridge and mountains in the distance, its the hudson river in new york state, just as grand as the rhine, doncha know, and the adirondack mountain range sweeps up both sides of the hudson valley, with romanic names for the hills like the taconics, shawangunks [called the gunks] the catskills, the helderberghs, the berkshires, well you get the idea....less than 100 miles up from manhattan, and there's more beautiful countryside than you can shake a stick at.. rolling land, farms, orchards, and vinyards, too. not just forested mountains. and there are lakes. streams, creeks [called kills here, cause the 1st euro settlers were dutch]. now, poughkeepsie means in the indigenous inhabitants' [that pc for the indians'] tongue, the water that flows both ways..the hudson river has a tide at poughkeepsie, [actually there is a slight one for at least another 50 miles, up to the capital of new york. no, manhattan isn't the capital...albany starts at sea level before it climbs directly up a hillside to become one of the best city skylines you'll ever encounter].....the hudson [named for henry hudson, the englishman who discovered it for the netherlands, go figure] a beautiful river, cleaned up in good stead by the heroic efforts of a few, and mainly pete seeger, folk singer extradinare [heck, he wrote where have all the flowers gone and if i had a hammer, for goodness sake] and major activist for the rights of the everyman for the greater part of the 20th century, and now into this new millenium...[he lives just down the river from here]. he has a sloop [yep, thats the word] a wonderful sailing ship the clearwater, that sails the hudson, and they hold festivals every year to raise awareness of this fine rivers' plight, and mother earth's predicament as well.... so, i look around, and for now, POK is home. there are some friendly neighbors around me, and although folks do get shot outside my house on a fairly regular basis, and my tires get slashed, and,,,well, its home, ain't it ? the cats are happy, i have lots of windows to look out of, and .. well...its where my heart is.