There’s an eerie quiet about the fields and vineyards in the Finger Lakes. The harvest is over; the soil has been turned and planted with winter wheat or a grass ground cover to hold the soil in place until warmer temperatures return in the spring. The leaves are long gone from the trees and the grape vines. Gone is the roar of the tractors working in the fields and most folks have put away their lawn mowers until spring. It’s as if the fields and forests are now just waiting on the first snow.
The Harbor at Watkins Glen is disserted. The tourists have left for their jobs. The laughter of the children has been replaced by silence. The boat slips are empty as the boats have been removed to storage or shrink wrapped for the coming Finger Lakes winter.
The only activity at the Harbor was a flock of coots, swimming around in the clear water and then diving under water for their dinner. The peacefulness of the scene was almost deafening. The only human sound to be heard was the sound of a circular saw being used by a couple of men who were repairing one of the boat slips.
We returned home to Canandaigua along the east side of Seneca Lake, stopping briefly at Hector Falls. The low sun brightly lit up the water which was cascading down the rocks. Even the falls was not making its usual roaring sound as the water tumbles down the wall of rocks. Nature seemed to be at peace. Everything seems to be in place for the first winter storm of the season.
