Fulfilling a long held pipe dream, I bought 1281 Galilee Road in 2007, thirty-seven acres that include woodlands, a wetland, fifteen acres of field and the Beaver Kill Creek. A row of sugar maples line Galilee Road. There are two red post and beam barns on one side of the road and a 1910 farmhouse on the other. There is also an old chicken coop that hopefully, will one day become my pottery studio.
Since 1969, I have lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, a densely populated urban environment directly across the Hudson River from New York City. So now, I can experience both the urban and the rural. In Hoboken, I work in my office serving as the Executive Director of a nonprofit group I helped found in 1990, the Fund for a Better Waterfront. We have been on a quest to complete a vision we proposed in the first year of our existence, to complete a contiguous public waterfront park from one end of Hoboken to the other, along the Hudson River.
Shortly after arriving in Damascus, Pennsylvania, I joined with others to found Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting the threats posed by the fracking industry. I continue to serve as Treasurer on its Board of Directors.
I have always enjoyed growing things. At my farm, I have set aside about a half-acre to grow tomatoes, garlic, potatoes and a variety of other vegetables. In 2018, I planted an orchard that will eventually produce apples, pears, apricots, cherries, peaches and paw paws.