In Flight

Friday, the most amazing thing happened.
I guess in the whole scheme of things, it actually wasn't the most amazing thing, but it certainly was a wonder, to me.
Driving to and from work on Rt 47, I've recently been seeing many hawks swooping over the road and into the trees on either side.  They come close to my car, nearly brushing it sometimes, or they just sit in a tree over the road, but I've been seeing more than usual.
Friday afternoon I was driving home, and I saw a bird land with precision on the road.  Seeing it from a distance, I thought perhaps it was a crow after some roadkill, but as I approached, I saw that it was indeed a hawk.  It watched as my car came closer, looking into my eyes to determine if I would stop or if it needed to take off into flight.  With no other cars around, I came to a slow stop, just feet away from the hawk who, comfortable in the knowledge I wasn't going to hit it with the car, poked its beak around something rather freshly dead.  Satisfied with what it had found, it scooped it up and flew away, its red tail fully spread.
The whole episode took seconds; if I had been faster, perhaps I could have pulled out my camera and filmed it.  But instead I sat in my car, feeling in awe of the wonders of nature.

Icy

Remember that freezing rain we had back in December?  It sure created some beautiful art in our yard.

Amazing.

Breaking Fast at Stables

Stables is an unassuming restaurant on Rt 9, just across the street from Whole Foods.  With a parking lot in front, the restaurant is set back from the road, and if you're driving by on an afternoon or evening, you might just think the place is closed.

Luckily for all of us, it's not!

Stables is open for breakfast and lunch, 6am-2pm.  It serves up affordable home-style breakfast foods (I haven't been there for lunch) from a 3-page menu.  (Click on those menu pictures to see them in extra-large glory.)

Stables has a comfortable country-dining atmosphere, with homemade cookies and breads, a counter and booths, newspapers available near the register, and coffee refills.  The waitresses are always nice, even when busily rushing about.

  

Besides their menu "specialities," Stables also has daily specials.  These specials are sometimes seasonal (pumpkin pancakes in autumn, for example), sometimes from special homemade breads, and are written on the chalkboards in the restaurant.

Coupons for Stables can often be found in the Valley Quarterly, but be forewarned -- the restaurant does only accept cash.

Stables seems to have been around for a good long while, and if you go, you'll see lots of locals.  But you'll also see bunches of college students who have discovered that if you want a hearty breakfast on a budget, you definitely want to go to Stables.  You might even see some out-of-towners skipping the continental breakfast at the chain hotel for some breakfast-diner-cooking.
At our house, Stables has become the go-to breakfast restaurant for Monday holidays (and New Year's) -- because going to breakfast at Stables is just fun (plus, it's close, local, affordable, and filling).
There's a Monday holiday coming up soon.  Treat yourself to breakfast out.