I had an uncle who went to Niagara University in Niagara, New York. He did not visit Niagara Falls until the day after his graduation from college. This thought came to me as I was driving up Route 52 out of Ellenville on my way to Pine Bush to do what I thought at the time were important errands. As I looked to my right and gazed at the beauty of the valley where Ellenville resides, I saw a lone motorcyclist waiting for the sun to set. I thought how long have I lived in this area? How many trips have I made across these mountains at this very same time of day and seen so many people waiting for the sun to set on the Catskills?

When I go on vacation to the Jersey Shore I get up at least once at 5AM to see the sun rise but in thirty three years in these mountains I don't remember making it my business to watch the sun set once. So I turned the car around, parked and took out my camera.

After taking several pictures I approached the cyclist. His name was Greg Linde and he was a transplant to New York and a hang-gliding enthusiast. Mr. Linde says he often drove up the mountain to watch the sun set. Its beauty and solitude are why he makes the journey up the mountain. I thought it was unusual to use the word solitude. After all, every couple of minutes a truck or a car would fly by, on its way to some very important errand.

As time passed, others stopped and gathered at the lookout to watch the sun go down. And as our conversation lapsed into silence while watching the sun touch the distant mountains and then disappear I realized solitude was the perfect word. It was just the view and I. I never made it to Pine Bush, but look for me on the mountain, you will see me on occasion running a very important errand, watching the sun set on our valley.

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