On New York State

We just returned home from New York City. We took a quick trip down to deliver our son his bike. He hasn't wanted it in Brooklyn, but he and his new bride are moving to California, and he will want his bike there.
Traveling across New York usually makes me think about what an interesting variety of sights and points of interest there are in this state.
Numerous waterways lace and dot the state....the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Niagara, the Genesee, the St. Lawrence, the Allegheny, and the Black Rivers. The Erie Canal makes use of a number of natural waterways. The state borders two of the Great Lakes....Erie and Ontario, but also encompasses many smaller ones, like the Finger Lakes, and Lake Oneida.
The topography is variety...the Adirondack, Catskill and Allegheny Mountains. Lots of rolling hills and farm land. Niagara Falls and the Letchworth gorge are spectacular.
I remember the first time I saw a picture of the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River. I was in 7th grade, and we had an assignment to send away for brochures about interesting places in the state. I thought I had never seen anything quite as lovely as the Thousand Islands. I didn't know, at that point, that 10 years later, I would spend my honeymoon on a houseboat cruising around those scenic islands.
New York is a place of startling contrasts. Last evening we took the L train from Brooklyn into Manhattan to eat at a restaurant our son enjoys. About 10 percent of the people on the streets of NYC would cause a jaw-drop in our small city. I saw one man clothed in newspaper....all twisted, braided and woven together. My husband said, "That's probably his winter jacket." Today we drove past mile after mile of farmland with fields just greening up and cattle grazing. Downstate early flowers are blooming and bushes actually have leaves, or at least enough buds open that they seem to be surrounded by a green haze. Up here, all I can say is that the snow is gone.
I have no comment on New York politics. But, I do enjoy the contrasting sights, sounds and smells of New York!