East Coast

My partner and I moved to New York City in June of 2021. As architecture students, we both interned for firms in the city during the 1980s, and with two daughters living there since 2011, I became a regular visitor. I began to explore the idea of a location change in 2017 when I rented a house in Woodstock for a month—an experiment of sorts to see if the area was a good fit. After my first grandchild was born in the city in 2020, the pull became stronger. The pandemic and my 60th birthday were tipping points; it was time for change, and the move to the Upper West Side of Manhattan became a reality.

In 2022, I purchased a modest house on three wooded acres outside the Village of Rhinebeck in the Hudson Valley, where my partner and I will eventually retire. We spent a year renovating, adding a generous screened porch that allows us to watch our little woods transform as the seasons shift. The colors and textures in our new environment keep us in a constant state of awe. I’m convinced that the opportunity to slow down and deeply experience the changes in seasons—both visually and physically—is an especially poignant metaphor as we reflect on this season in our lives and pay closer attention with deep gratitude.