Sunday Lunch on the River

Sunday was such a summery day, with a  bright blue sky and lots of brilliant sunshine -- a perfect day for lunch on the porch of Upriver Cafe in Lake Luzerne.  It was warm enough to relax in shirtsleeves out on the porch, never needing to avail ourselves of the warm shawls the restaurant provides for diners eating outdoors this time of year.

Not only is the food terrific at this riverside restaurant, the spacious porch offers spectacular views of the Hudson River at one of its most dazzling sections, where the entire river plunges through a rocky gorge at Rockwell Falls.  After lunch, my husband and I made our way down to the rocks to experience close-up the power of the waterfall.

The gorge must be no more than 20 feet across where the entire volume of the river plunges with an impressive roar, sending plumes of mist into the air.

My husband, being a physicist, is also fascinated by the fluid dynamics evident in the swirling, rippling currents of the water  above the falls.

Both of us marveled at the perfectly round kettle holes the power of that water,  swirling loose stones that act like drills, has created in the rocks that line the shore here.  Some are as capacious as bathtubs, while others are as small as a soup pot.

This large, green-eyed dragonfly was also enjoying this summery day, loathe to leave the leaf he was basking on, even when I moved in close to take a photo.  I guessed from the wide-spaced eyes and the bulge at the end of his abdomen that this was a clubtail dragonfly, but I needed the experts at BugGuide.net to inform me that this was a male Arrow Clubtail (Stylurus spiniceps).  This species is common in northern New York, but it prefers rivers to lakes as its usual habitat.  So this dragonfly, my husband, and I were all where we wanted to be on a lovely autumn afternoon along the Hudson.