Geoffrey Welch has ranged about Sloatsburg and the Ramapo Mountains for years, taking pictures and drawing inspiration from the woods and waterways. A bearish man who wears many hats, Welch is in perpetual motion, whether arranging a nature walk, conference or concert.
Welch rambles around the Jacob Sloat House, acting as host to guests, tending to his transplanted patches of rare Blunt Mountain Mint or composing ethereal music on his deluxe Korg keyboard setup in one of the hall’s spacious, sunlit rooms. Officially Curator of Harmony Hall, Welch’s actual list of titles and area activities is long.
As part of the Ramapo River Watershed Keeper and Ramapo River Committee member, Welch is also working on the upcoming 17th Annual Ramapo River Watershed Conference, April 27 at Ramapo College. As Curator of Harmony Hall, Welch has a full schedule of spring and summer programming planned, including a talk on painter John Singer Sargent Friday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., and a Summer Solstice Celebration Sunday, June 17 at 2 p.m.
Welch is also renowned for both his original musical compositions and landscape photographs, having documented much of Rockland County and the New York/New Jersey Highlands regions for the past three decades. Today’s photographs are all Welch’s work. Some days he can capture a little nature magic by just stepping out onto the morning steps at the Jacob Sloat House in time for sunrise over Sloatsburg. The following photos include Kitty the cat, who can often be found lurking somewhere near at Harmony Hall or just lounging lazily in the the sun. There’s also a picture of a chubby Mocking Bird, green Elm tree shoots in front of Harmony Hall, red Quince flowers, white Spirea varieties, and, of course, the blaze of sunrise over Sloatsburg.
Thinking of Madame Bovary
By Jane Kenyon
The first hot April day the granite step
was warm. Flies droned in the grass.
When a car went past they rose
in unison, then dropped back down. . . .
I saw that a yellow crocus bud had pierced
a dead oak leaf, then opened wide. How strong
its appetite for the luxury of the sun!
Everyone longs for love’s tense joy and red delights.
And then I spied an ant
dragging a ragged, disembodied wing
up the warm brick walk. It must have been
the Methodist in me that leaned forward,
preceded by my shadow, to put a twig just where
the ant was struggling with its own desire.
Photo Source: Geoff Welch
