We have moved, again. This makes 4 times in 2 years. Hopefully, this one will stick, because I am in the honeymoon stage of love with these Hudson River towns.
Moving north in February is a crazy thing to do. One of our friends, a lovely optimist, tried to reassure us, saying something like, “Well, if you see the area at its worst, in its coldest, grayest season, and you still like it, imagine how nice it will be in the prettier seasons.” He was right.
We were immediately charmed, and one of the sweetest attractions has become my second home, the Warner Library.
This library is gorgeous. Built in 1929, it has unique appointments like a Florentine, bronze panel, a hand carved oak panel, and a Beaux Arts oculus.
When you walk through the front door, the first room on the left feels like an inviting living room with its fireplace, sofas, overstuffed chairs, and varieties of magazines and newspapers. People relax and read, and as I learned later, book clubs meet in this front room.
The adjoining space is my favorite, the Audubon Room. I love the big, heavy wood chairs, the long tables, and the huge paintings of birds. Elaborate chandeliers hang from the ceiling, sunlight streams in, and the room smells like paper and furniture polish. It is perfect for writing.
Next to the Audubon is the room that houses the computers and boasts a spectacular view of the river. It is understandably packed most of the time, so I tend to only visit this room when I want to stretch and admire the Hudson and Tappan Zee Bridge.
Like many of the Westchester County libraries, this is an active place. On their site, warnerlibrary.org, I discovered all kinds of great programs, most interesting for me being a Book Club and a Writers’ Forum. Since this writing, I have attended both, but I’ll save the details of these meetings for future posts. For now, I’ll simply say that I had a very good time, and I will continue to go.
The Warner Library was just what I was looking for in a new community!
