27 Comments
Apr 9Liked by Carson Ellis

Omg, the Potter drawing of a snail is the best ever! ♥️🐌🐌🐌

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author

It is so great.

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Apr 9Liked by Carson Ellis

You certainly made the most of it. Did Milo like it? I grew up inBrooklyn, then moved up to Westchester and then up here to Boston. The city seems more daunting the longer I'm away.

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author

I think he had fun but is not eager to return to NYC anytime soon. Where in Westchester? I grew up in Mount Kisco.

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Apr 9Liked by Carson Ellis

Did he like it? Beatrix Potter and Harry Potter!

I grew up on the west coast and came east at 17. My relationship with NYC is and always be complicated. I miss nature and the ocean and wildlife. But being partnered with a jazz musician, there's not many options for a work/live existence. Love your work!

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author

Thanks! You probably know this, but there is lots of nature and wildlife close to the city in Westchester, where I grew up. There is a giant nature preserve called Ward Pound Ridge Reservation where I used to hang out as a kid. If you are feeling stuck in NYC and don't have a car, you could take the train to Katonah and uber there.

As for Milo, we had fun, but on our last day he said plainly, "I don't really like it here." Lol.

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love it! thanks, carson.

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Apr 9Liked by Carson Ellis

Such a stinking cute trip and well done on braving the insane city energy💪 Thank you once again for grabbing a copy of Spider and adding it in here amongst your cool escapades

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author

You bet. It is such a gem.

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I see a similarity between yours and Beatrix Potter’s childhoods!

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Apr 10Liked by Carson Ellis

Mom extraordinaire! And I'm with you on the bagels. Next time you're in Bk lets eat one together on a bench. xo

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author

Yes, please. :)

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I loved this travelogue. I read recently (I think on the Noted Substack) that Beatrix Potter wrote her diaries in code and it took researchers 11 years to break it.

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author

Yes! They had some of the coded diaries in the exhibit.

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Love the last photo of the sweet little giggle

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Loved hearing about your trip and seeing the pictures. Good suggestions for things to do in New York beyond the usual big touristy stuff :)

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I love NYC and in my wildest dreams I could make it there, but in reality it's too much city for me. Can't wait to take my daughter one day! I love reading about your parenting.

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author

Aw. Thanks. My parenting looks better on substack than it does in real life. :)

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Apr 12Liked by Carson Ellis

Carson! I felt this so close to heart. I also grew up in the suburbs of NYC, lived there briefly and am back on Long Island. I can’t always handle the city. My whole family goes to PDX every year and every year we come back and try to figure out how to move to Portland. How did you make the leap??

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author

I moved to Montana for college when I was 17 and stayed west. Back in 2000 Portland was cheap and I had a lot of friends here so it was an easy leap to make. I moved a lot back then. I worked in bars and everything I owned fit in my car so I was always leaping from place to place.

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love the last picture!! reminds me of when i saw the POE exhibit in NYC. wonderful times. looks like a big smile. 🐌

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Croton-on-Hudson

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But how about San Francisco? Do you have the same caged feeling?

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author

Nope. That city is so open and bright and full of spectacular vistas. I have a light-hearted, adventurous feeling in San Francisco.

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founding

I don't know if the Beatrix Potter exhibit included any of her mycological illustrations, but if not you might enjoy them! https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/07/28/beatrix-potter-a-life-in-nature-botany-mycology-fungi/

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