“Wake up, it’s time to go.”

I opened my eyes, it was still dark but Didi; meaning elder sister in Hindi, was all dressed.

“Go where?” I asked half-awake and half-annoyed. It was a Sunday and I wanted to sleep.

“We are going for a drive. We need to leave before sunrise.” She replied in the no-nonsense, don’t argue with me, I am not hearing it way Didi would say things. I woke up.

While I was getting ready, she gave me a volley of information. She had already prepared tea, sandwiches, boiled eggs for wherever it was that we were going.

Within 15 minutes we were in the car.

“You are driving”, she handed me the keys. I got in the driver seat as Didi unfolded a paper map of the lower Hudson valley. Pre-Google, one had to learn to read paper maps. Skills that are now languishing. Didi was skilled at reading paper maps. She charted our course.

We used to live in Montvale, NJ, about 20 minutes away from Bear Mountain, NY, the gateway to Catskills. It was the Fall of 2002; and the last Sunday in October; the day when Daylight Saving Ended – before it was changed to the 1st Sunday in November. The Fall colors in the Lower Hudson Valley were at peak.

“Make a left to get on Palisades Parkway North”, Didi gave instructions while I drove. The sky was getting pale, clouds catching the first pink, orange, and red hues of the day. It was nearly day-break. Within 20 minutes we were at the entrance of Bear Mountain State Park.

“Now what?” I asked Didi, fully enrolled in her plan. Enthusiasm is contagious and I have always been happy to catch that disease! Besides I was fully awake, it’s amazing how that can improve a person’s mood.

She gave me further directions – left, right, left, we drove through some winding roads in the park and came to a parking next to a trail. “Let’s park here.”

We parked the car. Didi jumped out and grabbed the bag of breakfast items she had prepared & the Thermos with the tea. We walked together for a few minutes on the trail. The air was crisp. There was no one else in the park at the time, just the two of us. The only sound was out footsteps crunching the leaves. And birds getting ready to greet the morning. It was a Sunday, people were catching up on sleep, people without devious sisters! 😉

We reached the opening. And stood spell-bound. In front of us was Hessian Lake – nestled at the base of Bear Mountain that was awash in brilliant hues of gold, orange, and red. Its reflection in the lake-water formed a perfect mirror, doubling the fiery splendor of the foliage. The stillness of the water enhanced the symmetry, and the scene felt like a painting, with the vibrant colors of fall blending into the soft blue sky above. The sun was jusssst coming up.

“Wow” I said.

“Wow” Didi echoed.

We sat down on one of the picnic tables and watched the scenery in companionate silence. Two Indian girls who had bent the will of their culture, rejected wholesale the plans laid out for their lives as per the mores of their community, and had instead decided to craft their own destiny. Didi and I were birds too – who had dared to fly. And that flying had come at some cost. But that scene right there felt like a reward of the fraught journey we had embarked on together.

Didi broke the silence. “I saw a photo of this spot in the NY state guide book a few weeks ago. And I thought today was the perfect day to do this. Tea?”

She poured me a cup of tea from the Thermos she had packed at home. I accepted, grateful for the warmth in my hands.

“We can have breakfast here if you are hungry, or at our next stop…” Didi said.

She pulled out her the and showed me the plan for the day; her finger zigzagging through the back-roads of lower Hudson valley, crossing the bridge from West Hudson to East Hudson and moving through towns like Hyde Park, Pleasant Valley, Rhinebeck. I looked at my watch. “Can we cover all this today?”

“Yes we can! You know we get an extra hour added to our lives today, right?”

“I know it’s crazy”, I answered. Day light saving is an odd concept for people who grow up without it.

“And we didn’t even need to fly through other time zones to get this extra hour added to our lives!”

“Or get jet-lagged!” she added.

“I don’t know about that. I feel a bit jet-lagged right now.” I quipped, alluding to being woken up at the crack of dawn, NOT my favorite activity. She rolled her eyes.

“Listen I will that anything that adds time to my life. I am old.”

“You are 30.”

“Yes. Old!”

We continued our banter as we headed back to our car. We spent the rest of our day driving through the back-roads of Rockland and Westchester County, roads under a canopy of trees, the autumnal sun casting a warm, golden glow, softening the crisp edges of the cool air, its light dancing through the fiery leaves. We stopped at local cafes for coffee, and ate our own breakfast at a vista point overlooking the Hudson. We finished our journey at the Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park. We had our fill of autumn.

And that began an annual ritual that we repeated for the next several years until we moved out to LA.
Years later I came back to NY now but Didi was gone. I have made the same trip again – with tea and breakfast and Mark. But no Didi of course.

The memories of that drive; the reflection of Bear Mountain in Hessian Lake, the azure sky, the brilliant fall colors come alive for me during this time of year. They form some of my favorite memories with my sister – those last Sundays of October, the day that one extra hour was added to our lives, and we made the most of it. The time when day light changes.

Swati Srivastava is an immigrant and a multi award-winning writer, director, and voiceover artist. A filmmaker & storyteller, Swati turns ideas into experience. She is also an environmentalist and an immigrant to the United States. She can be reached via Linkedin and swati@TiredAndBeatup.com