So..why do I "love New York"..

[ironglow]

  That is the old C of C slogan.."I love New York".  .. But I don't like it's cities or most state level politicians..

  That being said..the rest I truly like..  So why, with such a land...should I like the 95% that is free from cities and disgusting politicians?
    Oh sure, we have cold weather, but that is only a matter of adaptation.  Some of my friends enjoy cross country skiing, hockey, winter hunting and snowmobiling so much, they wouldn't dream of going anywhere.. where there is less snow and ice available.
  At my age, I don't enjoy the ice and snow as much as I used to, but the rest of the year makes up for it.

  When the winter releases it's grip and spring starts to break..spring thaw, brings water gushing down the creeks that wash any winter collected debris down stream and away.  That is unlike some places where I have lived, that allows such things to accumulate year after year.

  Then there is summer.. never dry and "cooked out' but almost always very fresh and green. Grass, weeds, trees, vines and brush, all green and fresh.. What great cover for walks and sneaking up on game..for shots with rifle or camera.
  Then comes autumn, where we are treated to the most beautiful display of autumn leaves..startling in their beauty.

  I have often said that between late April and mid November, there is no more refreshing and beautiful place than right here.
  So many little "hidden paradises among the woods and streams..many on private properties, where few even know they exist.

   My task.. divorce stupid politics from the natural beauty all around me.

  Below..see this old man with hiking stick, standing on a ledge over a hidden falls..one where non-locals may be cruising country roads within 20 yards, and know nothing of the falls.

      Then there are the many beautiful places across the state.. the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes and the "Enchanted Mountains" by which my home county is known..

  Now, if NY City would just float off into the Atlantic..and our lefty politicians would make their homes in China or
   North Korea, ....New York State would do just fine..

 I expect that many other states have such hidden glories...despite their big cities and state governments.... but I will leave that to them to post.  How about it guys..let's hear it for your state.?

  Samples;

  https://falzguy.com/schoolmarm-falls.html

   https://www.theworldandthensome.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-finger-lakes-new-york/
 

[oldandslow]

Pretty but I couldn't handle it for very long. I am a child of the plains and want to be able to see a long way. I enjoy going to the mountains but two weeks is about all I can stand before I decide to return to where I can see far way. A week's stay is more likable for me. Streams and rivers although nice to look at are simply something in the way of getting to where I want to go if not on a road with a bridge.

[DDZ]

I guess a lot of it has to do with where we grew up. I think NY has lots of beautiful country, as do the mountain regions in PA, and up through the New England states.  I once made a trip out west to visit Zion national Park, the Grand Canyon, and Bryce canyon. Those areas were very beautiful in their own way. I even did a hike to the top of Angels Landing The scenery was stunning. Nothing a picture could depict.  When I returned home I realized I really missed the rolling hills and the green trees, grass, and the green farmland. Out west as I said the scenery was amazing, but its all rocks, dirt, with very little green of any kind. Great place to visit, but certainly couldn't live out there.   

[ironglow]

Pretty but I couldn't handle it for very long. I am a child of the plains and want to be able to see a long way. I enjoy going to the mountains but two weeks is about all I can stand before I decide to return to where I can see far way. A week's stay is more likable for me. Streams and rivers although nice to look at are simply something in the way of getting to where I want to go if not on a road with a bridge.

 The differences in folks is what makes people interesting.  Mountaineers and plainsmen..what the good people of this country are made up of, in varying degrees.
  Although i am of the mountain type, I can see a certain charm held by the desert and prairies..

  An appealing scene of the New Mexico desert..but I still sneaked some mountains in..

[oldandslow]

The majority of NM is little more than desert, flat or mountains, but desert has it's charms, to me, anyway. I used to go to Arizona and stay for awhile in winter. There are places there where a small lizard couldn't make a living but they are pretty to me. I grew up on the south plains of Texas close to the caprock and I really enjoyed exploring that area even if I were trespassing. It's all ranch land, I hurt nothing, and no one ever knew I was there. I followed a job to southeastern NM, found the love of my life, a much better job which I retired from, and continue to live here because of the vast amount of land I can roam around on, sometimes seeing no other living soul. I detest NM state government but they basically ignore us down here except for the 40% of the state budget we provide so I can live with it until my life is over. Having my children, then grand and great grand kids here is also nice. We are a pretty tight knit bunch with no family feuds or quarrels at all. If one of us needs help with something everyone volunteers although grandma and I are told to sit down and advise now.

NM bills it's self as the land of enchantment but you really have to look for the enchantment in the vast majority of it.  I will have to say though that if you ever make it to Taos (tourist trap town extrodinare) drive the Enchanted Circle. The eastern part through the mountains is truly beautiful although the western leg from Questa back to Taos is rather blah.

[Bob Riebe]

My home town  is on the Southern edge of what they call Minn. Bluffs that run diagnally across the middle to norther part of Minn.
I love rolling hills.
 Often when traveling West on Minn. Highway seven on the edge the flat part of Minn. I would I would get shivers thinking of how in winter the wind had little to stop or slow it; looking South you could see for miles in places where there were few trees and lots of ploughed land.

At that I loved visiting the Bad Lands in South Dakota, such barrren beauty but then one thinks of why it is called the Badlands.
In the decades since I was first there, parts are not as barren as they once were, scrub and cedar trees.
I remember once, Dad was taking the family to the Worlds Fair in Seattle, we were camping in the Badlands and we went to Interior for breakfast.
We got out of the car, and two Indians came out of a joint and started fist fighting in the dirt street, Dad said leaving.

For me not living in a area with a myriad of lake and rivers, would be hell on Earth.

[darkgael]

IG : you do, no doubt, live in a very pretty part of NYS. A  lot of that same beauty can be found just to the south of you where the Alleghenies wind their way south with the Appalachians?

[Dee]

The majority of NM is little more than desert, flat or mountains, but desert has it's charms, to me, anyway. I used to go to Arizona and stay for awhile in winter. There are places there where a small lizard couldn't make a living but they are pretty to me. I grew up on the south plains of Texas close to the caprock and I really enjoyed exploring that area even if I were trespassing. It's all ranch land, I hurt nothing, and no one ever knew I was there. I followed a job to southeastern NM, found the love of my life, a much better job which I retired from, and continue to live here because of the vast amount of land I can roam around on, sometimes seeing no other living soul. I detest NM state government but they basically ignore us down here except for the 40% of the state budget we provide so I can live with it until my life is over. Having my children, then grand and great grand kids here is also nice. We are a pretty tight knit bunch with no family feuds or quarrels at all. If one of us needs help with something everyone volunteers although grandma and I are told to sit down and advise now.

NM bills it's self as the land of enchantment but you really have to look for the enchantment in the vast majority of it.  I will have to say though that if you ever make it to Taos (tourist trap town extrodinare) drive the Enchanted Circle. The eastern part through the mountains is truly beautiful although the western leg from Questa back to Taos is rather blah.

I like the plains myself. I like to get off the Caprock on a good horse and prowl around. There's nuthin like walkin a good horse into a big covey of quail, or have mule deer follow you until their curiosity us satisfied.

[darkgael]

There is a lot of truth in the old adage that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Natural wonders are easy to like for many people. There are those of us who find pleasure, excitement and vibrant living in city life.

My home in PA is a half mile from the Allegheny Front….a thousand foot tall ridge line that winds across PA from the Poconos toIt is very green and pretty.  It is said that, at one time, a squirrel could have run across the entire state and never touch ground. The picture shows one bit of it.
On the other hand, my home in NYS, in NYC (Brooklyn) is  very different and yet am content there. Everything that I need is close by. There is a beauty of a very different type…..not for everyone.
The picture is low clouds drifting across downtown Brooklyn on a windy day.

[Ranger99]

Yeah.  A fellow I knew from NY was
from somewhere between the big
lake champlain and a raquett lake.
Beautiful countryside from the pictures
I've seen. Lots of places to fish and
camp out and gaze at God's wonders.
Just way too cold in the winter for me,
and I need to be able to buy whatever
firearms or cutlery I have the desire
and money for, without some pinhead
bureaucrat telling me that I can't do
whatever and it's for my own good.
I also need to be able to use lethal
force to defend my life and property
without being crucified, and I need to
live where criminals can be executed
so they will never again be a threat
to innocent victims.
I should add that it's getting more
difficult to be in a place like that as
time passes