Now, here it [was] , , and [settled down] with his rod.
['d left] his studio in the dark, and [was] hardly daybreak when [began] to fish.
On both sides of the Hudson [was struck] with a hazy pink glow.
['d brought] along night crawlers and crusts of bread in an old tin pail.
[avoided] —it [was] overcrowded and overfished, even more so than the Hudson, littered with oystering boats.
[had recently been built] across the waters, disturbing the marsh birds.
[knew] [wouldn't be] long before [disappeared], as [had] in Chelsea, where there [was] everywhere.

Through the new leaves of the locust trees, [spied] [fishing] farther down along the bank.
with the old man [appeared unavoidable], for [gazed over and nodded].
[returned] the greeting, considering how to best keep his distance.
[was known] to chase off intruders with a rifle, and [were] who [said] [vowed] to kill who [hunted] that [was rapidly becoming] rare, coyotes and fox and the huge, cantankerous wild turkeys.
Past the area of Washington Heights [was] , the highest altitude in Manhattan, at 265 feet above sea level.
There [was] of Inwood, and although [ran] this far, of north Manhattan [was still dotted] with small farms, including a house once owned by the Audubon family.
[joined] the hermit in his agitation over the constant building in Manhattan.
Apartment [were rising] everywhere.


Alice Hoffman, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, 2014