Category: Essays & Stories

A tale inspired by “Saranac Shelties” Author’s Note: My mom, Carol Monroe, brought home our first Shetland Sheepdog just after I graduated high school, shortly before I left for Cornell. Her name was “Lady”. She quickly adopted my father & was his faithful companion for the rest of his...

********** Carlisle Mulrooney was three years old. He sat by the living room window with his chin on the sill, sniffing the musty old windowpane glass while he stared at the tree in his strange new yard. Raindrops splattered against the glass and dripped from the roof with a...

Snow Patrol Leader Saranac Diamond In the “Ruff” Supervising Her Troops From Snow Patrol Heaven ********** “Hey! Let Us Out!” “We Just Want To Help!” ********** Just look at those innocent faces! I walked right into their trap. Suddenly: “It’s An Ambush!” I’m surrounded!” After a quick burst of...

I love to hunt, always have, but cancer is a Grinch, trying to steal everything, even an Outlaw’s roast beast. When I was 16, I bagged my first buck, an 8 point, up on a Phelps Mountain ridge. My next buck didn’t come for a number of years. I...

Greetings! Even after nearly fourteen years, this remains my daily prayer. Said quietly, every morning, first thing, as I mark yesterday off the calendar, put that day in my pocket to save, and prepare to take on THIS day! I was out working on my trails one day a...

     Monroe Bull Rush Bay Camp Prep, 2019: I dragged Dad’s old 12 foot aluminum Grumman canoe from behind my shed, cleaned it up, replaced bow and stern lines, then spray painted it camouflage greens and browns over a base of flat black.     I cleaned and lubed the...

How Two SLHS Outlaws Were Thwarted in Pursuit of the Gold Author’s Note: ( “Olympic Outlaws” appeared in The Adirondack Almanack’s March 18, 2021 online edition) **********      I first met Chris in the spring of 1978.  We were both freshman milers on the Saranac Lake track team.  I...

Have you ever passed in a no passing zone? Ran a Red Light…. On purpose? Exceeded the speed limit….After Dark….While driving your Dad’s boat? Checked out in the “Express Lane” with too many items? Made a wake in a “NO WAKE” zone? Called in sick when you weren’t? Raise...