Category: Essays & Stories

A Sneak Peek at the Adirondack Rail Trail First things first: Yes, I can read. The sign clearly says, “Trail Closed” (Although someone has moved it.) And yes, I have read the NYSDEC notices & bulletins urging folks to stay off the trail until work is completed. I realize...

The Anniversary Gift of a Lifetime: An Adirondack Flyover My wife Robin & I received a huge surprise this year from our children for our (Lord, PLEASE, hear my prayer! Help me get this number right!) 33rd wedding anniversary. They went in together and bought us an Adirondack plane...

Sharing Late Summer’s Harvest, Berry Picking Memories, & Mom’s Pieberry Recipe ********** Rule #1: “If you want Mom to make pie, first you have to pick pieberries.” This is a rule that I learned early on as a lad. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of Mom &...

A Zen Boat Journey of Discovery Spending a “Shipwrecked” Day Exploring Middle Saranac Lake’s Ship Island The landscape canopy was still fully arrayed in splendid shades of bright green as my wife Robin & I made our way up along Route 3 from Watertown for what was intended as...

An Enjoyable Evening at the Adirondack Artists’ Guild Celebrating the Beauty of The Bloomingdale Bog Featuring a “How To” demonstration on the creation of birch boxes By Friend & Photographer Eleanor Sweeney Followed by a presentation & discussion on the art of painting Bloomingdale Bogscapes By Artist Stephen Horne...

When Life’s Struggle with Death Leaves a Blood Trail He lifted his nose to the breeze gently riding the first rising rays of the sun. Beneath October’s dank, musty fallen leaf blanket and balsam bough cover scent, the crisp north woods promise of snow filled his nostrils. Headed towards...

Sometimes The Holy Grails We Seek Are Right There All Along I suspect we each have our own individual grail quests. It’s a uniquely personal endeavor, filled with passion, hope, heartbreak and peril. Holy Grails themselves can evolve over time and take many forms. For me, one of my...

Reflections on Life From an Adirondack Lean-to Have you ever spent a night alone in the woods? I have. Whether bivouacked in a deer hunter’s mountainside tent, working long summer days as a trail hand from a remote high-peaks cabin, enjoying the cedar log solitude of my favorite lean-to,...

Savoring Saranac Lake’s Rich Bottled History One Glass at a Time ********** I’ve been Adirondack bottle diving for several years now, salvaging Saranac Lake’s rich bottled beverage history from beneath a variety of locations in its meandering array of tannin-stained waters. A number of my more noteworthy finds have...

Lean-to Life in the Adirondack Outback Those Cedar Logs Standing Silent and Strong My Refuge, My Sanctuary My Soul’s Sacred Home I Feel Your Wounds Bleeding Anguished Tears Scar My Heart ********** I had planned on staying Sunday night, June 25th, after my brother Ray & I rendezvoused at...