Adirondack LettersNo.9: A Camp Barn Story Hints of Balsam and Pine: Nature Reflections in a minor key from our quiet corner of the Adirondacks. For Fourpeaks Guests and anyone who ever dreamed about a wilderness getaway. CLICK & GO! (On this page.) Adirondack Letter No.9: "A Camp Barn Story." More stuff in An Adirondack Miscellany. (On the next page.) List and Links to all the Adirondack Letters in this series. 
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to get on our mailing listAnd receive occasional Adirondack Letters like this. "A Camp Barn Story" Adirondack Letter No.9 Subject: "A Camp Barn Story." Adirondack Letter No.9 Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 18:48:52 From: < VisitUs@4peaks.com > To: < youremailname@youremail.address > To: Fourpeaks Visitors At: < youremailname@youremail.address > Dear Fourpeaks Visitor, Last evening at Camp Barn I took a walk around the building, nothing in mind. An ungainly structure--eight hundred square feet at the core, to which I right away had added large sheds along three sides, tripling the amount of enclosed space. The interior is dark as a cave--hardly a glimpse of the forest around or the bent birches on the grassy slope that leads up to Brown's Notch. Stepping out, I saw light had failed the inside of the pine woods but the spires on top, their slim branches and needle sprays still with some color, were outlined against the winter sky. Air flowed softly through the greenery and black stems, carrying with it a sound like tumbling water. I took out a folding chair to the new deck and sat in the stillness taking it in. Cutting brush for the view, Merritt found a bird's egg on the ground one day in a nest of leaf mold. He named it Partridge Field, though the place was too stony to maintain, and over the years it grew right back. I looked over in the direction of the vigorous saplings that now dominate the spot. I never told him that for size, color and location it was certainly whippoorwill. See the difference for yourself. CLICK HERE to see what a partridge is (text and drawing) and CLICK HERE for the whippoorwill (text and drawing). Resting in the snow I found myself breathing purposefully like a cureseeker in Saranac Lake years ago or someone winter sunbathing at the ocean shore when I was a boy. My lungs filled with resinous particles in fresh oxygen just transpired from the forest and empty fields. We broke ground for the barn in late fall and poured the slab well before frost. Jim's boy then set about the framing. One day midwinter in '72 Jim came through the Notch in snowshoes from his place in the "Acres" to help out with the roof. Father and son worked together at building, their timeless skills passed on without ceremony through the generations of backcountry people. Jim was born on the Coolidge Farm just across the way on Stonehouse Road. They took in boarders for cash and to help with the Summer vegetables and chickens for market. He built "The Cabin" when he got home from the war, as well as every place he ever lived in, I guess. The town didn't plow the old road in those days and it was deep enough, they needed a snowmobile with a sled to get him out. I heard about it from the boy himself later on in the day. Listening to his voice from my office in the city I could see the familiar yellowed walls, the old table and chairs and sense the pain at the end, which was new. Late at night the moon glowed in a clear sky with stars. The light shone right through the grove, the tree trunks casting long shadows before them. The bark itself was dusted with white powder from the snow that drifted in showers here all day. For more about this see http://4peaks.com/ftc.htm for the story of "The Cabin" and "Camp," http://4peaks.com/fpcmp.htm a poem I wrote about it years after. Thanks for reading this. If you've ever been a guest with us, go to http://4peaks.com/fgift.htm for a earnest invitation to visit us again. If you've never been--look at our up-to-date Availability Calendar http://4peaks.com/femail0.htm and make some time. There's a lovely quiet season coming up. Till then please visit On-Line: http://4peaks.com/ "Explore our 700-acre private rest and play-ground." http://4peaks.com/fcamp.htm Pretty Camps in a Hidden Valley. http://4peaks.com/fotrails.htm Walks with views & Beauty spots. http://4peaks.com/fgstbndx.htm Photo Guest Book--What they said. Your Adirondack Guide, Martin Schwalbaum P.S. If you liked this Letter, CLICK HERE to Tell a Friend! If you didn't like it please reply to this with "REMOVE" in the subject heading. Thanks. Member Whiteface Mountain Visitors Bureau Member Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau ************************************************************* This is No.9 of a really occasional Letter, "Hints of Balsam and Pine from our Corner of the Adirondacks," for Fourpeaks guests or anyone who ever inquired about a Fourpeaks Vacation/Getaway. To get off this list reply with "REMOVE" in the subject heading. *************************************************************
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to get on our mailing listAnd receive occasional Adirondack Letters like this. A Partridge at Camp Barn? Merritt found a whippoorwill egg. Thought it was a partridge egg. We hear the whippowill all Summer evenings long. SCROLL DOWN for whipporwill. (Never heard a partridge.) 
Main Entry: par·tridge Pronunciation: 'pär-trij, 'pa-trij (dial.) Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural partridge or par·tridg·es Etymology: Middle English partrich, modification of Old French perdris, modification of Latin perdic-, perdix, from Greek perdik-, perdix Date: 14th century 1 : any of various typically medium-sized stout-bodied Old World gallinaceous game birds (Perdix, Alectoris, and related genera) with variegated plumage 2 : any of numerous gallinaceous birds (as the American ruffed grouse or bobwhite) somewhat like the Old World partridges in size, habits, or value as game Whippoorwill at Camp Barn. Merritt found a whippoorwill egg. Thought it was a partridge egg. 
Main Entry: whip·poor·will Pronunciation: 'hwi-p&r-"wil Function: noun Etymology: imitative Date: 1709 : a nocturnal nightjar (Caprimulgus vociferus) of eastern North America with a loud repeated call suggestive of its name .  An Adirondack Miscellany Newspaper and Magazine articles, Books and lots more. January 1998 Ice storm of the Century Devastates Northcountry. May 1998 Town of Jay Happy 200th Birthday Party at the 1829 Southmayd Stone House June 1998 Natives and Outsiders at the Jay Old Covered Bridge. July 1777 Jane McCrae Murdered by Indians in Ft. Edward NY Adirondack Great Camps: Adventures in the Wilderness. Miss P, the famous www.Internet web purrcat, interviews Tramp, our Fourpeaks barking cocker. Ironman USA comes to Fourpeaks. Chickadees In Winter Flying Critters on your Adirondack Vacation. Adirondack Letters: "Hints of Balsam and Pine from our corner of the Adirondacks." AuSable River Swimming: Where the Pools Are Never Crowded, And Water Slides Are Nature's Own (New York Times) A new novel about Fourpeaks: Moss Krupnick's Daughters of Utopia, 196 pages, $9.98 For your Adirondack experience--"Stay Awhile In Style!" Plattsburgh-Republican November 2002. NATURE WITHIN REACH: Luxury Camping. (July 2004, Southwest Airlines SPIRIT (In-flight Magazine.) Annual Jay Yard Sale. (First Sale August 19, 2006.) Glamping. (Glamorous Camping.) (Jan-Feb, Nov-Dec 2008, Women's Adventure Magazine.) .  Are you in this picture? Fourpeaks hosts now welcome paying guests to a 700-acre rest and playground for vacations in the Adirondack Great Camp tradition. Couples appreciate Fourpeaks secluded settings. Outdoor loving families have fun exploring our accessible wilderness. Folks with dogs enjoy the open spaces to run their pets. A private nature rereat. For a vacation away from it all. Are you in this picture? CLICK HERE to find out! [More about this at Frequently Asked Questions.]  Inquire about a Fourpeaks Adirondack Vacation/Getaway. (Easy Inquiry Form.)
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