Adirondack LettersNo.18: A December 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.18: "A December Story." Photo Essay: 10 photos with captions. For better nature photos (35mm film, Nikon F3), seeTrillium at Sugar Camp in '97. There's more at Adirondack Nature Photographs. (On the next page.) List and Links to all the Adirondack Letters in this series. 
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"A December Story" Adirondack Letter No.18 Subject: A December Story Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:22:09 From: Martin (Your Adirondack Guide) To: Fourpeaks Visitors At: < youremailname@youremail.address > Dear Fourpeaks Visitor, When Tyler got done with the roof at New Camp I asked him to come up with me to Wolf. There was still time to take a look at possible structural problems there. Ice last year formed a great solid sheet over the granite ledge the camp is built on. By Spring it reached to the top of the foundation blocks. We got under and checked. There was no sign of movement. The roof hadn't been looked at in years and there appeared to be evidence of water dripping. Tyler checked the roof. The half-lap was still sound, no buckling. But the dripedge was over the roofing material, he said, not under it like it should be. Next day he came back and tarred it over. That was the last of the scheduled maintenance work for this year. Precious little time for it between bookings earlier in the season so the work carried on part-time evenings till after dark with lights from the generator. But there are now new roofs on Ridge and The Cabin, a new workshop and jeep shed at Camp Barn and a good feeling we're ready for what lies ahead--freezing air temperatures, long nights, ice and deep snow. For some Northcountry residents this change brings death--only the seeds survive. Others go dormant till Spring, the life sap not rising again for several months. There are many beautiful and interesting strategies for survival. The queen bumblebee finds a rocky crevice for a clay mausoleum. She emerges in time to start over again. Honey bees live through it all on a store of honey, crowded together for warmth. Most birds fly South, some for great distances. The monarch finds the tropics finally. Our deer head North for the flat open farm country along the St. Lawrence. Retired people with no work to keep them here go South, living together in snowbird communities. Many residents continue their activities year-round, making adjustments to keep warm and for getting around. I'm one of them. Another is the black-capped chickadee. Family life on hold for the season, they flock together in groups of twenty or more, following the lead of the strongest and wisest for a food supply. They're in my pines now, and have been for several weeks, darting back and forth to the feeder by the window without rest all day long. It's said their brains are specially adapted to remember the thousand hiding places where they've stored the seed. At night they rest covered up and compact for the cold at night. I take a walk midday to sit at the little rise of land above the pine swamp here. The sky is dull after the early morning drizzle, but the trail underfoot is alive with muted color, leaf mold, branches, green grass, granite and black water running down from Bassett high above. George comes along running ahead and waits there. I found the spot almost the first year I was here--one of my favorites for sitting outdoors. I had the boys clean it up last year and put a bridge across the rocky waterway. A clear acre now I saved five or six strong young maples for the future of it. Over the years I've resisted putting up a shelter, a small building or even a bench and table. It's the kind of natural place where one may find that moment of thorough relaxation one looks for in meditation. The tops overhead move in the slightest breeze over the regular solid black trunks. We walk out by Ziz-Zag with quanities of water running down the ledges there. By now the patterns of life here have noticeably slowed. Robbie had called, the chains were done. Nothing else I care to do, late afternoon I drive out the long way along the river. The water is full after the rain we've had, but the torrent there appears to have little energy. The visible world has nothing remarkable in it. I don't think I passed a car all the way and there were no people about along the road or in town neither. His place is empty, the family at school or work. There's a big field behind, vacant and brown, with pine far off that follow a boundary somewhere in the distance. I pick the chains up from his workbench. I pass Smith's farm on the way back, buildings unused but still standing in the grey light. They were active farmers in their day. They had the land along the river that's now Boynton's. They sugared up at the Perkins place--it's them I got that farm from. Pat was the last one alive. She showed me many old photos, some of which I still have. Fifty degrees and drizzling, a flock of turkey cross the road by the flats. I stop and am interested in the order of them and their concentration. Thanks for reading this. December's the last month. With your life in order, you're ready for Winter. Make some time to slow down (Availability Calendar). http://4peaks.com/femailw.htm Take a walk with me to the rise in the pine swamp (photos). http://4peaks.com/fkhint18.htm Find a natural place on your own and get the views (trail notes). http://4peaks.com/fotrails.htm Warm up by the fire in a real Adirondack cabin (all about it). http://4peaks.com/fhome.htm Your Adirondack Guide, Martin (and George) P.S. If you liked this letter, save it for the links, and tell a friend! If you didn't like it, please send it back with "REMOVE" as the subject. Thanks. Member Whiteface Mountain Visitors Bureau Member Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau ************************************************************* This is No.18 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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