As You Are Now,...

There is a tiny cemetery between Elizabethtown and Mineville. It is in the woods. There has been an attempt to clear brush and mow the grass this year, but the branches and leaves are still crowding in. A lot of the graves are from more than a 100 years ago,... some more than 150 years ago.

Walk softly, as you pass by....As you are now,
So once was I....As I am now, so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me.

Juliett lived to be seven before she died in 1842,

Amelia Ann, only 10 died in 1854,

A father, Enos Wise, who was born in 1787 seems to be comforting his son who died as a teenager. The weatherbeaten pitcher holds faded artificial flowers.

I think I would like to come to my final rest in a place like this.

I wonder what their lives were like. Their loves and their heartbreaks. Very few stones showed ages more than in their 40s. There were a couple that reached ages in their 60s and one was 77. It must have been pure luck to have lived that long a life in those days. I paid my respects and quietly walked back to my car. Sleep well, my friends.

Traditional!...

The skies threatened rain and finally delivered rain as the last band was closing Saturday night. People ducked into the pavillion, and laughed, it was still a happy time. The scene was the 6th Annual Upper Hudson Bluegrass Festival in North Creek, NY. Here the crowd gathers in the pavillion facing the stage at the Ski Bowl Park.

The Town of Johnsburg, home of Gore Mountain Ski Area donates the use of the grounds. Thank you Johnsburg!
For me, this particular festival was all about traditional bluegrass music...the pioneers, the people that have been entertaining for decades. Smokey Geene, and his Martin guitar which he named "Ben A. Martin" are always a favorite. Smokey, now 79, has been performing for more than 50 years.

Traditional music continued with Vern Young, who is now 85 years old. This gentle giant's voice and guitar picking is still strong. I talked with Vern and he's a gracious and most interesting person. And,...he's booked to be back in 2010!

White Mountain Bluegrass continued the traditional music with several sets over the three day festival. I spent some time visiting with Mac and Hazel as they sat in their individual band tent near the stage. I felt honored to receive a hug from each of them as I headed back to the pavillion. They are included in a permanent display honoring Pioneers of Bluegrass at the International Bluegrass Museum in Owensboro KY.

Here Junior Barber of Beartracks visits with Vern Young. Talk about a "meeting of bluegrass minds!" It doesn't get much better than this!

Watch for Beartracks at the Peru Community Church on November 13th at 7:30 p.m. Junior Barber, his cousins Julie Venne-Hogan and Tom Venne will be performing their usual high energy music.

If you have never attended a bluegrass festival give it a try. Bring your camper, your tent, or just bring a folding chair and come for a day. You will leave steeped in traditonal music and warmed by the friendship of the "bluegrass family."

Dorothy Jane!...

I have been away, camping for several days at a bluegrass festival in Vermont. One of the attractions on Friday afternoon was "Open Stage" where lesser known acts can do two or three numbers. This young woman, still in her teens, is Dorothy Jane Siver from Crown Point, New York. She plays the fiddle like a wizard, sings like an angel! Watch out Alison Kraus, here comes Dorothy Jane!

June Camping,...

There are times when a "spur of the moment" idea is the right thing to do. Such was the case this past weekend. I think it was Wednesday when I said to a friend, "want to go camping this weekend?" Reservations were made at a favorite site. Our camping chairs had a nice view of the wetland right behind our site.


A frequent visitor was a great blue heron...


I think he got sick of that woman with a camera sneaking around the edge of the marsh!


The other side of the campground faces Lake Champlain. Those sites are always booked early and crowded with campers who launch boats and like to fish from their site.

The weather was overcast much of the time giving a foggy look to everything. But it didn't rain until I was home again Sunday afternoon.

Here's a view of the lake,... looking east toward the Vermont shore.

The campsite was lined with wildflowers. This is vetch.

I believe this is yarrow.

A perfect camping weekend with no others on our loop. Quiet, with just the constant croaking of frogs. What a lullaby to listen to as I fell asleep!

Antique Boat Museum...

Last weekend on Friday morning a friend and I drove a short distance from the bluegrass festival to Clayton, NY. There we visited the Antique Boat Museum. It is a complex of several buildings, this is the main entrance building.

In 1986 I was fishing on Lake Placid here in the Adirondacks and there was an antique boat regatta that same day. This boat, the "Snail" , went by where we were fishing and I took a photo. I remember it well.
The front of the museum facing the river has benches and chairs as a place to sit and enjoy the cool breeze and the view. Although not in the Adirondack Park itself, these Adirondack Chairs were strategically placed so we could enjoy shade from the sun.

Many rivers criss-cross the north country of NY, however when I refer to "the river" I mean the St.Lawrence...

Here is one of the displays featuring racing boats...

When i look at a boat such as the Dixie II I wonder about all the people and the good times it has seen. It looks like the Dixie II was a champion!

For more fun on the river, stay tuned!

35 Years and Counting,...

The word is out, Ethel's is open! Ethel's Dew Drop Inn, which opened in 1974 is celebrating 35 years of serving hungry people! Ethel's is a summer eatery in Willsboro, NY. Until early fall people will be flocking to Ethel's for some of the best food in the North Country. These people are ordering both food and ice cream.

That's Ethel herself behind that screened window taking an order.



What is my favorite on the menu? A "Michigan" of course! There are many recipes for the sauce. Since I was a teenager, my order is always "michigan, onions buried, fries and orange soda"... Here I am about to enjoy my first Michigan of the season... Mmmmmm, good!


A nice evening is taking your food "to go" and driving a short distance to the boat launch on Willsboro Bay. It's early for a lot of boats but there were already a few moored. One person was just bringing his in from a day on Lake Champlain.

Looking in the opposite direction from the launch ramp the sun sparkles on the water. In mid-summer this area will be full of boats anchored for overnight as people vacation up and down the lake.
Back home again... my wild daisies are blooming right outside my carport...


And a lone buttercup keeps watch...

What a perfect evening, good food, beautiful lake, and wild flowers!
P.S.... I may not be online for a few days as I hope to be leaving for a camping weekend today or tomorrow. See you soon!

Spring on the River...

With so many wildflowers in bloom lately I have spent my time looking down at the ground. A few days ago as I was driving home from work I realized that the leaves were nearly full grown. In this shot of the Boquet River you can see that several trees are in full-leaf, while some are not quite there yet.

It seems like we are looking forward to warm weather in May, then all of a sudden it is the 4th of July, then it's August and school is almost ready to start for another year. With the speed of life in mind I'm enjoying so much green around me this year. I'm savoring every leaf and flower! Here is some springtime green for you to enjoy!

Solid Gold!...

This high school class ring is dated 1922. It is from the same K-12 school where my grandchildren attend,... and the ring belonged to my father,... their great-grandfather!

Yesterday on Red Pine Mountain Mountain Woman invited bloggers to write something about special men in our lives. So, I have been thinking about this post for some time,... a post about my own father!

Below you see my father, on the left, sometime in the early 1950s working for the local power company. As you can see, it was when times were simpler. Note the wooden poles and cross arms. The power company was sold and consolidated with a large electric company. My father took his ability to climb poles and work on the wires to the local telephone company. Here again he's shown at the left in this photo. This was taken around 1957.

After he began to get a bit older and decided that he should no longer be climbing poles he went on to drive a school bus and then served as a local town highway superintendent. For a man who only graduated from high school he did well in his life and provided a good life for my mother and me.
This photo above is my favorite one of all the ones I have of my father. It shows him as I will always remember him. A man who loved his rural community, his Adirondacks, in his hunting jacket and cap... and his gentle smile. He and my mother had built a log cabin, and he was known as a woodsman. There was a saying years ago when he was still alive,... "you could drop him on any mountain top in the Adirondacks and he'd walk out in three days,... he could have done it in two days but he took the extra time just for the enjoyment of it!"

It's with great pride that I dedicate this post to my "daddy"... I will always love you, and I miss you terribly. You were solid gold.

Day dreams...

...of warmer weather!

When I checked the temperature this morning it was 28° and there was snowflakes in the air! So my traditional Easter picnic out in a natural area was postponed. We stayed in and watched a movie and picnic'd in the livingroom in front of the tv.

Day dreaming of warmer days to come.... This is a picture of the resort on the St.Lawrence River where I spent last weekend. You can see by the date that I have been going to the river for years. The 1000 Island area is a wonderful place in warmer weather!

That same year I spent time with some cousins at a camp on Upper Saranac Lake. This is the view from in front of the camp.

Warm days and calm water for canoeing and kayaking will be here soon. But you sure couldn't tell it by the weather today. I just couldn't bear to take one more picture of dark skies and snowflakes!

Weekend Getaway!...

The 1000 Island Bluegrass Association sponsored a weekend getaway at Bonnie Castle Resort in Alexandria Bay, NY. It's the annual kickoff for the bluegrass festival season in the north country.
Headlining for Friday evening was the Abrams-Burtch Connection. Wayne Abrams, grandfather of the Abrams Brothers, and Bob Burtch have formed a new band for the bluegrass circuit.

The headliner act for Saturday evening was Remington Ryde from Pennsylvania.




The opening band for both Friday and Saturday nights was the north country's favorite son, David Nichols and his band Spare Change. David does custom pearl inlay work for many well known musicians, as well as building mandolins and guitars. The summer season will find the band traveling to festivals in NY, VT and Ontario. You won't find any nicer friends anywhere than David and Nadine. Here you see them sharing a duet while band members Gary Greenland on banjo, and Chad Darou on guitar join in.

Across the St.Lawrence River from Bonnie Castle is Boldt Castle,....another story for another time. Sunday morning it looked like this... but in the summer it is awash with colorful flowers. It is open for tours beginning in early May.

Informal jam sessions were going on all over the hotel. In good weather you might see groups outside, or in various guest rooms as well as the larger designated areas.

People of all ages,... I guessed this to be a mother and daughter...

This is a bluegrass family friend Ray on guitar.

The girl playing fiddle is a young teenager...

The circle is always able to be widened to include new people coming into the room. This made me think of the song "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," and old standard of the music world.

Here Ray's daughter Pam is in the center holding his mandolin which she'd been playing until she sang this song,...

I enjoyed watching this gentleman playing his dobro guitar...

I've already made my reservation for next year!...